Industry Standard Breaking News

Micron acquires flash memory maker Numonyx

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:52:18 -0500

Micron Technology has agreed to acquire flash memory maker Numonyx, adding NOR flash chips -- a memory type commonly found in mobile phones and MP3 players -- to its product lineup and expanding its manufacturing capacity

The all-stock offer to acquire Numonyx is worth US$1.27 billion, Micron said. Numonyx is jointly owned by Intel, STMicroelectronics and Francisco Partners, a private equity firm.

The Numonyx acquisition expands Micron's memory range with the addition of NOR flash chips . Micron's current product line includes DRAM and NAND flash chips, which are found in removable memory cards and solid-state drives, as well as mobile devices.

NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory are both non-volatile types of memory, which means they don't lose stored data when power is turned off. But the two memory types have different strengths, making them suitable for different applications. NOR chips have faster read capabilities, making them suitable for storing software code, while NAND chips, which offer faster write/erase capabilities and smaller memory cells, are better suited for storing large amounts of data, such as pictures or music.

Besides NOR flash, the acquisition also gives Micron access to Numonyx's phase-change memory technology. Phase-change memory is an emerging memory type that's currently under development and seen as a possible replacement for flash chips.

Micron expects to close the deal within three to six months.

British directory Yell.com partners with Daylife for topical microsites

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:42:38 -0500

Yell.com, the British online version of the Yellow Pages, has launched 18 new microsites powered by Daylife SmartSections, which VentureBeat wrote about in December. In a prepared statement, the two companies called it “a significant expansion of Yell’s plans to integrate consumer advice and information into its local business search experience.” In plain American English, Yell.com now has subsites like plumbers.yell.com and gardens.yell.com that combine paid listings for local plumbers and gardeners with how-to articles, videos, plus blog posts and tweets from selected experts.

“Anyone looking for local services can benefit from more than a phone number” is how Daylife CEO Upendra Shardanand put it. The thing about Daylife’s SmartSections is that they’re intensively curated, rather than left to run on autopilot or shoveled full of mediocre content. In America, Daylife is already incorporated into USA Today’s Today in the Sky site and the NPR Topic Index. Don’t be surprised to see more large websites looking to Daylife to provide them better topical content than they could create themselves.

Daylife , headquartered in New York City , was founded in 2005 and has 25 employees. The company has secured $15 million in funding, most recently a round of $4M led by strategic investor Getty Images.

Yell.com is part of Yell Group, headquartered in Reading, UK. It was founded in 1966 — before the Unix Epoch — and has 14,983 employees. The company is public and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2003.

New Russian botnet tries to kill rival

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:42:15 -0500

An upstart Trojan horse program has decided to take on its much-larger rival by stealing data and then removing the malicious program from infected computers.

Security researchers say that the relatively unknown [ Spy Eye toolkit ] added this functionality just a few days ago in a bid to displace its larger rival, known as Zeus.

The feature, called "Kill Zeus," apparently removes the Zeus software from the victim's PC, giving Spy Eye exclusive access to usernames and passwords.

Zeus and Spy Eye are both Trojan-making toolkits, designed to give criminals an easy way to set up their own "botnet" networks of password-stealing programs. These programs emerged as a major problem in 2009, with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation estimating last October that they have caused $100 million in losses.

Trojans such as Zeus and Spy Eye steal online banking credentials. This information is then used to empty bank accounts by transferring funds to so-called money mules -- U.S. residents with bank accounts -- who then move the cash out of the country.

Sensing an opportunity, a number of similar Trojans have emerged recently, including Filon, Clod and [ Bugat ], which was discovered just last month.

Spy Eye popped up in Russian cybercrime forums in December, according to Symantec Senior Research Manager Ben Greenbaum.

With its "Kill Zeus" option, Spy Eye is the most aggressive crimeware, however. The software can also steal data as it is transferred back to a Zeus command-and-control server, said Kevin Stevens, a researcher with SecureWorks. "This author knows that Zeus has a pretty good market, and he's looking to cut in," he said.

Turf wars are nothing new to cybercriminals. Two years ago a malicious program called Storm Worm began attacking servers controlled by a rival known as Srizbi. And a few years before that, the authors of the Netsky worm programmed their software to remove rival programs Bagle and MyDoom.

Spy Eye sells for about $500 on the black market, about one-fifth the price of premium versions of Zeus. To date, it has not been spotted on many PCs, however.

Still, the Trojan is being developed quickly and has a growing list of features, Greenbaum said. It can, for example, steal cached password information that is automatically filled in by the browser, and back itself up via e-mail. "This is interesting in its potential, but it's not currently a widespread threat at all," he said.

Read more about spam, malware and vulnerabilities in Computerworld's Spam, Malware and Vulnerabilities Knowledge Center.

Micron will acquire memory chip startup Numonyx for $1.27 billion

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:24:05 -0500

In a big victory for a new kind of memory chip and the little startup making it, Micron Technology announced today it is buying Numonyx in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.27 billion.

Boise, Idaho,-based Micron is the largest U.S. maker of main memory chips used in PCs and other electronics. Numonyx, meanwhile, is a decade-old startup that has been working on a universal memory chip — which combines the best features of multiple types of memory chips.

Micron plans to issue 140 million shares to Numonyx shareholders. The deal is a big win for Numonyx investors Francisco Partners, Intel, and ST Microelectronics. Micron will issue up to 10 million more shares to Numonyx shareholders, depending on Micron’s average share price for the next 20 trading days. The deal is expected to close in three to six months.

Back in December, Intel and Numonyx announced they had accomplished a breakthrough in a new kind of memory chip dubbed “phase change memory.”

They showed a prototype of a 64-megabit phase change chip that can be stacked three dimensionally on the same chip. That means the chip has multiple layers of memory cells, allowing it to be densely packed with storage cells. It can also be used for both random access (DRAM) functions and non-volatile memory (like Flash, where the memory is retained even without power). And it doesn’t consume a lot of power. The initial chip has just one layer, but future chips are expected to be stackable.

