Reuter site - Broadband closer to advertised speeds: study

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Broadband closer to advertised speeds: study

Tue, Aug 02 14:47 PM EDT

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Broadband speeds on average are within 80 percent of what major Internet service providers advertise, a big improvement from two years ago, according to a government study.

The Federal Communications Commission studied cable, DSL and fiber-to-the-home services at 13 top U.S. broadband providers.

The agency found Verizon Communications Inc's fiber network was best at meeting or exceeding advertised maximum download speeds, while Cablevision Systems Corp was the worst.

Overall, the numbers were a big boost from 2009, when data indicated download speeds were often about half of Internet service providers' (ISP) maximum advertised speeds.

"Most major ISPs are providing service close to what they're advertising. This represents a significant improvement over the findings from two years ago when we first shined a light on this issue," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, unveiling the study's findings at a Best Buy Co store in the District of Columbia.

During peak consumer usage hours when networks are busiest, actual download speeds varied from 114 percent to 54 percent of advertised speed among the different ISPs, the FCC said.

The report comes as the FCC is promoting its National Broadband Plan, unveiled last year. It is a blueprint for expanding coverage, making more airwaves available for mobile services and upgrading Internet speeds up to 25 times recent averages.

The complete findings of the report, its raw data and an FCC-prepared guide for consumers will be made available online. The FCC says the data will help consumers decide which Internet speed, service and provider best meet their needs.

"This report pretty well dispels the myth ... that there's a huge gap between advertised and actual speeds, and in fact we do pretty well here in the United States," said Richard Bennett, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Not everyone was impressed with the study's findings.

"This study indicates Comcast, Cox and Verizon FiOS largely perform well, but other companies like Cablevision, AT&T, MediaCom and Frontier all fail to deliver their customers the quality of service promised," said S. Derek Turner, research director for the public interest group Free Press.

Free Press said ISPs should be held to the same standard as other industries, where giving customers less than what they pay for is a serious offense.

The 13 participating ISPs in the new study included Verizon, which had its fiber and DSL services tested separately, AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cox Communications, Cablevision, Frontier Communications Corp, CenturyLink Inc, Charter Communications Inc, Insight Communications Co, Mediacom Communications, Qwest Communications and Windstream Corp.

(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; editing by John Wallace)

Reuter site - Foxconn to rely more on robots; could use 1 million in 3 years

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Foxconn to rely more on robots; could use 1 million in 3 years

Mon, Aug 01 08:48 AM EDT

By Lee Chyen Yee and Clare Jim

HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, known for assembling Apple's iPhones and iPads in China, plans to use more robots, with one report saying the company will use one million of them in the next three years, to cope with rising labor costs.

Foxconn's move highlights an increasing trend toward automation among Chinese companies as labor issues such as high-profile strikes and workers' suicides plague firms in sectors from autos to technology.

Contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, which also counts Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia among its clients, are moving parts of their manufacturing to inland Chinese cities or other emerging markets.

They are also boosting research and development investments to lift their thin margins.

"Workers' wages are increasing so quickly that some companies can't take it longer," said Dan Bin, a fund manager at Shenzhen-based Eastern Bay Investment Management, which invests in technology and consumer-related shares in China and Hong Kong.

"Automation is a general trend in many sectors in China, such as electronics. Of course some companies will consider moving their manufacturing overseas, but it's easier said than done when the supply chain is here."

The China Business News on Monday quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying the company planned to use 1 million robots within three years, up from about 10,000 robots in use now and an expected 300,000 next year.

Foxconn, whose listed units include Hon Hai Precision and Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, issued a statement later saying Gou told staff at its campus in Longhua, China, that he planned to move its more than 1 million employees up the value chain beyond basic manufacturing work.

STRIKES, SUICIDES

Foxconn, which has been plagued by a spate of workers' suicides in its Chinese factories since last year, plans to use the robots for simple assembly line procedures, the statement quoted its chairman Gou as saying.

Since last year, China has been struck by a series of labor-related issues, such as high-profile strikes and suicide cases at well-known companies as heady economic growth fueled the need for wage increases.

In southern China, auto and parts factories owned by Japan's Honda Motor and Toyota Motor went on strike.

"Rising salary costs should be the key reason why Foxconn is doing this. This year's wage increase has been quite significant and I don't expect the pace to slow down next year," said C.K. Lu, a Taipei-based senior analyst at research firm Gartner.

"If they don't do this, they will have to move their factories elsewhere."

At Foxconn, a worker fell to his death last month at a manufacturing plant in southern China, local media reported.

The worker's death was the latest in a series of apparent suicides by young migrant workers at its factory complexes in the past two years.

Foxconn employs about 1.2 million workers, one million of which are based in mainland China, the China Business News said.

"The use of automation is driven by Foxconn's desire to move workers from more routine tasks to more value-added positions in manufacturing such as R&D, innovation and other areas that are equally important to the success of our operations," Foxconn said.

Foxconn plans to buy a set-top plant in Mexico from Cisco Systems and is looking into investing more in Brazil, where it is already making mobile phone handsets.

