Amazon: A tale of two tablets

By JP Mangalindan, Writer-Reporter

For months, analysts have been expecting an iPad-like device worthy of taking Apple head on. Now it seems Amazon may have cooked up something very different -- and that shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

FORTUNE -- For months, analysts and technology pundits have been expecting Amazon to release a tablet capable of going toe-to-toe with Apple's dominant iPad. With its massive e-commerce reach, robust ebook sales and rapidly expanding Kindle business, Amazon would succeed where others -- like Hewlett-Packard and Research in Motion -- failed miserably. Turns out, it may not be anything of the sort.

Unconfirmed reports from popular technology blogs TechCrunch and GDGT paint a very different picture. Both sites claim that, later today, the technology giant will unveil a next-generation Kindle. But instead of the long awaited uber-tablet, Amazon (AMZN) may be readying a stop-gap measure it can have out the door in time for the holidays. Dubbed the Kindle Fire, the device is thought to sport a 7-inch color touch screen and run a modified version of Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. The unit's design has reportedly been outsourced to Quanta, a company responsible for the design of BlackBerry's (RIMM) much-maligned PlayBook. If true, the move would mark an about-face for the company, which has relied upon the Cupertino-based hardware development division Lab126 for Kindle development.

Amazon appears at a crossroads. I can either create a full-featured tablet design to take on the iPad or, alternatively, build an incremental device aimed at guarding its market share and not letting another quarter go by without a color unit. If it indeed unveils a less ambitious model, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise given the company's past moves. Amazon has shown time and again it's more than willing to course-correct.

Today's Kindle is radically different than the model introduced in November 2007. The first Kindle donned a boxy form factor with sharply angled keys and buttons. After the shape received mixed reviews, Amazon's Lab 126 -- led by ex-Apple (AAPL) vice president Gregg Zehr -- churned out a friendlier set of designs.

The company has also aggressively shifted gears on pricing. The original Kindle retailed for $399, but thanks to competition from Barnes & Noble's (BKS) Nook and decreased manufacturing costs, the Kindle now starts at $114 for a basic WiFi version with ads. The same goes for book pricing. Until last year, Amazon called the shots: it bought books at wholesale and set the prices. Increasing pressure from the iPad and its iBookstore however caused Amazon to shift over to a so-called "agency model," where book publishers set the price. "They're selling the hardware at a loss, and they are making some money on the ebooks," explains BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. (Amazon does not publicly disclose detailed numbers for Kindle sales.)

But perhaps nothing better exemplifies Amazon's willingness to change than the adoption of a color backlit display, something the Kindle Fire is almost certain to have. For years, Bezos has championed the black-and-white e-ink screens found in the Kindle and publicly brushed off the success of the tablet. "It's really a different product category," he told Fortune last year. Last fall, the company blasted the iPad's readability in a TV ad pitting the two devices side-by-side. Still, even Bezos can't ignore the iPad's success.

At stake is an ever more complicated market for tablets and reading devices. Citigroup's Mark Mahaney estimates Amazon will sell 17.5 million devices this year and a whopping 26 million in 2012. That would, according to Maganey, generate generate $6.1 billion for the company, or almost 10% of overall sales. Of course, the iPad currently dominates the tablet market with at least 68% market share, according to the Massachusetts-based consulting group IDC. Gartner Research expects the iPad to sell nearly 47 million units this year and overall tablet sales to increase year-over-year through 2015. Meanwhile, Gartner predicts overall growth in the e-reader category, which Amazon dominates with a reported 52% market share, to generally slow down during the same time frame. In other words, which market Amazon's Kindle Fire is intended for exactly could have dramatic consequences for its bottom line.

Of course, nothing will be certain until Amazon takes the wraps off the new device. One near certainty: it will offer deeper integration with the various services Amazon has built over the years, from Android apps to movie streaming and music downloads. Whichever market the device plays in, it will have to be a compelling enough upgrade to move current, devoted Kindle owners to upgrade. Another certainty? Amazon has shown it'll move aggressively to stay ahead -- even if that means changing course.

Microsoft releases Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update

New Windows Phone 7.5 mobile operating system, codenamed Mango, is now available free to existing owners.

By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor

Microsoft has begun to roll-out the latest version of its Windows Phone operating system. Originally codenamed ‘Mango’, version 7.5 includes enhanced social network contact and calendar integration, as well as improved multitasking.

The new software is available free to customers who have already bought Windows Phone 7 handsets, such as the HTC Trophy. New hardware is eagerly awaited, however, and Nokia is set to launch its first Windows devices at the end of October.

The new software was also accompanied by the launch of a new web marketplace for apps, allowing users to buy from their PCs as well as their phones.

Mango also offers enhanced access to Microsoft Office, as well as better gaming options and the ability to handle multiple email inboxes. It also includes enhanced local search options, called Local Scout and faster web browsing.

Microsoft launched Windows Phone over a year ago, to a mixed critical reception. An HTC source said that new devices would be the first that will allow manufacturers to claim the platform now offers real competition to rivals from Google and Apple. Microsoft claims Mango will deliver more than 500 new features.