Memory chips need to be fast, dense in terms of storage capacity, and need to hold their data even when the power is off. Nothing has fit the bill yet. Dynamic random access memory chips used as main memory in personal computers is fast, but it loses data without an electrical charge. Flash memory is dense and holds data even if the power is turned off, but it is slower. And disk drives hold data when the power is off, but they’re slow compared to DRAM.

This new prototype chip, called a PCMS for phase change memory and switch, has a storage cell layered with what Numonyx calls an Ovonic Threshold Switch, which allows the cells to be stacked vertically yet accessed easily. The prototype uses a material that is an electrically-charged form of glass. This same kind of material is used in CD-ROM drives and non-volatile memory today. At the time Intel and Numonyx said they could not predict when they could commercialize the chips. But apparently Micron is confident they can do so.

There are other kinds of new memory technologies under research. One of them, magnetic random access memory, is in production now, but it isn’t a stackable memory.

Real Networks spinning off Rhapsody to focus on RealPlayer

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:48:38 -0500

Real Networks is spinning off digital music service Rhapsody by the end of the quarter. While it will still own a significant stake in the new, independent entity, it won’t have more power than the other major interest Viacom. (They didn’t specify their exact share except to say that it was below 50 percent.)

The move is intended to lighten the load on Real Networks while simultaneously freeing up room for more investors in Rhapsody.

Even Rhapsody can raise more money, the music service’s prospects appear dim. It actually lost about 300,000 subscribers over the course of 2009. Plus Apple’s iTunes and companies like Europe’s Spotify may soon be competing against it in the U.S. with a subscriber model.

Rhapsody had the distinction of being the first service to offer streaming access to a full digital music library on-demand, but it’s proved too expensive for mass adoptio. Its iPhone subscription launched last summer for $14.99 a month. It’s uncertain whether Rhapsody has plans to diversify or focus on a more niche audience.

Real Networks, on the other hand, is more stable. Off-loading Rhapsody will give it breathing room to grow the user base for RealPlayer, its digital media player. In fact, it just launched a new beta version of its RealPlayer for Mac. It will also focus more on the gaming side of its business, which could prove more lucrative than music. While the change comes shortly after CEO Rob Glaser decided to step down, the company says it has been in the works for a while.

Along with an $18 million infusion of cash from Real Networks, Rhapsody has a pledge from MTV Networks to run $33 million worth of ads on the service. Both companies will also retain seats on Rhapsody’s board.

New Russian botnet tries to kill rival

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:33:49 -0500

An upstart Trojan horse program has decided to take on its much-larger rival by stealing data and then removing the malicious program from infected computers.

Security researchers say that the relatively unknown Spy Eye toolkit added this functionality just a few days ago in a bid to displace its larger rival, known as Zeus.

The feature, called "Kill Zeus," apparently removes the Zeus software from the victim's PC, giving Spy Eye exclusive access to usernames and passwords.

Sensing an opportunity, a number of similar Trojans have emerged recently, including Filon, Clod and Bugat, which was discovered just last month.

Spy Eye popped up in Russian cybercrime forums in December, according to Symantec Senior Research Manager Ben Greenbaum.

Spy Eye sells for about US$500 on the black market, about one-fifth the price of premium versions of Zeus. To date, it has not been spotted on many PCs, however.

Broadcom adds Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi Direct to Android

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:29:18 -0500

Broadcom increased its bet on the Android mobile operating system on Tuesday, announcing additional capabilities for its software stack and a new chip for navigation in Android-based devices.

The company added support for Bluetooth 3.0 and for the Wi-Fi Direct specification to its software stacks for Android devices. By using some Wi-Fi technology, Bluetooth 3.0 increases the maximum throughput of the personal-area networking standard to more than 20M bps (bits per second) from roughly 2.1M bps. Wi-Fi Direct allows wireless LAN client devices, such as smartphones and PCs, to communicate directly without going through an access point.

Analysts expect Android, the open-source mobile operating system introduced by Google in 2008, to take a growing share of the mobile device market. IDC said last month it expected Android to be the fastest-growing mobile OS over the next five years, becoming the second-most-popular platform behind Symbian by 2012. The OS is also making its way into other devices, including netbooks and PNDs (personal navigation devices).

Though it declined to talk about specific customers, Broadcom said its communications chips are used in a majority of the Android devices on the market. Its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transceivers have been reported found in the Google Nexus One handset.

Broadcom will demonstrate these and a variety of other enhancements next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It will also show off the BCM4751, a new GPS (Global Positioning System) chip in which the company has integrated several formerly external components to reduce the cost, size and power consumption of the GPS system in a phone or PND.

In addition to Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi Direct, Broadcom's software stack for Android includes support for "soft access point" capability, which allows a Wi-Fi client device to act as an access point and share connectivity with other devices nearby, and for the WAPI (Wireless LAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) security protocol used in China.

Android comes with a Bluetooth software stack, called BlueZ, but Broadcom's software goes beyond BlueZ's features to include additional profiles that define other uses of Bluetooth.

Mobile World Congress will mark the first time Broadcom has publicly demonstrated its support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) on Android, the company said. Also at the trade show, Broadcom will demonstrate Android support in multiple chips in a tablet that uses Broadcom VoIP, multimedia, GPS, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips.

The enhanced Android software stack is available to developers immediately and is likely to show up in shipping products this quarter, said Craig Ochikubo, vice president and general manager of Broadcom's wireless personal area networking group. The BCM4751 chip is shipping to customers now and should be on sale in consumer devices later this year, he said.

Fisker pulls out of Michigan just before stimulus payday

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:12:38 -0500

Fisker Automotive, maker of the luxury hybrid Karma, says it will probably receive its $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy by the middle of March, according to Dow Jones VentureWire. This follows the company’s announcement that it will shutter its research and development center in Michigan (PDF) — bad news for a state that needs all of the automotive dollars it can cling to.

