Android Remains Top Mobile Platform in the U.S.

Web metrics firm comScore reports that 234 million Americans above the age of 13 were using mobile devices during the three months prior to Thanksgiving. The Web metrics firm's new survey of more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers also demonstrates that Google's Android remained ahead in the mobile OS platform race with a 46.9 percent market share.

In the U.S. mobile handset market overall, Samsung was the top device maker with a 25.6 percent share. Second-place LG achieved a 20.5 percent share, and Motorola Mobility came in third with a 13.7 percent share.

Apple's share of the market overall rose from 9.8 percent in August to 11.2 percent in November, driven by pent-up demand for the iconic device maker's new iPhone 4S. By contrast, Research In Motion's BlackBerry sales slipped from 7.1 percent in August to 6.5 percent in November.

During the three months through Nov. 24, 72.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile devices -- a rise of 2.1 percentage points from last August, comScore reports. And 44.9 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers downloaded applications during the latest survey period -- up 3.3 percentage points.

Smartphone Ownership Climbs

According to comScore, 91.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones at the end of the firm's latest three-month survey period. Smartphone ownership rose by a robust 8 percent between August and November.

Android's share of the smartphone market segment rose 3.1 percentage points between August and November. Though Apple's iOS remained in second place with a 28.7 percent share, the platform's 1.4 percentage point rise did not keep pace with Android's steeper growth trajectory.

RIM ranked third in comScore's latest survey with a 16.6 percent share -- down 3.1 percentage points from August. Microsoft 's Windows Phone platform also lost one-half of a percentage point during the same period.

Though Microsoft's new Mango release hit the U.S. market during the survey period, the Windows Phone platform trailed behind the market leaders with a 5.2 percent share. Additionally, Nokia's Symbian platforms still held on to a 1.5 percent smartphone market share.

Mobile Browsing Growth

The number of handset users accessing social-networking sites or blogs on their devices grew 2.1 percentage points to 33 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers, comScore said. Moreover, 29.7 percent reported mobile gaming activities, while 21.7 percent said they listened to music on their handsets. (continued...)

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Arus Internet Asia Membludak, Google Bangun Pusat Data di Singapura

SINGAPURA - Terus berekspansi dan dongkrak layanan dunia maya, raksasa mesin pencari, Google, Kamis (15/12) ini resmi meluncurkan pembangunan pusat data terbaru di Singapura. Pembangunan itu demi mengimbangi membludaknya pertumbuhan lalu lintas internet di kawasan Asia Pasifik.

"Saya kira pantas untuk mengatakan bahwa ini adalah kawasan paling pesat di dunia dalam hal penggunaan internet dan kami memiliki kaitan bisnis Google sangat kuat di sini," kata Direktur Pelaksana Google Asia Tenggara Julian Persaud kepada AFP.

"Oleh karena itu saya kira kami akan mengalokasikan sumber daya yang sejalan dengan di mana kami melaihat peluang terbesar, yang saya kira adalah APAC (Asia Pasifik) dan Asia Tenggara," tambahnya usai seremoni peletakan batu pertama pusat data terbaru itu.

Pusat data yang di Singapura ini akan menjadi Lembah Silikon pertama dari perusahaan itu yang dibangun di Asia Tenggara dan kedua di Asia setelah bangunan fasilitas serupa di Hongkong pekan lalu.

Apa yang dilakukan Google ini menggambarkan bahwa Asia memiliki pertumbuhan jumlah pengguna internet terbesar di dunia.

Namun Google masih harus menghadapi kompetisi sengit, terutama di China di mana mesin-mesin pencari lokal seperti Baidu lebih populer di sana dan terpentalnya Google tahun lalu akibat sensor memaksa Google memindahkan unit internasional mesin pencarinya di China ke kawasan lain.

Google akan menginvestasikan 120 juta dolar AS di fasilitas Singapura yang seluas 2.45 hektare, di mana pembangunannya diperkirakan rampung pada awal 2013.

Google juga akan membangun pusat data Asia ketiganya di Taiwan di luar enam fasilitasnya yang saat ini ada di Amerika Serikat dan dua lainnya di Eropa.

Pusat data Google di Asia ini akan memberi para pengguna Google di kawasan ini layanan yang lebih cepat dan andal, serta memungkinkan perusahaan ini memperkuat aplikasi-aplikasi seperti Gmail tanpa terganggu oleh masalah-masalah menyangkut kapasitas, kata para pejabat perusahaan.

"Saat ini banyak dari layanan untuk Asia dikirimkan dari, misalnya, Amerika Serikat karena kapasitas di Asia tidak mencukupi," kata Simon Chang, Kepala operasi perangkat keras Google untuk kawasan Asia-Pasifik

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Facebook Messenger for Windows goes Official

When news of the App for Windows was leaked yesterday, it seems like the company decided to capitalise on the leak instead of crying over spilt milk. Apparently this was a test version Facebook began testing with a small group of people last month.

In addition to supporting Facebook chat, the App will allow users to check notifications, friends requests and the ubiquitous news ticker which will be positioned on top of the contacts list. While we haven’t yet heard an official announcement on release regarding the App from Facebook, a version is available here.