Combined with announcements about availability in new languages and the company’s partnership with Nokia, the update will see Microsoft aim to get Windows Phone into a range of new markets that are currently not yet dominated by Google Android and Apple’s iOS.

At the time of the update’s original announcement, analysts were sceptical. Ovum principal analyst Tony Cripps said that “Mango will provide a worthwhile upgrade for both existing and new users of Windows Phone devices once it arrives in the autumn. However, Microsoft needs to do better if it is to persuade the market that it has the most user friendly - and desirable - mobile platform in the market today.”

Cripps said that manufacturers new to the UK, such as ZTE, “can be expected to take advantage of the more achievable hardware specs now being touted by Microsoft - plus carriers' desire for low cost alternatives to Android smartphones. That said, Mango still lacks the potential for customisation and brand differentiation that some manufacturers are looking for.”

Apple dispatches 'Let's talk iPhone' event invitations

by Steven Mostyn

It would appear the recent rush of misty rumour and speculation connected to Apple’s unveiling of the next generation iPhone was largely on the money.

Moreover, the Cupertino-based giant has this week officially announced a vaguely mysterious October 4 media event by emailing “Let’s talk iPhone” invitations to technology outlets.

Although Apple has not said exactly what it will reveal during said presentation, the iPhone’s annual refresh is (over) due and industry watchers believe the San Francisco spotlight will indeed showcase the iPhone 4’s successor.

Of course, whether the smartphone in question arrives as merely a tweaked upgrade (i.e., the iPhone 4S) or a completely new handset (i.e., the iPhone 5) remains to be seen.

Associated features long-rumoured to be aboard the device include the likes of a slimmer and lighter chassis, a dual-core A5 processor, version 5.0 of Apple’s iOS operating system, an 8.0 mega-pixel camera, up to 64GBs of data storage, and support for iCloud services.

News of Apple’s event comes after AT&T and Sprint (both of which carry the iPhone) instructed employees that no vacation time is to be granted during the first two weeks of October—which suggests an impending major device launch.

We expect Apple’s new iPhone to be ready for retail by the middle of October.

More activity likely as solar storm continues

by Kate Taylor


The Earth is enveloped in a strong-to-severe magnetic storm, following a large solar eruption yesterday morning.
At 8:15am EDT yesterday, a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from sunspot 1302, sending charged particles streaming in our direction.


The Goddard Space Weather Lab reported a strong compression of Earth's magnetosphere. And simulations showed solar wind plasma penetrating right into geosynchronous orbit, meaning that satellites could be directly exposed to solar wind plasma and magnetic fields.


Lucky viewers with clear skies may have seen auroras last night, and there's a chance of more tonight.


Sunspot 1302 has been particularly active over the last few days. On Saturday, it unleashed  an X1.9-category flare, followed by M8.6 and M7.4 flares later the same day and an M8.8 flare early on Sunday.


"None of the blasts have been squarely Earth-directed, but this could change as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the days ahead," says NASA. "AR1302 is growing and shows no immediate signs of quieting down."


It's possible that GPS systems could be affected today. The NOAA says that solar activity's exected to remain moderate during the course of the day, tailing off over the next few days.


And, it warns, another CME could be on the way, with the sunspot showing no signs of quietening down - indeed, it may be getting more lively.


"The spot on the sun that produced Saturday's coronal mass ejection remains active and is well positioned to deliver more storm activity in the next several days," it says.

NASA's UARS Satellite fell in the Pacific during fiery breakup

By TWS Space Reporter

(TheWeatherSpace.com) - NASA's UARS Satellite likely fell into the Pacific and is swimming with the fish, but we may never find out the final resting spot. 

Hoaxers are all over the place with photos and videos, one taken from Oklahoma which was debunked quickly, dubbed a fake. Yet the public is wondering what happened to the satellite.

A ton of e-mails have been received here at TheWeatherSpace.com but we do not have the answers either. Here in Los Angeles it was not visible on the passby, even on the horizon. It raises questions whether it fell before Southern California. There were no credible reports of a sighting anywhere else in the world, even in twilight conditions.

The last sighting was over Texas ... nothing after that. NASA was able to track the satellite yet does not know where it is with certainty. The public is questioning them. No credible evidence has come up on where the UARS Satellite landed. So how many days will it take to get to the center of the final destination? The world may never know. 

One thing is for certain we need to stop worrying about that and worry about the next re-entry, ROSAT ... due next month. 

TheWeatherSpace.com updates the main "homepage" at least two times a day with fresh news in science, natural disasters, weather and more ... 

Mysql.com infects visitors with malware

By Lucian Constantin

UNIDENTIFIED ATTACKERS have compromised Mysql.com, home to one of the world's most popular database engines, and launched a drive-by download attack against the web site's visitors.

According to researchers from web security firm Armorize, who detected the attack, the hackers managed to inject rogue Javascript code into one of the web site's legitimate .js files.

The malicious code redirected visitors through a third-party domain and landed them on a web page that was part of a Blackhole exploit pack installation.

Blackhole is a web crimeware toolkit used for drive-by download attacks. It exploits vulnerabilities in older versions of web browsers, operating systems and web plug-ins, like Flash Player, Adobe Reader or Java.

