Reuters - Watch superheros fight evil -- on your mobile phone

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Watch superheros fight evil -- on your mobile phone

Friday, Jun 20, 2008 5:26AM UTC

By Sachi Izumi

TOKYO (Reuters) - After taking on the big and small screens, comic book heroes like Spiderman and Superman may soon be appearing on an even smaller screen -- your mobile phone.

Suit-clad businessmen reading comic books are a common sight on Japanese trains, but they could soon be poring over their phones with publishers increasingly digitalizing their comics to cash in on the country's mobile-savvy consumers.

The July 11 launch of Apple Inc's <APPL.O> iPhone could also spur the growth of the mobile comic market as the device's touch-screen would make it easier and more appealing to read comics on handsets, analysts say.

As the number of mobile phone subscribers approaches 108 million, or 85 percent of Japan's population, carriers are moving away from voice services, beefing up content services and data transmission to increase revenues.

E-mailing, music-downloads and Internet surfing are already popular, and analysts expect comics to be the next big thing with the number of titles for mobile use soaring recently.

Comics led the size of the mobile publication market to double in the last business year to 22 billion yen ($204 million), according to Internet and media research firm Impress R&D. The size is almost three times bigger than the e-publication market for PCs.

"Until now, users had been extensively using mobile phones for emails," said Shinko Securities analyst Tomohiko Okugawa said. "Now that's shifting to games and comics ... this is the area it's going to be very interesting."

Top mobile phone carriers -- NTT DoCoMo Inc <9437.T>, KDDI Corp <9433.T>, and Softbank Corp <9984.T> -- recently unveiled handsets and services, enhancing features like video downloads and animated e-mails, a move seen benefiting content providers such as MTI Ltd <9438.Q>, DeNA <2432.T> and Dwango <3715.T>.

"We cannot be ahead of competition just by prices, features and sounds like we used to, and now we have to improve contents and user-friendliness to position ourselves apart from the rivals," said Toshitake Amamiya, general manager of KDDI's content and media division.

"The importance of contents has been growing ... It is crucial to pursue what we can do in this market where each adult always carries around a mobile phone and uses it as a life tool."

Nikko Citigroup analyst Hiroshi Yamashina said the bigger, better screens of new cell phones will help make mobile comics more popular.

Carriers have been releasing handsets in collaboration with popular TV brands, with some of them boasting 3.3-inch screens. Yamashina said the launch of Apple Inc's iPhone would also push up popularity of mobile comics as it can revive the sense of turning pages on its touch-screen.

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Reuters - Cellphones challenge cameras with sharper pictures

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Cellphones challenge cameras with sharper pictures

Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 3:43PM UTC

By Tarmo Virki

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson unveiled on Tuesday the first globally available phone with a high-resolution 8 megapixel camera as the handset industry mounted a fresh attack on traditional camera makers.

For more than a year, the best cameraphones have had a 5 megapixel camera, comparable to most digital cameras. A few higher-resolution models are sold in South Korea.

Now other vendors are expected to follow Sony Ericsson's lead, threatening the camera industry which has had the upper hand with higher pixel counts and better quality pictures.

Sony Ericsson's C905 Cybershot model will go on sale in the fourth quarter, in time for the holiday rush. Analysts said Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were set to unveil their own models shortly.

The world's top cellphone maker Nokia will have a 5 megapixel camera in its next flagship phone model N96, but it is also looking to deploy higher-resolution cameras.

Cameraphones sales long ago leapfrogged traditional camera sales, allowing Nokia to add "the world's largest camera maker" to its title as handset leader.

The world's top digital camera makers -- Canon Inc, Sony and Eastman Kodak -- enjoyed a 24 percent expansion in their market last year. But consumer spending is expected to be crimped in key western markets.

"The mobile cameraphone industry is closing the quality-gap on portable digital still cameras and this represents an opportunity for growth and new markets," said Neil Mawston, an analyst at research firm Strategy Analytics.

Nokia controlled 34 percent of the cameraphone market in January-March, according to Strategy Analytics, with Samsung at 20 percent and Sony Ericsson at 11 percent.

"Sony Ericsson is trying to regain the initiative as a mobile-imaging-leader, after losing momentum to Samsung and Nokia in recent months," Mawston said.

Helped by Cybershot, Sony Ericsson's share of the cameraphone market is bigger than its share of the handset market. But Nokia and Samsung have brought 5 megapixel quality into the midrange market, attracting a wider range of buyers.

Ben Wood, director at research firm CCS Insight, said Nokia's approach towards very high resolution cameras on phones looked more conservative than that of smaller rivals.