The Facebook Messenger app is only for Windows machines at the moment, so if you’re running Linux or a Mac, you will have to wait for a release for your platform. New features such as group chat, video calling, limiting chat availability and more will be featured in upcoming versions.

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Microsoft Releases First and Only 2011 Out-of-Band Patch

Microsoft on Thursday released its first and only out-of-band patch for 2011. But it's a critical one. MS11-100 addresses a vulnerability in ASP.NET that could allow a denial of service attack.

Dave Forstrom, Microsoft's director of trustworthy computing, said the security update is rated critical. The fix addresses a remote unauthenticated denial of service issue in ASP.NET versions 1.1 and above on all supported versions of .NET Framework. But Forstrom warned that Microsoft is not the only vendor that is vulnerable.

"Of note, the new method of hash collision attacks used to exploit this vulnerability is an industrywide issue affecting various Web platforms, including ASP.NET," Forstrom said. "While we have seen no attacks attempting to exploit this vulnerability, we encourage affected customers to test and deploy the update as soon as possible. Consumers are not vulnerable unless they are running a Web server from their computer ."

Executing Remote Commands

In its security bulletin, Microsoft explained if an unauthenticated attacker sends a specially crafted Web request to a Web site targeted for take down it could open a back door. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could manipulate the ASP.NET site, executing remote commands at will.

However, in order to exploit this vulnerability an attacker must be able to register an account on the ASP.NET site, and must know an existing user name. Microsoft said customers who have not enabled automatic updating need to check for updates and install this update manually.

The out-of-band patch tackles four issues: CVE-2011-3416, an ASP.NET forms authentication bypass issue rated as critical; CVE-2011-3414, a hash table collision DoS issue rated as important; CVE-2011-3417, an ASP.NET ticket caching vulnerability rated important; and CVE-2011-3415, an insecure redirect vulnerability rated moderate.

How the Fix Works

"Microsoft tested and finished MS11-100 in record time, taking about 30 days for the process of integrating this new vulnerability with the fix that was already scheduled for January 2012," said Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys. "We consider Microsoft's reaction and implementation speed outstanding, as they were only notified at the tail end of the German security researchers' work."

Qualys is tracking how the other projects and vendors affected, including PHP, Oracle, Python, Ruby and others, are rolling out their patches.

"The bulletin fixes the DoS attack vector by providing a limit to the number of variables that can be submitted for a single HTTP POST request," Kandek said. "The default limit is 500 which should be enough for normal Web applications, but still low enough to neutralize the attack as described by the security researchers in Germany. This addresses the most obvious attack method immediately and leaves the reimplementation of the hash function for a future update."
 

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2012 Tablet Spending Spree By SMBs Predicted

Tablets are high on the 2012 shopping lists of small- to mid-sized business hardware buyers at companies based in the United States, according to NPD Group's latest SMB survey. And Apple's iPad remains the top preferred brand among purchasing decision makers at U.S. companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, which collectively employ 121 million people.

NPD reports that 73 percent of the nation's SMBs overall intend to spend more on tablets in 2012 -- up from 68 percent of the respondents to a similar NDP survey conducted in this year's second quarter. Moreover, 90 percent expect to spend the same amount or more on tablets over the next 12 months.

Though many industry observers have predicted that the rising sales of tablets would lead to PC cannibalization, NPD's latest survey demonstrates that less than 20 percent of SMBs overall expect to cut their PC purchases during the year ahead.

"Spending continues on PCs, and on tablets, and few companies -- even the smallest ones -- are significantly reallocating their spending away from the personal computing needs of their employees," said NPD Vice President Stephen Baker.

"As we head into 2012, the SMB market continues to provide an important source of volume and dollars to the PC market," Baker wrote in a Thursday blog post.

SMB PC Spending Intentions

According to Baker, the heightened interest that SMBs have expressed about acquiring tablets for their employees next year by no means equates to the death of the PC market.

"The combination, however, of the length of time since the Windows 7 launch, the need to spend on higher cost infrastructure, and the increased spending on tablets has clearly put a crimp on PC spending intentions -- especially among the largest firms," Baker explained.

NPD's SMB Technology Monitor reports that 36 percent of the businesses surveyed with fewer than 50 employees said they expect to increase their spending on PCs during the year ahead. Moreover, Baker observed that their average spend of $3,400 would equate to upgrading 10 percent to 15 percent of each firm's PC base.

Only 23 percent of SMBs with 501-999 employees expect to spend more on PCs in 2012, with the average spend approaching $75,000. According to Baker, this would likewise equate to replacing around 10 percent to 15 percent of the installed base at these larger firms. (continued...)

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Tahun 2012, Tahun Cloud Computing?

JAKARTA--Tahun 2012 diperkirakan akan menjadi tahun cloud computing atau komputasi awan.Steve Herrod, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) dan Senior Vice President Reasearch & Development, VMware memprediksi penggunaan dan pengadopsian teknologi cloud akan meningkat.

