iSlate-iGuide Tablet Rumor Turmoil

techtree.com - Earlier this month, Financial Times reported that Apple had booked Yerba Buena Center for Arts, San Franscisco for a major product announcement on January 26, 2010. Fox News confirmed this with its Apple-based source that the company is holding big event but no details about product were obtained. However, Google China's ex-chief Kaifu Lee wrote on his blog that an informed friend told him that Apple Tablet looks like 10.1-inch iPhone screen with awesome UI. Honestly, just like many others, we had enough of Tablet rumors.

As per Lee's blog post on his blog, the Apple Tablet will be iPhone-esque touchscreen bearing tablet with amazing UI, 3D graphics, virtual keyboard, video conferencing, eBooks, Internet and other functions. All this will come at sub-$1,000 price and most likely be announced on January 26, 2010. It's being said that Lee's current investment venture - Innovation Works has Foxconn

Earlier, MacRumors stated that the Apple Tablet would most likely be called iSlate for the domain acquired by Apple. And now dug up an old Apple trademark which points at iGuide Media, LLC, Delaware-based company. The iGuide Media company's trademark ownership carries signature of Apple's Senior Trademark Specialist Regina Porter.

It appears like iGuide is likely to be some service related to Apple Tablet since the trademark filing reveals computer hardware and computer software for accessing, browsing, searching, recording, organizing, storing, transmitting, receiving, manipulating, streaming, reproducing, playing, and reviewing audio, video, games, music, television, movies, photographs, and other multimedia content. (full story)

Top 10 Global Takeovers

1. FIRST AMONG EQUALS
Ram Prasad Goenka
The RPG Group led by 'takeover wizard'R.P. Goenka made a series of acquisitions, kicked off by the Duncan buy in 1959 to the offshore holdings of tyre-maker Dunlop India in 1980, Ceat Tyres in 1982, the Gramophone Co.of India (nowSaregama) in 1986, and Noida Power Company (NPCL) in 1992 among many others.The latest in the list was Canara Electric Controls in 2002. I gamble only in companies, Goenka told India Today in August 1984. Starting in the 1950s, the group patriarch and R.P.Goenka's father, K.P.Goenka, along with his three sons, made over 30 acquisitions in 25 years.

2. THE TREND-SETTER
Manohar 'Manu' Chhabria
Among the original corporate raiders of the country, Dubai-based Manohar 'Manu' Rajaram Chhabria picked up a large stake in Shaw Wallace in 1987 for Rs 35 crore, which remained mired in controversy and was finally sold to arch rival Vijay Mallya 20 years later.
Spending over Rs 300 crore on acquisitions, he bought stakes in companies such as Hindustan Dorr-Oliver, Mather and Platt and Dunlop India.
Hardly any other Indian businessman has climbed to the top 10 league so rapidly. (India Today, January 1989).

3. BLENDING SUCCESS
Ratan Tata
In 2000,Tata Tea took over Tetley Tea, the company which was twice Tata Tea's size and had introduced the world to tea bags, for £271 million via a leverage buyout. Themove turned the company into the world's second-largest tea marketer. While Tata was strong on the production front, Tetley's strengths lay in marketing.
At the time of acquisition,The two companies were merged a year later. The Tetley brand name would give Tata Tea access to markets in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the CIS countries, said the company's vicechairman, R.K. Krishna Kumar,whose mandate for the acquisition was simple: to eliminate the competition, Unilever. Tata Tea's transformation is an eloquent example of the group becoming market-focused and consumercentric (India Today, February 2003).

4. PACKING A PUNCH
Subhash Chandra
In 2000,Essel Packaging owned by Subhash Chandra of Zee acquired Switzerland's Propack AG, and became the world's largest producer of laminated tubes.
The cash and stock deal resulted in Essel issuing 6.68 million shares to Propack's promoters, in addition to a cash payment of $11 million.
In subsequent years, Essel Propack continued acquisitions across the world and ventured into manufacturing of medical devices with the acquisition of Tapro Inc.,US and Avalon Medical Services, Singapore.

