New TV - LG Pentouch Plasma TV

News from US - New Televison : LG Pentouch Plasma TV. LG Electronics in the US has launching the LG PenTouch Plasma television that lets public use a special touch-sensitive stylus pen to interact with the Internet and to modify, control and create a variety of content directly on the screen.

New TV - LG Pentouch Plasma TV now on sale in The US

The line of televisions, first demonstrated at CES, includes a fifty inch model which will sell for $1,100, and two sixty inch models which will sell for $1,700 and $2,200 USD respectively. The set also requires a Windows PC (not included) for the touch interactivity.

“Touch displays have become the norm in mobile phones and tablets, but remain almost unheard of in TVs,” said Jay Vandenbree, SVP at LG Electronics USA. “The PenTouch TV brings all the excitement of touch displays, computers and the Internet to the world of television, with functions and programs that are great fun and really educational.”

Users activate the PenTouch mode with a click on the remote control. In PenTouch mode, users can access files created on their PCs, and work on them, edit them or move them around the screen using the stylus. The TV supports simultaneous two-pen use, and pen batteries can be recharged through USB ports on the TV or PC.

The HDTV’s uses a protective scratch-resistant glass screen, while auto sharpness control and color materialization technology enhance viewing. Complementing the unit’s TruSlim Frame design, the LG PenTouch TV incorporates a stand that has been specially designed to provide more stability when owners or their children are using the PenTouch feature.

Other Support of LG Pentouch Plasma TV:

Recommended PC system requirements to support the LG PenTouch TV include: Dual-core 2GHz or better CPU; 1GB or more of memory, 500MB or more HDD, graphics card with 1920×1080 (for PZ850 series) or 1024×768 (for PV490 series) connected via an RGB or HDMI output port. The Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) operating system is recommended due to its support of multi-touch applications.

The 50-inch 50PV490 Full HD 1080p display will sell for $1,100, the 60-inch 60PV490 Full HD 1080p display will sell for $1,700 and the 60-inch 60PZ850 Full HD 1080p display with THX 3D and 2D Display Certification will sell for $2,200. (Jumper99)

Read more »

Posted in: News

Can Android Be Microsoft's Next $1 Billion Business?

Google (GOOG) last year said Android is a $1 billion business. Microsoft (MSFT), it seems, may have similar plans for Google’s mobile operating system. Thanks to a barrage of patent licensing agreements with Android manufacturers, including a potentially highly lucrative deal in the works with Samsung (005930:KS), Microsoft is on its way to making big money with Android. How much could it all be worth?

Well, with 500,000 daily Android activations that Google recently reported, Microsoft could make $912 million in a year if it extracts $5 per activation on every Android smartphone or tablet sold. That’s how much it reportedly makes on each HTC Android device, as part of a licensing deal struck last year. It’s a long way to getting all Android makers to pony up, but you can see how big an opportunity this is for Microsoft, which is studiously lining up licensing deals with Android manufacturers. There are some 36 Android licensees as of May, making some 310 devices.

The latest and potentially biggest deal is reportedly in the works with Samsung, the world’s leading Android manufacturer in terms of sales. Microsoft is leaning on Samsung to sign a patent licensing deal that could pay Microsoft $15 for every Android device, although Samsung is reportedly trying to bring that down to $10. At that price, Microsoft could make an estimated $200 million just on Samsung Galaxy S II smartphones this year, based on projections of 20 million sales. And if Android activations pick up speed, which is likely considering the pace of Android’s growth, it could mean an even larger opportunity of more than $1 billion annually for Microsoft.

Again, it’s no guarantee that Microsoft can strike licensing deals with every Android manufacturer but the Windows giant has been on a roll lately. It has recently signed deals with General Dynamics Itronix (GD), Wistron, Velocity Micro, and Okyo. Microsoft has not disclosed how much those deals are worth, though it said it was collecting royalty payments from the licensees. Many firms choosing to strike deals, including companies like Itronix, which presumably has some General Dynamics patents to cross-license, suggests Microsoft has a pretty compelling argument that may work on other manufacturers.

MOTOROLA, BARNES & NOBLE CHALLENGES

Microsoft hasn’t won over everyone, however. Motorola has been a holdout, as has Barnes & Noble (BN). Both are fighting Microsoft in court over patent infringement claims. A win by either could help slow down Microsoft’s patent rampage on Android. But it could be some time before those cases are decided. In the meantime, if Microsoft can add Samsung to the list of licensees of patents allegedly infringed upon by use of the Android operating system, it could be a signal to other manufacturers that it might make sense to fall in line.