Sebuah riset yang dilakukan Forrester baru-baru ini, yang diluncurkan pada bulan Oktober 2011 oleh VMware, menunjukkan bahwa semakin banyak organisasi yang memilih menerapkan teknologi public dan private cloud (41 persen) – meningkat hampir 10 persen dibandingkan hasil riset tahun lalu (38 persen). Public cloud merupakan pilihan yang kurang disukai karena sebagian besar organisasi di seluruh kawasan melihat teknologi ini kurang aman untuk mengelola data dan aplikasi perusahaan.

Di seluruh kawasan Asia Pasifik, sebanyak 78 persen organisasi kini mempertimbangkan untuk menerapkan virtualisasi sebagai dasar yang penting bagi komputasi awan (cloud computing). Pengadopsian teknologi virtual yang tertinggi dilakukan oleh perusahaan asuransi (83 persen), kemudian diikuti oleh perusahaan yang bergerak di sektor perbankan/keuangan (81 persen) dengan sebagian besar kini telah mengadopsi komputasi awan.

Perusahaan kini memiliki pemahaman yang lebih baik mengenai dampak positif dari penerapan komputasi awan terhadap perkembangan bisnis mereka. Dalam mengarungi perjalanan komputasi awan – baik melalui model privat maupun hybrid, perusahaan kini semakin sadar bahwa tidak ada awan yang ‘pas untuk semua kebutuhan’

''Dalam hal aplikasi, kami juga melihat adanya pergeseran tipe infrastruktur aplikasi yang dipakai,'' kata Steve. Melihat realita aplikasi berbasis website atau mobile moderen, dengan pola penggunaan yang dinamis, dibutuhkan pendekatan arsitektural baru: teknologi itu harus bisa fleksibel di setiap tier aplikasi itu sehingga saat pengguna mengaksesnya, infrastruktur aplikasi akan langsung menyesuaikan untuk memenuhi permintaan penggunaan.

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Intel Debuts 'Cedar Trail' Atom Processor

Intel on Wednesday rolled out its latest Atom mobile processor. Formerly codenamed Cedar Trail, the new processor targets on-the-go computing devices with the promise of great battery life, affordability and new features.

In early 2012, devices from major OEMs including Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba will feature the new Atom processor. The processor dons a media engine that makes possible full 1080p high-definition playback of videos and Blu-ray content. The new Atom also includes additional digital display and output options, including HDMI and DisplayPort.

Intel's integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650, combined with an integrated memory controller, works to improve performance and system responsiveness. The new Atom offers graphics performance up to two times faster than Intel's previous generation platform.

Practical Atom Applications

In terms of practical applications, here are a few details: Mobile systems that use the new Atom processors may have up to 10 hours of battery life and weeks of standby. With the new processors, Intel offers stronger overall system performance and up to 20 percent lower power consumption than its previous platform. All this means consumers can use their mobile devices all day without having to plug them into a power source.

Features-wise, Intel relied on its 32nm process technology to bring new functions to the platform. Some of those include a Wireless Display and Wireless Music. With these new features and wireless enabled devices, mobile consumers can share videos or photos wirelessly from their netbooks to a television, or stream music through their home stereo speakers.

A feature called Intel Smart Technology gives mobile users an Instant Internet connection as soon as they open their netbook, and updates e-mail, Twitter and RSS feeds automatically even in sleep mode. And Intel Rapid Start Technology empowers fast resume from standby mode and helps conserve battery life.

Industrial Applications

Intel is betting its new Atom will make mobile devices that run on processors more appealing to a broader audience with its dual-core Intel Atom processor N2600 and Intel Atom processor N2800. With lower thermal design power and power management features like Deeper Sleep and SpeedStep Technology, Intel points to expected interest from industries like healthcare equipment, retail systems and even entry-level digital signage.

In health care settings, Intel said the improved battery life and enhanced graphics means medical professionals can offer better patient care and bring infotainment services to a patient's bedside.

ARBOR technology plans to release a new patient infotainment bedside terminal based on the Intel Atom processor N2800 that helps clinicians improve workflow management and work efficiency, reduce human error and enhance healthcare quality. Patients can also access multimedia entertainment, hospital information and communication services on the system.

Intel said the new Atom's always-on, always-connected capabilities are also ideal for entry-level point-of-sale systems. Atom offers the ability to boot up instantly to serve customers at a moment's notice. Point-of-sale terminals based on the Intel Atom processor D2700 and manufactured by NCR Corporation will be installed in restaurant and retail locations throughout the U.S. beginning in the first quarter of 2012.
 

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Windows Phone Marketplace hits the 50,000 apps mark

Though the operating system Windows Phone 7 hasn’t quite found its footing in the marketplace, it now has one solid achievement to boast about – it has hit the 50,000 app mark in its Marketplace days before it was expected to.

AllAboutWindowsPhone.com lets us know of this milestone and its a pretty big deal for the OS, since the entire life of an OS depends on how many users really make apps for it since that’s a very lucrative draw and the reason why iOS and especially Android have been gaining traction (and why Blackberry isn’t). The report suggests that the OS will reach 100,000 mark by summer 2012 at the rate that it’s going at.