5. V FOR VICTORY
Venugopal Dhoot
In an interview to India Today in October 2003, Videocon Industries chairman Venugopal Dhoot had said, You have seen the 'Intel Inside' badges on computers and soon you will see 'Videocon Inside' on most durables.
In less than two years from then, he acquired French electronics company Thomson SA's colour picture tube manufacturing business for Rs 1,280 crore and just over a week later, Swedish major AB Electrolux's Indian subsidiary Electrolux Kelvinator.

6. GOING WEST
Ratan Tata
The year 2006 proved to be the 'year of buyouts' by Indian companies. In October, Tata Steel acquired Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group for Rs 60,000 crore.
Many thought our bid was audacious but this was really the commencement of our global strategy, Ratan Tata said at a press conference. Tata's victory symbolises the new confidence of Indian corporates and its growing global ambitions. (India Today, February 2007) In line with this, the group acquired automaker Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover car brands for $2.3 billion in March 2008, amid severe opposition from Jaguar's dealers in the UK and US which expressed concern about selling a luxury brand to an Indian company.

7. INDIA RISING
L.N. Mittal
It was as big an idea as Andrew Carnegie's merger of steel companies in Britain and the US (India Today, March 2006). In what remains the biggest outbound deal by an Indian, the L.N.Mittalowned Mittal Steel acquired Arcelor for $33.7 billion in October 2006.The acquisition was perhaps one of the greatest hostile takeovers. Mittal's aggressive bid shook the world,especially Europe, with French and Indian governments intervening.

8. HIGH ON LIFE
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya, hailed as India's Richard Branson, acquired Glasgow-based Scotch whisky group Whyte & Mackay for £595 million in an all-cash deal in 2007, making him the second-largest spirits manufacturer in the world. It also restored partial peace with the Scotch Whisky Association which had argued that UB's Indian-made products were not genuine whisky, as they were distilled from molasses. With W & M, the association invited him to be a member.

9. HEAVY METAL
Kumar Birla
In 2007, the Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries acquired USbased aluminum giant Novelis for nearly $6 billion, making it the world's largest aluminum rolling company.
This will enable Hindalco's entry into downstream business, from cans to cars (India Today, February 2007).

10. THE ODD WON
Ratan Tata
In October this year, when the world was feeling the meltdown heat, Tata Consultancy Services acquired BPO Citigroup Global Services for $505 million which was on the block for almost a year.
A valuation nearly 50 per cent lower was what finally clinched the deal.

Xbox Handheld Coming

Shortly before the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, rumors surfaced that Microsoft was on the verge of announcing the ZuneX.

The ZuneX was purported to be a gaming handheld that integrated with Xbox Live Arcade and "ZuneX originals" and featured mobile-phone capabilities. That's a marked contrast from the current generation, which offers only a half-dozen games despite promises of titles that would be transferable from the Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 may soon have a small, sleeker sibling.

With that rumor quickly marginalized as a phony by many industry watchers, Microsoft has now once again signaled that its portable gaming ambitions may extend beyond the struggling Zune. In an interview with gaming site Kikizo, Microsoft executive Shane Kim said that the Xbox brand is destined for the mobile platform.

"For us, it's a matter of focusing on 'when,' " said Kim, who transitioned from his role as head of Microsoft Game Studios to a strategic development position within the Interactive Entertainment and Devices division last year.

As for what's been holding up that "when," Kim said that the division has been focused on fleshing out the core Xbox 360 and Xbox Live experiences.

"If we chased after a mobile or handheld opportunity, we would not have the resources and ability to do things like instant-on 1080p HD, Facebook, Twitter, Project Natal," he said. "And so we've chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint, if you will, but we're building a service in Live that will...will extend to other platforms." [Emphasis in original.]

One other question facing the company is what form a mobile gaming device would take. "How do we enter into that market," pondered Kim. "Do we do our own device, do we create our own phone--that's a question for the company itself--do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path, which is the path that we're on today, etcetera, etcetera."

