Why nobody can match the iPad's price

At the end of the day, the iPad might be worth well above $500 for all we know.

(WIRED) -- When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad last January, the biggest surprise wasn't the actual product. (Many shrugged and called the iPad a "bigger iPhone.") It was the price: Just $500.
Nobody expected that number, perhaps because Apple has traditionally aimed at the high end of the mobile computer market with MacBooks marked $1,000 and up. And perhaps we were also thrown off because Apple execs repeatedly told investors they couldn't produce a $500 computer that wasn't a piece of junk.
But Apple did meet that price, and the iPad isn't junk. The iPad is still the first, and best-selling, product of its kind. Competitors, meanwhile, are having trouble hitting that $500 sweet spot.
Motorola's Xoom tablet is debuting in the United States with an $800 price tag. (To be fair, the most comparable iPad is $730 -- but there's no $500 Xoom planned, and the lack of a low-end entry point will hurt Motorola.) Samsung's Galaxy Tab, with a relatively puny 7-inch screen, costs $600 without a contract.
Why is it so hard to get to a lower starting price? And how was Apple able to get there?
Jason Hiner of Tech Republic suggests it largely has to do with Apple's retail strategy. Apple now has 300 retail stores worldwide selling iPads directly to customers. That's advantageous, because if the iPad were primarily sold at third-party retail stores, a big chunk of profit would go to those retailers, Hiner reasons.
Apple has partnered with a few retail chains such as Best Buy and Walmart, but those stores always seem to get a small number of units in stock. Hiner rationalizes that the true purpose of these partnerships is probably to help spread the marketing message, not so much to sell iPads.
"The company can swallow the bitter pill of hardly making any money from iPad sales through its retail partners because it can feast off the fat profits it makes when customers buy directly through its retail outlets and the web store," Hiner says. "However, companies like Motorola, HP, and Samsung have to make all of their profit by selling their tablets wholesale to retailer partners."
The retail advantage is a reasonable theory, but Hiner neglects to mention the high overhead costs that Apple must pay handsomely for each of its 300 stores. To Hiner's credit, Apple running its own stores does present clear benefits: the customer outreach is enormous, and of course, in Apple stores, Apple products don't have to compete with gadgets sold by rivals on other shelves.
But when we try to decipher why the iPad costs $500, we have to consider the sum of all parts, not just the retail strategy.
Apple is the most vertically integrated company in the world. In addition to operating its own retail chains, all Apple hardware and software are designed in-house, and Apple also runs its own digital content store, iTunes.
Designing in-house means Apple doesn't have to pay licensing fees to third parties to use their intellectual property. For instance, the A4 chip inside the iPad is based on technology developed and owned by Apple (not Intel, AMD or Nvidia). The operating system is Apple's own, not something licensed from Microsoft or Google.

HP unveils tablet, phones

Why do you think Hewlett-Packard bought Palm to make the TouchPad? HP wanted ownership of a mobile operating system in-house to take control of its own mobile destiny and stop being so reliant on Microsoft (which, to this day, doesn't have a credible tablet strategy).
On the iTunes media platform, Apple takes a cut of each sale made through each of its digital storefronts: the App Store, iBooks and iTunes music and video. iBooks still has a long way to go before it's anywhere near as big as Amazon, but the App Store and iTunes are the most successful digital media stores of their kind.
At the end of the day, the iPad might be worth well above $500 for all we know. (Part estimates made by component analysts such as iSuppli aren't very useful because they fail to measure costs of R&D and other factors.) It's most likely that Apple can afford to absorb the costs of producing and selling the iPad because of the tenacious ecosystem backing it, and also because it has such tight oversight over every aspect of the company to control price.
That's what it all boils down to: ecosystems and control. Competitors are struggling to match the $500 price point because they aren't as fully integrated as Apple, in terms of retail strategy, a digital content market, hardware and software engineering -- everything.

As Steve Jobs famously put it one day, "Apple is the last company in our industry that creates the whole widget." Competitors are having trouble beating the iPad widget.

Never expected victory to be so easy vs Kenya: Vettori

Chennai: New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori has said that trouncing a limp Kenyan team by bowling them out for 69 and then chasing it down in eight overs was the sort of performance New Zealand was looking for.

New Zealand had an emphatic 10-wicket victory in their opening World Cup match against bowling Kenya on Sunday.

Kenyan captain Jimmy Kamande won the toss and chose to bat first at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, but they collapsed from 40 for one to 69 all out in 23.5 overs.

New Zealand’s opening batsmen Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum had no problems in the run chase, using just 48 balls to achieve the target.
“To be able to bowl this well and allow the batsmen to have such a small chase is always pleasing so we didn’t expect that. But I’m pretty happy with how we performed,” Vettori said.

The team had its fair share of worries heading into the match after spinner Nathan McCullum was hospitalised with the sort of mystery illness and Kyle Mills was ruled out with a back injury.

Earlier, Kenyan captain Kamande had said if his team went out and expressed themselves by playing their own brand of cricket they would be dangerous.

New Zealand’s next match against Australia is in Nagpur on February 25.

South Africa's immediate target is QFs, says Botha

New Delhi: South Africa were one of the favourites in the last two World Cups but in the ongoing edition, the hullabaloo surrounding the Proteas is less and it can work wonders for the team, whose immediate aim is to qualify for the quarter-finals, said off-spinner Johan Botha.

Terming hosts India and defending champions Australia as the favourites for the title, Botha said South Africa too has the potential to win the cup but they are in no mood to think about it right now.

"I think in 2003 and 2007 we were favourites. This time there are not lot of expectations from people (back home). But still within the team we believe we can go all the way in the tournament. So that`s nice. We need to get into the knock out
round and if we have a few good games we can end up with the trophy," Botha said after his side`s first practice session at the Services ground here.

"Lot of teams are favourites. India is there, Australia is there. Sri Lanka are a quality team. We can do our business. Our aim will be to get into the quarter-finals and from there have some good games and anything can happen," he added.

Just before the World Cup South Africa defeated India 3-2 in a five-match ODI rubber back home and Botha said it was a morale-boosting series win for the Proteas.

"We will take bit of a confidence from that series. We played against world class batsmen and spinners and it was a great preparation for the team. Personally, it was really good to play and see where my game was.”