Are you excited about the OS?

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Cara Aman Hindari Jebakan Malware

Android market kembali disusupi malware. Tim keamanan Trend Micro, mendeteksi malware dengan kode ANDROIDOS_RUFRAUD.A - masuk sebagai aplikasi resmi yang seolah-olah ditawarkan dari dalam Android market.

Karena jebatan itu, beberapa pengguna telah menginstal aplikasi tipuan tersebut sebelum Google menghentikan layanannya segera setalah mendapat reaksi dan respon dari pengguna yang waspada.

Saat Android menawarkan aplikasi seharga 10 cent saja untuk merayakan 10 miliar download, pengguna biasanya cenderung terpancing untuk menginstal aplikasi dengan biaya murah tersebut tanpa sadar mereka telah digiring masuk malware.

Bagaimana menghindari malware, ini tips Trend Micro:

Cek developer dibalik pembuat aplikasi yang ditawarkan Penjahat dunia maya secara teratur selalu mengikuti aplikasi apa yang sedang populer, kemudia mereka membuat tiruannya. Misalnya malicious aplikasi untuk game terkenal Angry Birds, besutan Rovio Mobile, pernah dibuat tipuan malicious-nya dari developer Logastrod.  Untuk memastikan si pembuat aplikasi memiliki reputasi, cek lah bagaimana si developer memberikan catatan pada aplikasi yang pernah dibuat. Jika developer tersebut miskin informasi, lebih baik Anda abaikan untuk menginstal aplikasinya (gambar 1 dan 2)

Cek rating dan review terhadap aplikasi
Pada aplikasi yang asli biasanya mendapatkan banyak rating dari beberapa reviewer di dalam Android market, sedangkan aplikasi palsu hanya memberikan kurang dari dua puluh rating (gambar 3 dan 4). Semakin banyak rating dan review yang diberikan, artinya Anda memasuki halaman aplikasi yang dijamin benar.
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du launching 0529 prefix code numbers in 2012

At first, there was 050. Then came 055. We were then given 056 for a more varied choice. Prepare for 052 now that du has announced that they’re launching the new prefix code numbers in the first quarter of 2012.

du will launch a new mobile prefix (052) with the digital hierarchy (9), during the first quarter of 2012. The new prefix code number (052) was granted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The addition of the (0529) series will open up one million extra lines to du’s new mobile customers.

“We would like to thank the TRA for granting us the new prefix code number, which is an essential addition for us to face the increasing demand on du’s mobile services. With the addition of (0529), we can continue to expand our active customer base that reached over five million mobile subscriptions,” said Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du. “This will add approximately one million new lines, which will support customers’ demand for about six months based our observation of buying trends over the past months. This comes as a result of the high demand on our attractive mobile offers and services which consumed 80% of the existing prefix 055”.

More digital hierarchies under the (052) access code will be opened in the future as need calls to continue to cater to the ever-increasing demand for du’s value for money mobile services.

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353% increase in Android and iOS devices activation on Christmas

Christmas time means a lot of gifts, and in today’s world, a lot of those gifts are shiny new gadgets. And as research firm Flurry Analytics found out, by tracking activity from over 140,ooo apps, Android and iOS based devices saw a significant increase at Christmas.

On the days leading up to Christmas, both Android and iOS devices were activating at around 1.5 million per day around the world. On December 25th, this number rose up by 353% with 6.8 million devices activated world wide. The number of apps downloaded obviously increased as well, with a 125% increase on Christmas compared to the rest of December. In fact, from December 25th till New Year’s, Flurry anticipates global app downloads to exceed 1 billion.

The peak time for app downloads was around 8pm, presumably after dinner. Although, as you can see from the chart below, dinner with family or not, people couldn’t help themselves but start playing with their brand new gadgets as soon as they woke up in the morning.

Sadly there’s no distinction between the number of Android and iOS users, but I’m sure both Google and Apple are happy. So, did any of you get an Android or iOS device this Christmas?

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Windows Phone 7 Rapidly Reaches 50,000 Apps

Windows Phone 7 is still a relatively small player in the application vending market, but a bit less so these days as Microsoft shows some impressive growth in offerings for the struggling platform.

Last August, the Windows Phone Marketplace reached a milestone of 30,000 available apps , and now that number seems to have reached 50,000, just over a year since it was first launched in Europe in October 2010.

An independent Web site, All About Windows Phone, citing numbers from its own tracking system, reported on Dec. 27 that the Windows Phone Marketplace "has passed the 50,000 app and games submission mark. Content is being added at the rate of 265 items per day." With a few days left of December, the site said "50,126 items had been published, 17,276 of them added in the last 90 days and 8,010 added in the last 30 days.

Rapid Expansion

The offerings are from 13,002 different publishers, and the pace has accelerated rapidly in recent months as Nokia launches its Windows devices and the platform reaches more countries.

But AAWP pointed out that, just as is the case in other markets, the actual number of Windows offerings is lower than the published figure, with just under 6,000 Windows apps removed by Microsoft or the publisher.

