Australian consulting firm brings SharePoint to your mobile

Sydney, (ANTARA News/Medianet International-AsiaNet) - Australian consulting firm, Spyk Software has announced the worlds first application allowing employees to browse and search all their company documents from their iPhone. 

iShare, released today on the iPhone App Store, connects to Microsoft's popular SharePoint Server and provides secure access to company & team collaboration information including documents, lists, announcements, tasks and meetings. 

Tim Kremer, CEO of Spyk Software said in an interview: "While email has emerged as a killer application on mobile devices, until now there has been poor access to other essential enterprise collaboration tools." People want information at their fingertips said Mr Kremer. He also stated that the iPhone with its VPN (Virtual Private Network) connectivity, Exchange push email and Remote Wipe capability is maturing into a true business-ready device. 

SharePoint is Microsoft's fastest ever growing server product, with over 100 million licences sold. Diverse functionality such as document management, content management, enterprise search and collaboration means it is becoming a critical piece of business infrastructure. iShare is also compatible with Microsofts new SharePoint Online platform.  

iShare is now available worldwide for any iPhone user to download. Companies can also approach Spyk for further customisations and enterprise rollout support.  

Spyk Software is an Australian based Microsoft Partner specialising in websites, portals and document management solutions using Microsoft SharePoint, .NET and SQL Server.  

Contact: Tim Kremer Spyk Software Pty Ltd iShare@spyk.com
p:+61 2 9006 1173 www.spyk.com/products/iShare/ www.spyk.com
SOURCE: Spyk Software

Twitter first to publish dramatic crash pictures

(CNN) -- The social networking site Twitter again stole a march on traditional media when it was the first outlet to publish dramatic pictures of the Turkish Airlines crash. 

Moments after the plane crashed at Amsterdam's Schipol airport on Wednesday morning the news was appearing on Twitter, CNN's Errol Barnett said. 

"This is a story that broke on Twitter first and continued to unfold from there. Eyewitnesses were posting comments about the shock of seeing the plane 'dive' and amazement of passengers walking out of the wreckage," Barnett said. 

"It was a dramatic image of a fractured plane posted on Twitter.com that was the first worldwide view of the Turkish Airlines crash. It was snapped by an eyewitness driving on the nearby A-9 highway, just north of the crash site." 

Barnett said that when CNN saw the image it moved quickly to confirm with Dutch officials that a crash had happened. 

"Within minutes we were reporting on the story. We then confirmed with the Twitter user that the image was theirs and took it to air. 

"This proves that social networking sites can be a real asset in covering breaking news and gathering eyewitness accounts but the web should always be treated with extreme caution," Barnett said.  

Twitter first rose to prominence during the Mumbai terror attacks, when people sent messages to their sites from the hotels under attack.

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Global 2009 IT Spending Will Barely Grow, IDC Says

Eric Savitz,  Tech Trader Daily, February 25, 2009, 9:53 am 

The problem isn’t just chips: IDC is forecasting worldwide 2009 IT spending growth of just 0.5%, down from a November forecast of 2.6% growth. The research firm said that if recent exchange rate trends continue “this will translate into a significant decline in revenues for U.S.-based IT suppliers.” 

IDC says the biggest will be on hardware: it sees spending in the sector shrinking 3.6%, “led by a steep decline” in outlays on servers, PCs and printers. Spending on software and IT services is sepxceted to grow 3.4%. IDC had previously expected 4.6% growth in hardware and 3.7% growth in software and services. 

IDC sees U.S. overall IT spending growth of 0.1%, down from its previous forecast of 0.9% growth, with hardware spending down 16%. The research firm sees 0.1% growth in Western Europe, and 1.4% growth in Asia/Pacific. Japan is expected to see a 1.8% decline in IT spend. 

