IBM to bring together mainframes and game chips

Computerworld

April 26, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- IBM has a plan to stop the computing delays familiar to users of virtual worlds and online games, simply by adding its Cell gaming chips to its mainframe servers, the company said Thursday.

IBM developed the Cell Broadband Engine chip with Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. for use in industries ranging from aerospace and defense to gaming, including Sony's PlayStation 3 video-game console. IBM intends to create a hybrid machine through the integration of the Cell processor with its System z9 Business Class mainframe server. The z9BC is the vendor's entry-point product for businesses that need less capacity than the System z9 Enterprise Class mainframe.

While the original design of this so-called gameframe computer is dedicated to smoothing out performance problems in delivering rich graphics for the 3-D Internet, future versions could handle business applications like ERP, customer relationship management, virtual stores and meeting rooms, collaboration environments, data repositories and mapping.

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Malaysia leads plan for ambitious undersea fiber optic cable directly linking U.S. and S.E. Asia

The Jakarta Post

KUALA LUMPUR(AP): Seventeen major telecommunications companies signed a pact Friday to build a US$500 million undersea fiber optic cable between Southeast Asia and the United States they claim will be relatively safe from earthquakes and tsunamis.

The link will offer "a timely increase in both the capacity and diversity of Internet links between Asia and the U.S., bearing in mind the disruptions caused by the recent Taiwan earthquake," Abdul Wahid Omar, chief executive of Telekom Malaysia, said at the signing ceremony.

Internet users will get faster and more reliable service once the high-bandwidth cable starts operating in December 2008, he said.

Telekom Malaysia, which is leading the consortium of companies, said construction of the 20,000-kilometer link would begin immediately. It said it would be the first submarine cable system linking Southeast Asia directly to the United States.

The fiber optic cable, dubbed the Asia-America Gateway, will connect the U.S. West Coast with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii, as well as offer "seamless interconnection" for those locations with Europe, Africa and Australia, Telekom said in a statement.

It will "provide an alternative and a more secure link for traffic from the region to the U.S.A.," Telekom said. "This low-risk route was designed to avoid the volatile and hazardous Pacific Ring, thus mitigating the effects from natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis."

A magnitude 7.1 quake snapped undersea cables near Taiwan on Dec. 26, disrupting phone and Internet communications across Asia as companies scrambled to reroute traffic through satellites and undamaged cables. Services were gradually restored in the days after the quake.

Run Linux Apps on IBM Unix Servers

Beta software lets users run x86-based Linux programs on IBM's proprietary Unix server hardware.

Todd R. Weiss, Computerworld

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 9:00 AM PDT

IBM and other IT hardware vendors have for years touted the cost-saving benefits of running enterprise applications on industry-standard x86 hardware and Linux instead of on Unix systems that run on proprietary hardware.

That message notwithstanding, IBM Monday unveiled beta software that allows users to run thousands of x86-based Linux applications without code modifications on IBM's proprietary Power-processor-based System p Unix servers. The idea, according to IBM, is that some corporate users like the security, reliability and scalability of Unix while also wanting the benefits of server consolidation.

The beta software, now available for download, will allow users to run their Linux x86 applications in virtualized Linux environments in what is being called the IBM System p Application Virtual Environment or System p AVE.

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Google overtakes Microsoft as world's most valuable brand

Gulfnews

New York (Reuters) : Google has knocked Microsoft from its perch as the world's top-ranked brand, according to findings released on Monday.

The rankings, compiled by market research firm Millward Brown, also put Google ahead of well-established brands like General Electric, No 2; Coca-Cola., No 4; Wal-Mart Stores, No 7; and IBM, No 9.

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Man gets 5,000 calls for YouTube posting

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. -- Ryan Fitzgerald is unemployed, lives with his father and has a little bit of time on his hands.

So, he decided to offer his ear, to anyone who wants to call. After posting a video with his cell phone number on YouTube on Friday, the 20-year-old told The Boston Globe he has received more than 5,000 calls and text messages.