Even though the DOE gave the loan guarantee to Fisker back in September, the company had a hard time scraping together enough private investment to actually receive the money. Finally, in January it announced a $115.3 million round of equity (PDF) from A123Systems, Ace Investments and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The equity and loan (given through the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program) will be used to launch both the Karma, which it plans to sell for $87,900 a piece, and jump-start progress on its more affordable family sedan, probably called the Nina. That latter vehicle, still in development is expected to sell for $47,400 before a $7,500 tax credit from the federal government. If the company can move fast enough, the Nina could be released in time to compete with Tesla Motors‘ similarly-positioned Model S.

Fisker already has 1,600 people on a waiting list for the Karma; each has paid a deposit of $5,000. But it has a long way to go before it sells the 11,000 cars it pledged to hit by the end of the third quarter in 2011. That was one of the major conditions of the DOE’s loan, but it could be adjusted considering how long it took Fisker to raise the necessary capital.

Even though it’s set for a big payday here in March, the company has still been tightening its belt. To do so, it’s chosen to consolidate its operations in California, where it is headquartered in Irvine, by closing its 34,000 square-foot facility in Pontiac, Mich. It’s a shame that it plans to go on a hiring binge once everything is solidly in California. The Detroit area could definitely use the employment.

While it will be taking some local investment and 30 jobs with it, the company will be maintaining partnerships with several automotive supply companies in the state — including A123Systems, the battery maker it recently struck a deal with, which maintains an office in Ann Arbor, Mich. and has plans to build major manufacturing operations near Detroit.

The plan to make Irvine its hub excludes the Fisker plant being developed in an old General Motors factory in Wilmington, Del. In fact, that will be the primary manufacturing location for the cars rolled out under the banner of Project NINA once it comes to fruition.

Including the government loan, Fisker has raised $817 million to date, and is also backed by Palo Alto Investors, Qatar Investment Authority, and Eco-Drive Capital Partners.

Flickr founder launches Glitch, makes the world a game

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:02:56 -0500

Tiny Speck, a company started by Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield, has just opened a massively-multiplayer, browser-based game called Glitch to alpha testers, giving the world a taste of what Glitch might look like.

There are essentially two schools of multiplayer gaming right now. Massively-multiplayer games, most notably World of Warcraft, have been popular for a long time. They typically have huge worlds, tons of players, and a never-ending number of things you can do and explore. On the other side of the coin are the social games like Farmville and Petville, which are so popular on Facebook and the like. They’re typically simple, run in the browser, and aren’t particularly in-depth.

Glitch appears to be somewhere in the middle. It’s a browser-based game, meaning there’s no software to install or special computer requirements—more like Farmville. But i has huge levels and long quests, will require a lot of thought, multiplayer coordination and strategy, and as co-founder Stewart Butterfield told CNET, is for “people with above average intelligence and sophisticated tastes…the intersection of NRP listeners and game players”—point WoW. Glitch is walking the line between casual social games, and intense, multiplayer, life-consuming games.

The only thing already available as far as the game itself goes is a short preview video. It’s a little cryptic, but appeared to me to be one part Mario, one part acid trip, and one part something completely other. The website offers more of an explanation, describing a journey back to the distant past, to fix the glitch that caused the terrible future that’s coming to us: “This results in a time-traveling effort at saving the future, going back into the minds of eleven great giants walking sacred paths on a barren asteroid who sing and think and hum the world into existence…”

The way the game is built is equally exciting. It was built mostly in Java and Javascript, meaning that it can run in any browser, it can be easily maintained and updated by Tiny Speck, and that new content can be deployed without forcing users to buy new discs, and spend more money. If this works, building a huge, massively-multiplayer game into the browser, it could change how people play games over the Internet.

Tiny Speck is releasing Glitch into private alpha, but it’s looking for testers. The company is letting people into the alpha slowly but steadily, so sign up, but be ready to wait a little while. If you’re not one of the lucky ones, don’t worry. The game will be released to the general public sometime in 2010.

Tiny Speck was started by Butterfield and three members of the Flickr team, and has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Accel and angels like Marc Andreessen and Jeff Weiner.

NBNCo's Quigley unphased by Opposition's NBN policy void

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:56:10 -0500

National Broadband Network (NBN) chief Mike Quigley has kept mum on whether a change in Federal Government could signal trouble for the $43 billion initiative.

Speaking at the Broadband and Beyond conference in Sydney, Quigley said he "would not get involved in politics" by discussing either the [artnid:334873|shadow communications minister's as yet unstated position on the NBN]], or whether the Liberal Party could stop or roll back the network. "I try to stay out of politics as much as I can," Quigley said, responding to Computerworld Australia questions. "It is up to the shadow minister to comment when he feels like commenting.

"In regards to the upcoming election,we will continue doing what we are doing."

The federal opposition has been publicly critical of the massive financial investment of NBN.

Quigley would also not be drawn on whether progress has been made to integrate Telstra's network into the NBN. He said that the NBN Mackinsey-KPMG implementation study had "progressed" but did not say whether the results would be used by the NBNCo or in the implementation of the NBN itself. "There is a lot of cooperation [between Mackinsey-KPMG and NBNCo]," Quigley said. "We are kicking around ideas."

Comp-sci professionals voice opposition to Internet filter

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:54:54 -0500

A conglomerate of Australasian computer science academics has voiced opposition to the Federal Government's plans to introduce mandatory ISP-level Internet content filtering.

The policy, announced by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in December last year, will block URLs that received a Refused Content classification by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

University of Sydney associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt, said the filter was ineffective and could negatively impact the National Broadband Network (NBN).

"Proposed amendments the Broadcasting Services Act to introduce compulsory filtering is unlikely to exclude much of the unwanted content," he said. "It is inapplicable to many of the current methods of online content distribution and has the potential to restrict Internet bandwidth."

Computer Research and Education Association (CORE), which represents Australasian computer science lecturers and professors, publicised its opposition to Internet content filtering at its recent annual general meeting.

An excerpt from CORE's statement reads as follows:

"A key concern is the limitations of list-based filtering schemes, which build on reporting by the general public and actioning by a Government-nominated organisation. With the pace and volume at which content is added to the Internet, such lists can only capture a small fraction of the material that would be classified as harmful. Also, the emergence of short-lived data such as live data streams and dynamic content generation, and the use of dynamic addressing, leads to a situation where any given list rapidly becomes inaccurate or obsolete. It is therefore unlikely that any significant protection can be offered by such an approach."