"But we want to be bit more attacking and pick wickets (in the World Cup). In South Africa seamers take all the wickets and you (spinners) just control the game," said Botha, who is also the Twenty20 skipper of South Africa.

Botha said so far the team`s preparation for the cricketing extravaganza went off well but was expecting a low and slow wicket for their tournament opener against West Indies at the Feroze Shah Kotla here.
"We had a two-week break (after India series) and needed some good preparation. We have done that and the guys are keen to go out there and play," he said.

"We had a good week in Bangalore. Conditions were little bit different than here but today was a good outing for us. That wicket today kept a bit low, and it bit like that on February 24," said the right-hander, who is also a utility batsman down the order.

Asked about the type of wickets he was expecting throughout the tournament which is being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he said, "In South Africa obviously it turns a lot less, so it is hard to ball there.”

"But there will be bit more assistance here (for the spinners) and we can play more attacking role. In South Africa we try and keep the game tight and restrict other team. Here we have more chance to get wickets."

South Africa are always known to have a potent pace attack but for the World Cup they have three specialist spinners in Botha himself, left-armer Robin Peterson and
Pakistan-born leggie Imran Tahir.

"It is very exciting for the guys (to have three spinners in the team). Lot of them have not seen Imran (Tahir) bowl. He is a quality bowler. I am looking forward to front-line three spinners playing in some of the matches," Botha said.

He, however, refused to divulge whether South Africa will play all their three spinners in the World Cup.

"The wickets and against whom we are playing will determine. But the good thing for us is that we all can bowl in bowling power-play," Botha insisted.

Asked about former champions West Indies – South Africa`s first opponent in the tournament, Botha said, "We know they have some dangerous, quality players."

"If one comes off with a big score then immediately we will be under pressure. But we can do our business. It does not matter what we do first (bowling or batting). The guys are keen and raring to go."

In the cricketing circle, South Africa are considered "chokers" in big tournament but Botha begs to differ on the issue.

"I don`t think so. It is quite interesting to say that South Africa are the chokers but Australia won the last three (World Cups), so other teams have also not won it. I think it has been overused by now.”

"Australia dominated so far, they were the best team. Can`t just point at us. I know we lost in past situations but that could have happened to other teams. It happened with my domestic team back home," he viewed.

He also said that he was happy with the format of the ongoing World Cup compared to the previous edition in the West Indies.

"I think this is better format. Even if there are one or two slip ups, teams can get into the quarter-finals and the guys will be up for that," Botha said.

AB de Villiers is one of the finest fielders of South Africa team but Botha said he has been entrusted with the wicket-keeping duties to maintain the balance of the side.

"He (de Villiers) has done really well. He is world class batsman. Obviously he is a good fielder and I miss him in the field. But it is good for the balance of the team," he signed off.

Maharashtra to charge ICC for personal security to players

 

Mumbai: Maharashtra government has made it clear that it would charge extra money from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for providing personal security to the players during the World Cup matches in Mumbai and Nagpur.

"The Maharashtra government would charge for the personal security provided to the players and security inside the stadium," a senior official from Home Department, said.

The general security including vehicle traffic would be handled by Maharashtra police as a part of `bandobast` during the World Cup matches.

ICC members had met Home Minister R R Patil earlier this month to chalk out security plans for the World Cup matches to be held in Mumbai from March 22-28 and on April 2, and in Nagpur on February 22-28 and March 12.

The ICC had sought for personal security for all the players at the hotel where they would be staying and also on the travel route of the players from the hotel to the stadium and back.

The government charges organisations for extra security requirements provided for the sports events, apart from the regular security.

NASA to launch newest Earth-observation satellite

Los Angeles: NASA is set to launch its latest Earth-orbiting satellite on a $424 million mission to analyze airborne grit spewed by volcanoes, forest fires, smokestacks and tailpipes.

The Glory satellite is slated to blast off before dawn Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Taurus XL rocket. Once boosted to an altitude of 440 miles, it will join a fleet of satellites that has been collecting climate data for years.

Its main job will be to study fine airborne particles known as aerosols. Smaller than the diameter of a human hair, these ubiquitous specks can track great distances across the globe and are largely responsible for producing hazy skies.

Scientists know very little about aerosols and their effect on climate. A better understanding is critical to improving climate models.

"We need to know these particles much better than we do," said project scientist Michael Mishchenko of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Over the past century, average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit worldwide. Scientists blame carbon dioxide, mostly from the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels, as the chief cause of global warming.

Unlike greenhouse gases that linger in the atmosphere for years, aerosols are short-lived — staying aloft for weeks — so it's much harder to measure them than carbon dioxide.

Most of the aerosols — roughly 90 percent — comes from natural sources such as volcanic ash, desert dust and smoke from forest fires. The rest is from human activity.

Aerosols can influence both warming and cooling of the planet depending on their color and chemical makeup. They can result in cooling by scattering sunlight back into space; they also can absorb solar energy, warming the atmosphere.

Dozens of satellites have studied aerosols over the past 50 years. But Glory is designed to make the most accurate aerosol measurements from space by studying how widely distributed they are and their various properties.

Besides tracking aerosols in the atmosphere, Glory will also monitor changes in solar activity to determine the sun's effect on climate.

Glory will be launched aboard a four-stage Taurus XL rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. The mission marks Taurus XL's return to flight after a failure in 2009 that resulted in the loss of a NASA global warming satellite.

Glory, which weighs about half of a Volkswagen Beetle, will operate for at least three years. The spacecraft chassis was recycled from a mission that never flew and had to be retrofitted to accommodate the two key instruments.

The mission was supposed to fly last November, but a problem with the solar panels delayed launch by three months. Once in low-Earth orbit, Glory will join a convoy of satellites already collecting climate information.

The spacecraft's unusual name was derived from an atmospheric phenomenon caused by the scattering of sunlight by water droplets in a cloud.

Nokia sees Windows phone prices dropping fast

Helsinki: Prices of smartphones using Microsoft's Windows Phone software platform will fall fast, Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop said on Friday.

Last week Nokia, the world's largest phone maker by volume, said it would adopt Microsoft's software across its smartphones, raising fears the firm would miss out during the transition on surging demand for cheaper smartphone models.