"The 50,000 mark, which has been reached sooner than we estimated, is a key milestone, but more important is the accelerating growth of the Marketplace," wrote AAWP's Rafe Blandford. "It took just over a year to get to 40,000 apps, but just 40 days to add the next 10,000 apps. That bodes well for Windows Phone in 2012."

The soaring mobile market, which includes smartphones, iPods and tablets, has created an app explosion. Earlier this month, Mobilewalla, a research firm specializing in the mobile marketplace, reported that 2,000 apps are posted each day, and in the past year Apple's iTunes App Store increased its offerings from 338,000 to 589,148, while Google's Android Market soared from 115,000 to 319,774. The point of 1 million apps may be near, the firm said.

Whether or not this benefits consumers is questionable since no user has the time or desire to shop through potentially thousands of offerings in a designated category while browsing.

'Robust App Community'

But Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said the Windows Phone 50,000 mark is "an extremely important milestone. Consumers are understandably reluctant to invest in a platform that does not have a robust app community, but 50,000 is a reassuringly large number, so this should definitely help sales."

Greengart added that "Windows Phone also provides an arguably better, more integrated approach to the most common smartphone tasks, and we are starting to see more innovative hardware appear for the platform." But he cautioned that "Windows Phone 7 remains far behind iOS and Android in terms of overall numbers, giving the market leaders an advantage in niche apps. Also, apps are consistently developed for iOS first, for Android second, and for Windows Phone 7...sometime later."

That makes the iPhone the "safest" choice for consumers who are driven primarily by app variety, the analyst said.
 

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Seagate completes acquisition of Samsung’s hard disk drive business

The choice of purchasing a hard disk for your computer just got simpler. Seagate, one of the market leaders in the category, have announced that they have finished the acquisition of the hard disk drive business of Samsung and will now combine their efforts into one.

Dubai â€" December 27th, 2011 â€" Seagate Technology plc, a world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, today announced the closing of the transaction to acquire the hard disk drive (HDD) business of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology.

Under the terms of the transaction, Seagate has gained select elements of Samsung’s HDD business, including assets, infrastructure and employees that enable Seagate to drive scale and innovation. These assets include Samsung’s leading M8 product line of high-capacity, 2.5-inch HDDs. Samsung employees joining Seagate include a number of senior managers and design-engineering employees from Samsung’s Korea facility, who will focus on development of small form-factor products for the mobile compute market. N.Y. Park, senior vice president and general manager, will oversee Seagate’s product development activities in Korea and serve as country manager of the Korea design center, reporting to Bob Whitmore, Seagate’s executive vice president and CTO.

“Together, Seagate and Samsung have aligned our current and future product development efforts and roadmaps in order to accelerate time-to-market efficiency for new products and position us to better address the increasing demands for storage,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. “It is an exciting time in the industry with rapidly evolving opportunities in many markets including mobile computing, cloud computing, and solid state storage.”

This transaction was announced in April 2011 along with a series of other agreements between Seagate and Samsung. Seagate is supplying disk drives to Samsung for PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics devices. Samsung is supplying its market-leading semiconductor products for use in Seagate’s enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid-state hybrid drives and other products. The companies have also extended and enhanced their existing patent cross-license agreement and have expanded cooperation to co-develop enterprise storage solutions.

“The strategic relationship will open new opportunities for the two companies by mutually complementing each other’s creative technology solutions for a broad diversity of IT applications,” said Oh-Hyun Kwon, vice chairman of Device Solutions of Samsung Electronics.

The transactions and agreements substantially expand Seagate’s customer access in China, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Germany and the Russian Federation. Seagate and Samsung also have been working together to ensure that customers continue to receive a high level of service, support and innovation, including activities to align the two companies’ supply bases and delivery infrastructure. To ease the transition of products and technologies, Seagate will retain certain Samsung HDD products under the Samsung brand name for 12 months, and maintain or establish a number of independent operations including sales staff, key production lines and R&D. Customers can find more information at www.seagate.com/samsung.

The combined value of these transactions and agreements is approximately US $1.4 billion, consisting of 45,239,490 Seagate Ordinary Shares and the remaining balance settled in cash. In addition, Samsung will designate a nominee to join Seagate’s Board of Directors.

Seagate does not presently expect significant restructuring costs and expects to achieve considerable reductions in overall operating expenses for the combined business while minimizing the integration costs. As previously stated, Seagate expects that the transactions and agreements will be meaningfully accretive to non-GAAP diluted earnings per share and cash flow in the first full year following the closing. Seagate will provide additional financial information for the combined company on its fiscal second quarter conference call in late January.

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Telkomsel Kejar 70 Juta Pelanggan Broadband di 2012

Telkomsel Kejar 70 Juta Pelanggan Broadband di 2012

Bandung - Tahun 2012 dicanangkan sebagai tahun broadband. Telkomsel pun mematok target 70 juta pelanggannya adalah pelanggan broadband.

Demikian diungkapkan oleh GM Sales and Costumer Service Telkomsel Jabar, Erick Noviantoro saat berbincang dengan detikINET, Senin (26/12/2011).