Meanwhile, in another report, IDC reports that the worldwide server market shrank 14% in the fourth quarter versus the year ago quarter, on a 12% drop in unit shipments. “Volume systems” were down 16.8%, midrange systems fell 14.5% and high-end enterprise systems fell 7.5%.  IDC said this was the first time since 2002 that all three server segments saw a decline in revenue at the same time.

Google’s Plan To Save Newspapers: Make Them Look Better

By Peter Kafka,  All Things Digital,  February 19, 2009 at 6:07 AM PT 

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has already made it clear that he has no intention of bailing out the New York Times (NYT) or any other newspaper with the company’s cash. 

But! The company does have some free advice about how papers could help themselves. For instance — maybe they should overhaul their Websites. 

That’s what Google (GOOG) exec Jonathan Rosenberg suggests. In a novella-sized blog post — Rosenberg modestly calls it a “treatise” — published earlier this week, the senior vice president ruminates about, well, everything. Like I said, it’s really long. 

But Rosenberg does spend some time thinking about the ways newspapers can deliver a better online product (thanks to Slate.com for highlighting): 

".the old-fashioned business model of bundled news, where the classifieds basically subsidized a lot of the high-quality reporting on the front page, has been thoroughly disrupted. This is a problem, but since online journalism is still in its relative infancy it’s one that can be solved (we’re technology optimists, remember?). 

The experience of consuming news on the web today fails to take full advantage of the power of technology. It doesn’t understand what users want in order to give them what they need. When I go to a site like the New York Times or the San Jose Mercury, it should know what I am interested in and what has changed since my last visit. If I read the story on the US stimulus package only six hours ago, then just show me the updates the reporter has filed since then (and the most interesting responses from readers, bloggers, or other sources).

 If Thomas Friedman has filed a column since I last checked, tell me that on the front page. Beyond that, present to me a front page rich with interesting content selected by smart editors, customized based on my reading habits (tracked with my permission). Browsing a newspaper is rewarding and serendipitous, and doing it online should be even better. This will not by itself solve the newspapers’ business problems, but our heritage suggests that creating a superior user experience is the best place to start."
 

If the Googlers are technology optimists, I’m a business skeptic — I think that the best place for newspapers to start is by cutting costs and generating more revenue. But maybe I’m missing something. Would a better-designed New York Times site make you more likely to, say, pay for a subscription to the New York Times? Let me know.

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Solar-powered mobile phone

The Strait Times, Feb 16, 2009

BARCELONA - SOUTH Korean electronics group Samsung showcased its first solar-powered mobile phone on Monday at an industry event in Barcelona, promising a commercial launch later this year.

The sleek-looking, touch-controlled 'Blue Earth,' the centerpiece of Samsung's drive to be more environmentally friendly, has solar panels on its back which the company claims are able to charge the battery in 10-14 hours. 

The phone's use of recycled materials and a built-in pedometer might also appeal to fans of eco -sheek gadgets. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

This would offer approximately four hours of talk time, a company representative said at industry event Mobile World Congress where the phone is on display for the first time. 

The device, expected to be launched in Europe in the second half of 2009, can also be charged normally via a plug, with the solar panels used to top up the battery to extend its power. 

Fellow South Korean manufacturer LG Electronics also has put a prototype solar-powered phone on display here but the company has no launch date or name for the device. 

Industry watchers say the market for a solar-powered phone would include outdoor types in developed countries such as fishermen or campers who head into the wilderness without access to electricity. 

Its recycled materials and built-in pedometer, which shows how far the user has walked, might also appeal to fans of eco-sheek gadgets. 

If the price was low enough - Samsung has not revealed details yet - such a phone could also help link up the millions of poor worldwide who live either without or with very limited access to electricity. -- AFP

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Italy police warn of Skype threat

By David Willey, BBC News, Rome 

Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, police say.

The police's use of wiretaps has forced some criminals on to the internet

Officers in Milan say organised crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype in order to frustrate investigators.

The police say Skype's encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities.

Investigators have become increasingly reliant on wiretaps in recent years.

Customs and tax police in Milan have sounded the alarm.