Elop said one of the key topics in the talks on doing a deal with Microsoft was convincing Nokia that it could reach "a very low price point."

"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a meeting with Finnish business journalists.

Trying to better compete with Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone, Microsoft has so far had tight hardware requirements for phone models using its software -- pushing up handset prices and limiting the potential market.

As part of the push to a wider market and lower prices, Microsoft plans to open its mobile platform to other chipset suppliers beyond Qualcomm (QCOM.O).[ID:nLDE71G29C]

Nokia's shares dropped more than 20 percent after it announced the Microsoft deal, but industry executives have said the new alliance will be good for competition and innovation. [ID:nLDE71E278]

Elop said the final agreement between Nokia and Microsoft would be signed in the next few months.

"The conclusion of the agreement will happen, we think, quite quickly, measured in a couple of months, it may be a bit longer, it may be shorter," he said.

Elop, who joined Nokia from Microsoft last September said he sold all his Microsoft shares on Feb. 17 and has bought 150,000 shares in Nokia. The Canadian is the first non-Finn to head the firm.

Shares in Nokia were up 0.7 percent at 6.76 euros by 1038 GMT.

New number for telemarketers to help recognizes calls

New Delhi: The government is likely to issue new numbers for telemarketing calls originating from landline phones to help customers recognise unsolicited calls, in line with the separate series for mobile telemarketers.

The new number is likely to be issued this week.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already issued a number series starting from '140' for calls and SMSes made from mobile services of registered telemarketers.

"We are in discussion with senior officials of DoT. The number series has to be issued by DoT... (It) will be done by Monday, or latest by Tuesday," a TRAI official told reporters.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with regulations to curb the menace of unsolicited calls and SMSes sent to telecom subscribers.

The regulation will come into force from March 1, 2011, after which customers registered in the do-not-disturb list will get relief from pesky calls and SMSes from telemarketers.

The regulator has asked the DoT to issue a separate series of numbers for both mobile networks and basic phones of telemarketers to help consumers differentiate between calls coming from telemarketers and others.

The DoT, in a communication to TRAI, had said the new series of '140' cannot be used for both basic and mobile services.

"Levels for basic services will be allocated after resolving the issue of caller line identification (CLI) for telemarketing operations using basic services," it had said.

The official said, "All the issues regarding basic phone service has been resolved."

However, telecom marketing companies do not seem prepared. On conditions of anonymity, a telemarketing firm said it was yet to receive the new series of landline number.

"There are few days left when our existing telecom resources will be withdrawn. We are worried for our business. Telecom companies are not issuing us basic phone connections as they say that they are yet to receive new numbers from the DoT," one representative of a telemarketing company said.

In a recent notification, the telecom regulator had asked telecom companies to withdraw telecom resources, including existing telecom connections issued to telemarketers, by February 28, 2011.

Libya's Gaddafi denies fleeing as 41-year rule teeters

Tripoli: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared on state television on Tuesday signaling his defiance in the face of a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule.

"I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela," he said, under a large umbrella, leaning out of the front seat of a van. Reports on Monday said Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend and fellow revolutionary President Hugo Chavez.

Libyan forces loyal to Gaddafi have fought an increasingly bloody battle to keep the veteran leader in power with residents reporting gunfire in parts of the capital Tripoli and one political activist saying warplanes had bombed the city.

Security forces had killed dozens of protesters across the country, human rights groups and witnesses said, prompting widespread condemnation from world leaders.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was "time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed" in Libya.

State TV showed government supporters rallying and Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said warplanes had hit only ammunition dumps. He did not say why jets had carried out the air strikes, but on Sunday he accused protesters of raiding ammunition depots in the eastern city of Benghazi.

No independent verification of the reports was available and communications with Libya from outside were difficult.

Cracks were beginning to appear within the ranks of Gaddafi's supporters.

A group of Army officers issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to "join the people" and help remove Gaddafi, Al Arabiya television said.

The Justice Minister resigned in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters and diplomats at Libya's mission to the United Nations called on the Libyan Army to help overthrow "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi".

Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.

The demonstrations spread to Tripoli, on the Mediterranean Sea, after several cities in the east, including Benghazi, appeared to fall to the opposition, according to residents.

Human Rights Watch said at least 233 people had been killed in five days of violence, but opposition groups put the figure much higher.

Gaddafi has been one of the most recognizable figures on the world stage in recent history, reviled by the West for many years as a supporter of militants and revolutionary movements. At the same time Gaddafi cut a showman-like figure with his flowing robes, lofty pronouncements and bevy of glamorous female bodyguards attending him in his tent.

Apple could be working on television

Is Apple working on turning Apple TV into an Apple-branded television from a tiny set-top box?

(Credit: Apple)

We know Apple already sells Apple TV. But it might be working on an another kind of Apple TV--as in an Apple-branded television, not a set-top box that hooks up to your TV.
Eagle-eyed bloggers at 9to5 Mac noticed a job listing today that Apple posted that leaves little doubt it's something the company is at least exploring.
The listing asks, rather benignly, for someone who wants to work on "new power management designs and technologies." But in what will Apple use this new power-management technology? The listing goes on to say that it will be used for "Apple's next-generation Macintosh platforms spanning from notebook computers, desktop computers, servers, standalone displays, and TV."
It's safe to say that if Apple were going to advertise a job listing to work on generic product types, it would use the term set-top box or something similar to describe Apple TV in its current incarnation, since "TV" in any other context refers to a display, not a box. But it specifically says "TV."
Making and selling a TV really wouldn't be that much of a stretch for Apple. Everyone has a television, so there's a built-in set of customers already. Apple makes some of the most well-regarded monitors on the market, and what are monitors but (basically) TVs without a TV antenna? Plus, Apple's got a growing video empire in iTunes, and though it likes to call it a hobby, with Apple TV it shows the company is interested in being in the living room, not just the office, car, coffee shop, or your backpack or purse.
You might wonder, rightly, who in their right mind would want to enter the television business these days. Rapid commodification, easily copied features, and being forced to find new ways to display content that make people buy a new TV every couple years (HD, 3D, Internet-connected TVs) all make it a rough industry to be in right now.
Of course the same could be said about PCs and mobile phones, but Apple has demonstrated it knows how to reap profits in both those industries in ways its competitors haven't.