"It exploits the visitor's browsing platform [...], and upon successful exploitation, permanently installs a piece of malware into the visitor's machine, without the visitor's knowledge," warned Armorize's co-founder and CEO Wayne Huang.

"The visitor doesn't need to click or agree to anything; simply visiting mysql.com with a vulnerable browsing platform will result in an infection," he added.

The malicious code has been cleaned from the web site since Armorize's initial report, but it's estimated that it stayed live for around seven hours.

Given that Mysql.com is a very popular web site, ranking 637 on Alexa, and that the antivirus detection rate for the malware is still low at the time of writing this article, the total number of victims could be significant.

It's not clear what method the attackers used to compromise the web site, but security blogger Brian Krebs reports that root access to the server was advertised for $3,000 on a Russian underground forum almost a week ago.

The seller, who posted screenshots of what looked like a root login prompt, pointed out that the access could be used to plant a web exploit toolkit.

This is the second security breach registered on Mysql.com this year. Back in March, a hacker exploited an SQL injection vulnerability to obtain access to the web site's database.

Google+ already has 50 million users

By Dave Neal

SOCIAL NETWORKING TRACKER Paul Allen has revealed that by his estimates Google+ has already hit the 50 million user mark.

Allen, who is the founder of Ancestry.com, revealed the numbers on his Google+ account, of course, and explained that the big burst in users came since Google opened up its social network to the general public.

"Yesterday (give or take a few days) Google+ likely crossed the 50 million user mark. Since being opened to the general public (over age 18) last week, Google+ has been growing by at least 4 per cent per day, meaning that around 2 million new users have been signing up each day," he wrote.

"Given this momentum, it is hard for me to imagine a scenario where Google+ doesn't end up with hundreds of millions of users. It's just a matter of time."

Fifty million people is not all that many though, particularly when you compare it against the real people almanac that is Facebook. Allen said that Google might challenge that social network with Google+, but added that for now the increased competition should be taken as a good thing.

"None of this is necessarily bad news for Facebook," he added. "Competition can make companies much better... I think we are witnessing the most exciting battle in tech history as two well-funded, fast-growing, highly-profitable, genius-led Silicon Valley companies are competing from very different starting points to affect how we find information, how we connect with people, how we view the world, and how we spend our time."

It could be bad news for Facebook however, if more and more people start reacting to the increasing tide of bad press about that company, its changes and their impact on personal privacy. Google might already be capitalising on users' desire to move away from a social network that retains control over your data, or it might be making the most of its already massive user base. 

Facebook iPad App to be Announced Alongside Apple iPhone 5

It seems like Apple fans are getting even more reasons to get excited about the iPhone 5 announcement next Tuesday (Oct 4th), as rumour has it Facebook will also be taking the stage to make some announcements of its own.
According to Mashable, Facebook will be unveiling its long awaited iPad app to coincide with the latest release on iOS 5. As Ben Parr put it, the iPad app has been “in limbo” since it was leaked a few months ago.
It looked like the app was fully functional with a typical iOS design but for some reason it was immediately blocked and never heard of again after developers managed to hack Facebook for iPhone to use it.
Facebook have been much more tight-lipped about the new release with no recent screen shots or hacks being leaked. You can still see the old screenshots on Mashable if you want ideas of what the app will probably look like.
Parr also says that Facebook could be launching and improved iPhone app and even may unveil an HTML5-based mobile app marketplace. It’s uncertain whether Zuckerberg himself will make the announcements but we’re sure the combination of a new iPhone and the long awaited Facebook iPad app will be more than enough for attendees.

Spotify: 250,000 new users daily after Facebook deal

by Chris Davies
Spotify is reportedly seeing 250,000 new users join each day, in the aftermath of its deal with Facebook last week, with monthly active users leaping by 1m to 4.4m. The figures, shared by music industry consultancy MusicAlly, contrasts sharply with criticism of Spotify’s decision to tie new sign-ups up with the social network. Spotify currently offers six months of its unlimited access package free to new users.


However, to get that unlimited access package, you’ll need to have a Facebook account, since the company has merged its own login system and that of the social network. In a statement, also given to MusicAlly, Spotify described it as “like a virtual ‘passport’, designed to make the experience smoother and easier.”


Although that mandatory registration didn’t go down well with Facebook’s critics, the usage figures would suggest that people are quite content to register with the service if there’s free music to be had. After the initial six months of unlimited access, Spotify downgrades each account to 10hrs of access per month, obviously hoping users will stump up cash for what previously they got free.


“To us, this is all about creating an amazing new world of music discovery. As most of our users are already social and have already connected to Facebook, it seemed logical to integrate Spotify and Facebook logins. We already use Facebook as part of our backend to power our social features and by adopting Facebook’s login, we’ve created a simple and seamless social experience.


From today, all new Spotify users will need to have a Facebook account to join Spotify. Think of it as like a virtual ‘passport’, designed to make the experience smoother and easier, with one less username and password to remember. You don’t need to connect to Facebook and if you do decide to, you can always control what you share and don’t share by changing your Spotify settings at any time.