They overheard a suspected cocaine trafficker telling an accomplice to switch to Skype in order to get details of a 2kg (4.4lb) drug consignment.

Use of wiretaps by prosecutors in Italy has grown exponentially in recent years.

Heated debate

Investigators say intercepts of telephone calls have become an essential tool of the police, who spend millions of dollars each year tracking down crime through wiretaps of landlines and mobile phones.

But the law may be about to change.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing government has drawn up a bill which would restrict police wiretaps to only the most serious crimes.

Much crime reporting in the Italian media is based on leaks of wiretaps and leading politicians, including Mr Berlusconi himself, have found to their embarrassment that details of their private telephone conversations have sometimes been leaked to newspapers.

Under the new law reporting of details of criminal investigations obtained through wiretaps would become illegal until a final verdict has been delivered.

Given the extreme slowness of Italian justice, this would mean that details of cases now before the courts might be reported by the press only in 15 years time.

Not only have Italian journalists been protesting at the new draft bill, but a heated debate is also going on about it within the country's highest body for the administration of justice - the supreme council of the magistrature, composed of the country's top judges.

Shop till you log off: Online shopping addiction takes hold

Dian Kuswandini, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Sat, 02/14/2009 1:35 PM  

JP/J. Adiguna

You are after a “shop-till-you-drop” experience, but all you get is hours trapped in thick traffic and fatigue from queuing and walking around the malls. 

Savvy shopaholics are finding a solution by just staying home and shopping online. 

Many “virtual malls” offer much the same as what you might find outside, but accessible from the comfort of your home, without no need for dressing up or braving the traffic. 

So when shopaholic Ayu Martha, who finds it hard to fit a visit to the mall into her tight schedule, needs a fix, it is her laptop that she turns to. 

“Online stores allow me to shop for many things in one go. Ten stores at a time – isn’t that time saving?” said Ayu, a secretary at a foreign company in Jakarta. 

A self-described fashionista, Ayu has found herself right at home in the virtual malls.

“No more of the same old styles of clothing; I have more access to the latest fashion trends like those from Japan and Korea and at reasonable prices. And you can still make some bargains without the sellers know your identity,” she added with a smile. 

Online shopping also offers a kind of guilt-free window-shopping or browsing. Because it does not require face-to-face contact, buyers don’t need to feel apologetic for their “just looking thanks” failure to make a purchase. 

“With online shopping, I can do window-shopping without any limitations, and compare prices from one shop to another along with getting detailed information,” said Imada Sagita, an employee at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. 

The experiences of shoppers like Ayu and Imada show how shopping is undergoing a face lift in mall-mad Indonesia. Sailing on the winds of the “dotcom” revolution, Indonesian businesses are using Internet portals as a new net to capture customers. 

Consider designer Rahmani Endrawati, usually known as Endi. She has boutiques in Kuta and Nusa Dua in Bali, as well as in Jakarta, but has customers from all over the world, thanks to her online shop www.nilakandibyendi.com. 

Under the label Nila Kandi (Blue Sky), Endi has been able to make her designs, with their modern twist on Indonesian batik, popular on the international market. 

“I created an online shop because of requests from many people. I met them in exhibitions and they often asked, ‘Do you have a website?’,” said Endi, whose customers come from as far away as Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Thailand. 

“For me, the website is just one way to promote my pieces even though sometimes people visit it just to out check prices.” 

Endi, who started her business two years ago, offers her Pekalongan batik clothes in modern and sexy styles. She also offers sandals, bags and other accessories, with prices ranging from Rp 65,000 to around Rp 500,000. 

Customers contact her by phone and email, and pay for their orders by transferring money directly into one of her bank accounts. 

The opportunity to attract a wider range of customers is one of the reasons Jakob Deli opened an online shop, www.unicktoys.com, which offers imported collectible urban vinyl and designer toys. 

“An online shop penetrates a wider market,” Jakob said. “Surprisingly, my customers come from all walks of life, including celebrities and public figures.” 