Fitzgerald said he wanted to "be there," for anyone who needed to talk. "I never met you, but I do care," a spiky-haired Fitzgerald said into the camera on his YouTube posting.

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10 career tips for Asia's IT pros

Finding that dream job--and keeping it--is not rocket science. You just need a combination of the right skills, good work ethics, a positive attitude, and creative thinking.

By Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia

Friday , April 13 2007 09:45 AM

Whether it is a technical or business role, the basic rules apply: behave professionally, be confident, stand out from the crowd, and always push the creative envelope in whatever you do.

Here's a list of 10 quick career tips, ranging from how to write an effective resume to what IT professionals in Asia can do to stay employable throughout their careers.

1. Get noticed

Make sure that your resume or curriculm vitae (CV) stands out.

Ashran Dato Ghazi, CEO of Malaysia-based Asiastream Group, said: "[Recruiters] look at tones of CVs daily and you need something to catch their attention. Show your character via your CV."

Fresh graduates, he suggested, should make full use of their time in university to build up their portfolios. "Use the university as a place for exploration and share those explorations in your CVs," said Ghazi, who is also the president of the New Entrepreneur Forum in Malaysia. "Employers want to see something different in the CV."

Those who have working experience should do more than state their job scope. "Highlight your achievements in your CV, too, said Yeo Gek Cheng, director of Hudson's IT&T (IT and telecommunications) practice in Asia.

"A 65:35 split between achievements and scope is a good rule of thumb," Yeo added. "Employers tend to single out candidates who fulfill the basic essential hard skills requirements before evaluating their fit into the organization, which is the stage where soft skills are looked into. (Read Hudson's career support resources for more information.)

One way to differentiate yourself is to attain professional certification. Employers are showing more preference for candidates with recognized certifications such as Cisco's CCIE or Sun Microsystems' Certified Java programmers, said Maneck Mohan, founder of Recruit.net.

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Bill Gates: The next great success will come from Asia

Xinhua

"The next great success will come from Asia", said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said here Saturday.

Sixty percent of the people in the United States said the next success would come from Asia, Gates said, citing a survey done in the United States on "where will the next big success and where the next Bill Gates come from".

That's true as it's well recognized that the investment and changes here are leading to very innovative work, said Gates at the annual session of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which opened Saturday in the southern China town of Boao.

According to him, Microsoft established its first research center in Asia about 10 years ago and currently is spending 60 percent of its research and development budget in Asia.

The quality of job by Microsoft's development centers in Asia is among the best in the world, he added.

Gates said he was surprised that Thomas Friedman's book, The World Is Flat, is not only popular in the United States but also in countries throughout Asia, and it's a biggest seller in China.

According to him, Friedman has done a good job in explaining how two amazing things come together. One is the economic development in Asia, particularly the investment in education; and the other is the advances in technology, particularly the rivalry on the Internet.

He said the opportunity that a person has used to be largely determined by the country they were living in, but now the opportunity is much more determined by the level of education that they received.

"And so not only is Asia benefiting from the uses of new technology, Asia will increasingly be the source of advances in technology," said Gates.

Gates arrived in Beijing Thursday for his 10th visit to China, during which he met with Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi and visited the prestigious Beijing University and Qinghua University in Beijing.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia has become the premier platform for discussions about economic development in the world's largest continent.

This year's BFA annual conference attracted more than 1,400 most influential politicians, business leaders and intellectuals from Asia and around the globe.

Source: Xinhua

'Innovation, investment key to Asia's dynamism'

Asian economies need to embrace innovation and invest more in technology so that they will continue to lead the world with their economic miracle, say leaders attending the Boao Forum for Asia conference.

The Jakarta Post

Riyadi Suparno, Boao, Hainan, China

"Rapid and peaceful economic development in Asia is a miracle," Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, told the Boao forum, "but it needs more investment in education and technology" to keep the miracle going.

Investment in education, he said, was necessary to improve the welfare of common people as the benefits of educational attainment to wealth creation are beyond doubt, and investment in technology should support that.

