29
April
2009
|
19:55 PM
America/Los_Angeles

Newswatch: AOL Spins Off; Apple to Build Own Chips

Thursday 8am Silicon Valley news report:

Time Warner Is Moving Closer to AOL Spinoff -NYTimes


In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Time Warner said it was nearing a decision to spin off America Online, and put an end to the travails that began with the merger in 2000 of the two companies, a deal that has resulted in the evaporation of more than $100 billion of shareholder value.



Twitter Doomed -WebGuild


Apparently more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month and pre-Oprah more than 70 percent of Twitter users failed to return to the site according to David Martin, Vice President, Nielsen Online.


In Major Shift, Apple Builds Its Own Team to Design Chips -WSJ


The new effort faces plenty of hurdles, and people familiar with Apple's plans don't expect internally designed chips to emerge until next year at the earliest. Still, Apple's aggressive hiring is another sign of how the company's recent success has allowed it to expand while other tech giants have trimmed their work forces in the recession.


Panel Warns U.S. on Cyberwar Plans -NYTimes


“The United States reserves the right to respond to intrusions into government, military and national infrastructure information systems and networks by nations, terrorist groups or other adversaries in a manner it deems appropriate,” said one senior Pentagon official.


Facebook executive considers Calif. AG campaign -AP


Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer, said he had formed an exploratory committee to consider a campaign to be the state's chief law enforcement official.


Boom or Blurst: A New Business Model for Videogames? -WSJ


The new business model is a real-world test of an essay published by Wired magazine founder and technologist Kevin Kelly entitled "1,000 True Fans." Mr. Kelly argues that artists could make a living with a small group of dedicated individuals who would fund their work. "A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce.


In Europe, Intel Faces a Large Antitrust Fine -NYTimes


The size of the penalty will be discussed by representatives from 27 European Union governments in early May. The decision would follow landmark rulings by the European Commission against Microsoft, which also is being investigated over its Internet Explorer browser, and a settlement with I.B.M., which is again the subject of a complaint.


Is RAID storage living on borrowed time? -cnet


Data continues to grow exponentially. Market researcher IDC estimated that the digital universe exceeded more than 281 exabytes in 2007 and will grow 10X by 2011. Enterprises in a number of industries, including media/entertainment, health care, and video surveillance, have already exceeded 100 terabytes of storage in use. Determining the appropriate long-term storage strategies for these industries will be a challenge as they realize the limitations of RAID.








Beautiful, but Dangerous -NYTimes


He assigns these things a quality and uses their appearance and frequency in the code as inputs that he feeds into art-generating algorithms and computer models that spit out three-dimensional shapes with vivid colors.


French lawmakers reconsider Internet piracy bill -AP


The measure would create a government agency to track and punish those who pirate music and film on the Internet. Users would receive e-mail warnings for their first two identified offenses, a certified letter for the next, and would have their Web connection severed, for as long as one year, for any subsequent illegal downloads.


Not Smart: Warner Music Issues DMCA Takedown On Larry Lessig Presentation -techdirt


Lessig has announced that Warner Music issued a DMCA takedown on one of Lessig's own presentations, in which his use is almost certainly fair use. Lessig, of course, is a lawyer, and a big supporter of fair use, so it's no surprise that he's also said he's going to be fighting this.


Microsoft Throws a Vine to Disaster Victims -WSJ


Microsoft just started testing a new service, Vine, which is something like a Twitter for emergencies. It allows users to quickly notify neighbors when, say, a local river is about to flood or a rash of burglaries have occurred on the block.


AT&T Continues to Adjust TOS to Limit 3G Video -NYTimes


The problem is, wireless networks are constrained by spectrum holdings, so they can’t just be beefed up to increase capacity like wired networks.


Ten greenest SF buildings named -SFGate


The selections showcase everything from a new corporate office tower, 555 Mission St., to the sumptuous Forest Hill Clubhouse designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1919. There's subsidized housing (the Plaza Apartments on Sixth Street) and the Orchard Garden Hotel near Chinatown, which bills itself as an "eco-friendly getaway."


Renewable Energy Emerging Markets conference -SFGate


"We're bringing California technology to the emerging markets," said organizer Richard Soyombo, a native of Nigeria who heads the Bay Area Center for International Trade Development. His organization, based at San Bruno's Skyline College, helps local firms do business abroad.


Google offers data charts from government agencies -SFGate


It is the first time that Google is creating and displaying charts in its search results. The new tool was spawned by Google's 2007 acquisition of Trendalyzer, software for illustrating data.


Cutest funding move ever? Adopt a line of Miro code -ars


Here's where the adoption program goes far beyond the efforts of other open source projects. Those who "adopt" one of Miro's thousands of lines of code will be able to see its unique name and face—yes, just like when you "adopt" a wild animal or impoverished child on the other side of the world—and show it to the world via blog widget. Additionally, adoptive parents will get their names published inside the source code itself and receive a credit in the about box of every copy of Miro.


Tellme voice services offers one-button search, communications -SFGate


The hope is that by corralling all the actions, making them accessible through voice, and dedicating a single button for the job, Microsoft can become the go-to provider of information on phones, both for its own Windows phones but also other devices. Instead of having users hunt through their phone menu and contacts list or fire up a browser, Microsoft can provide it quick using a very natural interface: your voice.