It has bought LCD TV plants from Japan's Sony Corp in Mexico in 2009 and Slovakia in 2010 and is in cooperation talks with a number of top Japanese hi-tech firms, including Sharp, Canon and Hitachi.

On Monday, Hon Hai Precision's Taiwan shares rise 3.3 percent, while Foxconn's cellphone maker unit Foxconn International's Hong Kong shares ended up 4.3 percent.

Shares of another of the group's unit, Foxonn Technology Holdings Ltd, which mainly makes casings, jumped 6.8 percent.

(Additional reporting by Argin Chang in TAIPEI and Melanie Lee in SHANGHAI Editing by Charlie Zhu and Vinu Pilakkott)

ROBO SEAL

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Reuter site - Robot seals help heal Japan's tsunami victims

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Robot seals help heal Japan's tsunami victims

Mon, Aug 01 09:46 AM EDT

By Chris Meyers

TOKYO (Reuters) - For some elderly survivors of Japan's March earthquake and tsunami, comfort comes in the form of a small white robotic seal named Paro.

Sitting only 27 km (17 miles) south of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant on a hill above an area ravaged by the tsunami, the Suisyoen retirement home is located in the middle of Japan's triple crises.

While the retirement home structure was spared major damage by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, fears of radiation contamination from the nearby nuclear plant led officials to evacuate Suisyoen for two months until Mid-may.

A week after they returned, the robotics division of Japanese company Daiwa House offered to lend Suisyoen two of its seal robots coated with anti-bacterial fur, now nicknamed Love and Peace for two years.

The robots normally cost around 12,000 yen ($155) a month to lease.

The furry friends are now treated as pets by the residents, with many of them still dealing with memories of the quake. Some residents hold onto the seals for longer than others.

"If I hold onto this, it doesn't matter if there's a typhoon outside, I still feel safe," said 85-year-old Satsuko Yatsuzaka after she had been hugging one of the seals for about half an hour.

While some retirement homes have used animals to help with therapy for residents, Suisyoen's General Manager Taku Katoono said that using this sort of therapeutic robot lowered many of the barriers that would normally be in the way of using live animals.

"First of all it's necessary to have a live animal to raise for animal therapy. That however is rather difficult in certain situations and so in this case we use a doll, albeit a robotic one, as an alternative method to help them recover," Katoono said.

As the robots can only hold a charge for an hour and a half, they are normally used in the morning and then charged over lunch to be used again in the afternoon.

The robots even take in the daily exercises, with residents help the seals clap and sing along.

Ayako Shizo, who lost her house in the tsunami and is now living at Suisyoen said she liked playing with the seal, despite not previously having pets.

"It's just as cute a little living creature and so everyone is looking after it every day. It does sometimes runs out of batteries and stop. But when it's got its eyes open everyone stands around talking to it, asking it how it's doing and such," Shizo said.

Local media have reported that more than half of the victims of the tsunami were over 65 years old, with survivors still attempting to heal their mental scars.

Suisyoen said that currently they don't plan on getting any more Paros, but if one resident becomes especially attached to one of them they may increase the number of furry companions for the residents.

(Edited by Paul Casciato)

Reuter site - Google's Chrome overtakes Firefox in UK

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Google's Chrome overtakes Firefox in UK

Mon, Aug 01 10:35 AM EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Google's Chrome overtook Mozilla Firefox in July to become Britain's second-most popular Web browser after Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Web analytics firm StatCounter said on Monday.

Chrome, launched in December 2008, took 22.1 percent of the UK market, up from 12 percent a year earlier. Internet Explorer's share fell to 46 percent from 55 percent a year ago, while Firefox fell to 21.6 percent from 25.

Google is trying to convert its dominance in Web search into operating systems and mobile software, bringing it into direct competition with Microsoft. Chrome is used by more than 160 million users worldwide.

In May, Google launched its long-awaited Chromebook, which runs entirely on software accessed via the Internet rather than installed on the machine.

Globally, Internet Explorer had 42 percent of the browser market in July, followed by Firefox with 28 percent and Chrome with 22. Apple's Safari brower had 5 percent of the market, while Opera had 2 percent.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by David Hulmes)

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Reuter site - Senate blocks Reid debt plan, bipartisan deal close

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Senate blocks Reid debt plan, bipartisan deal close

Sun, Jul 31 13:52 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate defeated a Democratic proposal to raise the debt ceiling on Sunday as lawmakers closed in on a deal that would be acceptable to both parties.

By a vote of 50 to 49, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member body.

Elements of Reid's plan are likely to surface in the bipartisan deal which could be completed this afternoon. The Senate is poised to move quickly once that deal is reached.

"The arrangement that is being worked on with the Republican leader and the administration and others, is not there yet," Reid said on the Senate floor after the vote. "We're hopeful and confident it can be done."

Reid told lawmakers not to wander too far from the Capitol in case he calls another vote.

"I would not suggest a ballgame," he said.

Under normal Senate rules, a final vote on any deal could be delayed until Wednesday, one day past the deadline set by the Treasury Department to ensure the United States does not default on its obligations.