New high-speed connection tech due from Apple

An announcement from Apple is expected soon about a new high-speed connection technology, a source told CNET.

An update to the Apple MacBook Pro is also expected soon.

(Credit: Apple)

Whether the new connector tech will be part of the upcoming MacBook Pro update (rumored to happen February 24) or announced in another context is not clear. Intel has been working on a technology called Light Peak for years and recently said the initial version would be based on copper, as practical realities dictate more conventional technology.
Apple is expected to adopt this technology in the near future--but likely use a name other than Light Peak, a source familiar with this aspect of Apple's plans said. Intel has said in the past that the first products using Light Peak should appear in the first half of 2011.
When Intel initially demonstrated Light Peak at its developer conference in 2009 it used a machine running Apple's Mac OS X.
Light Peak was originally touted by Intel as the holy grail of connector technology: a single replacement for the myriad cables that connect to monitors, external drives, scanners, printers, and anything else that plugs into a computer. But Intel--and Apple--may be targeting more specific connection protocols, at least initially.
As originally proposed, the fiber-optic technology connects many devices to PCs with fiber-optic lines. But, as mentioned, the initial version of Light Peak will use copper instead of light-based technologies, Intel has said.
Light Peak is significantly faster than even USB 3.0, carrying data at 10 gigabits per second in both directions simultaneously. Connection speeds will not be affected by the transition to copper, according to Intel.
Sony is also expected to be an early adopter of the technology.
More on Light Peak can be found here, from an interview with Jason Ziller, an Intel manager heading up the chipmaker's work on the technology.

Microsoft preps Windows Phones for first update

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Microsoft today began sending out an update to Windows Phone 7 devices that prepares them for the first of two software updates that will add new features.
"This first update for Windows Phone is designed to improve the software update process itself," the company said on the Windows Phone blog. "So while it might not sound exciting, it's still important because it's paving the way for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone, such as copy and paste or improved Marketplace search."
The software update that will bring those new features is slated for arrival in early March, with a much larger update adding things like multitasking, and a much-improved browser arriving a few months later.
In order to update their phones, users need to plug them into a computer with the latest version of the Zune software (or the Mac Connector software if they're on a Mac) to get the update started.
Microsoft says it's rolling out the update message to phones in waves, so users who have not yet gotten the notification will see it sometime today.

Intel lists new Sandy Bridge mobile chips

Intel has updated its price list with new dual-core Sandy Bridge chips--some likely bound for Apple MacBooks and just about every PC vendor on the planet.

Upcoming MacBook Pros will include dual-core Sandy Bridge processors. Most of the Sandy Bridge chips shipped to date have been quad-core.

(Credit: Apple)

On top of the bevy of Core i5 and Core i7 Sandy Bridge chips already listed in Intel's database, the chipmaker yesterday added dual-core i3, mobile i5, and mobile Core i7 chips to the Sandy Bridge family.
Many of the initial Sandy Bridge processors listed back in January were quad-core only.
The new i3 processors include i3-2120 (3.3GHz) and i3-2100 (3.1GHz). They are priced respectively at $138 and $117 in thousand unit quantities.
A low-power i5-2537M (1.4GHz) and standard-power i5-2540M and i5-2520M mobile chips have been added to the current crop of i5 processors. They are set at $250, $266, and $225, respectively.
A sizable cluster of new dual-core i7 mobile processors includes the i7-2620M (2.7Ghz), i7-2649M (2.3GHz) and i7-2657M (1.6GHz). Those are priced at $346, $346 (also) and $317, respectively.
Apple is expected to announce new MacBook Pros soon that will gorge on the fresh smorgasbord of dual-core Sandy Bridge delicacies. Pros--introduced in April last year--have been using last-generation Core i5 and i7 processors.
Launched at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Sandy Bridge--or "Second Generation Intel Core Processor"--is the first mainstream Intel chip to integrate graphics silicon directly onto the processor. It is also the first chip line based fully on Intel's leading-edge 32-nanometer manufacturing process. These two features allow Intel to offer a power-efficient processor with improved multimedia and gaming capabilities.
Intel has resumed shipments of Sandy Bridge chipsets as it seeks to put a minor issue with the chipset behind it. "There was a slight delay. We have changed some of our ship schedules," Ross Compton, a market manager at Lenovo's ThinkPad laptop group, told CNET today. He said the delay was measured in "weeks."
See the updated Intel price here (PDF). Note that Sandy Bridge processors can be identified by the 2XXX numbering scheme--seen as a suffix to the i3, i5, and i7 identifiers.
Intel has also listed other new desktop processors in addition to the Core i3s cited above.

Fighting spam and scams on Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO--Twitter presents a relatively new frontier for spammers, malware creators, and all around bad guys, which in turn has created the opportunity for security researchers and vendors alike to try to figure out, and put a stop to, their efforts.
One company that's trying to get a handle on the size of the problem, and on ways to fight it, is Barracuda Networks. During a talk at the RSA security conference here, which wraps up tomorrow, Barracuda outlined some of the research it's been doing in this area over the past two years.

Paul Judge, chief research officer and VP of cloud services for Barracuda, noted that what makes Twitter a particularly attractive target is that it's both a social network and a search engine. This lets scammers place their wares on a public feed to reach a list of followers, as well as seek new eyeballs by making use of trending keywords to have their wares appear in Twitter search results (more on that here).
But who, you're wondering, would follow a scammer on Twitter? It's more common than you'd think, said Barracuda research scientist Daniel Peck. One example the company tracked was Download-Heaven, a site that was using a Twitter account to push links to hosted shareware filled with malware and Trojans.
Download-Heaven had 445 followers while following only one account itself. Peck said the scammers were following other Twitter users as a way of getting them to return the favor and follow Download-Heaven. Then the scammers would simply unfollow those users while leaving them to continue receiving its updates, including links to malware.
Barracuda looked for that sort of imbalance as it tracked a raw stream of data from Twitter. It also looked for accounts that had been unfollowed by a lot of users over time; such accounts have often been recognized by other Twitter users as bad news. Finally, Barracuda tried to figure out the behaviors of typical users to see if it could put together additional filters that would spot users who were up to no good.
The result was a reputation system that looked at the Twitter public stream (through its API), as well as an extra 20,000 queries per hour outside of the normal public stream. The test ran for two years and evaluated tweet-to-follower ratios as well as the content of what users were sharing. What Barracuda found was that just 43 percent of Twitter users could be classified as "true." These were users that had more than 10 followers, friends, and tweets. That was compared with the other 57 percent of the network, which fell into a bucket of questionables.
By analyzing the flow of accounts, Barracuda was also able to create a "crime rate"--the percentage of accounts created per month that end up getting suspended by Twitter. This number would swing wildly based on real-world events, such as Oprah joining the network, or the World Cup kicking into gear, which would bring in big swells of new Twitter users, and, in turn, flocks of scammers.
These topical items were another area Barracuda focused on during the test. Much like trying to game conventional search engines to get new eyeballs, scammers were adding topic tags and/or popular words and phrases to tweets to get them to show up in the "Trends" field on Twitter pages and higher up on Twitter's search results pages. To track how widespread this practice was, Barracuda began grabbing popular search terms on Twitter every hour, and doing searches for them on the site. It would then look at the tweets that turned up, follow any included links, and look for malicious code on the resulting Web sites.