CORE is calling on the Government establish a working party to properly address a number of issues it sees surrounding its policy.

VividWireless 4G to launch in capital cities in a year

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:53:41 -0500

Australia's first 4G wireless network will begin rolling out across capital cities within a year, according to Seven Network director Ryan Stokes.--

The network run by Seven's subsidiary, VividWireless will hit Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart within 12 months of its March launch debut in Perth.

Speaking at the Communication Alliance's Broadband and Beyond conference in Sydney, Stokes defended bestowing the 4G moniker on the wireless service, saying its service is comparable to a North American 4G service from Clearwire.

The company has deployed 150 wireless sites across Perth, which Stokes said provided good coverage according to results by driving performance tests. He said the city was chosen for first deployment because it is not saturated with broadband, and houses the country's most loyal Seven Network audiences.

He said fixed and wireless broadband technologies are not competing, but noted 3G spectrum -- used by Seven-owned Internet Service Provider Unwired -- is running out of bandwidth from a continual high uptake in mobile data-intensive devices like the iPhone.

NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley, also speaking at the conference, said America is deploying mobile cells linked by fixed fibre to deal with capacity shortfalls.

"The US has hit a peak, and is deploying new cell sites, connected with fibre. [To this] end, we have to put either put in fibre to lots and lots of cell sites or fibre to the premise,"" Quigley said.

The VividWireless network was first announced in September last year following news that Adelaide will get a $3 million WiMax mobile broadband network.

Later in September, Canadian company, DragonWave, signed on to supply wireless backhaul for the forthcoming network.

Unwired Australia will use the company's Horizon Compact for backhaul connectivity of up to 200Mbps between about 150 wireless base stations around Perth, under a multi-year exclusive supply agreement with DragonWave.

Unwired Australia is helping build and operate the VividWireless network, which is scheduled to launch in March 2010.

The 4G-based service will introduce wireless consumer Internet services peaking at more than 20Mbps. Customers using the service on a laptop will gain average speeds of more than 4Mbps and peak speeds in excess of 20Mbps -- up to 10 times faster than those delivered by the existing 3G networks, according to Vivid. Hardware vendor, Huawai, will supply the 4G network equipment.

Judge dismisses Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage suit

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:34:36 -0500

A judge dismissed a lawsuit that was filed against Microsoft over its much-criticized Windows Genuine Advantage program in 2006.

The judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Thursday dismissed the case with prejudice, leaving each party to pay its own lawyer fees. In a statement, Microsoft said it was pleased the case was “resolved successfully.” It did not say whether it agreed to any kind of settlement arrangement.

The suit essentially characterized WGA as spyware, charging Microsoft with failing to describe the tool’s functions before downloading it onto the plaintiffs' computers. WGA was designed to determine whether a user’s version of Windows was pirated. It sent regular information back to Microsoft about user’s hardware and software and warned users of piracy violations.

“Contrary to the express statements Microsoft made in the inadequate disclosures that were provided, the software collected and communicated private identifying information from consumer’s computers and sent that information back to Microsoft on a daily basis,” the complaint read.

In January, the plaintiffs failed to have the suit certified as a class action, a blow to their case.

Shortly after the suit was filed, amid a storm of criticism, Microsoft released a new version of WGA with a reduced schedule of reporting user information back to the software giant. Months later it changed WGA again so as to not cut off users of Windows XP who had uncertain licenses. Those users were being labeled as having illegitimate software and were periodically asked to reinstall or buy a new version, even though in many cases the software was legitimate.

WGA caused other problems as well. Once, after a worker accidentally loaded software onto the live system, Windows XP and Vista users were told via the WGA system that they had pirated copies of their software. The problem lasted more than a day before it was fully corrected.

Report says Apple gained U.S. smartphone market share

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:30:57 -0500

According to market analysis firm ComScore, Apple's share of the U.S. smartphone market grew by a full percentage point in December of 2009.

The company's report indicates that Motorola still controls a leading position in the overall mobile market, while Blackberry maker RIM actually commands the smartphone market with over 41 percent of the installed base.

RIM's slice of the smartphone pie, however, has shrunk by one percent in the three months between September and December of 2009. Meanwhile, Apple's market share has grown by the same amount, confirming Cupertino's second spot on that list with over 25 percent of the market. Palm is the biggest loser among all handset makers, with a decrease of over 2 percent over the previous reporting period; its share seems to have all gone to Google, which gained almost three percent from last September.

You may recall that Macworldreported earlier this month on another analysis report, issued by ABI Research, which actually claimed that the iPhone had lost market share based on the number of units sold. ComScore's numbers seem to confirm the suspicion that ABI's report reflects shifts in sales due to an overall growth in the demand for smartphones, rather than a decrease of interest in Apple's products.

The ComScore paper also indicates that the overall U.S. mobile market continues to grow. According to the report, 63 percent of all subscribers now use texting (up two percent) and 18 percent use downloaded apps--an increase of one percent. Unfortunately, the company did not provide a breakdown of usage by brand, which would have shed additional light on the usage patterns of smartphone subscribers compared to traditional handset owners.

Apple releases iLife, Raw, and Aperture updates

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:17:33 -0500

In the wake of Apple's release of Aperture 3 on Tuesday comes a flurry of related image software updates: iLife Support 9.0.4, Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.0, and Aperture SlideShow Support Update 1.0. All are available now via your Mac's Software Update.

The 70 MB iLife '09 update gives a boost to system software resources shared by iLife and other applications. It aims to increases stability for slideshows viewed in the Media Browser and iPhoto. You should also see improved compatibility between Aperture 3 and the Media Browser. Apple recommends the download for all users of iLife '09, iWork '09, and Aperture.

The Raw update does just what you'd imagine, extending iPhoto '09 and Aperture 3's support for Raw image files to a number of additional cameras, including Canon PowerShot S90, Canon sRAW, Canon mRAW, Leica D-LUX 4, and three Panasonic Lumix cameras (DMC-G1, DMC-GH1, and DMC-LX3). The update weighs in at 6.4 MB and you'll need to be running Mac OS X 10.6.2 or 10.5.8.