There’s something a little perverse about imagining Microsoft making so much from another operating system when it can’t seem to get much traction for its own mobile efforts. Gartner (IT) estimated Microsoft sold just 1.6 million Windows Phone 7 devices in the first quarter. It’s almost certain then that Microsoft made a lot more money from its deal with HTC, which sold 9.3 million phones in the first quarter, most of them Androids.

But it’s a sad fact of life in the fast-moving world of technology. Companies that aren’t necessarily competitive can still rake in dollars with their intellectual property. Nortel just sold its patents to a consortium including Microsoft, Research In Motion (RIMM), and Apple (AAPL) for $4.5 billion, leaving Google without some significant patent protection. Google has decried the state of software patents but bid unsuccessfully on the Nortel portfolio to bulk up its defenses. But with Microsoft coming after its Android partners, Google doesn’t have much to say, it seems. It may be that Microsoft’s patent licenses become just a cost of doing business for Android OEMs. I don’t think it will derail Android’s overall momentum, but it does undermine the promise of the platform as a free operating system. And it could lead to less innovation and added costs eventually passed on to consumers.

At any rate, Android is still a world beater for now, though increasingly a huge lawsuit magnet. Google is still making its $1 billion from advertising on Android. Manufacturers like HTC are seeing record profits by feeding off Android’s success. It seems like Microsoft is making sure that even if its own platform is starting slowly, it’s getting a sizable piece of the Android action. (BusinessWeek)

Read more »

Posted in: News

'Web 2.0' Will Die on October 1, 2012

Pundits have been predicting the death of the term "Web 2.0" since at least 2008, occasionally with a level of schadenfreude that renders their rants hilarious, in retrospect. (TechCrunch heads for the deadpool, anyone?) In 2009 TechCrunch updated this meme with some actual data, but let's face it, we weren't far enough past the peak to make a prediction with any skill.

But no more! Today I'm putting a stake in the ground: "Web 2.0" will die on October 1, 2012. To arrive at this date, I simply fit a straight line to the more or less linear decline in search volume for the trend since its outlier peak in 2007. And by "fit" I mean "drew in Photoshop."

You can see below that extending the trend out to infinity sees it cross the x-axis almost exactly three-quarters of the way through 2012. That's the point at which the term "Web 2.0" will have become so tired and worn out that even the PR professionals who refuse to drop it will finally get a clue.

Of course, "Web 2.0" might not really die. Like other terms with historical significance, its search volume could asymptotically approach zero.

What this says about the over-use of "2.0" as a suffix for every other noun / trend you can think of is unknown. Hopefully a time when no one uses the antecedent of this lazy marketing shorthand is also a time when it doesn't make sense to say, for example, "Food 2.0."

The alternative -- that "2.0" becomes a permanent part of speech, like "all cooped up" or "behind the 8-ball," is just too terrifying to contemplate. (Technologyreview)

Read more »

Posted in: News

Is Google+ Starting to Get on Facebook's Nerves?

There’s no question that Google+ has quickly become the most successful social offering that Google (GOOG) has ever released, racking up more than 25 million users in a matter of weeks. That may still be light-years behind Facebook’s user base of more than 750 million, but the search company’s social platform seems to be getting Facebook’s attention, particularly with the recent launch of Google+ social games, such as Angry Birds. While a Facebook executive recently dismissed the Google network as inconsequential, it seems clear the competition is keeping Facebook awake at night—which may be a good thing.

It was fairly easy for Facebook to dismiss Google’s earlier social efforts such as Buzz and Wave, in much the same way it was easy for users to dismiss them. Neither one managed to gain much traction outside a small group of Google fans and early adopters, in part because Buzz suffered from some serious privacy concerns early on (after it automatically added people from a user’s e-mail address book without making it clear this would happen) and Wave was just too complicated and the purpose of the service was unclear. Although Buzz continues to exist—for now—Wave has been shut down.

GOOGLE+ IS EVERYTHING GOOGLE’S OTHER SOCIAL EFFORTS WEREN’T

Google+, by contrast, has been hailed by many users as everything Google’s previous social efforts weren’t: attractively designed, easy to use, and with some appealing features such as the use of Circles to separate a user’s social graph into different groups. The company’s approach to the use of pseudonyms has gotten criticism from users—including us—but apart from that, it has been well-received. And according to ComScore (SCOR), Google+ got to 25 million users more than 10 times faster than any other service in the history of social networking (although some are already complaining it is a ghost town).

Last week, Google upped the ante by adding social games including the popular Angry Birds and Bejeweled to the platform. And that entry into social games definitely got Facebook’s attention, since games are one of the big drivers of revenue and engagement on the larger social network, thanks to a partnership with social-gaming leader Zynga.

