Nokia's Netbook

You'll find it interesting that Nokia introduces its netbook. It's their first product to enter PC industry. It was like what the Apple did in 2007 but in the opposite way when they entered mobile phone industry by introducing its best-selling iPhone. Actually it's not the first time that Nokia tried manufacturing PC's. They produced PC's before but they decided to focus on mobile industry.


Nokia's first Netbook, named Booklet 3G, will use Intel atom processor and Microsoft's Operating System. It has a high definition screen and 12 hours of battery life. It weighs 2.5 lbs. It includes a broad suite of Ovi software offerings which has Ovi maps working with a built-in GPS navigation chip. The mini-laptop also comes with an HDMI port for HD video out, a front facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth and an easily accessible SD card reader. Other premium features include the 10-inch glass HD ready display and integrated A-GPS which, working with the Ovi Maps gadget, can pinpoint your position in seconds and open up access for a truly personal maps experience.

Introducing its Netbook is part of Nokia's plans for improving its profit margins considering its drop over the last quarters. But this would be a great challenge for the world's largest handset maker considering the margin level in the PC world.

Ericsson study highlights need to make Internet relevant and affordable for rural populations

MB-An Ericsson ConsumerLab study, “From voice to data -- how Internet can improve life in emerging markets,” shows how the spread of the Internet to rural areas can have a marked impact on society.

Henrik Palsson, head of Ericsson ConsumerLab for Asia Pacific, says: “Internet services can improve the life of people in emerging markets by addressing everyday issues. For example, a fisherman needs the answer to three questions. Where are the fish? Where can I sell my catch at the best price? And how can I avoid bad weather at sea? If the Internet can provide accurate information that answers these questions, it will be a success.”

Rural Internet penetration is limited in many countries, caused in part by cost, lack of infrastructure and low literacy levels, but also by a widespread lack of understanding of the benefits of being connected.

Palsson says the mobile phone experience could be seen as the template for sparking and nurturing interest in the Internet. The success of mobile telephony in emerging markets has been closely tied to income generation, either as a business in itself or as a way of gaining access to broader markets, securing the best price for commodities, or saving time and resources by having accurate, up-to-date information.

A similar argument can be built around the Internet, which has been shown to have a significant impact on the ability of farmers and small businesses to expand their customer base; educate themselves about more commercially attractive products; and use new production techniques to reduce costs.

But a use case is not enough. “Internet-capable mobile phones meet these needs, but these new Internet capabilities must be explained to potential consumers in terms that are relevant to their situation,” Palsson says. “The Internet needs to be easy to use, accessible and affordable if it is to succeed in these low-income areas.”

Johan Haeger, responsible for the Communication for All program at Ericsson, says: “The study gives numerous examples of the tremendous value that Internet access brings to emerging markets. There is still high growth in voice services in these markets, and mobile broadband is now taking off with high growth-figures too. Mass-market, standardized mobile-network technologies with data capabilities such as EDGE, HSPA and LTE will make broadband cost-effective for everyone.”

The benefits of widespread Internet availability make it an important issue that requires a coordinated, long-term approach. The telecom industry -- infrastructure vendors, handset vendors and operators -- has a key role to play but governments, regulators, educators and content players must also play their part if the crucial first step, appreciation of the benefits, is to be achieved.

Better Wii--From Microsoft

The company has high hopes for a new Xbox 360 console codenamed ''Project Natal.''

REDMOND, Wash. -- Think the Nintendo Wii is cool? Microsoft hopes to outdo it with a new gaming console outfitted with a 3-D video camera that lets you hit balls, deliver karate chops and even change tires on animated race cars--all with a wave of your arm or a turn of your body.
The new system, codenamed Project Natal, was demonstrated Thursday at Microsoft's ( MSFT - news - people ) annual meeting for financial analysts, where it was touted as a next-generation project that could help the software giant grow future profits and market share despite the recession.

It's a step beyond what Nintendo ( NTDOY.PK - news - people ) offers because playing games through the Microsoft system doesn't require holding any motion sensors or other hardware. The system recognizes body movements through the camera instead.

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and services division, demonstrated the camera's features at the analysts' meeting; he hopped around the stage in dress shoes and slacks in an attempt to dodge animated projectiles in a dodgeball-type game.

