Hitachi and ASUS Collaborate to Deliver the World's First One Terabyte Notebook PC

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced that ASUS has integrated Hitachi's Travelstar 5K500 hard drive into its new M50 and M70 notebook PCs, the latter of which delivers up to 1TB of storage capacity in a two-drive configuration. The companies are breaking new ground in personal computing by combining industry-leading storage capacity - exceeding that of a typical desktop system - with the portability of a notebook PC. One TB of storage capacity translates to 1,000 hours of video, or more than 350 feature length movies or 250,000 four-minute songs.
As a world leading notebook PC brand, ASUS continues to develop cutting-edge products that offer the best solution in great designs. With the new multimedia notebook series, the M50 and the M70, ASUS aims to provide a high-definition audio and video experience. The HD experience starts with a sleek LCD cover made by exclusive ASUS Infusion technology. Upon opening the notebook, users are greeted with a multimedia console-like design with an ergonomic full-size keyboard and a separate numerical keypad. To further enhance the entertainment enjoyment, the dual-mode touch pad allows easy access to playback controls.
ASUS selected Hitachi Travelstar drives for its M50 and M70 series notebooks because they allow users to store more digital content than any other mobile drive on the market today. Consumers expect their notebook PCs to be entertainment powerhouses, storing and providing easy access to massive libraries of high-definition movies, music and photos. The new Travelstar 5K500 addresses these requirements with the features, design innovations and technologies that enhance the entertainment experience.
The Travelstar 5K500 features Hitachi's Rotational Vibration Safeguard technology to mitigate any adverse impact on system performance from unexpected vibrations or shocks to the system enclosure. RVS serves as an "early warning" system for the drive, enabling it to sense a possible vibration in advance and take the necessary steps to stabilize the drive head. RVS is particularly important for many of today's full-featured notebooks that include premium speakers for enhancing a user's experience with movies, music and games. When played at maximum volumes, notebook speakers can inadvertently cause vibrations that may not be noticeable to the user.
"Digital entertainment on-the-go is growing rapidly and notebooks are being used to run more powerful, memory-intensive applications," said Tony Chen, General Manager of ASUS Notebooks Business. "Our notebooks with the Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 provide the answer to users who demand systems that combine large storage capacities with desktop-class performance and features."
"One TB represents a major advancement in notebook computing and we are pleased to be at the heart of this industry milestone," said Larry Swezey, director, Consumer and Commercial HDD, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "We will continue to deliver the best that storage technology has to offer, solidifying Hitachi's position as the segment and technology leader in 2.5-inch hard drives."
Since entering the 2.5-inch segment in 1991, Hitachi has led innovations in the form factor for every measurable category: areal density, performance, power management, acoustics, shock tolerance, reliability and breadth of product options. Hitachi Travelstar drives continue to be the most popular 2.5-inch hard drives on the market today.
Please check the regional ASUS branch for the M50 and M70 availability. For more information, please visit the official website: www.asus.com.
Source: BUSINESS WIRE

int'l trade fair in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced on Wednesday that senior technology policymakers from the European Union, Japan and the United States will participate in the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The 2008 International CES, the world's largest consumer technology trade show held annually, is scheduled for Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada, the CEA said in a statement.
According to the CEA, participants in the CES Super Session, a large-scale discussion, include high-level officials from the EU, Japan and the U.S.
"Our global industry is impacted by decisions made around the world on issues related to broadband and Internet access, wireless spectrum allocation and the transition to digital broadcasting, and the international regulatory landscape can impact market opportunities," said Karen Chupka, CEA senior vice president for events and conferences.
"This International Super Session provides the opportunity to hear directly from government officials who shape the future of consumer electronics, what policy frameworks best support innovation and which countries are taking the necessary steps to sustain growth in the global consumer technology industry," she said.
The CEA is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer electronics industry. More than 2,200 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com

Technology Voters' Guide: Hillary Clinton

Iraq, immigration, taxes, and health care probably have been the four most pressing topics of the 2008 presidential campaign. Technology has made nary an appearance.

Sure, there have been the YouTube-ified debates, MySpace.com polls, record-setting fund-raising efforts, and the now-obligatory Google office visits.

But knowing where the candidates stand on high-tech topics like digital copyright, surveillance, and Internet taxes can be revealing, which is why we've put together this 2008 Technology Voters' Guide.

In late November, we sent questionnaires to the top candidates--measured by funds raised and poll standings--from each major party. We asked each the same 10 questions.

Not all candidates chose to respond: Republicans Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson rebuffed our requests, as did Democrats Joe Biden and Bill Richardson. In all such cases, we made repeated efforts to try to convince them to change their minds.

Read on for responses from Sen. Hillary Clinton, or check out CNET News.com's election coverage roundup, featuring other Technology Voters' Guide candidate reports.


Q: Politicians have been talking for years about the need for high-speed Internet access. Should this be accomplished primarily through deregulation and market forces, or should the federal government give out grants or subsidies, or enact new laws?
Hillary Clinton: Broadband is the infrastructure of the 21st century. It will play an important role in everything from commerce to education to the delivery of medicine. Our relatively low broadband penetration rate is unacceptable. I believe that there is a role for private industry and for the federal government to play in expanding access to broadband.

As president, I will strengthen tax incentives for extending broadband to underserved areas. I will support state and local broadband initiatives, from new wireless technologies to high-speed fiber optics. And I will change the FCC rules so that we finally have an accurate, detailed picture of broadband deployment and penetration rates.

At present, the FCC data is unreliable because it is based on loose estimates and outdated standards. I will also create a public-private partnership to effectively map broadband availability and broadband demand, and to extend broadband to every corner of every state in the country.

Congress has considered Net neutrality legislation, but it never became law. Do you still support the legislation that was re-introduced in 2007 (S 215), which gives the FCC the power to punish "discriminatory" conduct by broadband providers?
Clinton: Yes. I am an original co-sponsor of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, and I supported its reintroduction. No other communications medium in recent history has had such a profound impact as the Internet on free expression, education, the proliferation of commerce, and the exchange of political ideas. And it is the basic principles of neutrality and nondiscrimination that have allowed the Internet to flourish.

Thanks to these principles, a small business has been able to market to the same customers as the biggest corporation. The average citizen has been able to voice grievances in the same forum as the editors of the largest newspaper. And students, entrepreneurs, and consumers have been empowered by the wealth of information and opportunities afforded by an open Internet.

As we continue to build on the innovations brought forth by the Internet, we must ensure that there continues to be open, unimpaired, and unencumbered Internet access for both its users and content providers. We need to ensure that the Internet of the 21st century opens the same doors, creates the same opportunities, and fosters the same innovation that we have seen so far.

Telecommunications companies such as AT&T have been accused in court of opening their networks to the government in violation of federal privacy law. Do you support giving them retroactive immunity for any illicit cooperation with intelligence agencies or law enforcement, which was proposed by the Senate Intelligence Committee this fall (S 2248)?
Clinton: I have said that I oppose retroactive immunity for telecommunications providers, and I oppose the retroactive immunity provisions in the Senate Intelligence Committee bill.

The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act's section restricting the "circumvention" of copy protection measures is supported by many copyright holders but has been criticized by some technologists as hindering innovation. Would you support changing the DMCA to permit Americans to make a single backup copy of a DVD, Blu-ray Disc DVD, HD DVD, or video game disc they have legally purchased?
Clinton: Strong copyright protections and efforts to stem piracy are critical to ensuring that our technology industries remain competitive in the global market. As we go forward, I would support a review of a range of issues related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act insofar as it did not concern degrading copyright protections or encourage copyright infringements.

Source: news.com

IBM Expands Digital Content Storage With XIV Buy

IBM has acquired XIV, a privately held storage technology company based in Tel Aviv, Israel, IBM announced Wednesday. The deal, which closed Dec. 31, will expand IBM's technology offerings for storing next-generation digital content in a Web 2.0 world, the company said.
IBM did not disclose the purchase price for XIV, but Globes, an Israeli business Website, said the deal was worth $300 million to $350 million. XIV is now operating as a subsidiary of IBM and will become part of the IBM System Storage business unit of the IBM Systems and Technology Group.
XIV's Nextra storage platform combines software and clustered industry-standard hardware into high performance, high-capacity storage systems that can manage large volumes of digital content, including Web 2.0 applications, digital media and digital archives. Nextra also can self-tune for optimum performance and heal itself in the event of system failure, according to IBM.
IBM expects to introduce the XIV technology to its channel partners over time, offering them an opportunity to attract new customers that need to store and manage large volumes of digital data, said David Vaughn, worldwide marketing manager for IBM storage. XIV currently sells its products directly to customers.
XIV has been shipping Nextra for about two years and customers are using the technology to manage more than four petabytes of storage capacity, IBM said. An IBM-branded version of the product will likely be introduced later this year, Vaughn said.
XIV is the latest of a number of storage technology-related acquisitions IBM has made in recent years, including FileNet, Softek and NovusCG. Just last month IBM acquired Arsenal Digital Solutions, a Cary, N.C.-based supplier of online data protection services.
Over the next few months IBM will be testing Nextra's integration with other IBM systems, including FileNet software, enterprise content management applications and Tivoli systems management software, according to Vaughn. "That's very high on our list of things to do, going forward," he said.
Source: crn.com