Investment in technology, said Gates, should focus on industries related to three big areas that have revolutionized the world: personal computing, the Internet and mobile telephony.

"A PC connected to the Internet is the greatest achievement mankind has ever created," he said, adding that mobile technology has made them even more powerful.

Therefore, he said, Asian economies, especially the big players like China and India, should invest more in research and development, especially in these three areas, to keep the miracle going, Gates said.

Since 2000, Asia's economy has grown by over 6 percent per annum, contributing to 20 percent of world economic growth. Today, Asia's economy, trade and foreign exchange reserves respectively take up a quarter, one-third and three-quarters of the world's total.

Wu Boangguo, the third-most important person in China after the president and prime minister, said that to maintain Asia as the most dynamic region in the world, there should be enhanced cooperation in science and technology.

"The growth of wealth and the increase of people's well-being increasingly hinge on the accumulation of knowledge and innovation," said Wu, currently chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

"In the face of a global trend in scientific and technological development and fierce competition, only by giving top priority to scientific and technological innovation can we Asian countries seize the opportunity and take the lead in development," he added.

On China, Wu explained that his government now gives priority to independent innovation to turn China into an "innovation-based country" by 2020, when scientific and technological advances should contribute to over 60 percent of economic growth, imported technologies should be brought down to below 30 percent and research and development expenditures should increase to over 2.5 percent of GDP.

"It is a national strategy we pursue in all endeavors of modernization," he said.

Speaking at the same forum, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that despite technological advancement achieved in many countries in Asia, Asia continues to be seen as a low-cost production house for Western brands and, therefore, it needs to move up the "value-chain" by innovating in products and services.

"Asian companies need to continue acquiring companies in the West and creating their own brands, as brand creation boosts both value and return," Aziz said.

Via Details Credit Card-Sized Motherboard

Taiwan's Via Technologies released details of its upcoming motherboard, which opens the door to very small PC designs.

Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service

PCWorld.com, Friday, April 20, 2007 6:00 AM PDT

Taiwan's Via Technologies Inc. Thursday released details of its upcoming Pico-ITX motherboard, which is roughly the same size as a credit card and opens the door to very small PC designs.

Measuring just 10 centimeters (cm) by 7.2 cm, the Pico ITX is designed for Via's C-7 and Eden microprocessor families, and uses chipsets like Via's VX700, which packs the memory controller, integrated graphics, and I/O hub into a single chip instead of two. The motherboard has a single memory slot that can hold up to 1G byte of DDR2 (double data rate 2) memory.

Via hasn't announced precisely when the new boards will be available, but said it plans to release its first Pico-ITX product "shortly."

In the meantime, Via has published a detailed overview of the motherboard's specifications, hoping to win device makers over to the new motherboard form factor.

Via is the third-largest supplier of x86 processors, trailing far behind Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. But the Taiwanese chip company has blazed a trail to PCs that are smaller and consume less power than anything seen before.

Five years ago, Via began shipping the first Mini-ITX motherboards, a form factor designed by the company for embedded applications that caught on with enthusiasts interested in making smaller PCs. Measuring 17 cm by 17cm, the Mini-ITX is significantly larger than the Pico-ITX.

Lawmakers Grill US Agencies on Cyberattacks

Lawmakers expressed concern that U.S. agencies recently hacked have poor cybersecurity practices.

Grant Gross, IDG News Service

PCWorld.com, Friday, April 20, 2007 8:00 AM PDT

Lawmakers expressed concern Thursday that multiple U.S. agencies whose networks were hacked recently can't be sure they've fixed their vulnerabilities because of poor cybersecurity practices.

Several agencies haven't completed inventories of their IT equipment, and can't know how badly they've been compromised, said Representative James Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat, during a hearing of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology.

"We don't know the scope of our networks," said Langevin, chairman of the subcommittee. "We don't know who's inside our networks. We don't know what information has been stolen. We need to get serious about this threat to our national security."