"We are unsure whether this is due to platform limitations or a focus on delivering the best quality pictures with less megapixels," he said.

"Quality over pixel count is a rational approach from a technical perspective, but it may see Nokia losing out on the high street as consumers perceive 8 megapixels to be better than 5," Wood said.

Soren Petersen, head of Nokia's product portfolio, told Reuters earlier this week the Finnish firm should set the benchmark for others in the top-end of the of phone market.

"In ultra high-end we have stuff in works, but I could see some more there in terms of setting the bar," he said in an interview. "I could see a combo of 8 megapixel camera, big touch screen, still with a Qwerty keyboard."

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Erica Billingham)

Wud up blogland. All is topsy turvy with the black rider. Life comes in various desighns. Tim Russert Passed a

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Reuters - TV newsman Tim Russert dies of heart attack

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TV newsman Tim Russert dies of heart attack

Friday, Jun 13, 2008 9:30PM UTC

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tim Russert, a leading U.S. political correspondent and host of the NBC television network's long-running "Meet the Press" talk show, died on Friday of a heart attack, the network said. He was 58.

NBC interrupted programming for a special report by former anchorman Tom Brokaw, who said Russert collapsed and died at work in NBC's Washington bureau after returning from a trip to Italy with his family.

A network statement said he died of a sudden heart attack while pre-recording a segment for this Sundays "Meet the Press" program.

Brokaw told viewers 2008 "was one of the most important years in Tim's life. ... He loved this political campaign. He worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks."

U.S. President George W. Bush and the two main candidates in November's election to succeed him all praised Russert.

Russert, who took over "Meet the Press" in 1991 and oversaw a rise in the Sunday program's popularity, was known for both tough questioning of American political figures and a cheerful television persona.

Now in its 60th year, "Meet the Press" is the longest-running program in the history of television, NBC said. Russert took over in December 1991. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world this year.

He was a political analyst for "NBC Nightly News" and the "Today" program, and anchored "The Tim Russert Show," a weekly interview program on the CNBC cable-TV channel.

BESTSELLERS

Brokaw lauded Russert for his best-selling books, "Big Russ and Me" about his childhood and his relationship with his father, and "The Wisdom of Our Fathers," a book inspired by the many letters he received from children talking about their relationship with their fathers.

Democrats and Republicans lauded Russert's work.

In a statement from Paris, the Republican Bush said: "As the longest-serving host of the longest-running program in the history of television, he was an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.

"Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it," Bush said.

Speaking to reporters in Columbus, Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said: "There wasn't a better interviewer in television, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics."

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said: "Tim Russert was at the top of his profession. He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard but he was always fair."

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of NBC's Today show from Rome. In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News' weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.

Russert became a news subject himself in 2007, when he provided key testimony at the CIA leak trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Libby was charged with lying and obstructing a federal investigation into the leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity after her husband criticized the Bush administration.

Libby said he had learned of Plame's secret identity from Russert. But Russert testified he did not discuss Plame with Libby and offered the jury an account sharply at odds with Libby's recorded testimony. Libby was ultimately convicted.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Steve Gorman, Jeff Mason, Andy Sullivan and Tabassum Zakaria, Editing by Howard Goller)

Reuters - MySpace plans redesign for next week

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MySpace plans redesign for next week

Friday, Jun 13, 2008 1:18PM UTC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp's MySpace plans a global redesign next week in an attempt to widen its demographics and boost user engagement on the site, the social networking site said on Friday.

In what it said would be the largest scale relaunch of a website of its size, MySpace will change its home page, navigation, profile editing, search, and MySpaceTV player facilities. Other changes will come during the summer.

"This is more than a face-lift; we're changing the way people interact with the site and with brands," MySpace said, adding that a major advertiser was signed for the U.S. MySpace home page on the first day of the relaunch.

The main phase of the relaunch is set for June 18.

MySpace said it had drastically overhauled the look and feel of its searches, which it said currently ranked third in total number of searches by any site.

It said it was working with Lucene Open-Source engine and community, marking the first time MySpace has contributed to the open-source community.

MySpace, with about 110 million users worldwide, claims to be the most trafficked website in the United States, adding that about 300,000 people sign up each day.

(Reporting by Christopher Kaufman, editing by Will Waterman/Jeffrey Benkoe)

Reuters - Manners still matter when you're poking on Facebook

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Manners still matter when you're poking on Facebook

Friday, Jun 13, 2008 1:49PM UTC

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Should you reject a friend on MySpace? How do you ward off an old lover on Facebook?