"Di 2012 targetnya adalah 70 juta pelanggan kita adalah pelanggan broadband," katanya.

Pertumbuhan pelanggan broadband Telkomsel cukup signifikan. Di Jabar saja, saat ini sudah 14 persen pelanggannya merupakan pelanggan broadband.

"Kita terus pacu dengan infrastruktur dan program-program menarik bagi pelanggan. Targetnya Jabar tahun depan adalah 21 persen pelanggan broadband," katanya.

Salah satu upaya Telkomsel untuk memberikan pengalaman broadband kepada pelanggannya adalah dengan menyebar ribuan titik hotspot bersama dengan Telkom.

Di sisi jaringan, Telkomsel Jabar menambah 1.089 node b dengan 250 diantaranya adalah new site tidak termasuk upgrade. "Kita fokus investasi 3G," kata GM Network Operation Telkomsel Jabar Samuel Pasaribu belum lama ini.


( afz / eno )

Dapatkan berita daerah, gossip & olahraga diHandphone Nokia dengan mengaktifkan layanan Nokia Life Tools

Tetap update informasi di manapun dengan http://m.detik.com dari browser ponsel anda!

Sumber detik com

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Canadian Company Sues RIM for BBM Trademark

As if Research In Motion needed another lump of coal in its Christmas stocking, the BlackBerry maker has received more bad news -- this time on the legal front. RIM may have to spend more money trying to ward off yet another trademark dispute.

Indeed, even as RIM is reeling from the forced name change of its next-generation operating system from BBX to BlackBerry 10, a Canadian company has taken issue with the name of its long-popular instant-messaging platform.

BlackBerry Messenger has been a RIM favorite, allowing BlackBerry users to send each other text messages and pictures through the RIM network and get delivery and read confirmation. Many users just call the service BBM for short, but BBM Canada is looking to Canadian federal court for a remedy.

BBM Canada Willing to Deal

According to a Reuters report, BBM Canada, a company somewhat like Nielsen in that it measures radio and television audiences, plans to argue its case against RIM in February. Jim MacLeod, BBM's CEO, told Reuters he wants RIM to stop advertising the BBM name. But MacLeod also suggested he would be willing to change BBM Canada name -- for a price.

"We have to be practical, they operate worldwide, we don't. But we're not prepared to just walk from our name," MacLeod told Reuters. "I'm sure to a really big company this looks like relatively small numbers, but to us it's a big deal. It's a trademark they don't even own, it's ours."

The timing is noteworthy. BlackBerry has been offering BBM for many years, but recently made a big splash in the RIM world when it rolled out BBM Music. BBM Music is a cloud -based music service for BlackBerry users. RIM was not immediately available for comment.

Should RIM Go Android ?

Some are calling for RIM to sell itself, with Microsoft , Nokia and Amazon being named as potential suitors. But Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, says he doesn't know if RIM is sellable with its falling subscriber base. As he sees it, RIM needs two things: a leadership change and a strategy change.

"When people buy iPhone and Androids they buy them because they like the operating system. I don't think that's the case with RIM. People like RIM's handsets and the keyboard ," he said. "If I were RIM, I would give up on QNX and put Android on the handsets and become a hardware vendor."

In a smartphone world where apps are vital, that strategy may hold wisdom. Developers are spending most of their attention on the iPhone and Android platforms, and the extra work it takes to build out an app for RIM isn't always worth the effort, especially with RIM's declining market share.

"RIM has lived and died this for so long. It's in their culture. That's why they need a new CEO. I am also not convinced that dual CEOs work anymore," Kerravala said. "RIM has grown to the point to where someone has to take control of that ship and the two guys together aren't doing well, so bringing in someone with Android experience, maybe even someone from Google, might make some sense."
 

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Report: Religious Americans 'active users of technology'

AT&Ta

Religiously active Americans are also active in using technologya

By Athima Chansanchai

A recent survey from Pew Research shows that spiritually active Americans are just as likely as others to incorporate technology into their daily lives.a

"Some analysts have been concerned that those who have active spiritual lives might not be as engaged with the secular world," noted Jim Jansen, a Senior Fellow at the Pew Internet Project and author of a report on the findings. "We see the opposite. Those who are religiously active are more likely to participate in all kinds of groups and more likely to feel good about their communities. Those who are active in religious groups seem to be joiners. They also are active users of technology."a

As part of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, Princeton Survey Research Associates International surveyed 2,303 adults (ages 18 and older) by cellphone and home phones in English and Spanish.  a

The report shows that "Americans who are members of religious groups are just as likely as others to use the internet, have broadband at home, use cell phones, use text messaging, and use social networking sites and Twitter."a

And here are some stats to back up those assertions: a

79 percent of Americans who are active in religious groups are internet users, compared with 75% of those not involved with religious groups 86 percent of Americans who are active in religious groups are cellphone users, compared with 80% of those not involved with religious groups 75 percent of religiously active Americans are email users, compared with 68% of those who are not involved with religious groups. 46 percent of these religiously active Americans use social networking sites such as Facebook, compared with 49% of those who are not involved with religious groups. 9 percent of these religiously active Americans use Twitter, compared with 10% of those not involved with religious groups advertisement