Kim concluded by reemphasizing Microsoft's desire to be a player on all relevant platforms, whether that be consoles, desktops, or mobile devices.

This article was originally posted on GameSpot.com.

MS Announces Volume Discounts for Win 7

Microsoft announced volume discounts on Windows 7 for its business customers at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans on Monday.
As of Sept. 1, business customers will be able to order Windows 7 through Microsoft's software licensing partners.  Microsoft will also offer customers up to a 15 percent discount to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

Specifically, Microsoft will give a 15 percent discount on the Windows Vista-to-Windows 7 Professional upgrade to its Volume Licensing partners, who will have the choice to pass along the discount to corporate customers. The discount, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman, refers to the Volume Licensing price Microsoft previously charged to upgrade from either Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional -- a price Microsoft hasn't previously disclosed. The additional discount will represent 15 percent off of that price, she said. (Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Professional costs $199.99 via retail.)
Specifically, Microsoft will offer discounts of between 15 and 35 percent, based on the volume and geographic region, Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Windows Business, told attendees at the Partner Conference, in a keynote address that Microsoft posted to the Web.

To determine whether customers are ready to deploy Windows 7, Microsoft is providing Solution Accelerators, automated tools to scan and remotely upgrade a network to Windows 7. A related tool, Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0, will help consumers scan the network and determine if the hardware is compatible with both Windows 7 and Windows Server, or if an upgrade is required. (story Link)

Bill Gates: Natal coming to Windows in the future

In an interview with CNet today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates hinted Natal’s integration with Windows in the future. Project Natal is Microsoft’s project to integrate motion sensing capabilities into Xbox 360, similar to what has been done with the Wii but without the use of any controller. He stated that the Windows team have latched onto the idea of Natal and is working in collaboration with the Xbox team to research on how the concept can be used in the office environment.

I’d say a cool example of [what's going on in Microsoft research labs], that you’ll see is kind of stunning, in a little over a year, is this (depth-sensing) camera thing… Not just for games, but for media consumption as a whole… If they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication, you put the camera in now it’s a cool thing

The Microsoft chairman did not go into specifics, but hinted at possible examples of the concept’s utilization:

Well, I think the value is as great for if you’re in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it’s very cool there. And I think there’s incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, “Why shouldn’t that be in most office environments?”

The fact that Microsoft is latching on to a potential opportunity to change the conventional way of interacting with computers is exciting. While Apple has been using multi-touch gestures as a productivity feature for Mac laptops for a while now, Microsoft is responding with numerous multi-touch display features that are integrated into Windows 7. Gates wording of the Windows team picking up on the idea suggests that Natal may play a role in next generation Windows. (story Link)

What if Google Wasn't Free?

The launch of Google's Chrome OS spurred numerous questions among analysts and bloggers: what is it? How will it be used? Will it displace Android? Microsoft Windows?

The question that's now being asked is: what if it isn't free? And what if Google decides to charge consumers for Gmail, or its Apps package, or any number of additional services?

The questions have been raised by The New York Times and analyst Rob Enderle, among others. At this point, it's merely speculation, but possibly a topic that might be factored in as a "what-if" scenario in future budgets, too. The question remains: what would you pay to use Google?

Corel's Product Revenue Drops 27 Percent

July 10 (Reuters) - Corel Corp, which makes graphics, digital media and office software, swung to a second-quarter net loss as product revenue sank 27 percent.

The Ottawa-based company said it lost $4.1 million, or 16 cents a share, in the period ended May 31. That compares with a net income of $930,000, or 4 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 25 percent to $50.4 million, dragged by product revenue that dropped to $44.3 million.

However, excluding items, Corel earned 22 cents per share.

In April, as it reported deeper losses and waning sales, Corel said it would cut 10 percent of its staff and institute unpaid days off under a cost-cutting plan.

The company said the measures would reduce expenses by about $2 million through the remainder of fiscal 2009.

Corel once fought a highly publicized, but ultimately doomed, battle with Microsoft Corp, trying to win the word processing market by pitting its WordPerfect software against Microsoft Word in 1997.