Have no fear. Britain's etiquette bible has come to the rescue for social networkers who are at a loss about how to behave with online decorum.

Debrett's have helped to compile a new set of "golden rules" for devotees of sites like Facebook and Bebo.

The rules were put together after research by the telecoms company Orange showed that almost two thirds of social networkers are frustrated and confused by online etiquette.

It discovered that more than a quarter were uncertain about how to respond to unwelcome "pokes" or messages.

Eighteen percent confessed to being confused on "how to respond to my ex when in a relationship with someone else."

Debrett's etiquette adviser Jo Bryant tried to guide the confused through what can be a social minefield.

Acknowledging that social networking has made new demands on traditional etiquette, she said "My advice is to play it safe and always employ your usual good manners when online, treating others with kindness and respect."

And you should never throw caution to the wind.

Mark Watt-Jones, head of development and innovation at Orange, said "Whether you are checking your Facebook profile or posting photos of friends on MySpace at work, these guidelines will ensure you never lose old friends or make unwanted new ones."

The golden rules compiled by Debrett's with Orange are:

1. You don't have to make friends with people you don't know. Think before you poke.

2. Wait 24 hours before accepting or removing someone as a friend. The delay will help you gather your thoughts.

3. Birthdays, engagements and weddings are not "virtual" events. Always send cards or phone friends when there is an important event.

4. Think before posting a friend's photo what you would feel like if it was you.

5. Think carefully about your profile picture. Would you want it to be appearing in your local newspaper?

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Reuters - Google CEO talks of good, evil and monopoly fears

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Google CEO talks of good, evil and monopoly fears

Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 8:1AM UTC

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt on Wednesday detailed his theory of competition in the Web industry while saying Google's famous mantra of "Don't be evil" is often misunderstood.

In an on-stage interview with writer Ken Auletta of the New Yorker magazine, Schmidt said "Don't be evil" is meant to provoke internal debate over what constitutes ethical corporate behavior, rather than representing an absolute moral position.

"We don't have an 'Evilmeter' we can sort of apply -- you know -- what is good and what is evil," Schmidt said before an audience of media industry professionals at an event sponsored by Syracuse University's Newhouse School in San Francisco.

On other fronts, Schmidt said Google was taking a patient view to making money from online video advertising, while it sees mobile phones attracting the most lucrative ad rates.

Google is moving to transform YouTube, its popular online video-sharing site, into a money-maker via new forms of advertising it will unveil over the next year, Schmidt said.

He was cautious about how profitable this might prove to be. For now, YouTube's video traffic consumes the majority of Google's outgoing network bandwidth. But he said it could possibly lead to the "creation of a whole new industry."

"We don't yet know how we are going to make significant amounts of money on YouTube," Schmidt said. "But it seems obvious that we should be able to make some money from this."

His optimism is based on two key facts: "We know people are watching it" and "We have the luxury of time to invest."

Speaking of the emerging market for Web-based advertising on mobile phones, Schmidt said the vast majority of Google searches on mobile phones were done on Apple Inc's year-old iPhones, which prominently feature a Web browser.

"Mobile looks like it will ultimately be the highest of ad rates," because ads can be targeted by user location, he said.

DEBATING CORPORATE EVIL

When he first joined Google as CEO seven years ago, Schmidt acknowledged thinking the "Don't be evil" phrase was a "joke" being played on him by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Schmidt recalled sitting in Google's offices later in 2001 when an engineer interrupted a strategy discussion over a planned advertising product by saying, "That is evil."

"It is like a bomb goes off in the room. Everything stopped. Everyone had a moral and ethical conversation, which by the way, stopped the product," Schmidt said.

"So it is a cultural rule, a way of forcing a conversation, especially in areas which are ambiguous," he said of how the mission statement works in practice at Google.

Schmidt reaffirmed that the company's primary goal is not to make money selling ads, whether it is banner ads or ads on Web searches, online video, TV and mobile phones.

"The goal of the company is not to monetize everything, the goal is to change the world ... We don't start from monetization. We start from the perspective of what problems do we have," he said, referring to big, world-class problems.

Apart from its main business, Google also backs, through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, efforts to develop renewable energy, prevent disease and promote government transparency.

But with its growing dominance of the search market -- the starting point for many Internet users -- Google increasingly faces comparison to arch-rival Microsoft Corp, with its long-standing domination of the computer software market.

Google has weathered criticism from human rights activists for doing business in China and over privacy issues that spring from the mountains of data its computers collect on Web users.

THEORY OF COMPETITION

Speaking to reporters following the interview with Auletta, Schmidt challenged the notion that Google dominated the Web.

