Skype to Support Voice and Video Calls on Intel Mobile Devices
January 25, 2008
At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Skype announced its plans to collaborate with Intel Corporation to develop a new mobile Skype™ experience for Mobile Internet Devices (MID) based on Intel low-power processors and chipsets. MIDs are a new category of small, truly mobile consumer devices enabling a PC-like Internet experience, coupled with the capability to communicate with others, enjoy entertainment, and access information on the go.
The collaboration builds on the ease of use of Skype software and makes that experience mobile. MID users will be able to make Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages on the move, while harnessing the performance of Intel’s new ultra-mobile platform. MID devices with WiMAX and WiFi capabilities will enable free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and cheap SkypeOut™ calls – calls from Skype to landline and mobile phone numbers anywhere in the world at low per-minute rates – to be made on open wireless networks.
“Many of the more than 246 million Skype users around the world are increasingly mobile and want to stay connected on the go,” said Gareth O’Loughlin, Skype’s general manager of mobile and hardware devices. “Making the richer Skype experience available on mobile devices partly hinges on the need for more processing power, which in turn tends to shorten battery life. Intel’s focus on lowering power consumption helps us minimize that conundrum, underscoring our evolution beyond the desktop. And it‘s good news to anyone who has found themselves missing Skype on the road.”
Skype will enable its software to run on the small, thin and light ultra-mobile MID devices with touch-screen LCDs, which are powered by Mobile Internet Linux. With the performance offered by Intel’s low-power processors and chipsets, some MID devices will even support mobile video calls over Skype.
“The emergence of Mobile Internet Devices represents an exciting new user experience,” said Pankaj Kedia, Director of Global Ecosystem Programs for the Ultra-Mobility Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel’s low-power technologies, combined with Skype’s optimized software, will enable MID users to easily stay in touch with their family and friends wherever they go.”
Skype is working with Intel to deliver its application software on the Mobile Internet Linux platform through Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). By bundling the Skype software on their devices, consumer electronics manufacturers can provide consumers with a rich internet communications experience – instant messaging, group chat, voice and video calls – right out of the box.
The first implementation of the Skype software for Mobile Internet Linux on Intel-based MID products is expected to be made available during the first half of 2008.
Apple Reports First Quarter Results
January 23, 2008
Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 first quarter ended December 29, 2007. The Company posted revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 45 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 22,121,000 iPods during the quarter, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone™ sales were 2,315,000.
“We’re thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks.”
“Apple’s revenue grew 35 percent year-over-year to $9.6 billion, an increase of almost $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter’s record-breaking results,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Our strong results produced cash flow from operations of over $2.7 billion during the quarter, yielding an ending cash balance of over $18.4 billion. Looking ahead to the second quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $6.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.94.”
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2008 financial results conference call, the live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq108/ and will also be available for replay.
Hictu and Jajah Partner
January 23, 2008
Jajah, a web-activated telephony provider, and Hictu, a video micro-blogging service launched by Abbeynet last June, today announced Hictu’s complete integration of Jajah’s voice-calling capabilities into their technology platform.
Hictu users will be able to use Jajah service from within any micro-post on Hictu, simply by clicking on the green Jajah button embedded in their Hictu profile. Users will also be able to talk from their phone with any other Jajah customer or with any user who has previously registered a phone number in the Jajah section of their Hictu profile.
“We are very proud to announce this partnership with Jajah,” states Luca Filigheddu, CEO of Abbeynet. “Jajah is one of the fastest growing global Web telephony companies; a young company forecasted to play a leadership role in the future of Web-integrated communications.”
Developed in Italy and capable of competing over an international Web 2.0 scenario, the Hictu video micro-blogging platform lets users instantly publish text, audio and video messages online and share this content with friends and other Hictu users. Video and audio messages can be recorded directly from within Hictu webpages, turning the service into the “Twitter” for video micro-bloggers. Hictu enables users to update the world with their “real-time” status and activities, while integrating content from leading IM and VoIP services.