United Technologies in Solar Deal

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — United Technologies Corp. subsidiary Hamilton Substrand and US Renewables Group LLC said Wednesday they plan to commercialize a new technology that captures energy from the sun, stores it and releases it on demand.
The companies did not disclose financial terms of the agreement or specifics about how they plan to commercialize the technology. They formed an entity called SolarReserve that will hold an exclusive license for the products, which were developed by United Technologies' HS Rocketdyne subsidiary.
The "concentrated solar power tower" technology harnesses the sun's energy and stores it using molten salt. The energy is released when a utility requires it. The product is designed to produce up to 500 megawatts of power per year under peak conditions.
One megawatt can power about 778 households each year, according to the Department of Energy.
Lee Bailey, managing director of US Renewables, compared the technology to hydroelectric power plants, but said it has more benefits.
"This product is more predictable than water reserves, the supply is free and inexhaustible, and the environmental impact is essentially zero," Bailey said in a statement.
Terry Murphy, former director of advanced power systems at HS Rocketdyne, will serve as president and chief executive of SolarReserve. He will lead the commercialization effort and its integration into the commercial marketplace.
Privately held US Renewables acquires, develops and operates renewable energy and clean fuel assets. United Technologies provides products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries. It will take part in the product through its Hamilton Sundstrand subsidiary.
United Technologies shares fell 36 cents to $76.18 in morning trading.
Source: chron.com

AMD licenses Denali's flash technology for handhelds

WASHINGTON — AMD Inc. will license NAND flash technology from EDA software and intellectual property supplier Denali Software Inc.
Denali (Palo Alto, Calif.) said Wednesday (Jan. 2) it has licensed its Databahn NAND flash controller and Spectra flash file system to AMD. The chip maker plans to use the technology in next-generation processors for handheld devices.
Denali said it will also license to AMD NAND flash controller core technology, including hardware and source code along with test and simulation support.
Denali's technology is expected to be used in future versions of the AMD's Imageon media proccessor.
Source: eetimes.com

SiRF's InstantFixII GPS Technology Eliminates PND Start-Up Wait

Mobile Navigation Devices Can Have Start-Up Times As Low As 5 Seconds Without Requiring Any Network Connectivity
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. , a leading provider of GPS-powered location platforms, today introduced SiRFInstantFixII, an autonomous version of SiRF's original SiRFInstantFix technology that is designed to significantly improve the start-up times of portable navigation devices (PNDs) and other mobile navigation devices without needing any network connectivity for assistance or updates. Available now for both SiRFstarIII GPS receivers and SiRFatlas and SiRFtitan multifunction SoC navigation processors, SiRFInstantFixII achieves GPS start-ups in as little as five seconds so that mainstream consumers can begin navigating as soon as they're ready to drive.
"Our groundbreaking SiRFInstantFixII technology makes the frequent start-up waits for PNDs a thing of the past," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice president of marketing for SiRF Technology. "By not requiring any network connectivity or downloads, it significantly improves the daily navigation experience for consumers of mobile navigation devices."
SiRFInstantFixII can reduce warm starts, the typical PND start-up mode, from over half a minute to as little as five seconds, and in urban canyons the difference can be even more significant. SiRFInstantFixII does this while demonstrating excellent positional accuracy, an important attribute for navigation devices. SiRFInstantFixII accomplishes this using sophisticated, patent-pending algorithms that enable the PND to model the behavior of visible GPS satellites during the day and predict their position in the sky for up to three days in the future. SiRFInstantFixII continuously refines its calculations based on the latest data it receives from the satellites being tracked every time the PND is used. SiRFInstantFixII performs these calculations completely autonomously, without ever needing updates of any kind from a network.
"We are very excited about the positive effect that SiRFInstantFixII will have on the PND user experience. Through our close alliance with SiRF, we look forward to bringing more innovative technologies to market and helping consumers to enrich their life and the way they see the world," said Samuel Wang, President of Mio Technology. "Helping consumers to explore more is the Mio Technology company mission. As a leader in the mobile navigation device market, we strive to provide consumers with a positive, free-spirited, open, unexpected and seamless user experience, and we believe that eliminating the start-up wait commonly experienced by many PND users is a great step in that direction."
The new SiRFInstantFixII has been specifically designed to meet the needs of mass-market consumers using non-connected devices where a network-based update would be cumbersome or otherwise undesirable. Manufacturers already using SiRF's original SiRFInstantFix will find it continues to provide consistently high performance for network-connected devices and for products where updates can be performed seamlessly with little or no user interaction. SiRF offers manufacturers the greatest flexibility to choose between the new "unplugged" SiRFInstantFixII (with three days of satellite predictions) for PND type devices, which may have no connectivity, and the "classic" SiRFInstantFix (with up to seven days of satellite predictions) for connected devices to best meet their end customer requirements.
Why SiRFInstantFix?
While in theory determining location using GPS satellites is a simple process of triangulation, the reality is much more complex. First, the GPS receiver needs to find and "lock" onto enough satellites to be able to calculate its location, a process called acquisition. With its 200,000 correlators, SiRF's innovative SiRFstarIII architecture made the acquisition of satellites very fast. To calculate accurate position, however, the GPS receiver needs to know where each of these GPS satellites is in the sky with a very high degree of accuracy.
Every satellite requires 30 seconds to broadcast its precise location, and the GPS receiver must be able to download this data from each satellite it needs for a fix. This data is typically valid only for two to three hours. If anything interrupts the signal while receiving this data, such as a building or tree, the receiver has to wait another 30 seconds to completely download the data from the satellite. In real-world conditions, where the GPS receiver is usually moving, it can take up to several minutes to obtain all the data the receiver needs to perform its calculations and obtain a fix, resulting in a long period with a great deal of location uncertainty before navigation can begin.
Using SiRFInstantFixII, affordable PNDs can not only start tracking satellites and navigating more quickly, they can do it using signals much weaker than those needed to obtain satellite position data the traditional way, removing the barrier that often stands in the way of successfully navigating under tough GPS signal conditions.
Availability and Pricing
SiRFInstantFixII is available now and works with all SiRF multifunction SoC navigation processors and SiRFstarIII-based products. Customers can contact their SiRF representatives for pricing and more information.
Source: money.cnn.com

Five technologies that may become a big hit in 2008

LONDON: Technology enthusiasts may get to see five major developments this year, according to a forecast made on the BBC News website.

The website says that 2008 will see the emergence of more tools like Google Gears, Adobe Air, and Microsoft Silverlight that have the ability to take rich web content, and make some of it available offline.

Another big development, according to the forecast, will be the rise in the popularity of sub-notebook-sized Ultra Mobile PCs. Though the first devices were launched in 2006, they have not gone mass market as yet, partly because of a combination of high prices and poor battery life.

Taiwanese manufacturer Asus has now predicted that it will sell five million of the tiny machines in 2008.

Apple is also rumoured to be launching ultra-thin Macbooks using flash in 2008.

Next in list of possible major developments is the rise in internet protocol television (IPTV) services.

Though BT vision and Virgin Media are already providing such services in the UK, more operators are expected to emerge this year.

WIMAX, a wireless technology that can deliver high speed broadband over long distances, also has a mention on the list.

Mike Roberts of research firm Informa Media and Telecoms believes that the technology, which is already a big hit in the US, may make way to the yet-untouched Europe.

Wrapping up the list is Mobile VoIP, a technology that allows users to make cheap phone calls over the internet.

It is believed that this technology may huge rise in 2008.

Five technologies that may become big in 2008:

1. The web to go
2. Ultra mobile PCs
3. IPTV
4. Wimax
5. Mobile VoIP

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Technology cuts risk of surgical sponges

Admitted to a Macon, Ga., hospital in 2004 for surgery for diverticulitis of the colon, Lucille Davis, then 67, left with an undetected and dangerous souvenir: a surgical sponge. Last month the error resulted in a $10 million settlement.The problem of left-behind sponges is hardly new. A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that sponges and other foreign objects were left behind after abdominal surgeries at a rate of 1 for every 1,000 to 1,500 such operations.Several medical-products companies say sponges are the most common foreign objects left behind in surgeries.

Now, spiking costs are forcing health-care providers to tighten surgical procedures aimed at making sure sponges are not left inside patients because retrieving a sponge in a redo surgery can cost $50,000 or more.

The pressure to avoid unnecessary costs is about to get more intense. The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, is urging hospitals to develop systems to prevent errors. And beginning in October the federal Medicare program will not pay providers for procedures involving a foreign object left behind from a surgery, part of a new effort to curtail errors.

"In the past, retained sponges were treated as an institutional speeding ticket ... but it has become more of an institutional DUI," said Bill Adams, chief executive of SurgiCount Medical.

Technology is coming to the rescue of doctors and nurses, who for decades have kept track of sponges by manually counting them.

Sponges are made of gauze and are used to soak up blood and protect organs during surgery, but if left inside the body they can cause potentially deadly infections.

Bar-coding system

SurgiCount and its distribution partner, Cardinal Health Inc., are rolling out a bar-coding system that helps operating-room nurses and technicians keep track of sponges and other items.

Mundelein-based Medline Industries Inc., meanwhile, is winning over hospitals to its RF-Detect system, which alerts health-care workers via radio frequency that sponges are still in the patient before the doctor closes. Sponges, tagged with a radio frequency detection system, can be found after a wandlike device is waved over the wound, Medline said.

"It's a giant issue," said Jack Bowser, president of Medline's primary-care division. "Clearly, adding any additional costs, you get a little push-back from the hospitals. But if you average only one retained object a year, [the system] pays for itself."

Medline says RF-Detect, developed with its partner, Bellevue, Wash.-based RF Surgical Systems Inc., adds $50 to $60 per thoracic procedure. For comparison, having to crack back into a patient's chest cavity to retrieve a sponge and treat an infection caused by a foreign object can cost $50,000 or more.

Increasingly, states are ratcheting up pressure on hospitals to make them more accountable, which could spur more interest in sponge-detection systems. Several states have instituted mandatory medical-error-reporting policies that require hospitals to disclose when they have made errors, or "never events," like leaving a sponge in a patient.