He also showed a marketing video depicting a family using the souped-up system in their living room. A young boy played a karate game, and later the whole family participated in a race car simulation. The boy's teenaged sister steered the car, holding her hands in the air as if clutching a wheel. The father leaped up from the couch during a pit stop to change a tire: He reached to his side to grab the tire, lifted his arms to put it on the car and later grabbed a tool to bolt the tire to the car. None of the players ever touched any gaming hardware.

"This is something Sony ( SNE - news - people ), Nintendo or anyone else is going to have a very hard time competing with," Bach said. He didn't say when Microsoft would roll out the new product, which would be part of its Xbox 360 gaming line, though it could go on sale as soon as next year. Microsoft first showed off the new system at a gaming conference about two months ago.

Microsoft's Xbox business has bounced back somewhat from missteps two years ago, when technical problems with the console forced the company to take a $1.1 billion charge to earnings to fix the machines for customers. Still, revenue from Xbox consoles and games was down 3% in the just-ended fiscal year, mostly as a result of Xbox price reductions. Microsoft sold more machines than during the previous year, however, shipping 11.2 million consoles, up from 8.7 million in fiscal 2008.

Children use web to watch videos, look up "sex": study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Children are using the Internet to watch YouTube videos, connect with friends on social network sites and look up "sex" and "porn," according to a study of the top Web searches by youngsters.

Computer security firm Symantec Corp identified the top 100 searches conducted between February and July through its family safety service OnlineFamily.Norton, which monitors children's and teenager's Internet use.

It found the most popular search term was for YouTube, the video sharing website owned by Google, with Internet star, Fred Figglehorn, a fictional character whose YouTube videos are popular with children, coming ninth in the top searches.

The search engine Google was the second most popular search term and Yahoo came seventh, while social network site Facebook ranked third and MySpace came fifth in the list.
But the words "sex" and "porn" also made it into the top 10, ranked numbers four and six respectively.

Other popular search terms included Michael Jackson, eBay, Wikipedia, Miley Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana in the hit Disney series, Taylor Swift, Webkinz, Club Penguin, and the Black Eyed Peas' song "Boom Boom Pow."

California-based Symantec's Internet safety advocate Marian Merritt said the list showed that parents needed to be aware what their children were doing online.

"It also helps identify "teachable moments" when parents should be talking with their kids about appropriate online behavior and other issues in their kids' online lives," she said in a statement.
The list was compiled after Symantec studied 3.5 million searches made by the OnlineFamily.Norton which lets parents see what children are searching and who they are talking to on instant messaging and what social networks they are using.

Why Apple Is More Valuable Than Google

A look at what's behind the Mac and iPhone maker's now firm market-cap edge on the Web-search leader, and how it could one day challenge Microsoft

Now that Apple (AAPL) has once again passed Google (GOOG) in market value, can the consumer-electronics maker maintain its lead?

While Apple's capitalization has risen above that of Google for short bursts in the past, it has remained higher since July 22. As of Aug. 11, Apple was worth $145.87 billion, compared with Google's $143.40 billion. This could be a momentary shift in Wall Street's whims—like when Cisco Systems (CSCO) briefly surpassed Microsoft (MSFT) to become the world's most valuable company in 2000.

More likely, Apple has more solidly unseated Google as tech's No. 2 powerhouse and is now on track to one day challenge Microsoft for the crown. While both Apple and Google are likely to remain highly valuable in the coming years, there's reason to believe that Apple may outshine Google in the eyes of investors.

Dedicated Apple Customers
Google has an incomparably profitable Web-search operation, but it incurs losses in scores of other businesses. Apple, on the other hand, makes money on everything it does—even the music and applications sold in an effort to get people to buy the hardware devices that are its true business.

And Apple has far more room to grow based on its core businesses. While Google gets about 70% of the revenue from the $14 billion online advertising business, Apple has well under 10% of the computer business, and about 8% of cell-phone revenue.

What's more, Apple's profit machine may be more protected from competition than Google's. As Google executives are quick to tell antitrust regulators, consumers are just clicks away from switching search engines. But Apple has its fingers all but sewn into the wallets and purses of the millions of people who have purchased billions of songs and almost 2 billion iPhone applications from the AppStore. More than 75 million people have credit cards on file with Apple, and have invested to build libraries of songs, movies, and applications. The more they spend, the less likely they are to jump ship to other products.