While the data did not specifically get into the polled participants' involvement in social networks, Pew researchers did extrapolate some theories about the role online communities play in their lives.a

"It's not in our data, but there is some new scholarship raising the possibility that the social networks of church members might be one of the factors driving this civic engagement," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project. "Church can be a place where people who want to be active in groups meet others who share that same interest and they kind of reinforce each other's yearning to get involved with the community around them."a

More stories:a

Church wants to protest at Steve Jobs funeral Richard Dawkins puts his scientific ’Magic’ on a tablet Facebook and Christianity don’t mix, says Chicago parish Church-goers are more optimistic, study finds

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.a

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2500 Ponsel Bekas Disulap Jadi Pohon Natal

2500 Ponsel Bekas Disulap Jadi Pohon Natal

Hanoi, Vietnam - Sebuah toko elektronik di daerah selatan kota My Tho, Vietnam, punya cara unik untuk merayakan Natal. Jika biasanya mereka menggunakan replika pohon cemara, kini material pohon Natal tersebut digantikan oleh 2500 telepon seluler (ponsel) bekas.

Pohon Natal dari ponsel bekas ini cukup mencuri perhatian pengunjung yang melintasi toko elektronik itu--Westcom Elektronika. Tercatat ada sekitar 700-800 orang yang datang setiap harinya.

"Banyak dari mereka yang mengambil foto bersama pohon ini," kata Nguyen Trai, manajer Westcom Elektronika, seperti detikINET kutip dari AP, Minggu (25/12/2011).

Dituturkan oleh Nguyen, proses pembuatan pohon elektronik ini memakan waktu dua minggu dengan bantuan 10 orang pekerja. Pengerjaannya dilakukan di selatan Provinsi Tien Giang.

Menurutnya, tujuan dari pembangunan pohon Natal dari ponsel bekas ini tak lain demi mempromosikan kesadaran lingkungan dan bahaya akan limbah ponsel. Pohon ini juga akan dilelang untuk tujuan amal.

Seperti diungkapkan oleh Nguyen Thanh Yen, Administrasi Lingkungan Vietnam, ada jutaan ponsel yang digunakan oleh warga Vietnam dan terus diganti setiap tahunnya. Kebiasaan ini membuat limbah elektronik semakin besar.

( rou / rou )

Dapatkan berita daerah, gossip & olahraga diHandphone Nokia dengan mengaktifkan layanan Nokia Life Tools

Tetap update informasi di manapun dengan http://m.detik.com dari browser ponsel anda!

Sumber detik com

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Panasonic G-Series is world’s smallest system cameras

There was a time that DSLR’s were non accessible to the average photography enthusiast but that time has long gone. Nowadays, high definiton DSLR’s have become so cheap and accessible that almost every other person is rocking one. Panasonic has just announced their latest line-up of compact cameras that may be small in size but pack quite a punch that almost rivals DSLR’s.

Panasonic’s new LUMIX G Micro System compact and light weight digital interchangeable lens system cameras use a collection of features that put enormous photographic power in a palm-sized camera.

The high-grade metal body combined with the 4/3-type sensor delivers high D-SLR-like performance, however in much smaller and lighter cameras and lenses than with a conventional D-SLR system. The LUMIX G Series models are compact and comfortable to use, with features that are designed to let users truly enjoy exploring completely new realms of photography.

“With Panasonic’s G series of LUMIX cameras photographers can enjoy a new level of freedom, mobility and creativeness. These cameras come with enhanced features and functionality that make photography easy, more enjoyable and rewarding. Users can choose between the DMC-GX1, DMC-GF3, DMC-G3 and the DMC-GH2 all of which are capable of taking that perfect image or video,” commented Hitesh Ojha, Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing – AV Categories, Panasonic Marketing Middle East FZE.

Developed by Panasonic in cooperation with leading photographic engineers, the Micro Four Thirds standard system gives users the opportunity to explore the  creativity aspect of taking photographs with a range of compact lenses (in total, eleven lenses from 35mm equivalent 14mmâ€"600mm, and with the fixed-focus 3D lens you can even record 3D photos). It carefully preserves the image quality of the 4/3-type sensor and offers excellent expandability and adaptability to future functions as well.

The G series is renowned for its Micro Four Thirds System standard for high quality and wide compatibility. Furthermore, full-time Live View for setting up the perfect shot and the unique iA mode for capturing stunning photos with all the ease of a compact digital camera are just some of the user friendly features.

The Live MOS offers the superior image quality of a CCD sensor and the lower power consumption of a CMOS sensor, efficiently capturing more light for brighter corners and enhanced resolution. The camera delivers full-time live view shooting, while reproducing images with fine detail and rich gradation. What is more, the 4/3-type sensor enables the camera to be used with a host of lightweight zoom and wide-angle lenses. All Panasonic LUMIX G Series cameras are compatible with advanced Micro Four Thirds and renowned LEICA lenses, which stand up to any shooting situation with grandeur.