He said that while Google may dominate the market for text-search advertising against weaker cross-town rival Yahoo Inc, Yahoo is the leader in the hot online display ad market, preferred by corporate marketers for brand marketing. He noted it is a larger market than text-based search ads.

Schmidt declined to comment on whether talks had cooled with Yahoo on an ad partnership deal that would pose an alternative to talks between Microsoft and Yahoo on various potential partnership deals, including ads.

He argued mature industrial markets allow big players both to compete and cooperate, citing IBM as a model. With an antitrust decree hovering over its head for decades, IBM evolved a strategy of becoming a components supplier that enabled many other high-tech companies to thrive.

Schmidt contrasted this style of open competition to what amounts to a winner-take-all strategy by Microsoft to dominate the Windows software market and related business software.

"The Microsoft model, where it is the only competition, is not, in fact, the model in mature industrial structures," Schmidt said. "The mature industrial structure is that 'piece parts' are built by people in reasonably fair and open ways."

"You have to resolve in your mind the fact that there is competition and collaboration in mature industries."

(Editing by Braden Reddall)

Reuters - Google lets users measure the power of words

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Google lets users measure the power of words

Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 1:55AM UTC

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Number-crunchers can rejoice as Google Inc offers deeper access to the underlying figures for users' Web searches, giving some insight into trends based on the relative popularity of various words.

The Internet search leader is expanding its existing Google Trends service to allow users to see underlying numerical data on the popularity of any particular search in Google's vast database of search terms, relative to others.

Google Trends was begun two years ago as an entertaining but limited way to indicate what the world is thinking about over time, at least in terms of Web searches.

Now Google is giving users the ability to search across terms in its database, instantly chart how they compare to other search terms, then export the underlying numerical data into a common spreadsheet format to compare with other data.

Google Trends (http://trends.google.com/) lets users compare demand for various search terms and see how popularity differs across geographic regions, cities or languages.

A year ago, the company introduced Hot Trends, which gave users insight into fast-rising Web search trends with data refreshed several times daily. The tool's power only grows as people conduct more and more of their everyday activities online, with Web search often their primary starting point.

The data in Google Trends stretches back to 2004. While the service is based on the many billions of individual searches performed each year, Google Trends only reveals data on the aggregate numbers of searches, not the searches themselves.

National differences in the endless human search for sex or love can vary widely, according to a Google Trends chart. http://tinyurl.com/5jt5ce/

Google Trends users can also chart the explosion of interest in the term "backdating" since 2006, reflecting the scandal over how hundreds of companies backdated options for executives. http://tinyurl.com/5l8osu/

Searches for the word "Microsoft" had a more than two-to-one-lead in searches over "Apple" three years ago, but Apple had virtually closed the gap by the end of 2007.

Then news reports of its takeover bid for Yahoo appears to have stoked a recovery in Microsoft this year. Searches for Microsoft have outnumbered those for Apple by about 7 to 5 in recent weeks, according to Google Trends data.

Users must be registered and signed into a Google account to use the service. One can then see the evolution of new terms or concepts through Google searches, including the rise of "Google Trends" itself. http://tinyurl.com/6zd6pg/.

(Editing by Braden Reddall)

Reuters - HP aims to transform market with touchy-feely PCs

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HP aims to transform market with touchy-feely PCs

Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008 5:35PM UTC

By Georgina Prodhan, European Technology Correspondent

BERLIN (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest computer maker, launched a new generation of PCs on Tuesday that respond to users tapping or stroking the screen, potentially bringing user-friendly computing to the masses.

The TouchSmart All-in-One is designed around music, photos and video but has a full set of PC functions, and is the most persuasive product yet in HP's turnaround of a PC business that was once defined by run-of-the-mill products and low margins.

The starting price of $1,299 for the TouchSmart, which will go on sale in 17 countries in July, is comparable with that of other premium models that are less distinctive and easy to use.

The way icons or documents on the screen can be enlarged, diminished or scrolled through by a fingertip brush of the screen is reminiscent of Apple's iPhone, although HP has been developing touch technology for a quarter of a century.

"No new product has been more significant as this new TouchSmart PC we just showed you," said David Roman, head of marketing communications for HP's Personal Systems Group, at HP's main annual product launch held this year in Berlin.

Todd Bradley, the group's executive vice president, told Reuters: "We don't think about this as a niche. We think about it as a global product that will inspire demand and drive desirability," he said, but declined to speculate on what size the market for such PCs might reach.

Crawford Del Prete, executive vice president of global research at IDC, said: "I think the price point is getting compelling for a premium PC. I think it would be even more attractive if they could get it under a thousand."