“Micro communities like Hictu are becoming daily places of congregation and are increasing in importance for their users,” says Roman Scharf, JAJAH co-founder. “It is our conviction to provide these spaces with the opportunity for web to voice capability to match the communication needs and preferences of its users. Hictu’s service is compelling and unique and we are thrilled to be working with them.”
Yahoo! Announces Support for OpenID
January 17, 2008
Yahoo! today announced its support for the OpenID 2.0 digital identity framework for all 248 million active registered Yahoo! users worldwide. OpenID, an open framework based on proven Internet technologies, enables users to consolidate their Internet identity, eliminating the need to create separate IDs and logins at all of the various websites, blogs, and profile pages they may visit in the course of their online session. In addition to the many leading Yahoo! services users already enjoy, anyone with a Yahoo! ID will be able to use the same ID for easy access to any sites that support OpenID 2.0.
Yahoo!’s initial OpenID service, which will be available in public beta on January 30, enables a seamless and transparent web experience by allowing users to use their custom OpenID identifier on me.yahoo.com or to simply type in “www.yahoo.com” or “www.flickr.com” on any site that supports OpenID 2.0. Alternatively, web sites that accept OpenID 2.0 will be able to add a simple “Sign-in with Your Yahoo! ID” button to their login pages that will make it even easier for their users. Yahoo! is working with several partners, including Plaxo and JanRain, to make it possible for users to access these sites with their Yahoo! ID from the first day of the public beta.
“A Yahoo! ID is one of the most recognizable and useful accounts to have on the Internet and with our support of OpenID, it will become even more powerful,” said Ash Patel, executive vice president of platforms and infrastructure at Yahoo!. “Supporting OpenID gives our users the freedom to leverage their Yahoo! ID both on and off the Yahoo! network, reducing the number of usernames and passwords they need to remember and offering a single, trusted partner for managing their online identity.”
“Yahoo!’s commitment to an open web is a significant validation of the OpenID movement and Yahoo!’s adoption of the standard today immediately triples the total number of people able to use OpenID,” said Scott Kveton, chairman of the Board of Directors for the OpenID Foundation. “With Yahoo! actively engaged with the OpenID Foundation and its community to promote OpenID, Yahoo!’s users will be able to more easily access the many sites across the web that support the standard, and the potential for access to Yahoo!’s vast international user base will create an even more powerful incentive for additional websites to begin accepting OpenID users.”
Yahoo!’s implementation is based on the OpenID 2.0 specification, which Yahoo! worked closely with the OpenID foundation and community to finalize in December 2007, and includes new features that improve security and usability of OpenID, making it the most user-friendly single sign-on and online user-authentication standard. Yahoo! users who log in with their Yahoo! ID on OpenID sites will have the added protection of Yahoo!’s sign-in seal wherever they go on the web. In addition, no email or IM addresses are revealed or disclosed as part of the login process, which further helps protect users from phishing or other attacks.
“Plaxo believes that users should be able to carry their identity and personal information with them wherever they go across the social web,” said Joseph Smarr, chief platform architect of Plaxo. “Yahoo! is making that vision a reality by becoming an OpenID provider. Yahoo! users will be able to easily access Plaxo and other services without having to create and remember yet another password. This also paves the way for a secure approach to data portability between the various services people use across the web.”
“At JanRain, we believe the evolution of the Internet and the next generation of web applications hinges on universal adoption of a secure, portable digital identity,” said Larry Drebes, founder and vice president of engineering for JanRain. “JanRain is a leader in OpenID libraries, tools and applications, and has worked closely with Yahoo! to integrate its new OpenID offering into our services. The addition of 248 million Yahoo! users to the OpenID ecosystem will be a tremendous milestone in expanding the user base for OpenID.”
Yahoo! will continue to improve the OpenID user experience and to educating its users. In addition, Yahoo! intends to expand its support of OpenID by adopting other elements of the program as the service evolves. More information and updates can be found at http://openid.yahoo.com.