Errors involving left-behind sponges can lead to more expensive liabilities if malpractice suits are successful against doctors and hospital staffs. Dr. Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West's mother before she died, lost a $100,000 default judgment to a patient who sued him in 1996 after she claimed he left a sponge in her body, according to press reports. Adams has denied the allegations, these reports state.

Medline says RF-Detect is gaining momentum. Although just 21 hospitals have committed to the new system, the company said an additional 38 hospitals have scheduled a trial over the next two months. RF Detect was launched in certain regions of the U.S. last spring and a national rollout is planned for early this year, Medline officials said.

Cardinal Health, too, says it is gearing up for a national commercial launch this year after several months of trials.

Cardinal has sold its bar-coding system, which swipes sponges under a scanning device to obtain a count, to six hospitals last year, with another three facilities coming on line in the first quarter of this year. Cardinal officials say the SurgiCount system costs about $12 to $15 a procedure.

30 hospitals in trials

"We have at least 30 hospitals in trials," said Scott Donnelly, director of marketing for Cardinal Health's presource business.

The market could be large, the companies said, citing industry figures indicating that more than 20 million chest procedures are performed in the U.S. each year. Procedures such as obstetrics and other surgeries could result in a potential market of more than 35 million applicable procedures, Cardinal Health said.

A large Indianapolis hospital that converted to Medline's new sponge-detection system in December said it was encouraged in September to implement a system to assist with sponge counting by The Joint Commission, which is empowered by Congress to ensure the quality and safety of hospitals. Joint Commission accreditation is crucial to the financial health of a hospital because it allows facilities to treat federally subsidized Medicare patients.

"The Joint Commission told us that we had to implement something to assist with counting and assuring that our counts were accurate," said Roberta Sutton, a registered nurse and resource coordinator for perioperative services at Methodist Hospital, an 810-bed facility. "It was not like you did not have a choice, but [Joint Commission officials] feel like the retained item is unacceptable."

Although The Joint Commission says purchasing a sponge-detection system is not mandatory, it strongly encourages hospitals to look at all processes involved in the potential for foreign objects to be left in a patient. The commission said hospitals need to look at staffing and communication in particular, since the operating room involves multiple people in a high-stress environment.

"Preventing a tragedy requires a number of systems being in place, and The Joint Commission is taking this very seriously," said Louise Kuhny, senior associate director of standards interpretation for the organization. "It does not have be automated. Technology always helps, but it is not always enough."
Source: chicagotribune.com

Wireless HDAV Technology Collaboration

Fujitsu and Sigma Designs Announce Wireless HDAV Technology Collaboration; Demonstrations at CES 2008

Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM), a leading provider of highly integrated systems-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, and Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc., an innovative leader providing high-performance, reliable semiconductor products and services, will collaborate to deliver Wireless HDAV technology solutions for consumer electronics manufacturers serving the High-Definition, A/V, cable-replacement market. Both companies will demonstrate Wireless HDAV reference designs at International CES in Las Vegas, January 7-9, at the Fujitsu booth #13244 (Central Hall) and at Sigma's digital living room demonstrations inside the LVCC Hilton Hotel Suite #2989.
Sigma's Wireless HDAV streaming is a technology for transporting HD multimedia using standard-based encoding technologies over Ultra-WideBand to replace high definition audio/video cables. Sigma's Wireless HDAV reference designs using the Fujitsu H.264-compliant CODEC can enable developers of home networking systems to eliminate cables between a television and set-top box or High-Definition DVD player using wireless HDAV, the first technology solution to support both the H.264 format and UWB based on the WiMedia standard. Wireless HDAV streams high-definition content from device to device at distances up to 10 meters.
The wireless solution combines the Fujitsu H.264-compliant MB86H51 CODEC with Sigma Designs' SMP8634 Secure Media Processor decoder and UWB Windeo chipset, the only UWB chipset that uses Intelligent Array Radio technology. IAR ensures the highest reliability in wireless connections between devices and also delivers through-wall and range extension capabilities. Using the MB86H51 to compress raw video allows wireless HD video streaming without compromising visual quality.
"We are excited to work with Fujitsu and combine both companies' semiconductor, HD and wireless strengths to take cable A/V replacement a big step further for our mutual consumer electronics customers," said Hung Nguyen, vice president and general manager of the Wireless Products Division at Sigma Designs. "At CES, we look forward to showcasing Wireless HDAV among the devices the technology can wirelessly connect from HDTVs, high definition DVD players, IPTV set-top boxes and digital media adapters powered by Sigma media processors, to mobile USB devices in the future."
"Together, Fujitsu and Sigma Designs developed Wireless HDAV based on the H.264 format to take advantage of its scalable and cost-efficient features," said Davy Yoshida, director of Business Development, Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. "Our CODEC chip works seamlessly to offer mutual consumer electronics customers and system integrators the opportunity to develop products and systems that will deliver wireless, cable-free HDTV capabilities."<<
More about Sigma's SMP8634 and Windeo Chipset>>
Sigma's SMP8634 media processor, used by the world's leading high-definition consumer electronics manufacturers, integrates a complete complement of next-generation capabilities for a single-chip SoC solution with powerful multimedia processing, a robust content security system, and a full complement of peripherals. Its advanced decoder engines support video decoding of H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), Windows Media Video 9, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2) with multiple streams, up to the equivalent of two high-definition video streams. Sigma's Windeo chipset and accompanying software are based on the WiMedia Alliance's PHY, MAC and WiNET specifications respectively, the defacto standards for Ultra-WideBand wireless communication.<<
The Fujitsu H.264-Compliant MB86H51 CODEC>>
The Fujitsu MB86H51 CODEC was introduced in May 2007. (See the press release dated May 23, 2007, http://www.fujitsu.com/us/news/pr/fma_20070523.html.) The device can compress and decompress full high-definition video (1,920 dots x 1,080 lines) in real time using the H.264 format. This is the industry's first single-chip device for full HD H.264 high profile version 4.0 video processing that incorporates embedded memory. The MB86H51 also compresses and decompresses audio in real time by utilizing formats such as the MPEG-1 Audio Layer. The MB86H51 leverages embedded memory technologies from Fujitsu Limited to enable compact, low power designs. The device contains two blocks of 256 Megabit memory embedded on-chip. The optimized design enables a smaller size of only 15mm squared and low power consumption of just 750 mW.
Source: foxbusiness.com

LG Develops Mobile TV Technology for North America

LG Electronics has developed mobile TV technology for U.S., Canadian and Mexican markets to watch terrestrial digital broadcasts on cell phones or navigators while on the move. LG invested W7 billion (US$1=W933) in developing the technology called mobile pedestrian handheld over the last two years. It conducted dozens of field tests for the technology in North America.
The newly developed technology is different form the existing mobile TV services like Korea’s DMB, Europe’s DVB-H and North America’s Medio FLO. The company claims it offers clear high-definition images at a speed of up to 90 km/h, but the significant point is that it doesn’t require additional frequencies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. All that is needed is an upgrade of the existing broadcasting equipment. LG Electronics will make a demonstration of the new technology at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month.
Source: english.chosun.com

Bold new year for technology

MANILA, Philippines—It’s the start of another year in technology. Here are some of our bold and brazen predictions for 2008:
MacWorld is just around the corner. Rumors of two new iPhone models may come to a reality in the middle of the year. The first of the second-generation iPhones will come with 3G capabilities and a second camera for video. The second iPhone will be a smaller version with less features.
Microsoft will release its own version of the iMac. With the problem of Vista not being able to run well enough on most computers because of the high system requirements, Microsoft will release its own “Microsoft branded box” to give consumers a more elegant hardware option for running Windows.
It will finally be time for the broadband shakedown. New companies will come and offer Real 1MB - 2MB upload and download speeds, bumping up the current offerings of PLDT myDSL, Globe, Smart. At the end of the day, consumers win as service improves and pricing becomes even more competitive.
The launch of Blizzard’s Starcraft 2 for the PC will take the world by storm. It would be best not to schedule any important meetings on that day as an influx of coincidental sick leaves will leave managers baffled. The same thing happened with the launches of Halo 3 last year and of World of Warcraft in 2004.
Electronic paper will be more widespread. With the Amazon Kindle’s relative success as an eBook reader that doesn’t give you eye strain, the technology will be further improved and patented onto several other devices. The “digital ink” technology allows devices to last five days on a single charge. The technology also prevents eye strain as it really looks like you’re reading ink off a book.
Street. Fighter. 4.
The new Apple MacBooks will feature a new trackpad technology that bears some similarity to the iPod touch and the iPhone. You will be able to do some advanced finger gestures on the trackpad such as pinching and pulling to zoom into your desktop and photos.
The Playstation 3 will fall to the hands of pirates.
We’ll be seeing more and more accelerometers built into phones and other pieces of hardware. The Apple iPod touch, iPhone, the Nintendo Wii and some of the newer Nokia phones like the N82 started this craze of being able to have your screen adapt depending on the device’s orientation. And besides, an accelerometer chip costs about $2.50 to manufacture.
Resiklo II will make it to the film festival and will feature even more special effects, more anti-alien capoeira and more Bong Revilla Jr. Source: inquirer.net

Some China firms avoid U.S. technology transfer licenses

WASHINGTON: Six months ago, the U.S. government quietly eased some restrictions on the export of sensitive technologies to China. The new approach was intended to help U.S. companies increase sales of high-technology equipment to China despite tight curbs on sharing technology that might have military applications.

But now the administration is facing questions from weapons experts about whether some equipment - newly authorized for export to Chinese companies deemed trustworthy by Washington - could instead end up helping China modernize its military. Equally worrisome, the weapons experts say, is the possibility that China could share the technology with Iran or Syria.

The technologies include advanced aircraft engine parts, navigation systems, telecommunications equipment and sophisticated composite materials.