But any deal could include provisions to ensure that Congress acts before then, a Democratic aide said.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, Lesley Wroughton and David Morgan; editing by Vicki Allen)

Reuter site - Amazon flies high, may rise 25 percent more: Barron's

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Amazon flies high, may rise 25 percent more: Barron's

Sun, Jul 31 11:44 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares, just below their all-time high, could rise 10 percent to 25 percent if its capital spending translates to fast growth in its retailing, Kindle e-readers and cloud-computing businesses, Barron's said in its August 1 edition.

On July 26, the online retailer posted a 51 percent jump in quarterly revenue to $9.91 billion, while saying profit fell 8 percent to $191 million, or 41 cents per share.

The profit decline was smaller than analysts expected, however, and Amazon shares reached an all-time high of $227.20 the next day. They closed Friday at $222.52. A 25 percent increase from their projects to a $278.15 stock price.

Barron's said investors often worry about a disconnect between higher revenue and lower profit.

But it said Seattle-based Amazon has a 14-year history of driving higher revenue at the expense of margins by investing aggressively in technology, distribution and real estate.

It said Amazon was now spending money to build fulfillment and distribution centers, build data centers for its Amazon Web Services cloud unit, and expand its Kindle franchise.

The newspaper said that while Amazon stock trades at close to an "unthinkable" 107 times expected 2011 profit, it may be "pragmatic" to compare Amazon with Wal-Mart Stores Inc 20 years ago, when the latter's revenue grew 35 percent to $44 billion.

It quoted an analyst as saying Amazon's revenue could in 2011 increase 43 percent to $49 billion, but that "it's better" than Wal-Mart because its storeless business model could result in higher long-term economic returns.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Reuter site - Hulu accused of infringing program guide patent

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Hulu accused of infringing program guide patent

Fri, Jul 29 12:28 PM EDT

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Rovi Corp sued Hulu, accusing the online video site of infringing patents that cover electronic program guides.

Rovi, created from Macrovision Corp's acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc in 2008, provides technology that powers the streaming services provided by Blockbuster On Demand and Best Buy Co Inc's CinemaNow, according to the complaint, filed on Friday .

Rovi licenses its technology to Apple Corp, Microsoft Corp and Comcast Corp, among others, and said Hulu's infringement "presents significant and ongoing damages to Rovi's business."

Rovi said it is seeking compensation for lost license revenue and treble damages.

Hulu did not immediately reply to a request for a comment.

Hulu has been put up for sale by its owners, which include Walt Disney Co, News Corp, Comcast Corp's NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners.

A dozen potential buyers have entered preliminary sale talks, including Google Inc and Microsoft, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The case is Rovi Corp et al v Hulu LLC, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-00665

(Reporting by Tom Hals; additional reporting by Paul Thomasch in New York; editing by John Wallace)

Reuter site - Nokia slips from 1 to 3 in smartphone sales

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Nokia slips from 1 to 3 in smartphone sales

Fri, Jul 29 02:13 AM EDT

By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Apple and Samsung Electronics ended struggling Nokia's 15-year reign at the top of the smartphone sales rankings in the second quarter, researchers said on Friday.

Nokia has dominated the smartphone market ever since its 1996 launch of the Communicator model, but competition from its two nearest rivals and a slump in its own sales sent it straight from first to third place in the three months to June as growth in the sector starts to slow.

Apple sold a record 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter despite the fact that its iPhone 4 model is now more than a year old. Usually success of smartphone models does not last so long.

Apple unveiled its sales last week, but on Friday analysts also estimated Samsung sold 19 million smartphones in the quarter, well ahead of Nokia's 16.7 million as it was able to benefit from booming demand with smartphones using Google's Android software.

"Samsung's Galaxy portfolio has proven popular, especially the high-tier S2 Android model," said Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics."

Strategy Analytics estimated smartphone market volume grew 76 percent from a year ago in the second quarter. ABI Research was somewhat more cautious estimating market grew 62 percent.

SLOWDOWN WORRIES

Growth on the overall cellphone market slowed too in the April-June period, as sales of basic phone models dropped for the first time in seven quarters due to consumers reining in spending, research firm IDC said on Friday.

IDC said strong smartphone demand boosted the market to still grow 11.3 percent from a year ago to 365.4 million phones, but this was a clear slowdown from the 16.8 percent growth seen in the previous quarter.

Strategy Analytics estimated the total market at 361 million cellphones in the quarter.

In a Reuters poll, 29 analysts' average forecast for the total market stood at 374 million phones.

IDC said sales of simpler so-called feature phones fell 4 percent from a year ago due to conservative spending and continued shift to smartphones, most visible in developed markets, such as the United States, Japan and Western Europe.

“The shrinking feature phone market is having the greatest impact on some of the world's largest suppliers of mobile phones," analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement.

“Stalwarts such as Nokia are losing share in the feature phone category to low-cost suppliers such as Micromax, TCL-Alcatel and Huawei."

Struggling Nokia, still the world's largest phone maker by volume, saw its phone sales shrinking 20 percent from a year ago. This helped Samsung to close the gap to the Finnish firm in the overall cellphone market to the lowest level ever.

Some analysts already forecast for Samsung to become the world's largest cellphone vendor next year.

( Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Andrew Callus)