MediaCart, Microsoft and Wakefern Create Digital Grocery Shopping
January 15, 2008
MediaCart, Microsoft and Wakefern Food Corporation announced today, at the National Retail Federations Annual Convention & Expo, that Wakefern plans to pilot MediaCart’s next-generation computerised shopping carts for potential rollout to all ShopRite stores. The early pilot, conducted with Wakefern in its ShopRite stores, The nine-month pilot with Wakefern began in the spring of 2007. Microsoft’s Atlas Division will provide video ad serving on the MediaCart grocery cart screen, providing advertisers with the opportunity to reach shoppers at the point of purchase, and providing ShopRite customers with a more personalised shopping experience.
“In working with companies like MediaCart, we’re continuing to push the envelope in the digital advertising realm to enable new and innovative ways for advertisers and agencies to create brand loyalty and engage with their target audiences in a highly relevant, measurable and targeted way,” said Scott Ferris, general manager of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “Digital advertising opportunities are expanding rapidly into new areas, as many of consumers’ daily activities, such as shopping, become increasingly ‘connected,’ and Microsoft is committed to working with advertisers and agencies to take advantage of these opportunities as they unfold.”
By using Microsoft technologies, the MediaCart solution will enable anonymous ad targeting through data obtained through ShopRite’s customer loyalty card program. A shopper would scan his or her card at the MediaCart, and receive ads and promotional offers based on past purchases and/or saved shopping lists that could be uploaded from a home PC. No personally identifiable information will be shared with Microsoft, MediaCart or any advertiser as part of the ad serving process. The technology will also provide advertisers with reporting and analytics capabilities to assess performance of the ads in the stores.
In addition to the advertising shoppers will receive, they will also be able to save time and money with MediaCart-equipped shopping carts by obtaining electronic coupons, locating products in the store, performing comparative price checks, viewing store specials in aisle as they shop, viewing recipes and nutritional information, shopping using an electronic shopping list that is presented in aisle order, totaling the cost of the items in their baskets before checkout, and expediting the checkout using the cart-level checkout feature. This enhanced shopping experience helps differentiate ShopRite in the marketplace and drives brand and customer loyalty.
In addition to Microsoft’s Atlas technologies, the MediaCart solution is also built on Microsoft Windows CE and Microsoft SQL Server. Trials of the MediaCart solution are expected to begin in ShopRite stores in the second half of 2008.
Amazon MP3 to Add DRM-Free Downloads from Sony
January 10, 2008
Amazon.com today announced that DRM-free MP3 music downloads from SONY will be available to customers on Amazon MP3, Amazon’s DRM-free MP3 digital music store where every song is playable on virtually any digital music-capable device, including PCs, Macs, iPod, Zune, Zen, iPhone, RAZR and BlackBerry. When SONY BMG is added later this month, Amazon MP3 will be the only retailer to offer customers DRM-free MP3s from all four major music labels, as well as over 33,000 independent labels. Amazon MP3 customers will discover DRM-free MP3s from SONY BMG’s vast rosters of artists representing virtually every genre of music.
“We are excited to offer Amazon MP3 customers DRM-free MP3s from SONY BMG, which represents many of the most popular musicians from the past and present,” said Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President for Digital Music. “Our Amazon MP3 customers will be able to choose from a full selection of DRM-free music downloads from all four major labels and over 33,000 independents that they can play on virtually any music-capable device.”
“We are excited to be working with Amazon as they continue to build new markets for digital music,” commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business & U.S. Sales, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. “We are constantly exploring new ways of making our music available to consumers in the physical space, over the Internet and through mobile phones, and this initiative is the newest element of our ongoing campaign to bring our music to fans wherever they happen to be.”
Launched in September 2007, Amazon MP3 offers Earth’s Biggest Selection of a la carte DRM-free MP3 music downloads, which now includes over 3.1 million songs from more than 270,000 artists. Every song and album in the Amazon MP3 music download store is available exclusively in the MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) software and is encoded at 256 Kbps to deliver high audio quality. Amazon MP3 customers are free to enjoy their music downloads using any hardware device, organize their music using any music management application such as iTunes(R) or Windows Media Player(TM); and burn songs to CDs for personal use.