Jakob offers limited-edition toys and accessories created by artists and designers, with prices ranging from Rp 10,000 to around Rp 1.4 million. His shop only accepts direct bank transfers as the method of payment and customers must wait up to seven business days for their ordered items to arrive. 

Jakob and Endi are just a few of the many shop owners who are benefiting from the growing popularity of online shopping. 

Thanks to cheaper rates for Internet access, the increased number of Internet users and the availability of more cost-effective and user-friendly tools to create a site, online businesses are multiplying madly. Even sites such as Friendster, Multiply, personal blogs and forums have turned into shopping plazas. 

Just take a look at sites such as www.cheaplyfashion.multiply.com, www.balibubushop.multiply.com or www.dianstuff.multiply.com, which have lovers of fashion and beauty queuing to get their hands on some of the affordable items. 

This shows considerable change from the situation a few years ago, when the country’s pioneering online businesses failed to attract customers because of the slow adoption of technology and ingrained habits in Indonesian culture. 

At that time, Indonesians tended to think of shopping – or walking around the malls – as a recreational activity. Moreover, touching and trying on potential purchases was a must in the shopping ritual. 

The first online bookstore www.sanur.com (1996) and hypermarket www.lipposhop.com (2000), for example, eventually folded because of the low rate of personal Internet use in Indonesia. The Lippo Shop was able to survive for only one year despite its huge investment of some Rp 100 billion. 

But now, more and more Indonesians are embracing the Internet. Data from the Information and Communications Ministry reveal that the number of Internet users has swollen dramatically from about 230,000 in 2000 to 28 million in May 2008. 

A Nielsen survey published in 2008 revealed that more than half of all Indonesian Internet users polled said they had made a purchase online. The survey on Internet shopping habits showed that the most popular items purchased are plane tickets or reservations (40%), books (37%), clothing; accessories and shoes (21%) and electronic equipment (21%). 

The study also found that, unlike most global shoppers who generally prefer to pay by credit card, 45 percent of Indonesian online shoppers prefer bank transfers. Credit card came in second, as the choice of 43 percent of users. 

According to the Nielsen survey, online shoppers tend to stick to the shopping sites they are familiar with, with 60 percent saying they buy mostly from the same sites. 

“This shows the importance of capturing the tens of millions of new online shoppers as they make their first purchases on the Internet,” said Catherine Eddy, Nielsen Indonesia’s executive director for client solutions. “If shopping sites can capture them early, and create a positive shopping experience, they will likely capture their loyalty and their money.”

Hello Windows 7, adios Vista

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, The Jakarta Post,  JAKARTA  |  Mon, 02/09/2009 12:14 PM  
 

 Windows 7 fixes a lot of the problems found in Windows Vista. Still in its beta version, it can even run on a netbook with only 1 GB of RAM. JP/Zatni Arbi

Still remember the comments I made in my review of Dell Mini 12 last month? I found that I could hardly use it because the pre-installed Windows Vista made it run like a Toyota Avanza hauling a home trailer. 

Still, I loved the netbook because of its large screen, stylishness, lightweight and, especially, comfortable keyboard. 

At that time, I actually knew that the solution for the sluggishness was already on the horizon. It was certainly not a downgrade to Windows XP, as the days of the XP were already numbered. Instead, it would be an upgrade to the next version of Windows. 

Yes, I knew about the performance remedy, because I had seen it running on a Lenovo S10 netbook. Unfortunately I was under a non-disclosure obligation then, so I was unable to reveal it in my article. 

Now that Microsoft has gone public with the product and the beta version of Windows 7 is already available on Microsoft’s website for download, I can share with you my first impression of it — it is quite impressive. 

During a media outing two weeks ago, Microsoft Indonesia gave each journalist, including myself, a DVD containing the beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate, Build 7000. Back home, I took the Dell Mini 12 and my LG external DVD-RW out, put the DVD into the drive and ran the setup program. 