The questions raised about the new policy are in a report to be released soon, possibly this week, by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, an independent research foundation that opposes the spread of arms technologies.

The government's new approach is part of an overall drive to require licenses for the export of an expanded list of technologies in aircraft engines, lasers, telecommunications, aircraft materials and other fields of interest to China's military.

But while imposing license requirements for the transfer of these technologies, the administration is also validating certain Chinese companies so that they can import these technologies without licenses. Five such companies were designated in October, but as many as a dozen others are in the pipeline for possible future designation.

Mario Mancuso, the under secretary of commerce for security and industry, said the new system was resulting in more effective protections.

"We believe that the system we have set up ensures that we are protecting our national security consistent with our goal of promoting legitimate exports for civilian use," he said during an interview. "We have adopted a consistent, broad-based approach to hedging against helping China's military modernization."

But the Wisconsin Project report, made available to The New York Times, asserts that two nonmilitary Chinese companies designated as trustworthy are in fact high risk because of links to the Chinese government, the Peoples Liberation Army and other Chinese entities accused in the past of ties to Syria and Iran.

One of the Chinese companies, BHA Aerocomposite Parts, is partly owned by two U.S. companies: the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the aerospace materials maker Hexcel, with each holding a 40 percent stake. The remaining 20 percent is owned by a Chinese government-owned company, AVIC I, or China Aviation Industry Corp. I.

"In principle you could find companies that would be above suspicion, but in this case they haven't done it," said Gary Milholin, the Washington director of the Wisconsin Project. "If you just look at the relations these companies have, rather than be above suspicion, they are highly suspicious."

The Wisconsin Project report also asserts that both Boeing and Hexcel have been cited for past lapses in obtaining proper licenses for exports.

Spokesmen for both Boeing and Hexcel said during interviews that they were fully confident that BHA had no ties to the Chinese military and that its use of aircraft parts and materials were strictly for commercial and civilian ends.

Milholin said that research by his staff had uncovered several links with the Chinese military establishment involving both BHA and another of the five companies, Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics.

AVIC I, the Chinese government entity that owns a minority share of BHA, also produces fighters, nuclear-capable bombers and aviation weapons systems for the People's Liberation Army, the report says. The U.S. State Department has cited another AVIC I subsidiary, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export, for links to arms sales to Iran and Syria.

The report also says that Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics is majority owned "through a corporate chain" by China Electronics, which the report says is a government conglomerate that produces military equipment along with consumer electronics. It has a subsidiary, the report says, that procures arms for the military.

Milholin said that the new administration policy granting companies the right to import some technologies without prior licenses was adopted quietly as "a stealth attack on export controls."

But Mancuso, the Commerce Department official who oversees the program, noted that the department proposed it publicly in mid-2006 and adopted it a year later after lengthy public comment by interested parties and members of Congress.

In addition, he said, no Chinese company can receive sensitive technologies - as part of a category known as "validated end users" - without a review of its record by the State, Energy and Defense departments and by relevant intelligence agencies. The five companies designated in October, he said, were approved without dissent by these units of the government.

Source: iht.com

WiMax Royalties Could Exceed Cellular Options

WiMax proponents claim royalty payments for the Internet protocol-based broadband wireless technology will be less than future high-speed cellular options, but at least one market researcher on Monday said the opposite could prove true.
According to supporters, a major advantage of WiMax is a far lower average royalty rate than with LTE or UMB cellular technologies, according to ABI Research. But while many companies have jumped on the WiMax bandwagon, the number of companies likely to succeed in the market is apt to be far smaller than the number of firms holding intellectual property. "The only vehicle left for them to recoup R&D dollars is to look for revenue from licenses," ABI analyst Stuart Carlaw said in a statement.

Also, the holders of technology used in WiMax are Ericsson and Qualcomm, which do not support the broadband standard. Therefore, it's unlikely that royalty rates for their technology would change, ABI said.

Put it all together, and the best possible royalty rate for WiMax would be around 3.2%, ABI said. Rates, however, could run even higher, from 4.8% to 7.7%.

LTE, UMB, and WiMax are 4G, or fourth generation, technologies that are expected to improve the performance of today's high-speed wireless technologies.

LTE is a high-speed cellular technology developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards organization, known as 3GPP. The technology is capable of global roaming and reaching peak data rates of up to 100 Mbps. LTE is an upgrade to high speed downlink packet access, a GSM implementation of a 3G cellular technology.

UMB, also developed by 3GPP and backed by Qualcomm, is a successor to evolution data optimized, a CDMA implementation of a 3G cellular technology. It promises peak data rates of up to 280 Mbps.

LTE is expected to be commercially deployed in about four years and UMB by mid-2009. WiMax has more than 50 commercial deployments underway and is expected to take off commercially within the next year or two.
Source: informationweek.com

Online shopping grows, but slows

Consumers spent $28 billion online during this year's holiday shopping season, comScore said Monday in its latest tally of Internet spending.
That's up 19 percent from last year, which sounds pretty good, right? Wrong. The rate of increase is off from what the industry saw in 2006, when online shopping climbed 26 percent.
Ever optimistic, comScore said that online shopping still grew at a healthy clip, despite shoppers who were wrestling with higher gas prices, home mortgage woes and the jittery stock market.
The online metric mavens added that consumers spent $545 million the day after Christmas, more than double the sales on the same day last year and a sign that consumers were willing to take advantage of after-Christmas promotions.
This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle Source: sfgate.com

ParkerVision gives technology officer bonus

ParkerVision Inc.'s chief technology officer was awarded a $100,000 cash performance incentive for meeting certain company goals in 2007.

The Jacksonville-based communications equipment manufacturer's compensation committee approved the award for David Sorrells on Dec. 21, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made on Dec. 27. The award represents 36 percent of Sorrells' base salary and is almost 50 percent more than the incentive plan award he received in 2006.

The $100,000 award was based on three main corporate performance measures: sales goals, customer support goals and technology goals.

The committee noted Sorrells' work on filing new patents, in particular leading the "intellectual property team in securing issuance of the first d2p patent," an engineering tool that allowed the company to enter into a fee-based engineering design services agreement with White Plains, N.Y.-based ITT Corp.

In 2006, Sorrells' received $272,850 salary and a total compensation of $538,827, according to the 2006 proxy statement filed in July.

The company had a net loss of $13.5 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30 -- a greater loss than the $12.4 million reported for the same time in 2006.
Source: bizjournals.com

Passport Card Technology Criticized

WASHINGTON (AP) — Passport cards for Americans who travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will be equipped with technology that allows information on the card to be read from a distance.
The technology was approved Monday by the State Department and privacy advocates were quick to criticize the department for not doing more to protect information on the card, which can be used by U.S. citizens instead of a passport when traveling to other countries in the western hemisphere.
The technology would allow the cards to be read from up to 20 feet away. This process only takes one or two seconds, said Ann Barrett, deputy assistant secretary for passport services at the State Department. The card would not have to be physically swiped through a reader, as is the current process with passports.
The technology is "inherently insecure and poses threats to personal privacy, including identity theft," Ari Schwartz, of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said in a statement. Schwartz said this specific technology, called "vicinity read," is better suited for tracking inventory, not people.
The State Department said privacy protections will be built into the card. The chip on the card will not contain biographical information, Barrett said.
And the card vendor — which has yet to be decided — will also provide sleeves for the cards that will prevent them from being read from afar, she said.
A 2004 law to strengthen border security called for a passport card that frequent border crossers could use that would be smaller and more convenient than the traditional passport. Currently, officials must swipe travelers' passports through an electronic reader at entry points.
The technology change for passport cards was initially proposed in October 2006, and public comments closed on Jan. 7, 2007. The State Department received more than 4,000 comments, and most were about the security of the technology.
On Jan. 31, land and sea travelers returning to the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be allowed to present a birth certificate and driver's license in lieu of a passport.
The Bush administration recently delayed a requirement that Americans present passports when crossing the U.S. border by land or sea. Officials expect the rule to require passports to go into effect at the end of next summer.
Source: ap.google.com

Canon to Develop SED TVs Using Own Technology

Canon Inc. plans to develop surface-conduction electron-emitter display, or SED, televisions using its own technology, the Asahi newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information.
Canon has been involved in a patent dispute with U.S.- based Nano-Proprietary Inc., which prevented the Japanese company from putting SED flat-panel televisions on the market in 2007 as originally planned, the newspaper said today.
The company has started the development of a new electron- emitting technology that should be more stable than Nano- Proprietary's, the Asahi said. Canon now aims to mass produce the televisions, according to the report.
Source: bloomberg.com

rijani: Iran ready for nuclear technology co-op with Egypt

CAIRO, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said here on Sunday that his country has the willingness to cooperate with Egypt in the field of nuclear technology, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Egyptian Press Syndicate, Larijani said that Iran is fully ready if asked to cooperate with Egypt on nuclear technology.
The cooperation with Egypt would "come through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and under its supervision," Larijani said.
Larijani, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also said his country is willing to cooperate with Egypt and all other Arab countries to reach security and stability throughout the Arab world, especially in Iraq and Lebanon.
Tehran seeks normal relations with all Arab countries to build "a structure established on the pillars of openness and frankness," Larijani was quoted as saying.
Larijani, who resigned as the top Iranian nuclear negotiator in October, arrived in Cairo on Monday on a private visit to Egypt with his family.
Bilateral relations between Egypt and Iran have witnessed gradual improvement in recent years since Iran cut their ties in 1980 in protest against Egypt's recognition of Israel.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com Editor: Yan Liang

Putting Green Technology in the Black

Vinod Khosla, chief of a six-person VC firm in Silicon Valley, is putting his money behind green technology, funding projects aimed at making renewable energy profitable. He thinks the technologies he's backing are near where they can compete against oil without government subsidies now required to make them competitive. "I want oil to compete with us -- not the other way around," he says.