He pointed out, however, the risks HP was taking by making large investments in an unproven market.

"It requires a set of marketing expertise and it requires a significant amount of investment," he added. "An Apple or someone else could do this but it's not for the faint of heart, it's not for people who don't want to invest in the product."

HP's touchscreen technology works on top of Microsoft's Vista operating system, and product managers said there were no current plans to develop versions for other operating systems, such as open-source Linux.

HP's launch came a day after Apple announced a new version of its ground-breaking iPhone, the original version of which sparked intense interest in touchscreens and a host of imitators.

IDC's del Prete said: "I don't think Apple's impact can be underestimated."

Rob Enderle, chief analyst with technology research firm the Enderle Group, said HP's products launched on Tuesday, which include 17 new notebooks and a professional display monitor that can show a billion colors, could put it out of rivals' reach.

"Todd Bradley took a unit that many thought was a liability to HP and turned it into one of HP's top performers and into segment leadership ... to a point where it may not be possible for a competitor to catch it," he said.

The new TouchSmart PCs will launch in countries including the United States, Japan, China, India and Britain on July 13. The models sold in Europe will be about half as expensive again as their U.S counterparts, partly due to extra features.

Del Prete said the HP TouchSmart could appeal to social groups such as families or students sharing an apartment who wanted a PC that could also double as a group messageboard or second television set.

When invited to compare the touchscreen interface with the early days of PCs, when users unfamiliar with using a computer mouse would commonly jab at the monitor with a fingertip, del Prete said: "Now you point at the screen and something happens."

(editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

Reuters - Apple iPhone encore expected

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Apple iPhone encore expected

Monday, Jun 09, 2008 2:55PM UTC

By Scott Hillis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - June has arrived and for Apple Inc fans and investors that means just one thing -- a new iPhone.

The encore to the original iPhone, which launched nearly a year ago amid unprecedented industry buzz, is widely expected to be the main attraction when Chief Executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at Apple's developers' conference on Monday.

The new iPhone will be accompanied by support for corporate e-mail and a slate of new programs that could help boost sales of the devices, which sport a touch-sensitive screen, wireless Internet access and iPod-style media functions.

"The thing for Apple is to be able to leverage the iPhone for further innovation, or they run the risk of being the next (Motorola) RAZR, which was iconic in its own way, but for which innovation did not come fast enough," Shiv Bakhshi, director of mobility research for market research firm IDC.

Apple has declined to comment on what Jobs will announce, but analysts are betting he will show off a long-rumored phone running on a so-called 3G, or third-generation, network.

That would address one of the chief complaints about the current iPhone: the speed at which it calls up Web pages on AT&T Inc's pokey EDGE network.

That is a particularly important concern in Europe, which is ahead of the United States in building new networks and where sales of the iPhone have lagged.

"I see 3G as important for the U.S. but essential for overseas," analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said of a faster iPhone.

"It will be appreciated by technology enthusiasts and anybody who wants to get fast Web browsing outside the hot spots."

A new iPhone may be a catalyst for Apple stock. Investors have regained confidence that demand for the company's Macintosh computers and iPod media players is holding up amid fears the U.S. economy is headed for recession.

Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid raised his price target on Apple shares on last Monday to $225 share from $195, citing strong demand for its laptops and sales of up to 16.5 million iPhones next year.

INEXPENSIVE IPHONE?

There is also speculation Apple could bow to a cellphone industry practice and offer a subsidized iPhone, an arrangement where AT&T could kick in a couple hundred dollars to make the devices more affordable. AT&T already gives Apple a slice of the monthly service fees it gets from iPhone subscribers.

"We think that actually Apple could talk about a very disruptive business model, or a change in their business model, embracing subsidies where necessary, multiple carriers to help get the iPhone into more hands," Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes told a conference call last week.

But more important than the actual hardware will be new services and programs that can tap the increased power.

Some reckon that will include the ability to download songs from iTunes using the cellular network. IPhone users now have to be connected to a Wi-Fi network to get music from Apple's online store.

Apple will also roll out its highly anticipated support for corporate e-mail, a capability it showed off earlier this year and that is expected to give iPhone a push into business, which now overwhelmingly use Research In Motion Ltd's Blackberry devices.

Apple will also launch its iPhone "applications store" that will sell programs made by developers outside of Apple. The service marks an about-face for Jobs, who initially blocked third-party software from the device.

"That's important for developers who can now build this out as a critical platform for Apple," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "The potential here is sort of unlimited."

(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Andre Grenon)