A breakdown of malware found on each search engine over the course of five months. (click to enlarge)

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

What they found, after five months of searching for popular words and phrases on Twitter as well as on more traditional search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, was a total of 34,627 samples of malware. Twitter accounted for 8 percent of this total, with the other search engines logging the remainder.
"It's interesting, because we've been doing this work for probably nine months of a year now, and the last time we really examined it and looked back on this, it charted very differently," Judge said. "About 69 percent of the malware that we found was on Google at the time, only 1 percent was on Twitter."
"A couple things happened," Judge continued. "Google didn't necessarily get better--there was more malware--basically Bing, Twitter, and Yahoo got worse. So, as the amount of malware increased, Google pretty much stayed steady with the amount of malware that was found there, but the other engines we started to see become a little more equal opportunity."
To Twitter's credit, the company has made several efforts to keep this malware at bay. Back in March of last year, it began routing links through a filter that scans for malware and keeps sullied links from being posted. It also employed its own link-shortening service that similarly vets links. And the company transitioned to using OAuth, which lets users authenticate their credentials without providing a username or password, potentially keeping users from having their credentials hijacked by rogue third-party applications.
Judge closed by noting that Barracuda had put together its own tool that can help users see if they've accidentally befriended one of these spammy or scammy users, or posted one of their links. The free Profile Protector scans both your Facebook and Twitter profiles and identifies users that are on the company's watch list

With 'Arctic Sea,' Google offers a Web-app boost

Google has passed a significant milestone with the release of its first version of Native Client, a software foundation designed to let Web-based applications tap into a person's computer chip.
The software, called Arctic Sea, is available built into Chrome 10, which entered beta testing yesterday. "A big goal of this release is to enable developers to start building Native Client modules for Chrome applications," product manager Christian Stefansen said of the Native Client release in a blog post today.
Native Client--NaCl for short--is an unusual approach to the challenge of letting people download software over the Web. Web applications today often use JavaScript, an increasingly powerful language but one that still limits a program's performance compared with those running natively on a computer--Skype or Photoshop, for example.
Google's NaCl project lets such native software be downloaded directly from a Web server but includes specific security mechanisms to keep out malicious code. Native Client modules must be written with specially modified tools to restrict use of potentially harmful instructions, and the browser examines the software in advance to ensure it executes only the safe operations. NaCl also confines software to a "sandbox" with limited privileges.
Native Client could let code libraries written in the C programming language be relatively easily adapted for browser-based applications. That could make it easier, for example, to build into Web applications the codecs Skype uses for compressing and decompressing video and audio or for the processor-intensive tasks used in Photoshop's image processing. One company that's committed to Native Client is Unity 3D, whose video-game engine can use NaCl for things like simulating physics.
Why is that important? Because Google is a huge believer in cloud computing, in which the state of an application is stored on a central server on the Internet and a browser acts as a vessel to run it. With Native Client, Google thinks it can get to within just a few percentage points of the performance of ordinary native applications, removing a major impediment to the cloud-computing technology.
That is, as long as Google can convince the rest of the world to adopt it. Fortunately for Google, it's got Chrome as a vehicle to deliver such technology into people's hands--and with more than 10 percent of people on the Net using Chrome, Google has a real foothold. With Native Client, Chrome OS could become significantly more capable, too, and with a variation called PNaCl still in the works, it works on the ARM processors that power virtually all smartphones today. Today Native Client works only on 32-bit and 64-bit x86 processors.
A major part of Google's recent NaCl work has been rebuilding it to use a new browser plug-in interface called Pepper, or PPAPI. (NaCl is the chemical abbreviation for sodium chloride--table salt--and is paired with Pepper. Get it?) With this release and Chrome 10, NaCl now uses Pepper.
Native Client remains turned off by default for now, since its own interface isn't quite finished, but it can be enabled through Chrome's about:flags mechanism.
One reason Google is pitching NaCl to developers is that it's finished some security work that had been incomplete. An outer sandbox, not just an inner one, is working for additional protection. And an auto-update mechanism lets Google more quickly replace a version if it's found to have a security problem, the company said.
How far NaCl will spread beyond Chrome remains to be seen. But to be truly useful, it needs programmers writing code.
That's quite possible, of course. One indicator of interest came in a draft Firefox road map for 2011. Regarding Native Client support, Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's outgoing director of Firefox, had this to say: "Some vendor push here, mostly from Adobe."
Google still has some convincing to do. "I don't think Native Client is going to be a very big deal, but Google does, so we'll see how that plays out," Mike Shaver, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, said in a 2010 interview.
And to use NaCl, browsers need a design that isolates plug-ins into separate memory compartments. "We aim to support multiple browsers. However, a number of features that we consider requirements for a production-quality system are difficult to implement without help from the browser. Specific examples are an out-of-process plug-in architecture and appropriate interfaces for integrated 3D graphics. We have worked closely with Chromium developers to deliver these features and we would be eager to collaborate with developers from other browsers," Google said on a NaCl FAQ
Native Client has support now for computing, audio, and 2D graphics. In addition, Google reworked NaCl so that programmers need not worry so much about specifying which particular processor NaCl is running on.
For those who want to give it a try, Google offers a few NaCl demos.
Coming up will be support for 3D graphics, local file storage, the Web Sockets technology for fast server-to-browser communication, and peer-to-peer networking, Google said. Some of that doubtless will wait for the second-generation "Baltic Sea" release.
"We are excited to see Native Client progressively evolve into a developer-ready technology," Google said. Next up will be seeing if programmers share the excitement.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20033365-264.html#ixzz1EegxVpeL

Aus trounce Zim by 91 runs

Australia had no problems defending their total of 262/6 as their pace battery demolished the top order of the Zimbabwe line-up, reducing the Africans to 44/4 in 12.3 overs. It was a situation from which the Zimbabweans could not recover as they were bowled out for 171 in 46.2 overs.