Shares of Corel closed at C$2.50 Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1=1.163 Canadian Dollar) (Reporting by Susan Taylor and Isheeta Sanghi; Editing by Himani Sarkar) (story Link)

Schmidt: Chrome OS News in Late 2009

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said there may be announcements later this year about netbook PCs running its new Chrome operating system, as the Internet giant makes its deepest push into Microsoft Corp's business.

Schmidt also said on Thursday that while the worst of the economic downturn has passed, there aren't any strong signs of an immediate recovery.

"I think the new normal is now," Schmidt said at a one-hour briefing with reporters, along with Google co-founder Larry Page, at the Allen & Co media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Earlier this week, Google announced it was developing a PC operating system based on its Chrome Web browser, expected in the second half of 2010. The company said computer makers like Hewlett-Packard Co and Acer are working with Google on Chrome devices.

"Everybody we've talked to under nondisclosure is excited about the plan. So hopefully later this year we'll see some announcements," Schmidt said on Thursday.

Schmidt and Page repeatedly steered the conversation away from the rivalry with Microsoft, describing the Chrome OS as a product that would be "additive" to the PC market.

"I don't want to talk about Microsoft," Schmidt said, noting later that Google did not have any particular goals for Chrome to take market share in the PC business.

"We actually don't look at market share at all," said Schmidt.  (story Link)

10 Questions for Google's New Chrome OS

Google’s not-so-surprising announcement that it would launch an operating system, the Google Chrome OS, in 2010 was full of heady promises, but painfully lacking in detail. Naturally, I have some questions for Google.

1. Why Do We Need This?
Consumers like variety, but stress levels tend to rise when there are too many technology options. I think this is mostly because each platform has its own metaphors. And while some may tell users that this operating system is better than that one, most users are too scared to switch because they don't know if they can learn to use a new OS. Google, however, is applying the same thinking it used when the search giant launched the Chrome Web browser: We can do it better. They did build a super-fast Web interface, but Chrome still lacks many of the basic features we've come to expect from a good browser. Will a Chrome OS have similar gaping holes?

2. Hardware Support?
Google's blog post on the new Chrome OS seems to gloss over hardware support. "[Users] don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware." In other words, the Chrome OS should work seamlessly with all of the peripherals you currently use. But why is that? The OS is being built on a Linux kernel, which means that while driver support is decent, it's not foolproof. Will Google work with OEMs to have a rich set of drivers available within the OS? Will you have to download all the drivers you need for your existing hardware? How will they ease the process of installation?

3. Linux? Really?
I know I've said this before, but why do people keep going back to Linux as the best alternative to Windows? There are excellent Linux distros out there, such as Ubuntu, but none of them are quite as easy to use as Windows or the Mac OS. More importantly, two years of Vista did not create a new user bonanza for the Linux platform. It didn't even do all that much for the Mac OS. Instead, Windows users suffered but stayed put. Now many feel like they're about to be rewarded for their patience with Windows 7. Look at it this way: When gas prices soared to record highs, people did drive less and they even traded in their Hummers for Hyundais. What they didn't do is rush to hybrid vehicles. I know there are more of them on the road than ever before, but they are far outnumbered by traditional gas-guzzlers. Face it, the tried and trusted (Windows) seems to stick around even when better alternatives are available.

4. What About Android?
Android is a decent little mobile operating system, and it may even do a good job of powering a new generation of netbooks—I'm still waiting to see the first one—but it hasn't exactly taken its primary market by storm. In fact, it's taken almost a year for the second Android-based phone to arrive. I don't know what caused the holdup. Perhaps it's the same problem that Linux has: consumers have found the mobile platforms they really prefer and aren't interviewing any others.

5. Which OEMs?
Most major PC manufacturers have offered Linux boxes at one time or another, but they don't push them. There are no ad campaigns out there, and they're typically not featured on, say, Dell's homepage. Google certainly has the clout to get into the offices of Acer, Dell, and HP, but how receptive are these companies to Google's platform overtures? Like the rest of us, they've suffered through a bad 2008 and a dismal 2009. Would they really want to risk precious marketing dollars on an untested platform? All are gearing up for Microsoft's Windows 7 push (which kicks off in earnest on October 22). It's the closest thing these manufacturers have to a sure thing. The Chrome OS has risk written all over it.