There's little about the building where Vinod Khosla runs his tiny venture-capital firm to suggest he's at the forefront of a global effort to revolutionize how the world gets energy.
Small signs point discreetly to Khosla Ventures and other tenants at the low-slung building tucked inside a quiet Silicon Valley office park. One of the USA's richest men, Khosla is sitting in a sparsely furnished conference room in a blue pullover and blue slacks. He sips tea as he describes how his children view his rising passion for renewable energy.
"They think it's cool Dad is saving the planet," he says with a grin. Then he pauses, uncomfortable with how that sounds, and adds that he's not a fan of such "grandiose" statements.
Yet, saving the planet is what Khosla and a growing number of financiers, entrepreneurs and political luminaries hope for as they chase new ways to wean the world from oil, coal and other non-renewable energy sources now threatening the environment...
Source: technewsworld.com

Southern Technology Companies Shine Brightly at the 2008 International CES

More than 170 technology companies from the Southern region of the United States will showcase their latest consumer electronics products at the 2008 International CES - the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. Together, these exhibitors make the Southern U.S. the third most represented domestic region at CES and cover more than 30 different consumer technology categories, including emerging technologies, gaming hardware and software and digital imaging.
The 2008 International CES runs January 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada and will feature 2,700 exhibitors debuting their latest innovations in consumer technology throughout a record-setting 1.8 million net square feet of exhibit space.
Consumer media and dealer meetings are two of Kyodo America’s (KA) favorite things about CES. “We are very excited to showcase the LawnBott robotic mowers at the 2008 International CES due to the tremendous reach of the show,” said John Tarvin, marketing manager for KA Home Robotics, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. “KA will give CES attendees a worldwide exclusive, first look at our newest robotic mower model, never before released to the industry or public. Broadening our reach beyond the typical Lawn & Garden Shows, CES gives us a unique opportunity to show how modern technology is changing the way we do very mundane jobs around the home.”
Several key attractions are housed in and around the 2008 CES show floor. Key attractions include: BMW’s Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park, featuring live racing from the BMW Sauber F1 Team and the Formula BMW Team; Content@CES, a must-see hub in the LVCC Central Hall featuring companies that create, deliver and distribute content; the Digital Imaging Showcase, featuring the latest digital imaging technologies from more than 30 companies; the Gaming Showcase, a key exhibit space highlighting the latest in gaming hardware and software and Wireless World, featuring the entire wireless technology value chain from manufacturers to distribution to content and accessories.
This year’s CES will be exciting for Metra where it will introduce lifestyle and technology products designed to give retailers the opportunity to stay on top of consumer trends. “It is the perfect venue to reach out to current and new customers to show them how Metra is there to support their businesses,” said Bill Lauer, vice president of Holly Hill, Florida-based Metra. “By offering complete lines of video, security, marine, OEM integration and an expanded mix of installation products, Metra can say that we are the one-stop shop for all their needs.”
CES will host more than 20 market-specific TechZones. Several of these TechZones will be at the Sands/Venetian which also is home to the award-winning Innovations Showcase. These TechZones will highlight the latest innovations, technologies and trends in consumer electronics including IP, Mobile Internet & WiMax, NFC Forum, Podcasting and Robotics.
“With touch screens, smarter smart phones, mobile broadband, open platforms and new mobile operating systems – 2008 is going to be an incredibly exciting year for the mobile industry,” said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer, Samsung Telecommunications America, Richardson, Texas. “Samsung Mobile is excited to be at CES this year to showcase some of the key features and products that we believe will help to lead the way.”
Straight Wire, based in Hollywood Florida, has been exhibiting at CES for more than 20 years and finds the show worthwhile and productive. “Companies that do not exhibit at CES are at a competitive disadvantage by not having a presence,” said Steven Hill, president, Straight Wire. “Due to the large number of international and new attendees from all facets of the CE industry, it is foolish not to have a booth, regardless of size.”
For a complete listing of CES exhibitors by geographic location or product category, please visit our Exhibitor Directory online at CESweb.org.
Note to Journalists: Press and analyst registration plus detailed press conference information is available in the Press Room section of CESweb.org. Journalists are encouraged to arrive in Las Vegas by Saturday, January 5, 2008 to take advantage of all the pre-show press events, including State of the Industry, Audio Press Briefing and CES Unveiled, the official press event of the 2008 International CES all on January 5, 2008 in the Venetian.
Source: pr-usa.net

New technology in ATM scam

CRIMINALS are using wireless technology to skim personal identification numbers from bank cards at ATMs while sitting up to 100m away. Police say wireless keypad overlays are being used on ATMs in the latest international scam expected to hit Australian shores soon.

The keypads instantly transmit a person's secret PIN to a nearby laptop, replacing traditional skimming devices which were attached to ATMs.

"Under the old technology if they lost the skimming machine because it was detected or they could not retrieve it, they lost all the data,'' Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of Queensland police said.

"Now, they can retain the information collected between the time the device is put on the ATM and when it is collected or compromised.''

Supt Hay said the new technolo gy also meant skimmers no longer needed to install spy cameras on ATMs to record PINs.

"All the card data is transmitted to their laptops while they're having a cup of coffee up to 100m away,'' he said.

"They design the keypad overlays for specific types of ATMs so it makes them very difficult to detect.''

Police found the technology could be bought on the internet from black market websites.

"There is no evidence yet of the wireless technology being used in Australia but we know they are trading on the Internet,'' he said.

"We know the technology is out there and crooks can buy it so it will be inevitable it will happen here.''
Source: news.com.au

DHL tests package tracking technology

Someday, packages could carry little radio frequency stickers that let you track them down anywhere in the world, even on a ship or plane halfway across the ocean.

"It's like a global positioning system for packages," said Jerry Hennessy, director of customer-service operations for DHL Express, the company that is testing the technology in the Phoenix area.

DHL, owned by a German company, is the world's largest express-shipping company and has its second-largest American presence in the Phoenix area.

That includes its main American technology and data center, housed in a bulletproof Scottsdale building, and its largest American customer service center, in Tempe.

The Scottsdale center, with 1,000 employees, is where the company brainstorms and develops new products for American customers, such as the radio-frequency identification technology stickers that operate like smart stamps.

"You can stick a tag on a box and transmit a signal back to the mother station that can locate specifically where the box is," Hennessy said.

The company is now running pilot tests with some customers to see how well the stickers work. The high-tech stickers also can be used to measure temperatures, to make sure food, pharmaceuticals and other products are kept properly cool.

Another technology the company has developed is a simplified import process. A company can go online and arrange for a van in another country to pick up products or parts and then create a label and arrange for payment.

DHL has about 1,700 employees in the Valley, the most American workers outside Wilmington, Ohio. DHL has about 10,000 employees at its U.S. air-freight hub there. Though it's the largest express-shipping company in the world, it is only the third-largest in the United States, behind FedEx and UPS. It has its own aircraft fleet.

Around the clock, DHL workers are hustling somewhere in the world. The main DHL headquarters are in Bonn, Germany, and it also has headquarters in Plantation, Fla., London and Singapore.

At the Tempe call center, employees help customers ship and track packages and get information about customs and other issues affecting international shipments. The Tempe site has about 650 employees.

The company not only handles packages but helps other companies import parts and ship finished products by land, air, sea and rail.

For three years it has helped ship live Christmas trees and ornaments to American soldiers in Iraq.

Among the most unusual things it ships are live animals, including crickets used for pet food; live lobsters for human food; and jaguars, tigers, birds and other animals for zoos.

"We've had people ship bowling balls, and sometimes they don't pack them the right way," Hennessy said. "So you see them kind of skidding and even rolling down the conveyor belts."
Source: azcentral.com

Advanced Low Power QVGA 16M Color AMOLED LCD Driver IC

Leadis Technology, Inc., an analog and mixed-signal semiconductor developer of color display drivers, LED drivers, and audio ICs for mobile consumer electronic devices, today announced sample availability of the LDS532, a QVGA 16M color AMOLED LCD driver IC. The device has full memory and incorporates state-of-the-art features such as ABC (Automatic Brightness Control), ALS (Ambient Light Sensor), ACL (Automatic Current Limitation), Power Detector and RGB Separate Gamma.
The LDS532 16M color OLED LCD driver IC is the first AMOLED driver to fully support Nokia's Gen 3 display driver specification. The state-of-the-art features of the LDS532 allow this device to be ideal for low power applications such as those required by DMB (Digital Multi-Media Broadcasting), moving pictures, and wireless internet multimedia applications.
"With this LCD driver we are taking a leadership position in the emerging AMOLED Mobile Display Market," said Keeho Kim, GM of the Driver Business Unit at Leadis. "This is only the first of many products that we are developing for the AMOLED market."
Source: foxbusiness.com

next-generation broadband wireless mobile technology

China to develop next-generation broadband wireless mobile technology in 2008
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China would launch a special program to develop the technology for a "next-generation broadband wireless mobile communication network" in 2008, Wang Xudong, the minister of Information Industry, said on Thursday.
The next-generation technology would be in line with developing trends in information technology and would contribute to innovation and Chinese companies' global competitiveness, the minister said.
Additionally, the country would focus on research and development of other key technologies such as those for core electron devices, high-end general chips and ultra-large integrated circuits, he said.
On Wednesday, the State Council (cabinet) approved a plan to develop the next-generation network, which analysts said was related to the third generation (3G) services.
The country is expanding the TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) network tests to prepare for 3G services during the Beijing Olympics next year.
The TD-SCDMA is a homegrown 3G technology standard. The other two types of CDMA technologies are the U.S. standard, CDMA 2000, and the European WCDMA.
There was no timetable available yet for the issuance of 3G licenses, since relevant departments were still considering how the services would operate, but analysts said the homegrown standard was most likely to get the first license.
On the news of imminent 3G service, telecom shares surged, with China Unicom up by as much as 8.28 percent to 12.29 yuan (1.66 U.S. dollars) during Thursday's trading.
China has four major telecom operators -- China Telecom, China Netcom, China Mobile and China Unicom -- and each monopolizes one or two services.
In a recent report, China's top economic planner said that the country should reorganize the four operators to require them to offer "full-range" services. This means major communication businesses such as fixed lines, internet access and mobile communication services would no longer be monopolized by one or two operators.
The report said such a reorganization would create a "relatively fair" market environment and benefit consumers.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com