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ADB, Microsoft Forge Partnership to Promote ICT in Asia and the Pacific

19 April 2007

BEIJING, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - Asian Development Bank and Microsoft Corp. have forged a partnership to enable countries in the Asia Pacific region to benefit from new opportunities created by Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), which ADB views as a critical component in ensuring sustainable economic growth in the region.

"In the Asia and Pacific region, concerns are mounting over the growing 'digital divide,' the difference between those developing member countries of the ADB that have the capacity and resources to access ICT and those that do not," said ADB Vice President C. Lawrence Greenwood, Jr.

Numerous studies from the World Summit on Information Societies and the multi-stakeholder Global Alliance for ICT for Development (GAID) have shown that economic performance hinges much on ICT, as it provides developing nations with a wide range of opportunities to meet vital development goals, including poverty reduction, bridging the digital divide and developing content for e-services.

"Information and Communications Technologies play an important role in fighting poverty and fostering development in the Asia Pacific region," said Mr. Greenwood. "ADB is pleased to partner with Microsoft to bridge the digital divide and help deliver on this promise."

Through the partnership, ADB and Microsoft will jointly undertake projects, studies and capacity building initiatives in five strategic areas of common interest, including innovation, ICT and governance, ICT and education, enabling jobs and opportunity, and regional integration and trade.

"We share the tremendous optimism evident in this region, and look forward to working with the Asian Development Bank to ensure that every citizen in the region has the chance to realize their full potential" said Gerri Elliot, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft Corp.

Based on ADB’s policy paper Toward E-development in Asia and the Pacific: A Strategic Approach for ICT, three strategic thrusts were proposed, including the creation of an enabling environment by fostering the development of innovative sector policies, the strengthening of public institutions and promoting the development of ICT facilities and related infrastructure networks, building human resources, and developing ICT applications and information contents.

Since 1971, ADB assistance in the telecommunications and ICT sectors has reached $1.8 billion, or 1.5% of ADB’s total assistance for the period. The telecommunications sector accounted for 86% of that amount from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, while ICT applications received 14% since 2000.

About ADB

IBM's Computer Recycling Efforts Significantly Reducing e-Waste Worldwide

Yahoo Finance

Friday April 20, 7:58 am ET

ARMONK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 20, 2007 -- IBM today announced that it processed over 100 million pounds of used and obsolete computer gear, as part of its computer renewal and recycling efforts worldwide in 2006, returning less than 1% of non-hazardous material to landfills.

This is the fourth straight year in a row that IBM has managed to decrease its return-to-landfill volumes, demonstrating the company's commitment to IT renewal, refurbish, reuse and resale in the secondary market.

"While we are known for being a leading manufacturer of IT equipment, IBM also leads the way in computer disposal," said Wayne Balta, IBM VP of Environmental Policy. "By returning less to landfills through renewal, refurbishment and recycling, we are doing our part to protect the environment around the world."

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Dell loses top spot to HP, shrinks in growing PC market

By Stan Beer, ITWire

Friday, 20 April 2007

Last year the clear worldwide PC kingpin Dell, slipped badly in the first quarter of 2007, to be a poor second to Hewlett-Packard. Dell has lost a huge amount of ground in the past 12 months in terms of market share and was the only major vendor to have declining unit sales in a robust market that grew by nearly 9%, according to figures released by research group Gartner.

Both HP, now the clear market leader, and Acer, which moved ahead Lenovo into the number three spot, had fantastic growth spurts, with HP growing unit sales by 28.7% and Acer growing 46.1%. In contrast, Dell's unit sales shrunk by 7.8%.

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Microsoft aims to double user base with $3 Windows and Office

By Stan Beer, ITWire

Thursday, 19 April 2007

Microsoft has launched an effort to double its user base to 2 billion by 2015, offering students in developing countries entry level versions of Windows and Office for next to nothing. It's also an effort to keep users in poorer nations hooked on Windows and away from Linux.

According to Microsoft, its Student Innovation Suite will be an affordable and reliable software package for governments who buy and give free Windows-based PCs to primary and secondary students for their personal use at home and for schoolwork.