6. Can We Trust Open Source?
The open source community is brilliant at building out new OS features, but it also tends to fracture. Does anyone know how many different Linux distributions exist? Can Google depend on the open source community to put the interests of the lowest common denominator first?

7. Will the OS Be in Beta?
Okay, I'm asking this one somewhat facetiously. Google officially grew up this week when it pulled most of its major apps and services out of Beta. I'd say it's no coincidence that it did this right before the Google Chrome OS announcement. The ever-present "beta" tag on many of the company's products made it seem somewhat less than serious about software. The company can't afford that perception now.

8. Is Chrome Chrome?
One thing that isn't clear is whether the Chrome OS desktop is actually going to be a brand new interface, with new code, or if the whole thing is simply a rejiggering of the Chrome Web browser with a Linux kernel underneath. Google's blog post makes it sound more like the latter. That could be kind of cool; you get things like tear off tabs and an incredibly lean, speedy interface. On the other hand, how does it handle tasks and applications, navigation, file storage, networking? Does that all get passed off to the Linux platform?

9th and 10the will continue on full post Link

Intel May Release Core i7 975

Several distributors and retailers are showing that Intel's upcoming Core i7 975 will ship at the beginning of April, not the end of May.
Is the Intel Core i7 975 coming sooner than we think? That's what many distributors and retailers are reporting, and actually have the upcoming processor listed for next month. As an example, this website shows an April 6 street date, and this website shows an estimated date of April 7. Granted, these dates aren't official, and are estimates only. However, it's a huge jump considering that the Core i7 975 wasn't expected to ship until the end of May.
The release of the 45nm Core i7 975 (Extreme) is a rather highly-anticipated one, as the quad-core Bloomfield processor will serve as the new flagship chip for Intel, boasting a core speed of 3.33 GHz, support for LGA 1366 sockets, uses 1 MB of L2 cache and 8 MB of L3 shared cache memory, and has a TDP of 130W. Recently the processor was leaked, overclocked, and benchmarked, pushed up to an "extreme" clock core speed of 5,239 MHz, breaking the then-current record of Futuremark's 2DMark05 benchmark application. As it stands now, the benchmarked rig featuring the Core i7 975 sits in the #2 position, recently conquered by a rig sporting Intel's Core i7 965.
As of this writing, the Intel Core i7 975 will cost end-users a whopping $999 USD; the Core i7 950, clocking in at 3.06 GHz, will be available as well for a cheaper-but-still-hefty $562 USD. Other processors included in the original May lineup consist of the Core 2 Duo E7600 ($84), the Pentium Dual-Core E6300 ($84), and the Celeron Dual-Core E1600 ($53).
Intel also plans to ship six Core 2 Quad processors next month. (link)

Yahoo!'s Dangerous Newspaper Deal?

Desperate for digital revenue, newspapers are sharing their advertisers with Yahoo!.

As newspapers around the country struggle to develop strategies for growing revenues online, more and more of them are turning to an unlikely ally for salvation: Yahoo!.

Last week, five struggling newspapers including the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Orange County Register joined the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium, an online advertising partnership between the Web publisher and the print publishers. The group, launched in 2006, now counts 814 papers as members, or 51% of the entire U.S. newspaper market as measured by Sunday circulation.

At first glance, linking up with Yahoo! ( YHOO - news - people ) seems a no-brainer. By joining the consortium, the papers will be able to supplement the advertising they sell to local clients--mostly display ads in the papers and on their Web sites--with expensive ads targeted by geography and user behavior on Yahoo!'s collection of heavily-trafficked Web sites.