We’re constantly trying new things, always looking for feedback and we’re always going to listen to our users, making changes based on this feedback wherever we can.” Spotify statement

Microsoft employees walk out during Ballmer speech

By Lawrence Latif

SOFTLY SPOKEN Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to be losing support from the firm's rank and file, according to reports emerging from one of its company meetings.

Ballmer's speech, which rattled through Microsoft's achievements and looked forward to upcoming products, left many employees heading for the door early. One Microsoft staffer said, "Steve, you've lost the support of your employees," adding, "when will you realise that you're holding this once great company back?"

Ever since Ballmer took over from Bill Gates there has been lingering doubt as to whether he really is the man for the job. Microsoft has continued to stutter with its online ventures and is all but invisible in social networking. Perhaps Ballmer's biggest win has been having an ex-Microsoft employee decide to load Windows Phone 7 on Nokia smartphones.

Apparently Ballmer didn't wow the Microsoft faithful with upcoming products, with the anonymous blogger concluding, "Is Win 8 tablet all we have left to be excited about? Has the morale across the company slumped so much that 20,000 of us together can't even generate a decent applause? Please someone tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I've just got a bad attitude and I completely misread the meeting."

Windows 8 will either make or break Ballmer. In the desktop and laptop market there's little doubt that Microsoft will get its OEMs and system builders to push the operating system aggressively in the hope of bumping up sales figures, but in the tablet market it's a whole different ball game.

Arguably Ballmer should be judged on how he manages to steer Microsoft into a new market. If Microsoft does manage to compete with established players such as Apple and Google, then Ballmer might be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but if not, Microsoft's board might show him the door.

He's Back: Arrington Surfaces with Uncrunched Blog

By Damon Poeter

The tech world's most famous unpaid blogger has surfaced with a new WordPress blog, promising to report on startups, break stories, and "write whatever the hell else I feel like in between."

Michael Arrington's new blog, Uncrunched, launched stealthily on Friday with a simple announcement, "HERE I AM." Arrington was ousted as the co-editor of TechCrunch, the cheeky tech news site he founded in 2005, earlier this month after an acrimonious struggle with TechCrunch owner AOL over a perceived conflict of interest in Arrington's role as an editor and his new $20 million investment venture, the CrunchFund.

Arrington has been extremely public about his beef with AOL, and particularly with Arianna Huffington, the president and editor in chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which runs The Huffington Post, Engadget, TechCrunch, and Patch Media, among other AOL media properties.

He turned up at TechCrunch Disrupt a few weeks ago wearing a t-shirt that read "Unpaid Blogger" —a reference to the role he was limited to at TechCrunch after he was pushed out, and made sarcastic reference to his battles with AOL and Huffington throughout the conference.

Arrington's choice of a name for his new blog indicates he's not ready to put those issues to rest and he referenced them Sunday on Uncrunched:

"That was never enough to stop the journalism community's antibodies from hitting TechCrunch hard over all the conflicts of interest that were inherently part of who I am," he wrote in his first full post on the new blog. "We fought through all that for years, and I kept fighting until my pen was removed from my hand, so to speak, by AOL a couple of weeks ago."

Arrington, removed from the envelope-pushing team he built at TechCrunch in a few short years, is on his lonesome again at Uncrunched. But he promised readers that despite the new address, nothing much has changed:

"Here are the things you can expect from me:

"TRANSPARENCY: I will disclose, as I've always done, all financial conflicts of interest (I have lots and lots of those). I'll also disclose other conflicts of interest, like friendships, when I can. I know a lot of you don't understand why I can't disclose all conflicts of interest.

"The answer is that if I did, not that many people would want to talk to me in the direct, honest way that I prefer. As a reader you must remain aware of the inherent bias in everything you read, and form your own opinions accordingly. ...

"TRUTH: I always try to find the truth in a situation. That unvarnished, pure nugget of truth at the core of every issue that I write about. Sometimes this takes more than one post, and sometimes I have to go back and correct things I've gotten wrong. I'll continue to do that.

"BIAS: I have lots of it, and I never try to ignore it or hide from it. The main thing to know about me is that I'm a champion of entrepreneurs and the startups they build. They are my rock stars. If in doubt I side with them, and that's clear from my writing. ...

"Okay, now that we've got that stuff behind us, let's do some blogging!"

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Blackberry Playbook price drops

by Mark Raby
It's usually not a good sign when retailers cut the price of a gadget that hasn't received an official price cut from the manufacturer.

It is unclear if that is what's happening with Research in Motion's bungled tablet, the Blackberry Playbook.
Three of the largest retailers to carry the tablet, Best Buy, Staples, and Office Depot, are now offering the gadget for $200, and the latter two are even giving customers a $100 mail-in rebate, making the final price a mere $100.

The question is whether these price cuts are temporary and/or encouraged by RIM itself. The company at leat appears to want you to believe they are.

RIM told PCMag.com in an interview, "We have a number of promotional plans in place for the fall with our retail partners that are intended to drive sell-through and increase adoption of the BlackBerry PlayBook. We are already starting to see some of these promotions being implemented in the form of instant rebates and gift cards within the consumer channel, and expect these promotions to continue into the holiday season."