The Aperture update fixes playback of video clips used in Aperture 3 slideshows on Snow Leopard. This one is a 62.3 MB download and requires Mac OS X 10.6.2.

I guess you can't get too excited about support updates, but what happens under the hood does indeed make all our lives easier.

Disney sings the praises of the iPad to its investors

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:06:59 -0500

As was expected, Disney's recent conference call spent precious little time dedicated to the goings-on for the game-publishing Disney Interactive division, instead focusing largely on its TV networks, movie studios, and theme parks. However, a statement made by Disney CEO Bob Iger could signify the company's dedication to the platform in the new year across all of its media divisions, gaming included. When asked about the iPad during the Q&A session of the company's investor call, Iger stated that he thought the product "could be a game-changer in terms of enabling us to create new forms of content."

During the call, Iger only commented on Disney's more established properties like digital versions of its books and episodes of its programs like Lost coming to the platform. With the company's acquisition of Marvel and the steady growth of its gaming division, digital comics and iPad games seem like a perfect fit for the upcoming device. Plus, if you call something a "game-changer," the laws of wordplay demand you create games on it. Might we suggest Split/Second?

IT projects reactivated in 2010: Robert Walters

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:26:47 -0500

There is growing evidence of previously suspended IT projects and commercial activities being reactivated, plus an increased demand for information technologies professionals across the Asia Pacific.

These are among the key findings of the Asia Job Index Q4 2009 released today in Singapore by major international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

The Robert Walters Job Index tracks advertisement volumes for professional positions across the leading job boards and national newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.

It found a 37.1 per cent increase in job advertisements placed in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008. The total number of job advertisements increased by 12.8 per cent compared with the previous quarter.

The Index report said the "overall growth in job advertising is indicative of a return of employer confidence".

Resilient industries

The Robert Walters Salary Survey 2010, released simultaneously with the Job Index, found that the pharmaceuticals, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), retail and telecommunications sectors were the most resilient and had the biggest increase in jobs.

Mark Elwood, managing director of Roberts Walters, Southeast Asia, said towards the end of 2009, although many employers remained cautious and costs were still a key focus, "we began to see some organisations increase their hiring activity".

For the IT industry, the financial services sector saw an increased demand for IT contractors in response to uncertain market conditions as well as to circumvent headcount restrictions.

The second half of 2009 saw spikes in demands for solutions architects, service delivery managers, pre-sales professionals and security specialists.

Andrea Ross, Robert Walters' managing director of Singapore, said there remains a talent shortage in Singapore, within some sectors of financial services.

Increased contracting

"Contracting roles have continued to grow irrespective of the market, due to companies wanting a more flexible workforce and not restricting themselves to hire individuals on a permanent basis," Ross said.

"Sectors that have seen a steady recovery include oil and gas, heavy equipment, security, semiconductors and IT and we see an increase in hiring activity across various levels."

In Hong Kong, higher levels of recruitment activity were seen in the second half of 2009 "as organisations, which had perhaps cut headcount too deeply, struggled to cope with increased commercial activity levels".

In China, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medical devices sectors drove increased levels of recruitment activity throughout the year.

In Malaysia, the RW Salary Survey 2010 found that "increasing levels of confidence are likely to raise expectations of higher salaries and bonuses in 2010".

In Thailand, social unrest led to a number of organisations exiting the country during the first half of 2009. The most active sectors were energy, consumer business and supply chain. The RW report said that "increasingly levels of confidence are likely to raise expectations of higher salaries and bonuses in 2010".

Cloud Computing Will Cause Three IT Revolutions

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:19:45 -0500

Every revolution results in winners and losers -- after the dust settles. During the revolution, chaos occurs as people attempt to discern if this is the real thing or just a minor rebellion. All parties put forward their positions, attempting to convince onlookers that theirs is the path forward. Meanwhile, established practices and institutions are disrupted and even overturned -- perhaps temporarily or maybe permanently. Eventually, the results shake out and it becomes clear which viewpoint prevails and becomes the new established practice -- and in its turn becomes the incumbent, ripe for disruption.

[For timely cloud computing news and expert analysis, see CIO.com's Cloud Computing Drilldown section. ]

This is true in technology as in every other domain. In the tech business, we often get caught up in focusing on vendor winners and losers. Point to the client/server revolution, and it's obvious -- Microsoft and Intel. Over on the loser side stand the minicomputer vendors. This winner/loser phenomenon can be seen in every significant technology shift (and indeed, one shift's winner can become a future loser). This is understandable: we all love conflict and the vendor wars make for great press.

Less awareness is present for the effects of these revolutions on what makes up the vast majority of the technology industry -- users. One could hazard a guess that for every dollar of revenue that Microsoft products pull in, IT organizations spend 10 or 20 additional dollars (or perhaps even more) in building and running systems. By far the biggest impact of any technology revolution is that upon technology users (by which I mean those who work with the technology, i.e., IT organizations).

Another aspect of change is how individuals react to it. It's a cliche that "people don't like change." That's dead wrong. People accept -- and even embrace -- change when they see it brings a direct benefit. Look at the immediate adoption of the iPhone -- didn't see a lot of resistance to that, did you? A more nuanced understanding of people's reaction to change would interpret likely reactions based upon how the effect of the change is perceived by the individual -- is it a benefit or a threat?

When it comes to organizations, it's a misreading to assume that the organization will react as a whole -- every organization is made up of groups and individual actors, each of which will have its (or his or her) own read on the implications of a change. If we look to the original move of PCs into companies, some portions of IT organizations embraced them, while others, wedded to the existing mode of performing IT, saw them as a distraction, a threat, or a toy. In other words, there were different camps that arose in reaction to the availability of this new form of computing, and there were pitched battles for personal and organizational influence that took the guise of a technical assessment.

