Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hitachi exits personal computers
 Hitachi had been Japan's eighth-largest PC maker |
wants to focus on larger network systems for businesses instead.
Analysts said the move showed Hitachi had been struggling to compete in a PC market dominated by US firms Dell and Hewlett-Packard and China's Lenovo.
Hitachi said it was now scaling back PC production at its central Japan plant.
The electronics group had been Japan's eighth-largest PC maker, with its main PC brand being Prius.
"We want to develop new computers for use in the broadcasting industry, which is becoming more digitised," said a spokesman.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Microsoft unveils unified communication
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:52:04
Microsoft, world's largest maker of PC software, has announced new software linking phones and video to the Office application suite.
The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS) software runs on large server systems and allows people using Microsoft's Office software to manage voice calling from their personal computers and in combination with email, instant messaging and other communications.
The software can allow a user with a headset to make a phone call from a PC, by clicking on a name in a contact list. But it includes far more advanced features, such as being able to add people to a conference call by using a mouse to drag and drop their names across the computer screen.
In addition to the core server software, Microsoft is introducing a companion desktop product, Office Communicator, and a new version of its Live Meeting videoconferencing software. It is also making available its RoundTable videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera and recording abilities.
Microsoft predicted within five years most offices will rely on the software.
MHE/PA
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The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS) software runs on large server systems and allows people using Microsoft's Office software to manage voice calling from their personal computers and in combination with email, instant messaging and other communications.
The software can allow a user with a headset to make a phone call from a PC, by clicking on a name in a contact list. But it includes far more advanced features, such as being able to add people to a conference call by using a mouse to drag and drop their names across the computer screen.
In addition to the core server software, Microsoft is introducing a companion desktop product, Office Communicator, and a new version of its Live Meeting videoconferencing software. It is also making available its RoundTable videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera and recording abilities.
Microsoft predicted within five years most offices will rely on the software.
MHE/PA
Google Inc. to launch 'Gphone'
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:18:42
The world's top search engine Google has developed a series of 'Gphones', offering mobile services, such as search, e-mail, and maps.
Wall Street analysts say the mobile phone 'to be launched as early as February 2008', will help company shares break the $700 mark.
"The mobile world has much greater reach than the wired Internet. Google sees this as the future," says Avi Greengart, a principal analyst with research firm Current Analysis.
In the short run, Gphone also threatens to dethrone the Apple iPhone as the wireless industry's newest star.
Google and Apple have worked closely in the past, but Gphone could test this cozy relationship and force Apple to make the iPhone a more open device than it is today.
The Web giant has made no secret that it believes mobile phones should be free to consumers, where revenues are generated through advertising and no single carrier has a lock on users.
Lehman analyst Doug Anmuth says the Google phone will be a "low-priced, simple form factor handset with an operating system specifically designed for Internet applications."
SBB/HGH
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Wall Street analysts say the mobile phone 'to be launched as early as February 2008', will help company shares break the $700 mark.
"The mobile world has much greater reach than the wired Internet. Google sees this as the future," says Avi Greengart, a principal analyst with research firm Current Analysis.
In the short run, Gphone also threatens to dethrone the Apple iPhone as the wireless industry's newest star.
Google and Apple have worked closely in the past, but Gphone could test this cozy relationship and force Apple to make the iPhone a more open device than it is today.
The Web giant has made no secret that it believes mobile phones should be free to consumers, where revenues are generated through advertising and no single carrier has a lock on users.
Lehman analyst Doug Anmuth says the Google phone will be a "low-priced, simple form factor handset with an operating system specifically designed for Internet applications."
SBB/HGH
Yahoo Inc. upgrades search engine
| Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:47:40 | |
According to AP, Yahoo's new search engine provides a list of related concepts as a user types into the query box. Moreover, the engine offers more links to photos, videos and music on the main results page. The search engine also highlights local events in relevance to the request by gathering information from Yahoo's calendar service and Upcoming.org. The similarity of the new features with Google's recently introduced improvements has made many assume Yahoo is simply trying to catch up instead of taking the next technological leap. Between June 2000 and May 2004, Yahoo relied on Google to power its search engine. This transformed the once-smaller rival into a juggernaut that now fields more than half of the search requests on the Web. | |
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Friday, October 19, 2007
Web search giant Google saw its profits leap 46%
| Google profits beat expectations | ||
The firm saw profits for the three months to the end of September hit $1.07bn (£523.4m) up from 733.4m for the same period a year earlier. The latest rise comes after Google saw profits for the second quarter miss forecasts - which has only occurred twice in just over three years. Google shares recently breached the $600 mark, rising $100 over four weeks. The firm's shares ended at $639.62 on Thursday, but in after-hours trading the stock reached $642.20 - marking a rise of just over $6 or 1%. The company's revenue reached $3.01bn for the quarter, after commissions for advertising partners. Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald said: "It seemed like yet another strong quarter for the company, with very healthy revenue growth and strong profitability on top of that." "We are very pleased with the impressive growth we experienced across our business," said chief executive Eric Schmidt. "Our core search advertising business experienced continued momentum driven by growth in monetization and traffic," he said.
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Sunday, October 14, 2007
Next gen. computers to mind read
Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:15:34
Scientists say the next generation of computers will be ones that can read the mind and analyze its emotional and physical health.
Researchers with the Human Computer Interaction group at Tufts have recently come up with a computer which can tell whether the user is overworked, under-worked or not working at all.
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Researchers with the Human Computer Interaction group at Tufts have recently come up with a computer which can tell whether the user is overworked, under-worked or not working at all.
The mind reading uses the technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS) to measure the volume and oxygen level of the blood in and around the subject's brain.
According to a paper sent for Association of Computing Machinery symposium, the user wears a futuristic headband which sends light of the near-infrared spectrum into the head where it is absorbed by active, blood-filled tissues.
The headband then measures how much light was not absorbed, letting the computer gauge the metabolic demands that the brain is making.
Using the new technology, the particular area of the brain where the blood-flow change occurs, can be read. It will provide indications of the brain's metabolic changes by extension workload, which could be a trigger for emotions like frustration.
According to a paper sent for Association of Computing Machinery symposium, the user wears a futuristic headband which sends light of the near-infrared spectrum into the head where it is absorbed by active, blood-filled tissues.
The headband then measures how much light was not absorbed, letting the computer gauge the metabolic demands that the brain is making.
Using the new technology, the particular area of the brain where the blood-flow change occurs, can be read. It will provide indications of the brain's metabolic changes by extension workload, which could be a trigger for emotions like frustration.
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