The Microsoft suite, which will be sold to qualifying governments for US$3, includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office, and Windows Live Mail desktop.

Interestingly, the package, which will be be offered in the second half of 2007, includes Windows XP instead of Vista, suggesting that it is aimed at lowly configured and perhaps recycled computers.

Microsoft, which has a massive piracy problem in developing countries, is caught between a rock and a hard place in poorer nations. Most consumers cannot afford its premium priced software and the only way to access Microsoft products is to buy cheap pirated copies. The problem for Microsoft is if it cracks down too hard on piracy in poor countries it risks pushing consumers into the arms of open source alternatives such as Linux.

With an eye on low cost Linux-based initiatives, such as the One Laptop Per Child program, Microsoft is attempting to tap into a view from some humanitarian organizations such as FAIR that putting recycled PCs from the first world to use in developing countries makes more sense than selling them cheap new Linux boxes.

The last thing Microsoft wants to see is a Linux third world. Therefore, since most recycled PCs will be Windows machines running XP, it is in Microsoft's interests to persuade cash poor governments to buy cheap recycled PCs which will be capable of running its US$3 software.

Next Generation IBM WebSphere Portal Helps Businesses Achieve Goals With Web 2.0 Enhancements

Wednesday April 18, 9:00 am ET

ARMONK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 18, 2007 -- IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) today announced a single, simplified IBM WebSphere Portal offering with enhanced Web 2.0 tooling and a set of tailored business-ready packages -- or "accelerators" that support a quicker return on investments and shortened implementation cycles for specific business problems. Also available later this month is IBM Portlet for Google Gadgets that allows end users to integrate consumer-style web utilities, extending the value of Internet services to business environments.

Accelerators for WebSphere Portal address specific business problems and can simplify the implementation of customized solutions on a single portal platform. For example, IBM Dashboard Accelerator provides an easy way for companies to align objectives, view real time business results, and take action on performance gaps. The Dashboards are easily customizable and can be tailored to any industry. For instance, an energy company can build an emissions dashboard for plant operators showing real time emissions from the different utility devices as well as a scorecard that monitors performance against a set of objectives to help comply with regulatory requirements.

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Google Expands Office Software

Google Adds Presentation Software to Office Apps Package As Microsoft Rivalry Escalates

Yahoo.com, Tuesday April 17, 7:05 pm ET

By Rachel Konrad, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. plans to launch software similar to Microsoft Corp.'s popular PowerPoint program as the two companies vie to dominate the online experience.

Google Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt described the software Tuesday at a conference for Internet entrepreneurs. He also blasted Microsoft and AT&T Inc., whose executives complained over the weekend that Google may soon have an illegal monopoly in online advertising.

Google announced Friday it would pay $3.1 billion to acquire ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc. Almost as soon as Google announced the cash acquisition, Microsoft and AT&T executives said the deal could violate antitrust legislation -- and result in a dangerous concentration of Internet users' personal data at Mountain View-based Google.

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Asia: Hotbed for IT jobs

ZDnet India

According to human resources agency Hudson, the sentiment is generally good for IT professionals in this region.

Yeo Gek Cheng, director of IT and telecoms (IT&T) at Hudson Singapore, said there are more jobs for candidates in Singapore as demand far exceeds supply.

Similarly in Hong Kong, the IT job market is short of candidates--almost like how it was in 2000 during the dotcom days, according to Ellis Seder, IT&T manager at Hudson Hong Kong. "The banking industry, in particular, is experiencing a hiring frenzy for candidates with technology skills," he said.

Indeed, the HR experts' views dovetailed with findings from ZDNet Asia's inaugural IT Salary Survey, which provides an overview of salary data for several IT positions, including IT management, project development and systems development. It also highlights the most popular technical skills and professional certifications.

The survey was conducted on the Internet between Aug. 25 and Nov. 6, 2006, and drew 5,090 respondents from key industry sectors such as government, healthcare, IT, services, telecommunications, legal and finance. The study covered Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Among the key findings: IT professionals command the highest pay in Hong Kong, with an overall average annual salary of HK$404,144 (US$51,964), followed by Singapore at S$64,943 (US$41,601). Surprisingly, Thailand is in third place with an average of THB 994,203 (US$27,044).