When it comes to cloud computing, we should expect to see the same dynamic play out. Over the next two to five years, expect to see enormous conflict about the technical pros and cons of cloud computing that will, at bottom, be motivated by the perception on the part of the participants as to whether cloud computing represents a benefit to be embraced or a threat to be resisted.

In particular, cloud computing's three characteristics -- the illusion of infinite scalability, lack of a long-term commitment, and pay-by-the-use -- will result in three revolutions in the way IT is performed, and each of the revolutions will have its adherents and detractors.

Revolution #1: The Change in IT Operations

Much is made of the magic of Amazon Web Services -- fill out a web page, hit a button, and 10 minutes later, you've got computing resources available. Even more impressive, you can obtain large amounts with that request. And later, should you need even more resources to be added to your original pool, they're easily requested and joined to the existing resources. This is the vision that many find so tantalizing, given today's lengthy provisioning cycle, which in many companies results in months-long gaps between request and resource availability. Many think removing all the friction of resource provisioning is a huge win. One might think of this change as the logical extension of the view that hardware has been transformed from a scarce, expensive resource into a cheap, easily purchased commodity -- the logical outcome of which is the need to treat provisioning it like a mass good, not a precious luxury.

Perhaps less obvious is the implications of this vision -- that existing processes and organizational structures need to change to support this new mode of automated management.

Today, IT organizations interpose a large set of processes and requirements in the provisioning process. Budget requests, discussions with the various operations groups like network and storage, scheduling meetings, all surrounded with lots of paperwork. And these mechanisms make sense for an environment in which they help ration scare resources. They are in place to ensure that each precious resource is devoted to its highest possible use.

The problem is that these mechanisms are orthogonal to the streamlined, short-duration provisioning associated with cloud computing (the au courant term is orchestration, representing the unified bringing together of resource assignment in an automated manner). In effect, there is an impedance mismatch between the operational implications of cloud computing and the organizational artifacts that exist today. And, as noted at the start of this piece, any time this kind of mismatch occurs, there is bound to be organizational conflict -- carried on at the level of technical discussion. After all, no one is going to say about cloud computing, "I don't like it because I'm not sure how my job managing the installation and configuration of servers will be needed when someone can just fill out a web form and have the infrastructure itself arrange for the provisioning."

So how will this play out and who will be the winners and losers?

Winners: Apps groups. Apps groups are driven by business groups, many of which are frustrated by not being able to react to urgent business pressure. This is not to mention the frustration many feel when confronted by the "owners" of the resources who assert their judgment as to whether the request is justified. Bypassing all of this organizational overhead and being able to react much more quickly to business developments is a huge win. Expect to see enormous pressure from apps groups to "get on the cloud." And if the operations groups don't respond quickly enough, expect to see the apps groups look to outside providers which have a financial incentive to respond immediately. (I addressed this in my last post, here).

Winners: Apps groups (2). The high-friction provisioning process hasn't merely been the result of rationing by the operations groups. This rationing process ends up being backed into the apps groups themselves, where different business applications vie to be put onto the request list. This has the inevitable outcome that many business applications never "make the cut" to be submitted for resources. And often, these are the applications that represent innovative but unproven applications of information technology. The process goes something like "well, we know we *have* to schedule the upgrade of the XYZ package, and we know we need to refresh the hardware that the ABC application runs on, so that pretty much covers what we can do this quarter. Bob, sorry that we can't address your application that matches our customer complaints against our manufacturer partner's trouble tickets to see if we can identify breakdown patterns." Low-priority applications will have much more opportunity in a cloud computing world. A complement to this is the inevitable overall growth in the use of IT resources.

Losers: IT operations. Putting provisioning in the hands of IT resource users inexorably results in less influence for IT resource "owners." As I was outlining this vision of end user-driven, automated provisioning in a workshop last week, one attendee said "I can see why it's so attractive, but I can't see IT operations accepting it. I think we'll hear something from operations groups like 'automated provisioning is great, but it should be done in my group to make sure requests align with accepted standards or the like.'" Of course. This is something like what ecommerce sites did 10 or 12 years ago, when the purchaser would fill out a web form, submit it, and it would result in an email to a clerk, who would turn around and type the order into the existing order management system. That's not what ecommerce sites do today, however. And with the continued cost pressure on IT, which I wrote about in my last blog post, it's going to be hard to justify this "man in the middle" staffing, though many organizations will no doubt attempt to do so.

Winners: IT operations. Huh, this is a surprise, eh? Well, if the inevitable outcome of reduced friction (not to mention cost -- that will be addressed in my next post on Cloud Computing Revolutions) is to increase demand for IT resources, someone is going to have to do the capacity planning. In a sense, the impact of cloud computing will be to shift the tasks for IT operations from tactical resource provisioning to strategic resource planning -- with an emphasis on achieving the most efficient, lowest cost infrastructure possible. This is a far cry from the "your mess for less" outsourcing that has previously been the outcome of cost focus -- this is about creating an automated, immediate search for the lowest cost, most available, most appropriate computing resources needed to fulfill a provisioning request. The most successful IT operations groups will be those that stop thinking about controlling allocating resource and begin thinking about locating resource.

As I noted at the start of this posting, revolutions results in winners and losers after a period of chaos, in which conflict and strife occur. Technology revolutions at the level of platform shift -- think client/server or the move to web-based applications -- cause enormous upheavals in IT organizations as they struggle to adopt the new technology and obtain its benefits. Cloud computing undoubtedly represents the latest platform shift and is causing three simultaneous revolutions. This piece has focused on the revolution in operations. My next two postings will focus on cost/payment patterns and application implementation.

Bernard Golden is CEO of consulting firm HyperStratus, which specializes in virtualization, cloud computing and related issues. He is also the author of "Virtualization for Dummies," the best-selling book on virtualization to date.

Follow Bernard Golden on Twitter @bernardgolden. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline

Travel App Gets LinkedIn Features; No Official LinkedIn App

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:14:34 -0500

LinkedIn users with BlackBerry smartphones are still waiting for an official LinkedIn for BlackBerry app--though that application is "coming soon," according to the company.