RIM certainly does not appear to be giving up on the device. A major software update will be coming in the near future.

The problem with the Playbook was mainly that some of the features are locked unless users connect a Blackberry phone. Many critics say RIM should have opened up those features, like e-mail and instant messaging, to non-Blackberry customers because otherwise the tablet feels incomplete.

The software that powers the Playbook, QNX, will be used in upcoming Blackberry smartphones next year.

T-Mobile Is All About 4G

by Mari Silbey

You’d never know T-Mobile was in the process of possibly being acquired by AT&T from hearing CMO Cole Brodman speak. Today at the GigaOM Mobilize conference, Brodman talked about T-Mobile’s growing handset portfolio and the strength of its 4G HSPA+ network. In fact, Brodman used the conference as a platform to launch officially two new 4G phones – the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Amaze – along with the Sonic 4G mobile hotspot. T-Mobile wants to be known for 4G, whether there’s an AT&T acquisition on the horizon or not.

Brodman also had some interesting stats to cite on subscriber behavior and network traffic trends. A full 75 percent of T-Mobile phones sold today are smartphones, compared to about 60 percent of US phones as a whole. 4G data already takes up about half the traffic on the network, and about half of 4G traffic is video. Mobile data traffic is doubling every six months.

So what does all this mean for the potential acquisition? Not a whole lot, except it highlights the network footprint that AT&T would really like to have as it battles against Verizon 4G. More speed and more bars in more places.

Dead Sea Scrolls Go Online in Israel Museum Project With Google

By Gwen Ackerman 

The Dead Sea Scrolls, so ancient and fragile that direct light cannot shine on them, are now available to search and read online in a project launched today by the Israel Museum and Google Inc. (GOOG)

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful,” said Yossi Matias, managing director of Google’s R&D Center in Israel.

The people who wrote the scrolls hid them in caves along the shore of the Dead Sea, probably about the time the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and are generally attributed to an isolated Jewish sect that settled in Qumran in the Judean Desert. The manuscripts were discovered between 1947 and 1956.

Sections of the scrolls are on display at Israel Museum’s Shrine of the book and rotated every three to four months so as to minimize exposure. Only a facsimile of the Great Isaiah Scroll is on display. The Google tool on the Israel Museum website makes entire scrolls accessible and allows browsers to zoom into the text as well as read its translation in English.

“This gives you a way to understand the beginning of biblical history,” said museum director James Snyder. “Nothing could be more important.”

The project follows a Google project that went live in January and put online an archive and search function for photos from Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. The world’s largest Internet search engine is also working on a project in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority that will make available on the Internet fragments of the scrolls so they can be studied by scholars.

Cultural Opportunity

“The opportunity is amazing here for culture and heritage information,” Matias said. “We are trying to expand this and address these historical and heritage archives and there are great things that can be done here.”

Five of the eight scrolls housed at Israel Museum since 1965 have been digitalized, including the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Temple Scroll and the War Scroll. The Great Isaiah Scroll can be searched by column, chapter and verse, including the famous “and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.” It is accompanied by an English translation tool and includes an option for users to submit translations of verses in their own languages.

“For us, the Dead Sea Scrolls couldn’t be a more important iconic cultural artifact,” said Snyder. “Any opportunity for us to bring them to the widest possible public audience and offer the opportunity to really begin to understand what these amazing documents are all about is something that we embrace.”

Google’s Chief Executive Larry Page is pushing into new markets such as mobile and display advertising, while trying to preserve the company’s leadership in search, an area that generates most of Google’s revenue. Shares of Google have dropped 0.3 percent in the past 12 months, compared with a 1.1 percent decline of the S&P 500 Index.

Both Israel Museum and Google declined to say how much the project cost.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

Oracle's shows super-fast, IBM-killing SPARC T4

By Richi Jennings (@richi)


Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) has unveiled its T4 processor, as well as its 9,600-thread SuperCluster behemoth. In the run-up to next week's Oracle OpenWorld, Larry Ellison and Mark Hurd are proudly showing off their new stuff. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers ponder the feeds 'n' speeds.
 
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: TBA...
 
 
James Niccolai reports:
CEO Larry Ellison...made several bold performance claims and said he's "looking forward" to competing for IBM's customers. The T4...has eight processor cores...each core runs at up to 3GHz, compared to the T3's 1.65Ghz. ... [It's] available now in standard rack and blade servers, priced from US$16,000 to $160,000.
...
[T]he Sparc SuperCluster [is] a high-end system that will pack 1,200 CPU threads in...a server rack...out by the end of the year...designed for general purpose computing, including [ERP]. ... It can be purchased in a half rack configuration, or as a full rack with 4TB of DRAM. ... Up to eight racks can be linked together with a single system image.  
 