Ericsson technology enables new safety device launched by NTT DoCoMo

Ericsson has announced that a brand-new security device with positioning capabilities, enabled by Ericsson technology, has been launched in Japan.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc., the Japanese telecoms giant, has launched a safety device that gets high-precision location information by using the GPS function. The device is designed to provide family members or authorities with positioning information or to enable location tracking when the user pulls the slide switch in a dangerous or emergency situation. The slide switch also triggers a crime prevention buzzer on the device.
The device is based on the U310 platform developed by Ericsson. The platform enables the modem and GPS functionality within the device, which is small enough to be carried inside a pocket or bag for easy activation in case of emergency.
Robert Puskaric, Head of Ericsson Mobile Platforms, says: "This shows that our platform technology is flexible and small enough to be implemented in devices other than the traditional mobile phone. We are also pleased to see that our platform has been included in a security device within the DoCoMo portfolio, as this proves its stability and quality."
The product, CTG-001G, has been developed by Giant Electronics on behalf of DoCoMo, and was launched on the Japanese market on December 7.
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.
Source: foxbusiness.com

Mortgage Xpress Now The Alternative Energy Technology Center

Mortgage Xpress, Inc. (OTC:MXPR) announced today that it has amended its Articles of Incorporation to change its name to The Alternative Energy Technology Center, Inc. Documents will be filed with FINRA for approval and the name change and reverse stock split on a one share for each 50 share basis will be effective when approved. The Company will announce the date of this change when it is notified by FINRA. It is estimated these changes will take effect in about two weeks.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipate" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Source: foxbusiness.com

MTI Micro and Trident Technology Solutions Enter into a Joint Teaming Agreement

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro), developer of the Mobion micro fuel cell technology and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Incorporated, and Trident Systems, Inc (Trident), a leader in the development of unattended ground sensors, are teaming to pursue opportunities to leverage MTI Micro's consumer market platform into low-power military markets; teaming opportunities include demonstrations of unattended ground sensor prototypes powered by Mobion, and evaluations and potential submissions of proposals for military programs. Financial and other details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Unattended sensors are power hungry devices often situated in remote strategic locations where changing batteries may not be ideal. MTI Micro will work with Trident to determine and evaluate the use and integration of Mobion technology into Trident's line of unattended ground sensors to create a unique product offering - a long-lasting unattended ground sensor product.
Mobion technology powered sensors could offer the military longer device use time, uninterrupted intelligence data, less dangerous missions, and lower costs due to less frequent battery replacements. "The small form-factor MTI Micro's Mobion micro fuel cell, initially designed for handheld consumer devices, is an emerging high-density power supply that can further extends mission time for our unattended ground sensors," said Walter Pullar, Vice President for Networks & Sensors Division at Trident. "We are looking forward to working with MTI Micro, a leading micro fuel cell company."
"Trident's knowledge and experience in the development and commercialization of unattended ground sensors, makes them a valuable partner for MTI Micro," said Peng Lim, CEO of MTI. "MTI Micro is committed to leveraging its consumer program to a selected number of sensor applications in the military market, and we consider the opportunity to provide next-generation power sources for such applications to be a great fit for our Mobion technology."
This additional agreement with an OEM for low-power products follows MTI Micro's continuing collaboration covering cell phone and cell phone accessories with its Korean Partner and an agreement with DaeHong, its Korean representative. In addition, within the next 12 month, MTI Micro will continue to develop partnerships and processes to start manufacturing readiness, assess partnering opportunities with several other OEMs, and expect to begin shipping products in the consumer market in 2009.
Source: foxbusiness.com

Eco Friendly, Waterless Technology for Cleaning and Washing

Ecosentry Waterless Technology provides products and systems which are eco-friendly and use less water. Ecosentry Waterless Technology consists of Blue Max cleaning systems, Blue Max mobile wash and EcoPad portable wash bay.

Blue Max cleaning systems under Ecosentry Waterless Technology offer a variety of services including washing and cleaning of drive ways, footpaths, patios, pool decks, fences, brick paves, gutter cleaning, window washing. Commercial washing of factory floors, green houses, internalrounds, docks, supermarkets, swimming pools, yachts, cafe umbrellas and awnings is also offered. In addition, sealing and colour sealing is also offered.

Blue Max mobile fleet wash, a part of Ecosentry Waterless Technology, is a mobile washing service for vehicles operating 24 hours on all 7 days. The mobile units are equipped with oil separation and water filtration units which reduce hydrocarbons. The water can again be used for irrigation of gardens or lawns. Motorized EcoBund wash bays are made using Geo-membrane polymer. Biodegradable foaming detergents and mineral polymer protectants are used for washing the vehicles. In addition, Horsehair and microfiber brooms are used for heavily soiled vehicles.

EcoPad wash bays are portable bays for industrial, automotive, commercial and agricultural markets. They are hot dipped galvanized or epoxy coated and is available in two sizes. Accessories offered from EcoPad include oil/water separators, HP hoses, nozzles, detergents, HP washers, guns and lances, recycling systems.
Source: ferret.com.au

USA : Aldila JV member to buy Carbon Fiber Technology

Aldila Inc announced that its subsidiary, Aldila Materials Technology Corp. (“AMTC”) had entered into an agreement for the sale of AMTC’s 50% interest in Carbon Fiber Technology LLC (“CFT”) with SGL Carbon Fibers and Composites Inc (“SGL”), a subsidiary of SGL Group – The Carbon Company. SGL currently owns the other 50% of CFT. The sale is scheduled to close on November 30, 2007.

SGL will pay AMTC $17 million in cash, plus cash equal to one-half of CFT’s Net Working Capital as of November 30, 2007. Final adjustments to the Net Working Capital payment are expected to occur within 85 days after the closing of the sale.

Aldila’s subsidiary, Aldila Golf Corp. (“AGC”) and CFT concurrently entered into a Supply Agreement to allow AGC to continue to purchase up to 900,000 pounds of carbon fiber during the first year, and up to approximately 1,000,000 pounds of carbon fiber in subsequent years.

The Supply Agreement will run for 5 years, subject to certain early termination provisions. AGC will pay CFT’s costs plus an agreed mark-up for carbon fiber purchased under the Supply Agreement.

Peter R. Mathewson, Aldila’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased with this arrangement, which will allow us to monetize our investment in CFT recognizing a significant gain on the sale and at the same time provide us with continued access to carbon fiber from CFT for the next five years.

This sale allows us to focus on our two core businesses of graphite golf shafts and prepreg composite materials.”
Source: fibre2fashion.com

Bitstream Awarded Additional Patent for Mobile Browsing Technology

CAMBRIDGE, MA— Bitstream Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company a third patent for its ThunderHawk technology. This patent covers the technology that controls how web pages are retrieved and displayed on mobile devices, and is the foundation of the company’s ThunderHawk product.

ThunderHawk is the first browser to provide a consistent, full HTML browsing experience between mobile and desktop environments.

The issued patent covers technology that displays digital content, such as a Web site, by accessing it, laying it out at a virtual pixel resolution, and then displaying a portion of that layout at a smaller display resolution.

This displays the layout’s images and text at a scaled-down resolution size, with displayed text composed from font bitmaps having character shapes, sizes, and pixel alignments selected to improve readability at the scaled-down size.

“The technology covered in this patent supports a critical part of the ThunderHawk user experience: the ability to see information on a mobile device the same way you see it on a desktop,” said Anna Chagnon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bitstream, Inc.

“This patent - and the patents we received earlier this year - ensure that we will be able to continue to offer consumers the best mobile browsing experience available on the market today.”
Source: designtaxi.com

Nagaland, Manipur seek technology from IIT Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Nagaland Government has sought the technology for preserving fruits and vegetables from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The request has particularly been made to increase the shelf-life of Mandarin oranges grown in that State.
The State Government had approached the National Research Development Corporation to request IIT Delhi to send its experts for training officials and farmers in the technology. “We have an agreement with NRDC. The Nagaland Government has contacted them for a training programme to be run by IIT experts. The Government has already deposited the money. My team will go there in January for a demonstration,” reveals H. M. Chawla of the Chemistry Department at IIT Delhi who led research work on this technology.
“The Manipur Government has also shown interest in preservation of passion fruits. The officials of both the State governments had come to the laboratory on our campus to see the experiments being carried out by our team,” he added.
As part of a project under the Prime Minister’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee, Prof. Chawla and his team have developed a bio-degradable emulsion which helps in preventing fruits and vegetables from getting damaged for a relatively longer period.
Compared with uncoated fruits, the shelf-life of those washed in the emulsion has increased from three days to six weeks.
“The emulsion is prepared from a natural product obtained from lac available in this country and Thailand. The emulsion when applied to certain fruits and vegetables leaves an ultra-thin film on their surface that helps in maintaining the original naturalness of the fruit at the time of harvesting as ethylene evolution is known to trigger a slew of changes in fruit characteristics.”
Source: hindu.com