LUMIX G Micro System cameras also records not only high quality photo but also stunning video. The AVCHD format features almost twice the recording time in HD quality than the conventional Motion JPEG. In addition to the practical full-time AF, the Touch AF in video recording also lets users enjoy professional-like rack focusing. Just by pointing the subject, the focus is shifted to it and let it stand out to attract attention.

Precision Contrast AF system of LUMIX G Micro System gains even higher speed realizing approx.  0.09 second of Light Speed AF. Consecutive shooting is also improved for 4.2 fps in 16.0-megapixel full resolution.

All cameras of LUMIX G Micro System adopt Contrast AF for its focus system. The Phase-difference AF system is susceptible to mechanical margin of error. However, in Contrast AF system, focusing is controlled by the image sensor so that no mechanical margin of error occurs to achieve precise focusing. Compared with the Phase difference system AF, the Contrast AF boasts higher accuracy especially in shooting with bright lens with small F value.

The DMC-GF3 the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens system camera and it features a new 16.0-megapixel sensor is capable of taking pictures that are at par with a professional DSLR camera. The cameras LUMIX G Micro System realizes high-quality photo images with real-to-life details through excellent resolution, image rendering and colour reproduction. In addition, high sensitivity signal processing is redesigned for DMC-G3 to take full advantage of the newly developed 16.0-megapixel Live MOS sensor. Notably, images to be shot in low-lit situations at high ISO sensitivity setting is stunningly clear with highly sharp resolution.

The DMC-G3 featuring new 16.0-megapixel sensor and 1920 x 1080 full HD video recording capabilities and the DMC-G3 achieves further downsizing in both size and weight to break the record of world’s smallest and lightest camera. The DMC-G3 boasts 7.5 cm (3.0-inch) free-angle Intelligent LCD with 100% field of view, 1,440,000-dot equivalent LVF (Live View Finder).

The DMC-GX1 digital interchangeable lens system camera captures high image quality and stunning performance in both response and function. The LUMIX G Micro System realizes high-quality photo images with real-to-life details through excellent resolution, image rendering and colour reproduction.

The DMC-GH2 precisely captures moving subjects at higher speeds than other models can. It features the world’s fastest level Light Speed AF of approximately 0.1 second, which is achieved by reducing the detection time for focusing by doubling the drive speed from 60 frames per second to 120 frames per second. Both the accuracy and the speed of the advanced contrast AF system in the DMC-GH2 far exceed high-end digital SLRs with phase difference AF.

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Smartphones Taking Bite Out of Point-and-Shoot Market, Says NPD

People will spend less coin on digital cameras this holiday season as they increasingly rely on smartphone cameras to capture both spontaneous moments and vacation shots, a survey from the research firm NPD Group suggests.

While the results should not surprise, given the higher quality cameras increasingly built into popular phones -- the iPhone 4S packs an 8-megapixel model, up from 5 on the iPhone 4 -- the survey offers a quantified look at how much the smartphone market is eating into the low-end camera market.

Who Needs A Camcorder?

The percentage of photos taken with a smartphone by a sample group answering online questions rose from 17 last year to 27, while the share of photos taken by camera dropped from 52 percent to 44 percent.

In separate findings, NPD's Retail Tracking Service found that so-called "point-and-shoot" camera sales fell 17 percent in units and 18 percent in dollars for the first 11 months of 2011. The drop in pocket camcorder sales was slightly lower, 13 percent in units, but steeper in dollars, 27 percent, while flash camcorders declined 8 percent in units and 10 percent in dollars.

Just over 30 percent of respondents said they now use phones for taking photos while on vacation, and just over 50 percent said they use phones for casual photos. The numbers were similar for video , with a higher number, about 55 percent, using their handy smartphones to capture spontaneous moments for posterity (or YouTube).

"Thanks to mobile phones, more pictures are being taken than ever before," said Liz Cutting, executive director and senior imaging analyst at NPD, in releasing the results. "Consumers who use their mobile phones to take pictures and video were more likely to do so instead of their camera when capturing spontaneous moments, but for important events, single purpose cameras or camcorders are still largely the device of choice."

The survey was taken Nov. 11-21 from a sample of adults over 18 and teens ages 13-17.

Big Potential

Manufacturers and carriers are increasingly seeing the value of good cameras as a selling point and differentiator. In June, HTC and T-Mobile released the MyTouch 4G , with an 8-megapixel camera, promising no shutter lag -- a big drawback of many digital cameras. With its fast data speed, the MyTouch is a good option for taking good pictures and sharing them quickly, T-Mobile said at the time.

"Smartphone cameras are getting good enough that people will only buy a digital camera if it is much better," said analyst Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax. The benefits of a dedicated, higher-end camera over a phone, he said are optical zoom, available only on select phones, large lens capture and better digital image capture chips.

"It's a trade-off of fidelity vs. convenience," Purdy said. "People want to have a really good camera for a wedding, but convenience is going to drive the popularity of camera phones, which are good enough for most situations."
 

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