Not only did Facebook quickly tweak its game-related features to make them more appealing to developers such as Zynga but a Facebook executive also seemed downright snippy when asked about this new competitor at a recent game-industry event, according to a report in Fortune magazine. In talking about Google’s offer to developers—the search company is offering to take only 5 percent of the proceeds from games, in contrast to Facebook’s 30 percent—Director of Game Partnerships Sean Ryan said: "Google is at 5 percent because they don’t have any users."

LIKE MCDONALD’S AND STARBUCKS

Ryan went on to describe Google’s effort as being similar to McDonald’s (MCD) getting into coffee in an attempt to compete with Starbucks (SBUX) (although that might not be the best comparison from Facebook’s point of view, since a number of analysts believe McDonald’s entry into the coffee business put substantial competitive pressure on Starbucks). And the Facebook executive described Google’s launch as a copycat move, saying the company had managed to "emulate aspects of our system, which … they have the right to do."

Games aren’t the only element of Google+ that seems to be getting on Facebook’s nerves. There have also been reports—which have been circulated on Google’s network by the company’s head of social, Vic Gundotra—that invitation links to Google+ posted on users’ Facebook pages are not showing up. Given the history of tension between the two companies over issues such as the exporting of contact information, there has been speculation that Facebook might be blocking these links, but the social network says it isn’t aware of any such blocking.

Can Google+ become a full-fledged competitor for Facebook? The Web giant has said the launch of social games is "just the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to what the company plans to add to its social platform, and some see mobile photo-sharing as a big element of Google’s plans for the future—in part because of the recent launch of a mobile photo application called Photovine. This would take Google+ straight into another core product area for Facebook, which has become the world’s largest photo-hosting service.

THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT COMPETING WITH FACEBOOK

As I described in a recent GigaOM Pro report (subscription required), Google is making this push into social networking not just because it wants to compete with Facebook but also because it needs to tap into the "social signals" and activity that users are engaging in on such networks as part of its core search and advertising business. And Google’s new CEO and co-founder Larry Page has made it clear these efforts are a central part of what the company wants to do by restructuring Google’s incentive system to compensate employees who contribute to its social plans.

Facebook may have had the social-networking business more or less to itself for the past few years, thanks in part to the rapid decline of Myspace, but Google has made it obvious that it wants to become a major player. And while it is still early, the launch of Google+ shows the search giant may just have what it takes to put some competitive pressure on the larger network. In the long run, that is likely to be good for Facebook users and for developers of third-party applications as well. (Businessweek)

Read more »

Posted in: News

Google Extends Search Into the Page

Google has ideas about what you might want to see online—even when you're not doing a search. It's offering its suggestions through a service called Google Related, which works as an extension for the company's Chrome Web browser or for the Google toolbar. The company explains:

Whenever you're navigating to a new page, Google Related will look for interesting related content and, if available, display it in a bar at the bottom of your page. Google Related can display categories such as videos, news articles, maps, reviews, images, web sites and more. To preview a listed item or see additional items, just use your mouse to hover over different categories in the bar. For example, when you hover over a video link, the video pops up in a preview box and you can play the video directly on the page.

Early observers note that Google Related often directs users to Google products, such as Maps, Places, and News. SearchEngineLand writes:

The potential benefits for the searcher are saving time, effort, and being able to quickly see if they might have missed something from a source (or a Google property) they might have missed or did not know about.

For Google it means that users will spend more time using Google's services. Of course, it would be possible to monetize the actual Google Related toolbar.

While the product brings out useful information a fair bit of the time, Ars Technica laments that it can't be trained (at least not by users):

Links offered from the Related bar are +1-able, but if you click the "View More Articles" link from the story above, you get a get a long list of stories from various outlets that can't be +1'd. This strikes us as a prime opportunity to teach Google Related which sources you trust or would like to see in your related news tab when you visit a news story. Still, true to Google form, Google is collecting statistics on the project, so we may be training it more than we know.

Using Google Related requires letting Google know what pages you're visiting at all times, which is why it only works with omnipresent Google products such as the company's browser. But it doesn't seem to raise new privacy concerns. PC Magazine dived into the associated privacy policy, and concluded:

Data collected via Related is similar to how Google collects search information. "The Related extension operates by sending Google certain information about your machine and web sites at the time you visit them, including the URL of the web site, your machine's IP address, and one or more Google cookies. This data is retained in Google's server logs and maintained according to our general Privacy Policy," Google said.

But users may still find Google's suggestions invasive, suggests E-week:

When Google isn't speeding up searches with its Instant predictive search technology, it finds other ways to cram more search results in front of users' eyes. For example, Google late last year launched Instant Previews to show users a sneak peek of search results they might be interested in learning more about before they click on results. ... Google.com was forged with a Spartan existence, but the company in the past year is finding more ways to crowd the user experience for profit. It will be interesting to see any pushback.