PetroBank to expand oilsands projects, with THAI technology keeping costs low

CALGARY - PetroBank Energy and Resources Ltd. (TSX:PBG), which plans to expand its foothold in Alberta's oilsands next year, will be able to do so at half the cost of other operators thanks to its patented technology, the company's vice president for heavy oil said Monday.
"We're using an in-situ combustion project that eliminated the use of water. We don't use natural gas. And by not having to generate steam to inject in the ground to produce oil, we really cut the capital costs tremendously," Chris Bloomer said in an interview.
"In general we say our capital is going to be half the cost of SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) and our operating costs are going to be half because we don't have that big water and steam component that's necessary."
The Calgary-based company began using its toe to heel air injection, or THAI, process at its Whitesands project in March 2006.
In the new year, the company plans to spend about $225 million to build three more wells at that site as well as an adjacent facility at May River, which will ultimately produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
The process uses air and the bitumen itself to heat underground reserves, making the tar-like substance thin enough to flow to the surface. The technology has lower capital costs and fewer environmental impacts than the more common SAGD method, the company said.
In addition to May River, PetroBank plans to build two new wells on its Dawson property, which it jointly owns with Duvernay Oil Corp. (TSX:DDV). The two companies inked a deal in November that allows Duvernay to use the THAI technology. In exchange PetroBank received a half-interest in Duvernay's Peace River-area oilsands operations.
"We have the potential for other projects similar to what we're talking about with our Dawson project with other third parties that we hope to progress in the new year," Bloomer said.
PetroBank also aims to grow its operations in Saskatchewan in 2008. It plans on drilling in 135 new locations throughout the Bakken trend, an oil-rich geological formation that stretches from North Dakota and Montana into Southern Saskatchewan. It is currently the largest company involved in that play.
PetroBank also acquired a 9,300-hectare oilsands property in Sutton Creek, Sask., last year. Exploration on that lease is set to begin in late 2008.
Many oil and gas companies have been seeking assets in Saskatchewan because they say a new royalty regime in Alberta has made it more expensive to do business there. But Bloomer said higher royalties in Alberta were not the main reason PetroBank decided to expand its assets in Saskatchewan.
PetroBank likes investing in Saskatchewan because that province's regulatory framework is easier to navigate than Alberta's, Bloomer said.
"Saskatchewan has an attitude of getting things done," he said.
"We look at that as being an opportunity both in terms of advancing projects faster than Alberta and I think there's a resource base that we can exploit using our technology."
PetroBank shares were up by about two per cent to $57.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Monday, a shortened trading day. The company's rolling 52-week high is $58.42 and it's low is $14.77 a share.
Source: ap.google.com

Apple Seeks to Patent Antipiracy Technology

The digital rights management system seeks the same control as Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage.

Apple Inc. has filed an updated application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a product activation and anti-piracy technology that would give the company the same kind of control over its software as the oft-criticized Windows Genuine Advantage platform provides its rival, Microsoft Corp.

Patent application 20070288886, titled "Run-Time Code Injection To Perform Checks" and dated Dec. 13, spells out a "digital rights management system" that would "restrict execution of that application to specific hardware platforms."

In the application, Apple noted the ease with which digital information can be copied and the just-as-easy way users could break promises not to illegally distribute copies of that data. It also admitted that, in the end, copy-protection schemes such as dongles or encrypting software wouldn't stop pirates on a mission. "There is very little, however, that these approaches can do to thwart a determined user," the patent filing stated.

"Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a mechanism to restrict the execution of one or more applications to a specific hardware platform that is transparent to the user."

Apple currently does not copy-protect its Mac OS X operating system, or tie a specific copy of the OS to a given notebook or desktop Macintosh machine.

The scheme Apple outlined in the patent application would rely on a cryptographic key generated prior to the hardware reaching the user. As an application launches, the technology would inject code into the app's executing code stream, generate data that's sent to a digital rights management module, then compare that signed data with the key. If they match, the application continues to open. If not, it's stopped in its tracks.

Such checks could be done on a very frequent basis, said Apple's patent application.

"In general, the selected time period should be small enough to prevent significant use of an unauthorized application or system, yet long enough so as not to degrade system performance," the filing read. Apple used an example of a check every five to ten minutes, which is much more often than Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) technology. In June 2006, Microsoft took heat, then modified WGA, after users found out it was "phoning home" to the company's servers daily.

Patent application 20070288886 isn't new, the December filing noted, but rather builds on other applications, including one first filed in mid-2005 but not publicly posted until early January 2007.

Apple was not immediately available for comment, but has a policy of not commenting on patent applications.
Source: pcworld.com

Laptop Project Enlivens Peruvian Hamlet

ARAHUAY, Peru (AP) — Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child project six months ago.
These offspring of peasant families whose monthly earnings rarely exceed the cost of one of the $188 laptops — people who can ill afford pencil and paper much less books — can't get enough of their "XO" laptops.
At breakfast, they're already powering up the combination library/videocam/audio recorder/music maker/drawing kits. At night, they're dozing off in front of them — if they've managed to keep older siblings from waylaying the coveted machines.
"It's really the kind of conditions that we designed for," Walter Bender, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff, said of this agrarian backwater up a precarious dirt road.
Founded in 2005 by former MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte, the One Laptop program has retreated from early boasts that developing-world governments would snap up millions of the pint-sized laptops at $100 each.
In a backhanded tribute, One Laptop now faces homegrown competitors everywhere from Brazil to India — and a full-court press from Intel Corp.'s more power-hungry Classmate.
But no competitor approaches the XO in innovation. It is hard drive-free, runs on the Linux operating system and stretches wireless networks with "mesh" technology that lets each computer in a village relay data to the others.
Mass production began last month and Negroponte says he expects at least 1.5 million machines to be sold by next November. Even that would be far less than Negroponte originally envisioned. The higher-than-initially-advertised price and a lack of the Windows operating system, still being tested for the XO, have dissuaded many potential government buyers.
Peru made the single biggest order to date — more than 272,000 machines — in its quest to turn around a primary education system that the World Economic Forum recently ranked last among 131 countries surveyed. Uruguay was the No. 2 buyers of the laptops, inking a contract for 100,000.
Negroponte said 150,000 more laptops will get shipped to countries including Rwanda, Mongolia, Haiti, and Afghanistan in early 2008 through "Give One, Get One," a U.S.-based promotion ending Dec. 31 in which you buy a pair of laptops for $399 and donate one or both.
The children of Arahuay prove One Laptop's transformative conceit: that you can revolutionize education and democratize the Internet by giving a simple, durable, power-stingy but feature-packed laptop to the worlds' poorest kids.
"Some tell me that they don't want to be like their parents, working in the fields," first-grade teacher Erica Velasco says of her pupils. She had just sent them to the Internet to seek out photos of invertebrates — animals without backbones.
Antony, 12, wants to become an accountant.
Alex, 7, aspires to be a lawyer.
Kevin, 9, wants to play trumpet.
Saida, 10, is already a promising videographer, judging from her artful recording of the town's recent Fiesta de la Virgen.
"What they work with most is the (built-in) camera. They love to record," says Maria Antonieta Mendoza, an Education Ministry psychologist studying the Arahuay pilot to devise strategies for the big rollout when the new school year begins in March.
Before the laptops, the only cameras the kids at Santiago Apostol school saw in this population-800 hamlet arrived with tourists who visit for festivals or to see local Inca ruins.
Arahuay's lone industry is agriculture. Surrounding fields yield avocados, mangoes, potatoes, corn, alfalfa and cherimoya.
Many adults share only weekends with their children, spending the work week in fields many hours' walk from town and relying on charities to help keep their families nourished.
When they finish school, young people tend to abandon the village.
Peru's head of educational technology, Oscar Becerra, is betting the One Laptop program can reverse this rural exodus to the squalor of Lima's shantytowns four hours away.
It's the best answer yet to "a global crisis of education" in which curricula have no relevance, he said. "If we make education pertinent, something the student enjoys, then it won't matter if the classroom's walls are straw or the students are sitting on fruit boxes."
Indeed, Arahuay's elementary school population rose by 10 when families learned the laptop pilot was coming, said Guillermo Lazo, the school's director.
The XOs that Peru is buying will be distributed to pupils in 9,000 elementary schools from the Pacific to the Amazon basin where a single teacher serves all grades, Becerra said.
Although Peru boasts thousands of rural satellite downlinks that provide Internet access, only about 4,000 of the schools getting XOs will be connected, said Becerra.
Negroponte says One Laptop is committed to helping Peru overcome that hurdle. Without Internet access, he believes, the program is incomplete.
Teachers will get 2 1/2 days of training on the laptops, Becerra said. Each machine will initially be loaded with about 100 copyright-free books. Where applicable, texts in native languages will be included, he added. The machines will also have a chat function that will let kids make faraway friends over the Internet.
Critics of the rollout have two key concerns.
The first is the ability of teachers — poorly trained and equipped to begin with — to cope with profoundly disruptive technology.
Eduardo Villanueva, a communications professor at Lima's Catholic University, fears "a general disruption of the educational system that will manifest itself in the students overwhelming the teachers."
To counter that fear, Becerra said the government is offering $150 grants to qualifying teachers toward the purchase of conventional laptops, for which it is also arranging low-interest loans.
The second big concern is maintenance.
For every 100 units it will distribute to students, Peru is buying one extra for parts. But there is no tech support program. Students and teachers will have to do it.
"What you want is for the kids to do the repairs," said Negroponte, who believes such tinkering is itself a valuable lesson. "I think the kids can repair 95 percent of the laptops."
Tech support is nevertheless a serious issue in many countries, Negroponte acknowledged in a phone interview.
One Laptop is currently bidding on a contract with Brazil's government that Negroponte says demanded unrealistically onerous support requirements.
The XO machines are water resistant, rugged and designed to last five years. They have no fan so they won't suck up dust, are built to withstand drops from a meter and a half and can absorb power spikes typical of places with irregular electricity.
Mendoza, the psychologist, is overjoyed that the program stipulates that kids get ownership of the laptops.
Take Kevin, the aspiring trumpet player.
Sitting in his dirt-floor kitchen as his mother cooks lunch, he draws a soccer field on his XO, then erases it. Kevin plays a song by "Caliente," his favorite combo, that he recorded off Arahuay's single TV channel. He shows a reporter photos he took of him with his 3-year-old brother.
A bare light bulb hangs by a wire from the ceiling. A hen bobs around the floor. There are no books in this two-room house. Kevin's parents didn't get past the sixth grade.
Indeed, the laptop project also has adults in its sights.
Parents in Arahuay are asking Mendoza, the visiting psychologist, what the Internet can do for them.
Among them is Charito Arrendondo, 39, who sheds brief tears of joy when a reporter asks what the laptop belonging to ruddy-cheeked Miluska — the youngest of her six children — has meant to her. Miluska's father, it turns out, abandoned the family when she was 1.
"We never imagined having a computer," said Arrendondo, a cook.
Is she afraid to use the laptop, as is typical of many Arahuay parents, about half of whom are illiterate?
"No, I like it. Sometimes when I'm alone and the kids are not around I turn it on and poke around."
Arredondo likes to play checkers on the laptop.
"It's also got chess, which I sort of know," she said, pausing briefly.
"I'm going to learn."
Source: ap.google.com