In the meantime, BlackBerry users itching to get their thumbs on a mobile LinkedIn client will find the next best thing in the WorldMate for BlackBerry travel app, which incorporates a number of cool LinkedIn features into its latest build, v3.5.28.6.

The new WorldMate functionality gives users a look at which LinkedIn "Connections" or contacts are nearby at any given time. Pop-up alerts can be setup so lists of nearby contacts appear when you arrive in a new destination. And you can quickly share itinerary information with LinkedIn colleagues, as well view their profiles, via WorldMate for BlackBerry.

WorldMate is by far my favorite travel app for BlackBerry. I've been using it for years--I remember when the company was called Mobimate. And I've come to rely so heavily on the software that the thought of hitting the road without it fills me with a feeling of unease. Seriously. That's because WorldMate keeps track of and organizes all of my flight data, as well my rental car, hotel and any addition itinerary information I may need, so all I have to think about is getting to my next destination.

And best of all, WorldMate is available for free--though you'll need to upgrade to a "Gold" membership if you desire full access to all of WorldMate's travel features. (Find more FREE BlackBerry apps here.) The new, location-based LinkedIn features, which also let users message Connections and update LinkedIn status messages on the fly, are all available in the free version of WorldMate, so you can try them out without ever opening your wallet.

WorldMate does not provide the full functionality one would expect from a dedicated LinkedIn app. For example, you can't add new contacts or view LinkedIn Groups activity, etc. But it's currently the "first BlackBerry app for LinkedIn," according to the WorldMate. And it's certainly better than nothing, which is what LinkedIn itself has offered BlackBerry users.

I've been calling for a LinkedIn for BlackBerry app for years. I've written about it multiple times. And while I'm certainly glad to see WorldMate step up its game and incorporate LinkedIn into its app, I can't help but feel impatient for a more robust, "true" BlackBerry app from LinkedIn. The company showed off LinkedIn for BlackBerry at the recent BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco. (Check out my photos of the application unveiling here.) But the LinkedIn website only says the app is "coming soon."

I'm just hoping that "soon" means this year...

You can download WorldMate for BlackBerry and find additional information on the app on WorldMate.com.

NASA Endeavour set to dock with, expand International Space Station

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:07:16 -0500

NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour crew is making preparations to link-up with the International Space Station after it spent most of today giving the spacecraft the once over looking for any damage that may have occurred during launch.

Such inspections to the shuttle’s thermal tile protection system are routine as the tiles have been a source of problems since the first launch of the spacecraft in 1981. According to NASA the thermal protection system is made up of various materials designed mostly to protect the craft and crew from an amazing array of temperature differences from minus 250 F in the cold soak of space to re-entry temperatures that reach nearly 3,000 F.

NASA has tons of cool space technologies that may never get to space

The astronauts pay particular attention to inspection of the shuttle’s heat-resistant tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon surfaces on the wing leading edges and the nose. The crew’s spacesuits are also given the once-over as the crew will use them for scheduled three space walks.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the ISS shortly after midnight Wednesday. Once docked the shuttle and ISS crews will begin removing from the space shuttle’s storage bay and docking the life support module known as Tranquility.

According to NASA, the pressurized Tranquility module will bump out the room for crew members and many of the space station's life support and environmental control systems including include air revitalization, oxygen generation and water recycling. A waste and hygiene compartment and a treadmill also will be relocated from other areas of the station, NASA stated.

Tranquility will be linked to the Earth-facing side of the ISS’ Unity node. The new node will provide an additional docking point for space shuttles and other crew vehicles visiting the station in the future.

Astronauts will also begin attaching the room with a view module known as the Cupola module. NASA says the Cupola node could be considered the ultimate observation deck as the small, dome-shaped module has seven windows -- six around the sides and one on top -- that can be shuttered when not in use to protect them from micrometeoroids and the harsh space environment.

Just under ten feet in diameter, the Cupola will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The view will let the crew monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects, NASA stated.

Read more about wide area network in Network World's Wide Area Network section.

Australian man has to pay Nintendo $1.5 million

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:06:02 -0500

Nintendo and a Queensland, Australia man accused of pirating New Super Mario Bros. settled their dispute out of court late last month. Today, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the alleged pirate has to pay Nintendo $1.5 million as part of the deal.

James Burt, 24, went to court with Nintendo over pirating New Super Mario Bros. a week ahead of the game's Australian release last November. According to Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin, the piracy cost the company significant revenues worldwide because once the game hit the internet, "There was thousands and thousands of downloads."

The Herald goes on to quote Lappin:

"It's not just about us. It's about retailers and if they can't sell the games then they have to bear the costs associated with that. Once it's on the internet it's anyone's really."

It also looks like Burt's saddled with Nintendo's $100,000 legal fees.

Nintendo pirate to pay $1.5m [The Sydney Morning Herald]

Hey bloggers, do you wish for Tumblr Pro? Try ZooLoo

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:03:50 -0500

When pushbutton-simple free blogging site Tumblr launched in 2007, friends of mine with a lot to say but no interest in tinkering with HTML jumped onto it. Not only did they create their own personal blogs, they spun off temporary joke blogs for topics of the day. A coworker of mine at Valleywag created fakepaulboutin.tumblr.com, where she posted my wisecracks from Valleywag’s private chat room.

But if you want your own personal domain rather than _____.tumblr.com, you have to set it up yourself. It’s a multi-step process: Buy domain. Get domain’s A record registered in DNS, whatever that means. Deal with technical problems. Deal with more technical problems. Forget to renew domain. Lose domain to squatter in Ukraine.

Wouldn’t you pay to have someone else deal with this stuff for you?

ZooLoo sells subscription blogging services for as little as $1.99 that includes a custom domain and backups, email for the site, plus a dashboard for managing your blog. ZooLoo’s Graffiti blog platform is a lot like Tumblr: Simple, attractive, easy to use because it’s not complicated.

For $4.99 a month you can remove the ads from your ZooLoo site and double your storage capacity to 2 gigabytes. (There’s no limit on image uploads, which aren’t stored on your personal space.) For $8.99 monthly, you can run your own ads and use ZooLoo’s search engine optimization (SEO) tools.