Industry observers say the high salaries are hardly surprising, thanks to a shrinking IT workforce and expanding IT teams.

Rohit Chattree, director at HR consultancy Adecco, noted: "We are getting a lot more requests from clients to look for more candidates, as they expand their IT teams. We're also speaking to a lot of candidates who get offers regularly."

Particularly in Singapore, Chattree said, the local IT talent pool has dried up. Employers are even open to talking to IT professionals looking for jobs while they are in Singapore on tourist visits.

Noting trends across the region, Chattree said: "There is strong interest from different industries to hire IT professionals".

Among the industries surveyed, respondents from the legal and finance sector command the highest average annual salaries in four out of the seven countries: Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Blogging for Business

Leaving a six-figure salary to start a full-time blog seems a bit risky and uncertain.

By Farnoosh Torabi

TheStreet.com Correspondent, 4/11/2007 9:12 AM EDT

But in just two years, 34-year-old Michelle Madhok, a former America Online executive, says her shopping blog, SheFinds.com, is headed to be an even more lucrative career choice. This year, it's forecast to rake in half a million dollars -- up from $70,000 in 2005.

"We scour the web for the best finds in fashion and beauty," says Madhok. "It's kind of like an online magazine, only you can interact with it. It's a great way to get something fresh up there every day."

The blog makes money by selling banner ads, but the bulk of revenue stems from the site's retail placements. Product reviews and articles always include where consumers can find mentioned items.

If readers actually go on to buy the items, SheFinds.com earns a commission, as much as 15%. "First the editorial is written, and the links are put in afterwards," Madhok stresses.

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Protect Vista PCs from Viruses

Newsletter #12: Antivirus Options

Edited by Peggy Watt, PC World

Monday, April 09, 2007 12:00 AM GMT-08:00

A computer virus can be much worse than a physical sniffle. A particularly creative and nasty virus, Trojan horse, or worm can harvest your e-mail inbox so an unscrupulous e-marketer can spam your friends. That's embarrassing, but some viruses may damage your hard drive and data. A Trojan horse program could conscript your PC into an army of zombies used to attack a server somewhere, possibly at some future date.

The fact is, every PC needs security protection that includes antivirus software today. So, if you've loaded up Vista (or plan to), you need to be aware of these particular security issues with Microsoft's newest operating system. Microsoft promotes Vista as among its most secure products, but its handling of antivirus functions may surprise you.

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Japan looks to future mobile telecoms utopia

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Apart from providing more convenience and efficiency in communication, mobile telecommunications will also play a significant role in the future of education and healthcare, a Japanese telecoms expert says.

Hitoshi Yoshino, a senior executive of NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile telecoms operator, said Thursday during a Japanese government-sponsored seminar in Jakarta that the advancement of mobile technology had begun to change the way the people supplied medical services and education.

In the future, he said, mobile telecommunication technology would enhance human to human, human to machine and machine to machine communications.

"As we can see from the video, an advanced application, among other things, would allow a veterinarian to examine a sick horse remotely from his car through holographic images and virtual telephony," Hitoshi said during a video presentation.

Such a scenario, Hitoshi said, would require a broadband data transfer capability in the range of 500 megabytes to 3 gigabytes per second. The most widely used broadband wireless data transfer system at the present time has a capability of 384 kilobytes per second.

The video show highlighted some of the possibilities offered by the fourth-generation mobile technology (4G) known as International Mobile Technology (IMT)-Advanced, which represents the next stage of development of NTT DoCoMo's current third-generation (3G) mobile technology, known as Freedom Of Multimedia Access (FOMA), or IMT-2000. Other potentials included platforms for mobile remote learning systems, urban area monitoring with a personal uplink system, mobile botanical laboratories, one-stop travel boarding system, and integration of information technology with transportation access.