In exchange for access to Yahoo!'s ad inventory, papers turn over half of the revenue from ads they sell on the portal. Since joining the consortium, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution expanded its local reach, the proportion of the regional population who hit its Web site in a month, from 15% to 85%, Yahoo! says. The Evansville Courier Press, an Indiana daily with a circulation of 60,000, sold $1.1 million in Yahoo! ads in a week-long "sales blitz." Yahoo! won't discuss the specifics of the revenue-sharing agreement, but newspaper partners confirmed the 50-50 arrangement.

But the partnership could have an even bigger cost for newspapers. In the offline world, newspapers have traditionally dominated advertising sales to local businesses like retailers, car dealerships and supermarkets. By introducing their local advertisers to Yahoo!, newspapers run the risk of turning over their best customers to a digital powerhouse as they try to rebuild their own businesses online. (story Link)

TiVo Wants to Be the Google of Television. How?

It's a familiar story. Upstart popularizes technology that threatens to disrupt an industry. Larger rivals enter picture and try to squeeze out little guy. TiVo (TIVO), whose set-top boxes made it routine for viewers to save TV shows on a hard drive so they could watch them later (and fast-forward through the ads), has followed this very trajectory. The cable companies began rolling out their own digital videorecorders a few years ago, and TiVo has been hemorrhaging subscribers ever since.

The TiVo story doesn't end there, however. By leveraging its still potent brand name and cache of more than 140 patents, the Alviso (Calif.) company is trying to remake itself as the Google (GOOG) of television—helping viewers navigate the increasing crush of entertainment choices and selling ads to boot. "Like Google," says CEO Thomas S. Rogers, "TiVo will bring that ease of use to TV sets." A laudable goal, but this is a crowded field.

Remaking a company is never easy, especially when the bottom is falling out of your primary business. This year, TiVo's revenues will shrink by 10%, to $225 million, according to Standard & Poor's (MHP) analyst Tuna N. Amobi, who expects TiVo to shed about 400,000 subscribers. That would leave it with 2.8 million, down from a high of 4.4 million in 2006. But Rogers has an ace in the hole. In 2006 a jury found that EchoStar (SATS), which then owned the Dish Network (DISH) satellite TV service, violated a TiVo patent; TiVo collected $104.6 million. The money let Rogers wipe out the company's debt and bought time to regroup. (On June 2, TiVo was awarded $103 million more after Dish still was found to be in violation of the patent. Dish won a temporary stay and is appealing.)

TiVo remains the standard in program guides. Where cable's technology can be hard to use, TiVo's interface makes finding shows easy. This expertise helps explain why Netflix (NFLX) and Blockbuster (BBI) have signed on to use TiVo technology for their online video services, which stream shows and movies to PCs and TVs. "When consumers want to use their TV to order a program, what better name is there than TiVo?" says Blockbuster digital czar Kevin Lewis. TiVo will get a piece of each transaction, and Netflix and Blockbuster will offer promotions to help sell the box. (full Story)

Nokia Siemens to buy Nortel's wireless unit

LOS ANGELES, USA: Telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks said that it will sell its advanced wireless technology business to Nokia Siemens Networks  for $650 million and that it was making progress in talks to sell its other businesses.
Nortel, once the largest North American maker of telecommunications gear, collapsed into bankruptcy in January, blaming the economic crisis for derailing a turnaround effort that began in 2005.
Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens, had made an unsolicited offer for parts of Nortel's carrier network group, but the price and scope of a deal had been unclear.
The telecom equipment industry is consolidating and leaving only a few global players -- market leader Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent.
The deal will allow Nokia Siemens to expand its presence in North America and make it a leading supplier of wireless infrastructure products in the region, it said in a separate statement announcing the deal.
The transaction includes Nortel's CDMA business and LTE assets. CDMA is the technology that lost the battle for global dominance but still has a strong position in some markets, including North America. Nortel has a roughly 30 percent share of the global CDMA market.
LTE is a new high-speed wireless technology that is intended to replace current mobile networks. LTE networks are slated to be deployed in the coming years by large wireless carriers including Vodafone Group Plc and Verizon Communications Inc.
"This agreement provides an important strategic opportunity for Nokia Siemens Networks to strengthen its position in two key areas, North America and LTE, at a price that makes good economic sense," NSN Chief Executive Simon Beresford-Wylie said in the statement.
Nokia Siemens is now the "stalking horse" bidder, which means its offer sets a floor under other possible offers in the bankruptcy process.
Under the terms of the deal, at least 2,500 Nortel employees in Canada, the United States, Mexico and China have the opportunity to keep their jobs under NSN ownership. A Nortel spokesman said this represented "a majority" of the employees associated with the assets, but would not give a specific percentage.
Nortel once employed more than 90,000 people, but now has about 30,000 staff. Nortel also said it was advancing discussions to sell its other businesses. (story Link)