Timothy Prickett Morgan adds:
The SPARC T4 processors, with an S3 core, were developed under the code-name "Yosemite Falls." ... Oracle's chipheads added dynamic threading...and also added something called the critical thread API...[which] boost[s] the performance of a single-threaded application. ... On the SPECint2006 benchmark, the SPARC T4 processor...has about five times the performance of the SPARC T3.
...
[A T4 die] has two DDR3 memory controllers, two PCI-Express 2.0 x8...controllers, and two 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers...along with eight S3 cores. Each [of which]...also supports 18 cryptographic and hashing functions [and] has its own 16KB L1 instruction and 16KB L1 data cache, plus...128KB of L2 cache; the eight cores share a 4MB on-chip L3 cache, which is broken into two banks.  

Arik Hesseldahl talks to Mark Hurd:
With Oracle set to hold its annual...conference in San Francisco next month, Hurd will...be taking on generally more public roles at Oracle. ... Hurd declined to offer any good-natured advice to Meg Whitman...and also declined to answer any questions whatsoever about...his departure from [HP] 13 months ago.
...
"Larry has a keynote Sunday, and...another Wednesday, and I’ll be doing one Monday...centered on our innovations and systems and software...so that will be the primary agenda. ... I spend most of my time working on customers and making sure we have the best team in the industry. ... It’s a huge opportunity for us, but it’s also a challenge, because frankly there’s a lot to be done."  

And Jeffrey Burt notes that Oracle is taking aim at IBM:
Ellison...argu[ed] that the SuperCluster offers significantly better performance at a lower cost than IBM’s...P795 servers...[and] greater reliability and security.  

But Stephen Shankland sees in T4 something of a U-turn:
Sun's T-series processors began with the T1 "Niagara," evolved to the T2 "Victoria Falls" and T3 "Rainbow Falls." All three of those designs emphasized the ability to perform lots of parallel tasks. ... Not only did the T-series processors push hard with multiple...cores...they also pushed hard by letting each core [execute] multiple...threads.

With the T4, though, Oracle is headed in a more traditional direction: fewer...cores running at a faster clock speed.  
 
And Finally...
TBA
 

Senator charges GM's OnStar invades privacy

General Motors' OnStar in-car communications system violates privacy, a U.S. senator is charging.

OnStar, used by 6 million Americans, maintains its two-way connection with a customer even after the service is discontinued, while reserving the right to sell data from that connection, the Associated Press reports.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says that's a blatant invasion of privacy and is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. But OnStar says former customers can stop the two-way transmission, and no driving data of customers have been shared or sold.

"OnStar is attempting one of the most brazen invasions of privacy in recent memory," Schumer said.

But the General Motors OnStar service says customers are thoroughly informed of the new practice. If a customer says he or she doesn't want to have data collected after service is ended, OnStar disconnects the tracking.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

And although OnStar reserves the right to share or sell data on customers' speed, location, use of seat belts and other practices, a spokesman says it hasn't done so and doesn't plan to.

"We apologize for creating any confusion about our terms and conditions," said Joanne Finnor, vice president of subscriber services. "We want to make sure we are as clear with our customers as possible, but it's apparent that we have failed to do this. ... We will continue to be open to their suggestions and concerns."

A week ago, OnStar changed its policy and began continuing the connection for ex-customers unless they asked for it to be discontinued:

Finnor noted keeping the two-way communication active for former customers could someday allow for emergency messages to be sent even to ex-customers about severe weather or evacuations. The open line could also allow OnStar to alert drivers about warranty information or recalls, she said.

Schumer said he isn't persuaded. He said customers shouldn't have to "opt out" of the tracking after they end service. He accuses OnStar of actively deceiving customers.

Schumer is announcing the effort today by releasing a letter to the Federal Trade Commission seeking an investigation.

OnStar charges about $199 a year for basic service and $299 a year for service that includes navigation aid.

Apple Presses Samsung Tablet Ban

By ROSS KELLY

SYDNEY—A legal dispute between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in Australia intensified Monday, with an attorney representing the maker of the iPad alleging its South Korean rival's product infringes on patents relating to touch-screen technology.

The case is part of a global battle between the two companies that began in April, when Apple sued Samsung in California, saying its smartphones and tablets had "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad. The companies have since filed suits against one another in Germany, Japan, France and South Korea.

Apple is seeking a court injunction to prevent Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia starting Friday. Apple has sold about 500,000 iPads in Australia, equal to about 2% of the total population, Credit Suisse said in June.

The company has filed at least a dozen patent infringement claims but only three, all related to touch-screen technology, are being considered in a hearing before Justice Annabelle Bennett in the Federal Court this week.

"It must have been as plain as the Opera House to Samsung that the Apple patents were right in front of its eyes and they were wide open," an attorney for Apple, Steven Burley, told the Federal Court. "They ought to clear the way in advance rather than try to crash through."

Mr. Burley said that Samsung's product is similar in "form, factor and shape" to Apple's iPad 2 and that even the cardboard boxes they are sold in look alike. Still, he confirmed that the current part of the hearing relates only to the touch-screen patents. One of these is for a "selective rejection" function on the iPad, where the tablet doesn't respond to accidental touches. The other patents relate to the design of the touch screens and their ability to enable vertical scrolling even when the person touching the screen doesn't move their finger in a precise vertical pattern.