Strangely, it took more than three hours to install it with the Upgrade option. A couple of times I thought the computer hung, but it never did. The great thing was that the installation process hardly required any interference from me. Microsoft said that the installation, which is far more streamlined than Windows XP’s, should normally take 30 minutes or so. 

However, once the installation was finished, I got a series of nice surprises. First, almost all of the programs and utilities that Dell had already installed on the Mini 12 were kept intact. These included Dell Dock, Dell WebCam, Dell Video Chat, even Microsoft Works. They all ran smoothly. The Wi-Fi worked well, too, and the netbook automatically got connected to my LinkSys access point without requiring any help from me. 

The only things that did not work in the new environment were Windows Desktop Manager and the McAfee antivirus software. That was to be expected and McAfee will for sure make its products fully Windows 7-compatible. 

More critical was the responsiveness. Booting up and shutting down still took some time, but it was far quicker than Windows Vista. When the boot up process was completed, the netbook was almost as responsive as a netbook running Windows XP. 

As the accompanying picture shows, I can open multiple Internet Explorer windows, a Microsoft Works document, the Dell WebCam and a couple of gadgets without any sign of memory overload. I can switch from one program to another in a blitz. 

No doubt about it, the programmers at Microsoft have done a great job. The new operating system is not as resource hungry as Windows Vista. Even in its beta version it is very stable; it has not crashed since I installed it. It can easily take the place of Windows XP as one of the ideal operating systems for a netbook with an Intel Atom N270 processor and only 1 GB memory. 

We should also keep in mind that the version I installed is a beta version. It is bound to be plagued with bugs. It will be several months before we can buy the release version. After that, there will be a Service Pack and incremental upgrades to iron out the bugs, and the performance will be improved further. 

Faster performance and lower hardware requirement are not the only strong points of Windows 7, though. During the media outing, Lukman Susetio, Microsoft Indonesia’s Product Manager for Windows, demonstrated just a small number of new features found in it. 

One of the most interesting and very useful features is the capability to set up a wireless network using the computer’s Wi-Fi. This allows us to share an Internet connection without the help of a router or an access point. 

So, for example, if several people are within the Wi-Fi range and one of them has a 3G or HSDPA USB modem that connects them to the Internet, the others can share it through their Wi-Fi network. 

Other very useful features in Windows 7 include a search engine, which it inherits from Windows Vista. The user interface is improved and can be personalized more than in its predecessor. For example, gadgets can now be placed anywhere on the screen, whereas in Windows Vista, they can only sit on the upper right hand corner of the screen. 

Windows 7 was developed with the needs of users of mobile computing devices in mind. Therefore, in this version we can make more adjustments to the power consumption of the various hardware components so that we can increase the maximum battery life. 

DirectAccess is a feature that will benefit enterprise users, as it makes Virtual Private Network no longer necessary. When combined with Windows Server 2008 R2, they can use all the available bandwidth to access their intranet without fear of being snooped on. 

According to Microsoft, even today a lot of hardware vendors have prepared the right drivers for Windows 7. Software makers are also developing the next version that will work seamlessly with Windows 7. 

But you may have to live with Windows Vista, for now. My guess is that Windows 7 will become available toward the end of this year at the earliest.

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Sultan goes online

The Jakarta Post   |  Wed, 02/11/2009 10:13 AM  

 
Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X launches Tuesday his website, www.hbforri.com, to help him reach out to voters ahead of the presidential election in July. Despite having declared his bid to run, no major party has so far given its backing to the highly popular governor. JP/P.J. LEO

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Google's PowerMeter Lets You Know If the Lights Are on

PCWorld

Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service, Feb 10, 2009 7:20 pm 

This is an example screenshot of Google's power meter software in action. The service, once it receives more partner support should eventually help reduce the stress on the grid and save users power bills by monitoring their usage and comparing it with grid demand for live information feeds.  (Source: Google.org)

Google is testing software that will let consumers get detailed information on how much electricity they're using, which could help households reduce consumption by as much as 15 percent, the company said Monday. 