Graeme Cremer top-scored for his side with 35 and put on a partnership with Proper Utseya (24) of nearly 50, but that minimal and late effort went entirely in vain. Mitchell Johnson picked up four wickets, Shaun Tait and Jason Krezja took two wickets each while Brett Lee and Hussey got one a piece.

Zimbabwe surprisingly, got off to a positive start in their chase of Australia's 262/6. Opener Charles Coventry struck the first four of the innings, off Lee in the second over. When Lee returned in the 4th over, he unleashed a powerful cut shot for six as Zimbabawe moved to 21/0 in 4 overs.

But as is his wont, the paceman came back to dismiss the same batsman with a bouncer which the latter skied into the palms of the bowler himself. Conventry was on his way for 14 off 24 and Zimbabwe were 22/1 in 5.4 overs, as Tatenda Taibu walked out to the middle.

Taibu settled in by striking Lee for a boundary in the 10th over, but in the next, he was undone by an away-swinger from Mitchell Johnson which picked up his edge through to Cameron White in the slips. Taibu was out for 7 off 17 balls and Zimbabwe were 40/2 in 10.3 overs.

Taylor was the next to depart, getting bowled by Tait for 16 off 24, before Johnson trapped Erwine in front for a duck. The umpire initially gave Erwine not out, but the Umpire Review which Ponting promptly called for, over-ruled him. Zimbabwe were suddenly 44/4 in 12.3 overs.

Then captain Elton Chigumbura counter-attacked by glancing Tait for a fine-leg four and then swatting him past extra cover for another boundary as Zimbabwe moved onto 54/4 in 14 overs. Williams and Chigumbura desperately tried to strike up a partnership.

In the 18th over, Williams lofted off-spinner Jason Krezja for a six as Zimbabwe progressed to 72/4 in 18 overs. But the bowler got his revenge when he had Chigumbura caught by the wicket-keeper in the 22nd over. Zimbabwe were deeper in trouble at 88/5. But the slide only continued with Tait getting Willaims caught in the slips for 28 off 40. The Africans were in dire straits at 96/6 in 25 overs.

Krejza then took his second scalp when he trapped Regis Chakabva for 6 off 18 balls as Zimbabwe slid to 104/7 in 27.2 overs. In the 39th over, Utaeya and Cremer teamed up to take a four each off Tait as the score moved past 150. But soon afterward, Utseya got out when he pushed a delivery from David Hussey straight to Ricky Ponting at short mid-wicket.

Just a couple of overs later, Cremer was caught behind off Johnson and Zimbabwe had reached the bottom of the barrel at 167/9 in 42.5 overs.

Website selling WC final tickets crashes

Mumbai, Feb 21: Fans seeking tickets for the final of the World Cup 2011, at Mumbai's Wankhede Staidum on April 2, are up in arms. That's because the website selling a tiny quota of 1000 tickets for the big game crashed seconds after they went on sale on Monday.

Tickets were put on sale at 1 pm (IST) via the International Cricket

Council's (ICC) official ticketing partner Kyazoonga.com but the website buckled under the pressure of enormous traffic.

Of the 31,000 seats at the Wankhede Stadium, only 4000 are available to the public - 1000 online, while another 3000 will be dispensed later for those who queue up at stadium box offices.

The rest are distributed among the ICC and clubs affiliated to the Mumbai Cricket Association.

A source at Yahoo said the web service was flooded with complaints from hundreds of fans who were unable to log on to the official ticket agency through a link posted on the popular search engine's website.

With the Indian team living up to their favourite tag by thrashing Bangladesh in the opening World Cup

match, expectations are high of a home-team success come April 2.

When Reuters tried to log on to Kyazoonga.com more than an hour after the tickets went on sale, the website was still timing out.

"It's the first we've heard about it so we can't comment about it," an ICC spokesman said after being alerted about the problem by Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, ICC chief Haroon Lorgat acknowledged there was "an unbelievable demand for tickets which clearly outstrips the available supply.

"From the outset it was always going to be near impossible to satisfy the enormous demand for tickets," he said in a statement that was issued only minutes before the tickets went on sale.

"But the Central Organising Committee always wanted to provide as many cricket lovers as possible with an opportunity to experience the World Cup. That is why some tickets are now being made available online."

Aus pacers best in WC: Ponting

Ahmedabad, Feb 21 (ANI): Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has asked his players to be optimistic about their World Cup prospects because no other team possesses a bowling attack as potent as theirs.

Ponting was uncertain about the team's exact bowling attack for the match against Zimbabwe beyond certainties of Lee, Tait and Jason Krejza, leaving open the possibility for one of John Hastings and Doug Bollinger to be included.

Australia is not favoured to reach the final by cricket experts and bookmakers despite its No. 1 ranking in ODIs.

However, Ponting said his message at a team meeting was: "I don't see another team around this tournament that has got the wicket-taking power that we've got."

Ponting said veteran Brett Lee was a better defensive bowler now than at any time of his career, but conceded that Tait, the fastest of the trio, had the potential to be wayward.

He said that danger was inevitable for Tait. "That's him, that's what you get. At his best, he hopefully won't bowl too many of those 10-ball overs in this tournament," he said.

"The last World Cup he had for us he was outstanding, and I'll look at using him pretty much the same way, in very short, sharp bursts. If he doesn't get a wicket soon you get him off and bring him back when partnerships are developing and when you need a breakthrough. That's the way we'll use him again," Ponting said.

Ponting said the subcontinent trend of dew appearing in the second innings of a day-night match, which makes the ball a lot harder to grip, is a problem particularly affecting spinners.