An attorney for Samsung, David Catterns, said the case currently has nothing to do with the form, function or shape of the product and is instead based on specific patents that would have a "negligible" impact if the product's sale goes ahead. Mr. Catterns also said some existing Samsung products have the same features but Apple hasn't made any patent infringement claims.

Samsung on Sept. 18 said it had filed a countersuit alleging Apple's iPhone and iPad 2 tablet violate many wireless-technology patents held by Samsung.

The hearing continues Thursday morning.

Separately, a Duesseldorf court will conduct verbal negotiations between Apple and Samsung on Dec. 20, a court spokesperson said Monday.

Earlier this month, the Duesseldorf court banned Samsung from distributing Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany, while the company's German unit Samsung Electronics GmbH is barred from selling it in the whole of the European Union.

—Nicky Redl contributed to this article.

Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@dowjones.com

New Facebook information sharing features cause privacy concerns

Privacy watchdogs are urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into the social networking service's new features that they say push Facebook users to share more than they may feel comfortable sharing.

Facebook unveiled services last week that make it easier for its 800 million users to share more information about themselves and their lives online. Above, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks Thursday at its F8 developers conference in San Francisco. (David Paul Morris, Bloomberg /September 27, 2011)

By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Francisco— 

Facebook Chief ExecutiveMark Zuckerberg said its new features create "frictionless sharing."

But they are causing friction with some users and consumer groups.

Facebook unveiled last week services that make it easier for its 800 million users to share more information about themselves and their lives online. The social networking service showed off a dramatic redesign of users' profiles, a timeline that charts in chronological order all the information users have shared in the past. Facebook also said that third-party applications would — with users' consent — automatically share every action users take, such as the songs they listen to or the videos they watch.

Privacy watchdogs are urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into the new features that they say push users to share more than they may feel comfortable sharing.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has criticized Facebook in the past, said he was sending a letter to the FTC pressing his organization's concerns, which he says the agency has so far failed to address.

"It's getting really difficult to evaluate the changes that Facebook makes, and I say that as a privacy professional. I can't imagine what the typical user goes through," Rotenberg said. "Users might opt in to what Facebook is planning to do, but Facebook never gives users that option. It just marches forward and users have to go along."

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. An agency spokeswoman declined to say if the FTC is investigating Facebook. The FTC does not discuss investigations unless the subject of an inquiry discloses the investigation, she said.

Privacy watchdogs aren't the only ones who say Facebook is stripping away its users' privacy. Writer Ben Barr of technology blog Mashable in a blog post said, "We're at the point of no return."

"Facebook's passive sharing will change how we live our lives. More and more, the things we do in real life will end up as Facebook posts," Parr wrote. "And while we may be consoled by the fact that most of this stuff is being posted just to our friends, it only takes one friend to share that information with his or her friends to start a viral chain."

Facebook says it gives users the ability to control the privacy of their personal information. And it has taken recent steps to give users even greater control.

But it continues to be dogged by privacy concerns as it taps users' information to better target advertising. Advertising sales make up most of the income for Facebook, which is preparing for a highly anticipated initial public offering next year.

With Internet companies gathering huge volumes of personal information, lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. and Europe have stepped up scrutiny.

In March, Google settled with the FTC, which had accused the Internet search giant of engaging in deceptive practices with the rollout of the social networking service called Buzz. Google agreed to put in place a privacy program and to be audited by a third party every other year. Over the summer Google launched another social networking service, Google+, which is seen as a credible competitor to Facebook.

Spotify and other third-party applications are already being made available to Facebook users. The redesign of users' profiles will roll out in coming weeks.

As consumers tried to digest the latest Facebook changes, another concern emerged: Blogger Nik Cubrilovic accused Facebook of using cookies to track users when they are logged off from the service.

Facebook engineer Gregg Stefancik denied that the company tracked users in a comment on Cubrilovic's blog post. Stefancik said that Facebook alters — but does not delete — cookies when users log out. But he says Facebook does that as a safety measure and does not use the cookies to track users or sell their personal information.

In a statement, Facebook said the logged-out cookies are used to identify spammers and phishers and detect when an unauthorized person is trying to access a user's account, among other things.

Tim Whitlock, chief technology officer and co-founder of Brandfeed, a company that helps promote brands, said users should think through the consequences of sharing personal information on Facebook.

"Most people understand that sites like Facebook are free to use for a reason. It's not because Mark Zuckerberg loves you, it's because Facebook and its peers make money from your data and from your eyeballs," Whitlock wrote. "We need to start thinking beyond what our data is currently used for … and wonder what else the information we hand over today might be used for tomorrow."

jessica.guynn@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Amazon hopes Kindle tablet can rival iPad

By Brendan Lynch

Internet retailer Amazon.com is expected to debut a tablet version of its popular Kindle e-reader computer tomorrow — which could give Apple’s iPad its first serious challenge, but will almost certainly drive shoppers to the e-commerce site, experts say.
“This is a Trojan horse to get a dedicated Amazon transaction engine in your house,” said Carl Howe, of Boston technology research firm Yankee Group. “It’s all about transactions. My gut sense is, if they gave it away, they’d make money.”
Seattle-based Amazon, known for its Kindle e-reader gadget, has scheduled a press event for tomorrow morning, and is expected to announce a 7-inch, full-color tablet running a customized version of Google’s Android operating system for $250 — half the price of an iPad.