Source: Technologyreview 

Read more »

Posted in: News

Facebook Says Ceglia E-Mailed ‘Authentic Contract’ to Lawyer

Paul Ceglia, the western New York man claiming part-ownership of Facebook Inc., e-mailed the “authentic contract” disproving his claim to a law firm in 2004, a lawyer for the company told a judge.

Orin Snyder told U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio in a four-hour hearing in Buffalo, New York, yesterday that Ceglia sent the contract, which made no mention of Facebook, to a lawyer at the firm Sidley Austin LLP the year after Ceglia claims he signed a contract with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg giving him an equal share in the company.

The contract, which is headed “STREET FAX,” was found both on Ceglia’s computer and Sidley Austin’s e-mail server, Snyder told Foschio. Snyder said the evidence proves Ceglia fabricated the contract on which he bases his claim.

“The noose is tightening around the neck of the plaintiff in this case and he knows it,” Snyder told Foschio.

A court filing by Facebook contains blurry image of the claimed authentic contract, dated April 28, 2003. It appears to include the signatures of Zuckerberg and Ceglia and a handwritten addition to the contract’s terms. The document was discovered by the computer forensics firm Stroz Friedberg LLC, Facebook said.

Ceglia’s Contract

Ceglia’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lake, said the contract attached to Ceglia’s complaint, titled “‘WORK FOR HIRE’ CONTRACT,” is the genuine one. Ceglia’s version of the contract includes terms giving him a share of “The Face Book” in exchange for a $1,000 investment, in addition to terms referring to Zuckerberg’s StreetFax work.

Foschio set yesterday’s hearing to consider disputes between the two sides over the exchange of evidence in the case.

Foschio said Ceglia must submit an explanation for why he is unable to find five removable computer data storage devices that, according to Facebook’s experts, contained documents with names that include “Zuckerberg Contract page1.tif” and a folder named “Facebook Files.”

Foschio also said Ceglia must allow Facebook’s experts to examine his Web-based e-mail accounts, which he said he used to communicate with Zuckerberg in 2003 and 2004, before Zuckerberg will be required to turn over 175 e-mails from his Harvard University account. Ceglia claimed he copied e-mails with Zuckerberg from his Web-based accounts into word-processing documents he saved on floppy disks.

Facebook said the Harvard e-mails involve Zuckerberg and Ceglia and others at StreetFax.com, Ceglia’s former company.

Facebook Code

After the hearing, Lake said he plans to demand computers, e-mails and instant messages from Zuckerberg, in addition to early computer code for the site. Ceglia claims Zuckerberg used code from StreetFax in building Facebook.

Closely held Facebook, based in Palo Alto, California, may be valued at $69.2 billion, according to Sharespost.com, which tracks investments in non-public companies.

Snyder said Stroz Friedberg recovered information from Ceglia’s computer showing he e-mailed the “Street Fax” contract to Chicago-based Sidley Austin in March 2004. Foschio granted Snyder’s request to subpoena evidence of the e-mail and contract from Sidley Austin’s computers.

Janet Zagorin, a spokeswoman for Sidley Austin, had no immediate comment.

Foschio also approved Facebook’s request that Ceglia turn over three-dimensional images of the “Work for Hire” contract. Snyder said he believes Ceglia may have altered the document after his experts made the images.

Ceglia’s Claim

Ceglia, 38, filed the suit in New York state court last year, claiming 84 percent of Facebook, citing the language of the “work for hire” contract he claimed he signed with Zuckerberg in 2003. Facebook transferred the case to federal court. Ceglia, who lives in Wellsville, New York, is now in Ireland. Lake declined to say why Ceglia is in Ireland and how long he plans to stay.

Lake told Foschio that Facebook has orchestrated an “extremely prejudicial” campaign to smear Ceglia’s reputation and unfairly prejudice potential jurors against the case.

Zuckerberg said in a statement filed in the case that when he was a freshman at Harvard in 2003, he worked for Ceglia. Zuckerberg said he did computer coding for StreetFax and never made any agreement with Ceglia concerning Facebook. Ceglia paid Zuckerberg $9,000 for the work and owed him more, which he never paid, Snyder told Foschio in a hearing in June.

In April, Ceglia filed an amended complaint in the case, which quoted alleged e-mails between him and Zuckerberg from 2003 and 2004. The new complaint reduced Ceglia’s demand from 84 percent of Facebook to half of Zuckerberg’s holdings in the company.

Near the end of the hearing, Lake said the parties should enter court-supervised mediation to determine whether a settlement is possible in the case.

“We have no interest in mediating or settling this case, period,” Snyder said.

The case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg, 1:10-cv-00569, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York. (Businessweek)

Read more »

Posted in: News