Bible put on a pinhead-size chip

Researchers in Israel say they have succeeded in putting a version of the Bible on a chip smaller than a pinhead.
Its 300,000 words in Hebrew were inscribed on a silicon surface at the Haifa Institute of Technology.
Scientists say the aim of the project is to increase young people's interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
The record for the smallest copy is held by a Bible measuring 2.8x3.4x1cm (1.1x1.3x0.4in), weighing 11.75g (0.4 ounces) and containing 1,514 pages.
The 0.5sq-mm (0.01sq-in) nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm).
It was written using a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib).
"When we send the particle beam toward a point on the surface, the gold atoms bounce off of this point, thus exposing the silicon layer underneath," Ohad Zohar, one of the project's managers at Technion, said.
"By sending a particle beam towards various points on the substrate, we can etch any pattern of points, especially one that represents text."
The next step for Technion researchers is photographing the Bible and displaying it on a giant wall within the Faculty of Physics.
"In this picture, which will be 7m by 7m (23ft by 23ft), it will be possible to read the entire Bible with the naked eye (the height of each letter will be some 3mm - 0.1in)," Mr Zohar said.
"Near this picture, the original - the nano-Bible itself, which is the size a grain of sugar - will be displayed."
Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Energy bill nonsense: Money for nonexistent technology

The recent federal energy bill says we will get a large portion of ethanol from the converson of other cellulose material to ethanol.
The problem is that this technology has not yet been developed. It is not logical for lawmakers to pass a law on something that doesn't exist.
It is good to spend dollars doing research. But this says the lawmakers are somewhat stupid.
Tom Waarvik
Source: indystar.com

Britain's Queen gets technology savvy

London - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched a channel on the popular video-sharing website YouTube Sunday, British press reports said, citing Buckingham Palace.

Known as The Royal Channel, the online video service plans to feature the queen's 50th traditional Christmas Day message for the first time this year, Sunday's Observer weekly reported.

The queen, who did not use a personal computer until two years ago, was told of the YouTube phenomenon by her grandchildren, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the Observer reported.

The channel was due to be launched on Sunday with footage of the queen's parents' wedding in 1923 and of Queen Alexandra visiting rose sellers in London in 1917.

Other footage to be included at the launch shows reaction to George VI's death, the queen's accession to the throne and her coronation, the report said.

The palace plans to add more footage and also to translate it into various languages, the reports said.

The channel can be viewed at www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel.
Source: iol.co.za

KEANE CALLS FOR TV TECHNOLOGY

Sunderland manager Roy Keane is convinced there are "enough experts out there" to introduce goal-line technology to top-flight football.
The Irishman is convinced his side have been particularly hard done by this month with Reading's controversial stoppage-time winner at the Madejski Stadium the latest decision to go against them.
Referee Steve Tanner, having consulted with linesman Steve Rubery, ruled that Black Cats goalkeeper Craig Gordon had not been able to stop a shot from Stephen Hunt from crossing the line and as a result Sunderland now find themselves in the bottom three.
Television replays did not clearly show whether the decision had been the correct one but Keane, who had seen a last-minute goal for his side ruled out in last week's drawn game with Aston Villa, was convinced the time has come for officials to get help from the cameras.
He said: "People, punters and fans enjoy the indecision of officials, probably, but it doesn't help when you feel it is affecting your club.
"We have to be open minded. It would have made a difference today and probably last week. I'm sure there are enough experts out there. I know people are constantly looking at the game.
"You have to keep looking at the game because of the amount of money involved. Decisions have gone against other clubs; I think it was Fulham not long ago, against Middlesbrough and the ball was over the line.
"You just keep hoping that over the course of the season these decisions will even themselves out. It hasn't for the last few weeks but we hope, come May, that we look back and say 'well some went for us and some went against us'. At the moment they are all going against us.
"I'm not just on about the goals, I'm on about every decision, tackles, like today, like last week, the second goal against Chelsea. We could be here all night..."
The Premier League have been testing goal-line equipment at Reading's Hogwood Park training ground and manager Steve Coppell, who had seen his side dominate and take a deserved lead through a rare goal from defender Ivar Ingimarsson, admitted Hunt's winner had been fortunate.
That was especially so given that Sunderland had been the better side in the final minutes. Michael Chopra converted a penalty won by Kenwyne Jones, who then had a late chance to win the game for a side yet to taste success on its travels this term.
But home goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann saved when Jones would have been better served by setting up substitute Anthony Stokes for a tap-in, and Reading's reply was Hunt's winner.
But Coppell was also adamant that if anyone deserved a decisive goal it was the Irishman, who is apparently coveted by Everton and had played in the unfamiliar position of right wing.
He said: "It capped what was a terrific performance from Stephen Hunt. He was exceptional all game. I can understand why people would want him. He has been terrific this year. He really has been a bundle of energy and not just that, has skill as well.
"Good players can play anywhere. They obviously prefer the specialist positions but if you put Maradona on the right wing he would do a fair old job."
Source: sportinglife.com

prevent security leaks

xerox unveils technology that blocks access to sensitive data in documents to prevent security leaks


Xerox Corp. researchers from Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) today demonstrated for the first time a new software technology that will greatly increase accuracy while reducing the time needed to remove sensitive or confidential material from documents.
Dubbed “Intelligent Redaction,” the new software automates the process of removing confidential information from any document. Once users have identified the information they want to protect, the software automatically redacts all references to this information throughout the document. After information has been classified, that same information will be automatically redacted if it appears in other documents. This “intelligence” ensures a consistent level of security, saves time and increases redaction accuracy.
The research aligns with Xerox’s goal of developing smarter documents to make information-based work easier, more efficient and more effective.
Still in development, the innovative technology combines PARC’s security and privacy, natural language, and user interface design expertise to develop semi-automated ways to identify and protect sensitive content. The intelligent redaction technology also
creates a behind-the-scenes audit trail should the document or information be compromised.
In today’s world virtually all data including personalized financial, customer, employee and confidential corporate data is stored digitally. The new technology responds to a growing problem -- protecting sensitive data.
“The tools available today can’t provide sufficient content analysis and security because it’s difficult to determine what is sensitive,” according to Ben Gale, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Xerox MEA. “In a large organization the level of sensitivity changes depending on the person accessing the document. The sheer numbers of documents to be tracked and sorted further complicates the problem.”
Now you see it. Now you don’t.Redaction is the ability to control what someone sees. For example, redaction traditionally has been used in legal documents to limit access to information protected by client-attorney privilege. The result is a document that has been censored; certain information within the document is blocked out.
Traditional redaction has two big drawbacks. It requires a labor-intensive manual process to identify sections to censor, and management of different versions of the same document is cumbersome and difficult. PARC’s intelligent redaction removes these obstacles. The user interface makes it easy for the document owner or author to identify the sensitive data. Then the security tools protect the sensitive information by allowing the document itself to hide or expose information or data within it, based on who has been granted access. How it worksCurrent software encrypts whole documents. Intelligent redaction understands document context so it can perform partial encryption. Only sensitive sections or paragraphs are encrypted, while the rest of the document is not. The intelligent redaction software also displays or hides restricted portions of the document. Now the document appears different to different people.
The new software automates the process of removing confidential information in three steps. The software first analyzes the content of the document automatically and identifies entities of interest such as the names of persons or companies, topics, addresses, and identification numbers and the relationships between them such as two people living at the same address. The next step is for the author to review the document, highlight entities of interest, and trace the relationship between entities. This simplifies the task of finding all sensitive information in a document and reduces the risk of missing anything sensitive. Finally, the software allows for selective encryption or redaction of sensitive sections of the document.
Inside Innovation at XeroxXerox researchers, scientists and engineers conduct work in color science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials, and other disciplines connected to Xerox's expertise in printing and document management. A recipient of the National Medal of Technology, the highest technology award in the United States, for its innovations, the company consistently builds its inventions into business by embedding them in Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation for new business, or licensing or selling them to other entities. For more information, visit http://www.xerox.com/innovation.
PARC, a Xerox Corporation company, collaborates with sponsors and clients to discover breakthrough business and technology concepts that solve real needs, and transform how enterprises deliver value to customers. Founded in 1970 as part of Xerox Research, then incorporated in 2002 as an independent research business, PARC is celebrated for innovations such as laser printing, distributed computing and Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI), object-oriented programming, and ubiquitous computing. For more information, visit http://www.parc.com.