Apple Eyeing Tablet PCs
It's not hard to envision ways for Apple to grab a larger slice of consumer spending. For all of its success in digital music—it long ago passed Wal-Mart (WMT) to become the world's leading distributor of music—still only about 30% of music is sold via iTunes. And with thousands of new apps showing up in the App Store, the reasons to buy an iPhone or iPod Touch—say, to use it as a GPS navigation system, as a level, or for making bank deposits—are expanding. And if rumors pan out that future versions of iTunes will incorporate more social networking, it will be even easier for Facebook and Twitter users to recommend Apps to friends.

Apple likely will have a big leg up as it weighs entering new hardware markets—take the tablet PC for example. A raft of these computers is expected to flood the market in the coming months, thanks in part to support from Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, due to hit shelves Oct. 22. Analysts see little chance of a major hit emerging from any of these devices. Yet some percentage of iPhone users will undoubtedly want a device that lets them play their App Store games and watch their movies on a larger screen. "Apple's already created demand [through iTunes]" for the tablet, says Gartner (IT) analyst Paul Jackson.
As for Google, it's struggling to move beyond search. Its Google Apps unit makes money selling corporate software, but not enough to qualify as material. And analysts expect a slew of cell phones and other devices built around Google's Android software to come to market in time for the holidays. Still, there's not much traction, certainly not relative to Apple's runaway iPhone sales.

Expanding the Ecosystem
Even if Apple fails to keep churning out hit new products, it has other ways to milk the ecosystem it's already created for profits. Given its huge profit margins vs. hardware rivals, it could easily lower prices for its computers. While it now has 38% of the market for laptops costing $1,000 or more, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi believes Apple could expand its market opportunity by 75% if it would offer an $800 device—or by 212% if it sold one for $600.

What's more, the company could easily rent out space on iTunes or the iPhone home page for ads, something it has not yet done. And the day may well come when Apple demands huge payments from Google for using its search engine and other applications on the iPhone. Former Yahoo (YHOO) Chief Product Officer Geoff Ralston speculates that as iPhone sales rise, Google could earn $500 million or more from searches carried out on the iPhone—a profit stream that Apple will certainly want a piece of.

Of course, Apple faces risks. Topping the list is the potential for a backlash from the content partners it needs to maintain that iTunes ecosystem. Having seen how little Apple has done to help the music labels profit from digital music, movie and TV studios are driving a much harder bargain. More recently, application developers have been criticizing Apple for the tight control it maintains over what can be sold via the App Store.
Bing Not Considered a Threat

Then there's the health of CEO Steve Jobs. A recovering victim of pancreatic cancer, he's back at work on a part-time basis following a liver transplant. The company says it is not dependent on any one individual, and points to the runup in the stock during the six months Jobs was on medical leave earlier this year. But while Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook capably ran the company during that time, he also didn't mount an assault on any new or vulnerable markets.
At the same time, Google is well poised to remain the undisputed leader in Web search for the foreseeable future. Sure, Microsoft has paired with Yahoo, but few see Microsoft's Bing search tool gaining substantial share at the expense of Google any time soon.

Still, some in Silicon Valley say the question isn't whether Apple can stay ahead of Google, but which tech or telecom company it will pass next. Most likely, that will be AT&T (T), with its market cap of $149.6 billion. AT&T is currently benefiting from exclusive rights to the iPhone in the U.S.; no doubt its market cap would plummet should Apple ever announce the end of that exclusive.

Microsoft's High Hurdles
That leaves only Microsoft. With a market cap of $206.1 billion, it has a healthy cushion that should last at least a few years, say analysts. Then again, Microsoft has to prove it can adapt its business in fundamental ways—to make its recent search partnership with Yahoo work, contend with lower-priced netbooks that carry versions of Windows far cheaper than regular PCs, and maintain its margins even as it introduces cheaper or even free applications such as new ad-supported versions of Word, Excel, and other programs in its Office productivity suite that will be part of a major release next year.

At the moment, those look like higher hurdles than the ones facing Apple.
(BusinessWeek:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2009/tc20090811_324273.htm )