"As the stats will show you [in the Bangladesh-India match], it can be very hard to defend when you're bowling second and it does get wet and dewy, so we're aware of the dew," Ponting said

  

Google sneakers: The pair of shoes every SEO and search engine geek should have!

Freakin' SEOweet!

I love the Internet. Unfortunately, though, we sometimes see things much later than they originate on the Web. In this case, I’m only just now seeing something that first made its rounds back in May 2010. Fortunately, I’m not the only one, so in the event that you’re in the same boat as me, take a look at the following custom Google theme design for a pair of Nike sneakers! (Yes, you read that right; a Google-themed pair of shoes befitting SEOs and search engine geeks alike). Check it out:

Custom sneaker designer Brass Monki (owned and operated by one Daniel Reese) likes to take Nike shoes and create absolute works of art out of them. These works of art are custom-created pair-by-pair and weigh in at a hefty price of anywhere between £200-350.00. (That’s around $350-579 for those of us States-side). Personally, I’m not really a sneakers guy, but if they weren’t so darn expensive, I would totally buy a pair of these and wear them everywhere! Nothing says you’re serious business like a pair of Google shoes… except maybe this:

Ouch. I would have added a search box and search button beneath the logo, but that’s just me.
Anyway, in addition to the Google-themed shoe, Daniel has designed shoes for Firefox lovers, Twitter lovers, and many more. If you’re interested in checking them all out, don’t miss this post. Likewise, if you’re potentially interested in purchasing a pair of these custom works of art, you can visit Daniel’s Brass Monki store or blog for information on how to shell out your hard-earned dough. To note, it sadly appears that Daniel has quit offering the Google sneakers as a purchasing option in his store. Perhaps if you’re desperate enough to get a pair, you could reach out to him and offer him your first born or, you know… maybe just pay him or something. Either way!
To wrap this up, I’d like to once again let it be known that my lack of deep pockets is the only thing that would prevent me from fulfilling the dream of obtaining this pair of Google-colored ruby slippers. Chanting “there’s no place like home” will have to continue being as pointless as it’s ever been. However, perhaps Rand Fishkin could afford to nab a pair of these to replace/retire those old yellers he’s been wearing for years; what do you think? Or, better yet, I could see Matt Cutts making it a regular occurrence to wear these puppies everywhere he gives a presentation! Yeah, I like that idea. Matt, these shoes have your name all over them, sir.
Now, what about you? Do you like these shoes or do you think they’re they ugliest creation to walk the face of the virtual earth? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Technical Seminar on Social Security Reforms

In countries in West Africa social security coverage ranges from 10 to 15 per cent of the population. Benefit levels and qualifying conditions for health care do not always fulfill the expectations of members.

In recent years the global financial crisis has had a negative impact on populations, especially those without any social protection. It is widely recognized that social security contributes significantly to a country’s economic development and to maintaining social stability. To date, social protection is mainly restricted to people working in the formal sector of the labour market.
In order to achieve poverty alleviation and long-term socio-economic development a wider scope of social security should be implemented which is easily accessible and offers benefits that meet the expectations of the population. Taking into account this context, social security organizations in West Africa have recently adopted a range of innovative reforms which cover the types of benefits provided, the quality of services, internal management processes and the application of new information technology and communication. These reforms have been initiated in order to overcome current social security challenges especially increasing costs, aging of the population, globalization, governance aspects, the sustainability of systems and the extension of social security coverage.
The aim of this seminar will be to examine and analyse the main reforms implemented by ISSA member organizations in West Africa, taking into account the issues and challenges highlighted above. This seminar will also provide a platform to exchange experiences in this field in order to draw lessons when designing future reforms.

Netherlands take on England on Feb 22

The European Superpower and the European Minnows face off in their World Cup contest on Tuesday, Feb 22. It may be a scenario akin to the biblical joust of David and Goliath that is slated to unfold at Nagpur. And if that is the case, then the Netherlands have in their possession the fatal sling-shot that could do the English in.

Granted, England has emerged victorious in their only two previous ODIs against the Dutch and the last occasion these two sides met, the former steamrolled the latter by 6 wickets with nearly 20 overs to spare. But that engagement took place 8 years ago, almost to the day. And a lot has changed since then.

For one, only two players - Bas Zuiderent and Adeel Raja - are still surviving as part of the Dutch team. A surge of young blood and exuberanece has taken over the outfit from the lowlands. Entrants like Ryan Ten Doeschate and Tom de Grooth are world-class going by their current form.

England's own battalion which has seen their share of entries and exits since 2003, is currently grappling with injury and their supply of experienced players has hence, vastly depleted. The latest casualty has been key batsman Jonathan Trott who has landed up with a bruised finger.

Secondly, the Dutch team has achieved the near impossible - beating a Test-playing team. Granted the match they won was in the Twenty20 World Cup, but as coincidence would have it, the highly memorable victory came against England itself. On that occasion, the Dutch chased down the competitive total of 166 in 20 overs. It is the type of shock defeat that will certainly be playing on the minds of the English, who can no longer take their stature in the game for granted.

Then, only last week, the English had a brush with defeat during the World Cup warm-ups by, of teams, Canada! First the Canadians had them in a spot at 86/4, before England recovered to 243 all out in 50 overs, and then Canada pulled off its own revival from being 28/5 to coming within a whisker of the victory target, eventually falling short by a mere 16 runs.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands are coming off a stunning victory against Kenya in the warm-ups, beating them by 2 wickets after middle-order batsman Doeschate made 98 not out off 92 balls. In fact, this player's average in the warm-ups is over 100 while in the Netherlands' earlier match against Sri Lanka, Tom de Grroth top-scored with a tenacious 76 off 96 balls.

England however, also have a lot going for them. Even though one might have expected them to have jaded after the 1-6 drubbing they received in the Jan series Down Under, a number of batsman have stood out in the warm-ups. Wicket-keeper Matt Prior bears an average of 51 in the two matches England played prior to the start of the Cup. Collingwood's average is 65 while Kevin Peitersen's is 45.

Meanwhile, Stuart Broad, who has returned from a stomach strain injury picked up during the Ashes last year, picked up 5 wickets in each of the World Cup warm-ups. So he will certainly be a key man against the Netherlands as well.