You can use ZooLoo for free, if you’re happy with just a blog, a dashboard, and the ability to check and update your status on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linkedin.

The company, founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in May 2008 by CEO Jeff Herzog, is privately funded. The one-minute video below shows how ZooLoo works for beginners.

Disney Interactive's video game sales disappoint

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:44:21 -0500

Disney Interactive's parent company, The Walt Disney Company, reported low unit sales of self-published games for their first financial quarter of the year. Not surprising, considering that they released fewer games this time around.

Overall, the media giant's Interactive Division (which includes Disney Interactive and Disney Online) showed a decrease in revenues by 29% to $221 million. Operating results, however, were better than last year with the total loss dropping from $45 million to $10 million. Disney credits the improvement to a boost in Disney Online activity and to lower marketing expenses, inventory costs, and bad debt charges that all off-set the bad sales of video games.

We're still listening to the earnings call for news on the upcoming Prince of Persia flick or surprise video game news. Stay tuned.

Lead411 buffs up with 1.4 million executive profiles, deeper info options

Venture Beat — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:42:29 -0500

For some types of searches, Google totally sucks. Are you looking for a senior editor at Wired to pitch? Until recently, Google’s built-in directory returned me as a top result, seven years after I’d lost the job. If you’re a salesperson, marketer, recruiter, or competitor researching company executives, Google is full of non-leads, and its website results are often out of date. That’s because one in four Americans changes jobs each year, according to the international Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

Lead411, founded in Santa Barbara in 2001 by entrepreneur Tom Blue, offers a curated directory of personal contacts and profiles that’s much more focused and efficient for salespeople, recruiters, and competitive analysts. You can use the service for free, or you can pay $30 per month or more for deeper info and Google News Alert-like updates.

Blue described the service levels to me in a phone call. “For free,” he said, “you can find out that Emilio Roman is the Director of Channel Marketing at Fortinet, and was hired on Sept 09, 2009. For a $1 a day though, you can find out Emilio’s email and work phone. Or, you could learn that cleantech startup, NexAmp, got a new $20 million contract today that’s the largest such deal in the state of Massachusetts.”

Amazingly, Blue has operated the 15-person company for nearly a decade on bootstrap funding. “We have a few investors, none of them over $10,000,” he said.

A few days ago, Lead411 added hundreds of thousands of new records, expanding to more than 1,400,000 listings. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep them up to date. But so far, Lead411 has a good rep, as proven by the quote from a Gartner director of business development: “Lead411 is my one-stop shop .. it is the most accurate source of data I’ve found to date.”

Google Buzz takes the fight to Facebook

IDG News Service — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:02:16 -0500

When the world's largest Internet company decides to spend some of its massive development budget on social networking tools, industry analysts say the likes of Facebook and Twitter better take a long glance over their shoulder.

Google Inc. today took a powerful swing at such social networking sites by unveiling upgrades to the Gmail e-mail service that make it more of a social networking hub.

Google Buzz, which began a week-long rollout of the new tools this afternoon, aims to help users better find the most important information contained in their flood of social posts , pictures and video.

"We're giving you tools and techniques that will let you manage your time better," said Bradley Horowitz, Google's vice president of product management. "Increasingly, it's hard to find value and not let it all just wash over you. We feel this bombardment, this fatigue of dealing with the rush of information."

Google Buzz is a new tab in Gmail that enables users to connect with each other and pull in information from sites like Twitter, YouTube, Picasa and Flickr. Social updates and posts will appear in users' Gmail inboxes.

Buzz also is geared to make recommendations posts from people a user might not follow but would likely be of interest to him or her.

Company executives today also unveiled a mobile version of Buzz and disclosed that an enterprise version is in the works.

Analysts say it all comes down to appetite.

Google, while it's the most powerful company on the Internet, wants its share of the social networking pie. And it's one heck of a big pie. Facebook alone has about 400 million users while Twitter has more than 45 million.

That, according to Dan Olds, an analyst at the Gabriel Consulting Group, is a lot of eyeballs that Google is now missing.

"Google obviously covets the millions and millions of Facebook and Myspace users and wants to monetize them," added Olds. "This represents a new market for Google, which up to now has had tools that users would use for particular tasks rather than linger on for extended periods of time. This is a serious bid by Google to use its strengths in other areas - think search, mobility and locality -- to support its own social networking hub."

Google's move could also be a quick blow to Facebook and Twitter, which have been riding high on the social networking stratosphere. Even though Google Buzz is just out of the starting gate, Google quickly can draw on the "tens of millions" of Gmail users, as well as its own online cache, to quickly build a Buzz following.

"This is Google, the 500-pound guerrilla on the Internet, getting serious about social networking and leveraging its Gmail service to gain a big foothold. This is very important," said Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group. "This is a control play and it may reduce the number of choices people have over time. Like all large moves, this has the potential to be really good or truly evil. It's too early to say yet, but it puts a lot of power in Google's hands, and lots of power in the hands of one company typically doesn't end well, regardless of who the company is. "

While this can't be good news for Myspace, which has been slipping rapidly in the social networking rankings, it's also troublesome news for Facebook and Twitter. And it's interesting to note that while Buzz will include Twitter feeds, it won't do the same for Facebook items -- at least not at the start.

"I don't see that Google is offering a social networking killer app that would compel large numbers of users to adopt Buzz," said Olds. "I don't see this really hurting Facebook, at least not in the short- to medium-term. Users beget users. Creating a popular social networking site is a hard process to get started. While Google is offering some interesting features, I'm not sure that any of them rise to the I've-gotta-have-it level for the vast majority of users."

However, Olds also was quick to note that if any company is up to the task of building a social networking hub that could rival Facebook, it's Google.

"One of Google's great strengths is its ability to support initiatives like Buzz," he added. "Google is going to have to sweeten the pot with more revolutionary features in order to pull users away from Facebook and Myspace. And I'm sure they're working on that."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld . Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin , send e-mail to sgaudin@computerworld.com or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed .

Read more about web 2.0 in Computerworld's Web 2.0 Knowledge Center.