Sony to Exhibit Fuel Cell and Sugar-Powered Battery

During the second quarter of 2008, Sony introduced its hybrid fuel cell prototype that's so small it can fit in the middle of your palm. It was, of course, the mere core material of various devices Sony developed since then. At the FC EXPO 2009 event to be held at Tokyo Big Sight this end of February, Sony will be showing off what became of its fuel cell as well as its intriguing sugar-powered battery presented around October of 2008.

Sony's fuel cell, as was mentioned before, uses methanol as the main source of energy, supplemented by an auxiliary lithium-ion battery. Two fuel cell models exist - a portable external version, complete with a leather lanyard and a USB connection to charge gadgets and an internal model to be used like a conventional battery. Both iterations of the fuel cell can provide a cell phone up to a month's worth of charge. Meanwhile, Sony's updated sugar-powered battery exhibits an increase in output compared to the original version, but retains the same capacity to power devices with glucose-rich materials such as soda. For more pictures and videos of the Sony fuel cell and battery, check out Impress Japan. (story Link)

Windows Mobile 7 Announced for 2010

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer has recently confirmed that Windows Mobile7 will be available sometime next year. Although no specific data has been set yet, it’s still quite an exciting OS to look forward to. Of course there’s still the version 6.5 to contend with this year with stiff competition coming in from Palm’s Pre, TouchFlow, RIM and even LG’s new S-Class 3D UI.

Nevertheless, Windows Mobile has been around for a long enough time for users to appreciate the various upgrades it’s been through and with the ‘Touch’ generation taking over, I personally can’t wait to see what the 6.5 edition will be capable of doing and how it’ll handle. According to a few reports , WinMo 7 will have a tighter integration with Windows 7 for PCs that should be out come September of this year. The UI itself will obviously be optimized for finger touch and hopefully do away with the stylus altogether is what I’m hoping.

It’s something to look forward to for now. To know more of what Ballmer had to say on the subject click here. (story Link)

Microsoft Testing New Internet Search Service

Microsoft Corp is internally testing a new version of its online search service under the name of Kumo.com, a spokesman for the software company said on Monday.
The service is not yet available outside the company, but may eventually form part of Microsoft’s attempt to catch up with Internet search leaders Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.
The new search service was unveiled in an internal memo sent by the head of research at the company’s online services division on Monday, but it did not go into details about features on the new service. (chipbit)

Islamic banks ‘better in crisis’

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on Islamic banks to take a leadership role in the global economy, amid the financial crisis.

He was speaking at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The forum has brought together political and business leaders from 38 countries to discuss the global economic slowdown.

They will also discuss ways to achieve energy and food security.

Mr Yudhoyono said it was time for Islamic banks to do some missionary work in the West.

Islamic financial institutions, he said, had not been hit as hard as their western counterparts because they did not invest in toxic assets.

Banks run in accordance with Muslims laws on interest payments and the sharing of credit risks are seen by many as fairer than traditional banks, less focused on profit and kinder to the communities they work in.

Demand for Islamic financial products has been growing in the Muslim world for years but Mr Yudhoyono said that many in the West were now ready to learn from them.

Islamic law prohibits the payment and collection of interest, which is seen as a form of gambling.

Transactions must be backed by real assets, and because risk is shared between the bank and the depositor, there is added incentive for the institutions to ensure deals are sound. (story Link)