It will be interesting to see how the Dutch pace bowlers in Raja and Bukhari will fare against the top-order English batsmen, especially considering that Canada's Khurram Chohan rattled them. One certainly will be relishing the prospect of David overpowering Goliath in this upcoming encounter.

Aus post 262/6 vs Zim

A late surge from David Hussey, Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson took Australia to an unlikely total of 261/6 after they had been tottering at just over 4-runs-an-over for most of the innings. Shane Watson top-scored with 79 off 92 balls and Michael Clarke scored an unbeaten 58 off 55 balls, while Zimbabwe fast bowler Chris Mpofu took 2/58 from 9 overs and the three frontline spinners ensnared 1 wicket a piece.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Australia began their innings on an uncharacteristically cautious note. Zimbabwe made the shrewd decision to open their bowling with a spinner - Ray Price, who got ample support from a very tight pacer in Chris Mpofu.

Hence, the Aussies were only 19 after 7 overs with the first four of the innings coming in the 8th. With the off-spin of Prosper Utseya joining the slow-left-arm of Price, Zimbabwe continued to keep a check on the Aussies' run flow as the latter moved to 32/0 in 13.

But when Mpofu was brought back into the attack, Watson cut loose, carting him away for four boundaries in the 14th over. Haddin and Watson took Australia past 50 in the 15th over. But three overs later, there was trouble when Utseya trapped Haddin in front for 29 off 66 and Australia were 61/1 in 18.5 overs.

Then captain Ricky Ponting joined forces with Watson and the two attempted to up the scoring rate a tad. Watson took a four of Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura to help the Aussies move past 100.

Then the batsman lofted leg-spinner Graeme Cremer for a huge six, before sending Chigumbura to the backward of square boundary. But Watson had played one shot too many (or too little) when he was lbw to Cremer for 79 off 92. Australia had slipped to 140/2 in 31.2 overs. In the very next over, Ponting was run out for 28 with his side wobbling on 144/3.

The new batsmen Michael Clarke and Cameron White took Australia to 150 in the 34th over and pressed on. Soon after Australia crossed the 200-run mark, in the 45th over, Mpofu returned to bowl Cameron White for 22 off 36 balls. Australia were 207/4, with David Hussey the new man at the crease.

Hussey threw the kitchen sink at the Zimbabweans, striking a six off Sean Williams and a four off Utseya. Then Clarke got into the act, getting Mpofu away for two fours before Ray Price bowled Hussey for 14 off 8 balls.

Australia were 241/4 before Steven Smith came out with all guns blazing, striking Price for a four and six straight up. Australia had thus crossed 250 in the penultimate over. But Mpofu claimed Smith's wicket with the first ball of the final over. Then Mitchell Johnson biffed a couple of big hits to take Australia to 262/6 in 50 overs.

Injury worry for Tendulkar?

India's premier opening batsman Sachin Tendulkar has undergone an MRI scan on his left knee after it was suspected he picked up an injury on that part of his body during Saturday's World Cup curtain-raiser, against Bangladesh.

However, the team management gave an assurance that the Little Master would be fit enough to play Sunday's game against England.

Tendulkar, the biggest scorer in the history of the game, stayed behind in Mumbai for the scan on Sunday even as the rest of the squad flew to Bangalore for their game with England on Feb 27.

"It's an old injury. It was just a niggle. It's nothing to worry about. The (MRI) report is all clear," Ranjib Biswal said.

India won their first match in Dhaka on Saturday, beating Bangladesh by 87 runs. Tendulkar was run out for 28.

Tendulkar became the most capped one-day player in cricket in Saturday's win with his 445th appearance but a mix-up with match-winner Virender Sehwag lost him the chance to join the run feast on a placid track against a weak attack.

The 37-year-old is the leading scoring One-day and Test batsman and ranked by most experts among the top players of any era.

Apple leads mobile computer market

Apple is selling more portable computers than any other manufacturer.

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Have your say: Apple

Including the iPad, Apple sold 17.2% of mobile computers worldwide in the October-December quarter, according to a report by research group DisplaySearch.

That figure is even more than Hewlett-Packard - the world's top PC maker.
Apple has sold nearly 15 million iPads in its first nine months on sale, including 7.3 million in the most recent quarter alone. Without the iPad, Apple is the world's eighth-ranking PC manufacturer.
HP ranks second when it comes to mobile computers, a category that includes laptops, tablet computers and netbooks. Acer, Dell and Toshiba complete the top five.
But Apple's lead does not mean people are buying iPads instead of larger laptops and desktops, said DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim. Rather, it is selling best in countries where most people already own computers.
He said that even though the iPad is relatively inexpensive, with a starting price of 499 US dollars (£310), consumers in emerging markets can only afford one computer and are likely to buy one that is more powerful and not necessarily more portable.
Mr Shim added that Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market for at least a year or two, even though companies such as Motorola Mobility will begin selling tablets running Google's popular Android software which is commonly found on smart phones.
Meanwhile, PCs face competition from another kind of mobile gadget: smart phones. In the fourth quarter, smart phones outsold PCs for the first time ever, according to a report from research group IDC earlier this month.
In that case, too, it is not that people are buying phones instead of PCs. Sales of personal computers are slowing because many consumers already own them and only tend to replace them every three to five years, compared with every two years for phones.

Google iTunes rival coming with Honeycomb

Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Motorola boss said: "If you look at Google Mobile services today, there's a video service, there's a music service - that is, there will be a music service." He then clarified what he meant by saying one of Honeycomb's key aspects is that "it adds video services and music services".

Google's iTunes rival has been a long time coming. We first reported on the possibility back in May 2010, when we told you about the Big G planning on using the tech it had acquired from its Simplify Media takeover to power an Android-based digital music service.
And then, in September, reports circulated that Android boss Andy Rubin had been in talks with record labels, and Android's product manager Gaurav Jain revealed in an interview that mobile will play a huge part in Google's music strategy and that Google's music service will launch alongside Android 3.0.
It's about time Google got involved in the digital download market. It's got its finger in every other online pie after all. And, a bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone eh?
Jha also confirmed that the Motorola Xoom would cost about $800 when it goes live later this year. Using the current exchange rate that is a hell of a lot of British pounds - ouch.