Greg Raiz, CEO of mobile app developer Raizlabs, said while there have been several Android tablets, such as the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, none has been a runaway success like the iPad.
Last month, Hewlett-Packard shut down its mobile devices unit and liquidated its remaining TouchPad tablets for as low as $99, sparking a buying frenzy. Meanwhile, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion revealed earlier this month it had sold only 200,000 PlayBook tablets in the second quarter.
The Amazon tablet announcement kicks off a gadget manufacturer scramble to have the hot device of the holiday season, Raiz said. Next up is an Oct. 4 Apple event rumored to unveil the iPhone 5.
Raiz said Amazon has a unique shot at challenging Apple’s dominance of the tablet market — which research firm IDC pegged at a 69 percent share in the second quarter of 2011 — mostly because the online retailer can afford to keep prices down to a level more attractive to consumers.
“The device may break even or lose a bit of money, but they suspect people will buy content from it,” Raiz said. “Their business isn’t tied to devices. They have a content business. Over the last three to five years, they’ve lowered the prices of their Kindles.”
Meanwhile, Amazon advanced its content business with a deal yesterday that allows its Amazon Prime service to stream 20th Century Fox movies and TV shows such as “24” and “Arrested Development.” And last week, Amazon debuted a beta test of a service allowing Kindle owners to “borrow” books from libraries in the Seattle area.
Howe doesn’t see Apple and Amazon competing directly — yet. He thinks an Amazon tablet will focus on books, with video and music added in, while the iPad is a more complete multimedia device. Still, he expects the Amazon tablet to sell millions of units, with the measure of success being how quickly.

-— brendan.lynch@bostonherald.com

AT&T Offers Lame Response To DOJ Lawsuit

Telecom service provider contends that small, regional network operators such as Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS are significant threats to its business. Please.

By Eric Zeman InformationWeek

AT&T has issued a more official response to the lawsuit filed against it by the Department of Justice on August 31. AT&T believes that the Department of Justice hasn't properly weighed the competitive landscape, and that a post-AT&T/T-Mobile entity will usher in an era of lower prices and better service.

One of the Justice Department's major arguments against the acquisition is that it believes the merger would reduce competition. By combining the number two and number four wireless network operators, the AT&T/T-Mobile mega-carrier would become the dominant provider in the country. AT&T doesn't see it that way.

"Although the transaction will remove T-Mobile as an independent competitor, no significant consumer harm will result," AT&T said in its filing Friday. AT&T claims that T-Mobile has been losing customers consistently (which, OK, it has). Who has been picking up T-Mobile's customers? AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and probably smaller, regional operators such as Consumer Cellular, Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, and U.S. Cellular.
"The Department does not and cannot explain how, in the face of all of these aggressive rivals, the combined AT&T/T-Mobile will have any ability or incentive to restrict output, raise prices, or slow innovation," AT&T continued. "Nor can it explain how T-Mobile, the only major carrier to have actually lost subscribers in a robustly growing market, provides a unique competitive constraint on AT&T."

In other words, T-Mobile is weak, and not a threat. Therefore, the U.S. government must allow AT&T to buy this poor weakling in order to save it. How touching.

AT&T doesn't stop there. It accuses the Justice Department of not coming "to grips with the significant efficiencies this transaction will generate." Usually, one of the key benefits of a merger/acquisition is to increase the efficiencies of the combined entity. One way to look at "efficiencies" would be to say that the merged companies would eliminate redundancies, such as marketing departments, accounting departments, and so on. In other words, they'd cut jobs that are duplicated across both companies. AT&T has not brought up "efficiencies" as a benefit of the merger much. Instead, AT&T claims it will bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States. AT&T can't argue both sides of this point and expect to sound rational and sane.

Perhaps my favorite part of AT&T's repudiation is the following. It says the Justice Department "largely ignores the significant competition from established providers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint, innovative upstarts such as MetroPCS and Leap/Cricket, and strong regional providers like U.S. Cellular and Cellular South, among others."

AT&T calls Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS "innovative startups." Nothing against either of these smaller network operators--as they each do offer appealing services--but for AT&T to call them competitors is like saying the college boys from Bucknell University could take out the 2011 Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

Were AT&T and T-Mobile to combine, the merged entity would be 14 times larger than MetroPCS. AT&T must be really scared of MetroPCS if it needs to swell to such an industry-crushing size to remain ahead of the pack.

The last argument AT&T makes accuses the Justice Department of failing "to acknowledge that surging customer demand for wireless services drives carriers to invest, expand, and innovate."

In other words, the industry is so explosive right now that if AT&T doesn't acquire T-Mobile, it won't be able to invest, expand, and innovate fast enough to keep up with Verizon, Sprint, Cricket Wireless, and MetroPCS.

I'm sorry, AT&T, but ya'll are nuts to think any of these arguments are going to win over the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and the public at large.

Sprint thinks so, too, as it filed its own lawsuit against AT&T opposing the acquisition.

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