The software, Google PowerMeter, integrates into the company's iGoogle platform, where users create a customized page with lightweight Web-based applications. The PowerMeter is designed to show a granular, real-time view of electricity-consuming devices. 

Although just a prototype now, consumers will eventually be able to opt in to use it, and no personal information will be shared between Google and utilities, the company said. The electricity data will be stored securely, and users will be able to tell their utility to stop sending data to the PowerMeter, Google said. 

Most consumers don't have much data or context regarding their electricity consumption, according to Ed Lu of Google's engineering team. 

Google's PowerMeter takes data from so-called "smart meters," or advanced electricity meters and other electricity management devices. About 40 million smart meters are in use worldwide, with that number expected to rise to 100 million in the next few years, Lu said. 

U.S. President Barack Obama's economy stimulus plan includes investments to put up to 40 million smart meters in U.S. homes. 

Google takes data from a home's smart meter and displays it in a graph. It can show the current day's electricity consumption compared to the day before, but the graph can be expanded to get a historical view of peaks and troughs in electricity usage, Google said. 

Google also plans to release APIs (application programming interfaces) for PowerMeter that would let other software developers build applications around it. 

Google is making a strong push for agreements with utilities on how to standardize the data that's available from smart meters. In a position paper dated Monday sent to California's Public Utility Commission, Google said that "the data from the smart meter needs to be available to the consumer in real-time and in a non-proprietary format." 

California has been pushing ahead with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) plans, which call for new meters that show real-time data well as pricing information to consumers. 

So far, Google is letting its own employees test PowerMeter. The insights gained include at least two revelations about the electricity used to make toast and the inefficiency of 20-year-old refrigerators. 

"One morning I noticed that my energy consumption was higher than normal," wrote Kirsten, a Google program manager, who didn't give her last name. "I went into the kitchen and found that the dial on our toaster oven was stuck and had been on all night. 

"It was already burning and the once white exterior was now brown. If I hadn't seen my energy consumption and known where to look, my apartment could have been toast," she wrote.

Online media most reliable source of info: survey

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 02/10/2009 3:40 PM  

Online media ranks as the most reliable source for news by businessmen in Indonesia, a survey says. 

The survey, conducted by Edelman Trustbarometer on 200 businessmen with a minimum income of Rp 30 million a month, says that 41 percent of its respondents voted for online media as the most reliable source of information, 40 percent voted television and 36 percent voted for company management reports. 

Edelman director Aditya Chandra Wardhana said the survey showed that most of the businessmen surveyed depended a lot on fast access to information in their decision making process. 

The businessmen, he said, thrived on breaking news related to government policies or events that had global reprecussions that could affect their businesses. 

"After they get the information, the would contact analysts," he said. 

The survey also shows that 77 percent of the respondents said that mass media is the most trusted source of information, more so compared to corporate, government or NGO reports. 

The Edelman survey has been carried out for 10 years and has an error margin of five percent. (and)

Nine-year old whiz-kid writes iPhone application

Wed Feb 4, 2009 9:46pm EST  

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - While most children his age sketch on paper with crayons, nine-year old Lim Ding Wen from Singapore, has a very different canvas -- his iPhone. 

Lim, who is in fourth grade, writes applications for Apple's popular iPhone. His latest, a painting program called Doodle Kids, has been downloaded over 4,000 times from Apple's iTunes store in two weeks, the New Paper reported on Thursday. 

The program lets iPhone users draw with their fingers by touching the iPhone's touchscreen and then clear the screen by shaking the phone. 

"I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw," Lim said. His sisters are aged 3 and 5. 

Lim, who is fluent in six programing languages, started using the computer at the age of 2. He has since completed about 20 programing projects. 

His father, Lim Thye Chean, a chief technology officer at a local technology firm, also writes iPhone applications. 