Most songs available on Amazon MP3 are priced from 89 cents to 99 cents, with more than 1 million of the over 3.1 million songs priced at 89 cents. The top 100 bestselling songs are 89 cents, unless marked otherwise. Most albums are priced from $5.99 to $9.99. The top 100 bestselling albums are $8.99 or less, unless marked otherwise. Buying and downloading MP3s from Amazon MP3 is easy. Customers can purchase downloads using Amazon 1-Click shopping, and with the Amazon MP3 Downloader, seamlessly add their MP3s to their iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries.
Yahoo! and Belo To Offer Local Video Online
January 10, 2008
Belo and Yahoo! today announced an agreement that designates 13 of Belo’s television stations as the exclusive provider of local news video to Yahoo! News in their respective markets. Yahoo! will host dozens of local news video clips each day, provided by Belo’s television stations, which will run within the local news pages of Yahoo! News. Local news video will also be available to all Yahoo! users when major news breaks in local markets.
“Video usage is one of the fastest growing areas in the online space and Belo’s television stations and Web sites produce some of the most compelling video in their respective markets. Given Yahoo!’s leadership in online news, this partnership is yet another way for both companies to offer users a richer online experience while jointly creating business models which recognize that value,” said Dunia A. Shive, president and Chief Operating Officer of Belo Corp.
The video partnership between Yahoo! News and Belo’s television Web sites adds to the previously announced agreements between Yahoo! and Belo’s newspaper Web sites. The companies will share advertising revenue generated from the video clips under the new agreement, which encompasses all Belo television markets except Dallas and Boise, including:
-- Austin -- Portland
-- Charlotte -- San Antonio
-- Hampton/Norfolk -- Seattle/Tacoma
-- Houston -- Spokane
-- Louisville -- St. Louis
-- New Orleans -- Tucson
-- Phoenix
“For many consumers visiting Yahoo! News, there’s nothing more relevant than local updates. The addition of local news video from 13 new markets is a huge win for the people who have made Yahoo! News the number one news site on the Internet,” said Alan Warms, vice president and general manager of Yahoo! News. “Given the surge in demand for online video on Yahoo! News, and across the Internet, this deal with Belo’s television stations makes a lot of sense for our users.”
The addition of Belo news video expands the local news TV coverage on Yahoo! News, to now include local news video in 18 of the top 25 markets in the country. Belo’s television stations and associated Web sites are among the most viewed on-air and online in their respective markets, operating the first or second ranked television station and television Web site in 11 of the markets covered under this agreement.
The current partnership between Yahoo! and Belo began in 2005 with a job posting distribution agreement between Belo’s newspapers and Yahoo! HotJobs. Over the years, the two companies have discussed other ways of working together, including distribution of Belo news video, which has culminated with today’s announcement. Yahoo! and Belo also partner as part of a larger newspaper consortium that involves Yahoo! and 22 newspaper publishing companies representing about 550 daily and weekly newspapers. That partnership encompasses graphical advertising technology, cross-selling online advertising inventory, content distribution, and search.
SOURCE: Yahoo!
Apple Introduces New Mac Pro
January 8, 2008
Apple today introduced the new Mac Pro with eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor*. The new Mac Pro combines two of Intel’s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage to offer the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at just $2,799.
“The new Mac Pro is the fastest Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With 3.2 GHz 8-core Xeon processing, a 1600 MHz front side bus and 800 MHz memory, the new Mac Pro uses the fastest Intel Xeon architecture on the market.”
The new Mac Pro features the latest Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture running up to 3.2 GHz, each with 12MB of L2 cache per processor for breakthrough performance and power efficiency. With a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses and up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory, the new Mac Pro achieves a 61 percent increase in memory throughput**.
Every Mac Pro comes standard with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256MB of video memory. The Mac Pro includes a new PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot that delivers up to double the bandwidth compared to the previous generation, and supports the latest generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of video memory, or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of video memory and a 3-D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications. With support for up to four graphics cards, the new Mac Pro can drive up to eight 30-inch displays at once for advanced visualisation and large display walls.
The Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac ever, featuring four internal hard drive bays with direct-attach, cable-free installation of four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives, totalling 4TB of internal storage and support for two SuperDrives. With optional 15000 rpm SAS drives that can deliver up to 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance, the Mac Pro is ideal for film and video editors. Combined with SATA or SAS drives, using an optional Mac Pro RAID card offers the ultimate data protection and disk I/O performance on the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is easily and conveniently accessible in front and back so users can connect external devices with five USB 2.0, two FireWire® 400, two FireWire 800, optical and analog audio in and out, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a headphone jack.
Every Mac Pro includes Leopard™, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac. Featuring an improved scheduler and other multi-core technology, Leopard is a perfect companion to the Mac Pro, making applications faster and helping application developers take advantage of multi-core systems.
The new ultra-thin aluminium Apple Keyboard now ships with every Mac Pro and built-in Bluetooth 2.0 makes it easy to reduce cable clutter with the optional Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse.
The new Mac Pro is shipping today and will be available through the Apple Store®, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers.
The standard 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested price of $2,799, includes:
- two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses;
- 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
- ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory;
- 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
- 16x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
- two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots;
- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; and
- ships with Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse.
In addition to the standard configuration, the Mac Pro offers numerous build-to-order options including: one 2.8 GHz, two 3.0 GHz, or two 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors; up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 fully-buffered ECC memory; up to four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm or up to four 300GB SAS drives running at 15000 rpm; Mac Pro RAID card; up to two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer support; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards; AirPort Extreme 802.11n; Apple USB Modem; Apple wireless Aluminum Keyboard; Apple wireless Mighty Mouse; and Mac OS X Server Leopard. Complete build-to-order options and pricing are available at www.apple.com/macpro.
Microsoft to buy Fast Search & Transfer
January 8, 2008
Microsoft today announced that it will make an offer to acquire Fast Search & Transfer ASA, provider of enterprise search solutions, through a cash tender offer for 19.00 Norwegian kroner (NOK) per share. This offer represents a 42 percent premium to the closing share price on Jan. 4, 2008 (the last trading day prior to this announcement), and values the fully diluted equity of FAST at 6.6 billion NOK (or approximately $1.2 billion U.S.). FAST’s board of directors has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. In addition, shareholders representing in aggregate 37 percent of the outstanding shares, including FAST’s two largest institutional shareholders, Orkla ASA and Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe, have irrevocably undertaken to accept the offer. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.
“Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “Until now organisations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions. The combination of Microsoft and FAST gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs.”
The companies possess a number of complementary strengths that advance a shared vision for helping businesses deliver information worker productivity and improved business results. FAST has a deep talent pool and is respected throughout the technology industry for its expertise in best-in-class, high-end search solutions. Microsoft offers worldwide customer reach and an extensive partner network, and is the recognised leader in business productivity with the popular Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, which combines search with best-in-class collaboration, business intelligence, portal and content management capabilities.
“This acquisition gives FAST an exciting way to spread our cutting-edge search technologies and innovations to more and more organisations across the world,” said John Lervik, CEO of FAST. “By joining Microsoft, we can benefit from the momentum behind the SharePoint business productivity platform to really empower a broader set of users through Microsoft’s strong sales and marketing network. It validates FAST’s momentum and leadership in enterprise search.”
In addition to bolstering Microsoft’s enterprise search efforts, this acquisition increases Microsoft’s research and development presence in Europe, complementing existing research teams in Cambridge, England, and Copenhagen, Denmark, with new and significant capabilities in Norway.
The offer will be subject to customary terms and conditions, including receipt of acceptances representing more than 90 percent of FAST shares and voting power on a fully diluted basis, and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals on terms acceptable to Microsoft. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be contained in the offer document, which is expected to be sent to FAST shareholders during the week of Jan. 14, 2008. The offer will not be made in any jurisdiction in which the making of the offer would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction.
Time Square New Year’s Webcast Online and On Mobile Devices
December 28, 2007
Earthcam will transmit the New Years Eve celebration live from Times Square, New York and this year Sprint customers will have access to the webcast on their mobile devices
Viewers will get the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square through 25 live camera views including streaming video December 31st beginning at 12 noon ET. Cameras located in 14 additional locations from Washington DC, Las Vegas and Seattle, in the United States to London, Prague and Malta will provide additional live and archived views of national and international celebrations.