The video also highlighted how a disabled teacher could converse and interact closely with students during a pottery class using a virtual telephony system with images projected vividly on what appeared to be an ordinary "big window" glasses.

Japan raced ahead of other developed countries when launching it launched the world's first 3G technology with the rollout of NTT DoCoMo's FOMA in 2001.

NTT DoCoMo is a subsidiary of Japan's incumbent telephone operator NTT, while the name DoCoMo is officially an abbreviation of the phrase Do Communications Over the Mobile Network. It also means "everywhere" in Japanese.

Since FOMA was the first 3G technology to penetrate the market, it uses a similar, but nevertheless different, kind of 3G technology to the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), which was first adopted by Europe and later became the most widely used in the world.

Hitoshi said that to ensure the further development of FOMA, global harmonization of frequency spectrum bands had to occur so as to ensure economies of scale and permit global roaming.

"Globally harmonized bands are needed for both coverage bands and capacity bands," he stressed.

Seven Ways to Improve Vista

Today @ PC World
Thursday, April 05, 2007 12:19 PM PT Posted by Edward N. Albro

So a Harris Interactive poll finds that while 87 percent of adults online know about Windows Vista, only 12 percent of them are planning to upgrade to the new OS in the next year. That's not an inherently bad thing, unless you own stock in Microsoft, but it does seem like a lost opportunity.

So many talented people have put so much time into Vista, and it does include lots of notable achievements. But there's just not much excitement ("The Wow is Not" to paraphrase the hype). But I think it could be fixable. Here are my suggestions:

1. Make it Cheaper

As much as 400 bucks for a new OS just seems greedy. Nobody wants to pay that (or even the lower upgrade prices) and given that XP is a solid, dependable OS, few people feel like they have to. If Microsoft scaled back the price tags, they might find a lot more interest.

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Google lets users create own maps

Thu Apr 5, 2007 2:01AM EDT

By Eric Auchard, Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. is out to make map-making simpler, giving away tools for ordinary users to pinpoint locations, draw routes and attach photos or video to existing online maps, the company said on Wednesday.

The Web search leader, which set off an explosion of creative map-making among professional programmers after introducing Google Maps two years ago, is now offering MyMaps, tools for everyday users to create maps in a few mouse clicks.

Let your imagination run wild, spatially speaking: Pinpoint your favorite restaurant locations. Return from a world tour and plot out landmarks along the way. Take photos from a recent hike and use MyMaps to illustrate locations along the trail.

"Who better to create maps than local experts?" Jessica Lee, product manager for Google Maps, said in an interview. "MyMaps makes map-making universally accessible to anyone."

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Greenpeace Ranks Apple Last in Greenness

Tuesday April 3, 12:45 pm ET

By Toby Sterling, Associated Press Writer

Greenpeace Int'l Ranks Apple Last for Environmental Friendliness, While Lenovo Group Tops List

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Greenpeace International placed Apple Inc. last in its rankings of major electronics makers for their environmental friendliness, while Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Group Ltd. jumped to the top of the list.

An Apple spokeswoman said the company rejects Greenpeace's ranking system and that its products are among the "greenest" on the market, pointing to more technical ratings used by the Green Electronics Council.

Greenpeace ranked 14 computer and mobile phone makers according to their efforts to limit the use of hazardous chemicals in production and in taking steps to ensure that goods that become broken or obsolete are recycled.

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Microsoft Loosens Grip On Vista Enterprise Licensing

By Paula Rooney

CRN, 1:50 PM EDT Mon. Apr. 02, 2007

Microsoft has relaxed its Windows Vista licensing model in the face of stiff pressure from VMware's virtualized hosted desktop and other new desktop software models.

On Monday, the Redmond, Wash., software giant announced new licensing options for two new centralized architectures based on Windows Vista Enterprise Edition, which is available only to customers in the company's Software Assurance software maintenance program.

First, Microsoft introduced a new subscription license called Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktops, which enables end users to run virtual machines centralized on server hardware.

Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktops is available to Software Assurance customers at an annual, per-device free that varies based on whether the customer is licensing a PC or a thin-client device.

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