"Every evening we check the statistics emailed to us (by iTunes) to see who has more downloads," the older Lim said. 

The boy, who enjoys reading books on programing, is in the process of writing another iPhone application -- a science fiction game called "Invader Wars." 

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Google Latitude: Tell Your Friends Where You Are

BusinessWeek, Posted by: Rob Hof on February 04 

Ever wonder where your friends or your spouse or your child is? That’s the question Google hopes to answer for you with a new service launching Wednesday called Google Latitude. 

Using a combination of Global Positioning System, WiFi, and cell tower location data, the service, an extension of Google Maps, Latitude can determine where you are in the world via your mobile device depending on which of those technologies the device can use. It will work on most color Blackberries, most Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, most Symbian S60 devices, and phones powered by Google’s Android mobile software, such as the T-Mobile G1. No iPhone or iPod Touch yet, but Google says that’s coming very soon. 

The service wasn’t yet functional when I was briefed by Google, so I can’t yet vouch for it, but here’s how it works: You download a new version of Google Maps onto your mobile device, then invite friends via an email to join. Once they accept, and if they have a Google account with a profile picture, you’ll see that on a map. Then you can send them an email or text message or call them, and of course get directions to their location. You can also view locations of your friends from your desktop through iGoogle, the company’s personalized home page. 

The service sounds a little like Dodgeball, the location service that Google bought a few years ago, only to announce recently that it will shut it down. But Latitude was developed by the Google Maps team with different technology, and it’s an extension of Maps rather than an entirely separate service. It also goes further than My Location, a Maps feature introduced in late 2007, which let you see your own location on a map. But Latitude also follows similar services such as Loopt. 

In some ways, it might seem like yet another way for 20 somethings with a lot of time on their hands to party spontaneously with their friends. But in three months of testing inside Google and with “trusted testers” outside the company (including the Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg Solution columnist Katherine Boehret), broader use cases emerged. If you’re home and wondering when to start making dinner, you can tell when your spouse left work to time it right, even if he or she doesn’t remember to check in. Parents of adult children can feel more connected to their offspring knowing where they’re traveling. 

Of course, the obvious question is: Isn’t this just a fine stalker tool? Not surprisingly, Google thought about this a lot, and offers a wide variety of ways to make sure you can’t be tracked if you don’t want to (and a readymade quote from Cindy Southworth, firector of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, saying she worked with Google on the privacy aspects). The service is opt-in, and you can control precisely who among your friends and relatives can see your location. You can hide your location from everyone or particular people, opt to share only the city you’re in generally, or just turn the service off. 

I can imagine this kind of information would help Google advertisers target local pitches to you eventually, but Google says it has no specific plans for this yet.

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IBM computer will have power of 2 million laptops

Tue Feb 3, 2009 8:36am EST  

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Seven months after IBM delivered the world's fastest supercomputer, it has announced an even speedier one with the computing power of 2 million laptops. 

An IBM supercomputer in an undated photo. Seven months after IBM delivered the world's fastest supercomputer, it has announced an even speedier one with the computing power of 2 million laptops. (REUTERS/IBM/Handout)

IBM said on Tuesday it is developing the technology for its new Sequoia computer, with delivery scheduled in 2011 to the Department of Energy for use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

Sequoia will chug along at 20 petaflops per second and is one order of magnitude quicker than its predecessor. The earlier machine, delivered in June to the Energy Department, broke the 1 petaflop barrier. 

Peta is a term for quadrillion and FLOP stands for floating point operations per second. 

Sequoia, and a smaller computer called Dawn, are being built in Rochester, Minnesota, for use in simulating nuclear tests. IBM says they can also be used for complex tasks like weather forecasting or oil exploration. 

IBM says Sequoia will be highly energy-efficient for the job it does but even so will occupy 96 refrigerator-sized racks in an area the size of a big house -- 3,422 square feet (318 square meters). 

(Reporting by David Lawsky, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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