31 Mar, 2011, 07.05PM IST,PTI India to leverage IBM's $38 mn investment in APAC data centre

Technology giant IBM today announced a $ 38 million investment to set up a data centre in Singapore that will provide businesses in India with solutions and services for cloud computing.

An user of cloud computing service can save on purchasing software for his IT related need as it is provided by the service provider and is charged on a pay per use model.

Scheduled to launch in April, the new Centre will make available IBM's cloud services and technology portfolio, IBM said in a statement.

The new facility will extend IBM's cloud delivery network with centres in Germany, Canada and the United States, and 13 global cloud labs, of which seven are based in Asia Pacific -- China, India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.

"The new Asia Pacific data centre will provide Indian organisations with the best available set of Cloud options to achieve their IT infrastructure ambitions in order to become successful businesses," IBM Global Technology Services , India/ South General Manager Asia Ashish Kumar said.

According to research firm IDC, the Asia Pacific market for cloud computing services is expected to grow by 40 per cent annually through 2014 to reach $ 4.9 billion in value terms.

"In India, we see a great opportunity for the software development industry and other IT driven businesses to leverage the IBM enterprise cloud offering in order to divert their test and development workload towards more productive use," Kumar said.

Why a fall iPhone 5 release could be brilliant for Apple

You won’t see the iPhone 5 until this fall, according to the The Loop and several other sites with insider Apple sources.

If true, the news would be a pretty major change for Apple, which has traditionally announced new iPhone models early in the summer. But I don’t think a fall delay would be the end of the world for Apple — in fact, it could end up being one of the wisest decisions Apple has ever made.

Here’s why:

LTE - There’s just about zero chance that the iPhone 5 would include support for LTE 4G networks if Apple was aiming for a summer release. Instead, that schedule would point to an LTE 4G iPhone coming in 2012. Apple isn’t in a rush to get to 4G (remember that the first iPhone only supported 2G networks), primarily because it doesn’t want to get stuck with first-generation LTE chipsets that are power-hungry and take up lots of internal space.

But if Apple aims to get the iPhone 5 out for the fall, it’s a different story altogether. The company may be able to take advantage of newer LTE chipsets that are smaller and more efficient. Also, by that point in the year both Verizon and AT&T will have extended their LTE 4G networks to cover more of the country.

Obscene anticipation – If you thought the typical wait for a new Apple product whipped gadget geeks into a frenzy, prepare for a hurricane of iPhone 5 news, rumors and anticipation if Apple delayed it until the fall. By this point, we’re used to our typical new iPhone fix in the summer. Without it, we’ll be shaking like addicts desperate for our next hit.

Let’s not forget that Apple just released the Verizon iPhone in February — delaying the iPhone 5 to the fall would serve to build up more anticipation than a spring release, which likely wouldn’t have as much impact.

Coordination with iPad 3, iTunes/MobileMe cloud services - With several rumors pointing to an iPad 3 coming this fall as well, offering the iPhone 5 at that point would be a clever one-two punch for Apple. They would both serve as flagship devices for iOS 5 (which is also rumored to come this fall), and Apple could even offer incentives to buy the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 together.

The release of a new iPad and iPhone at the same time would also sell the power of Apple’s upcoming MobileMe and rumored cloud-based iTunes services. From what we know so far, Apple is working on allowing users to stream media, instead of storing it physically on their devices. That sort of universal access to media would definitely appeal to users rocking both the iPhone 5 and iPad 3. (Then again, the features will most likely be available to most older iPhone and iPad models as well.)

Calling all mobile executives: This April 25-26, VentureBeat is hosting its inaugural VentureBeat Mobile Summit, where we’ll debate the five key business and policy challenges facing the mobile industry today. Participants will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. The invitation-only event, located at the scenic and relaxing Cavallo Point Resort in Sausalito, Calif., is limited to 180 mobile executives, investors and policymakers. We’ve pretty much finalized the invite list, but have a few spots left.

Lenovo second-gen LePad tablet due by October tips CEO

Lenovo’s second-generation LePad tablet will arrive in September or October 2011, according to company CEO Yang Yuanqing. While the exec failed to detail any of the new tablet’s hardware specifications – we’re guessing it will continue to use Android as the OS – he did say that it would be slimmer than the current model.

Interestingly, Yuanqing also revealed that the new model had been developed in parallel with the existing LePad, with a different team taking responsibility for its design. It’s not the first talk we’ve heard of a tablet OEM looking to shift around control of a tablet project in an attempt to better take on the iPad 2, though Lenovo hasn’t said anything about changing the second LePad’s focus, only that the decision helped ready the new model in just nine months.

Lenovo starts selling LePad in China, global launch in June

Lenovo's first Android tablet, the LePad, has started shipping in China today. The move marks the company's entrance into one of the hottest emerging areas of the computing industry as it looks to diversify its product line and fuel growth by offering high-end mobile devices to compete with Apple, Motorola, Samsung and the like.

As previously reported the tablet has a 10.1-inch screen, a 1.3Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 1GB of RAM. It also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 2MP front-facing camera, and runs Google Android 2.2 with Lenovo's "LeOS" software riding on top. Four configurations will be made available: the Wi-Fi only version with 16GB and 32GB of storage capacity priced at 3,499 yuan (US$534) and 3,999 yuan (US$609), respectively, while the 3G and Wi-Fi variant with 16GB of memory will be priced at 4,599 yuan (US$700) and the 32GB version at 5,299 yuan (US$807).


Lenovo has said the tablet will also go on sale worldwide in June. Although it didn't specify exactly which markets, a device with similar characteristics is now going through the FCC approval process for a launch in the U.S. under a new name: Skylight Slate. The device will apparently launch with Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" but other than that there are not many details regarding a specific release date, pricing, or carrier support.

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Cloud computing demands a mix of technology skills, negotiating skills, business acumen and people skills. Here are 10 key skills that can help boost your career into the clouds.

MORE ON CLOUD CAREERS: Steer your career to the cloud

TECHNICAL DEPTH
A core understanding of cloud-enabling technologies such as server and storage virtualization, moving to a flatter data center switching architecture, etc.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The ability to manage the full life cycle of a specific IT project.

RCHITECTURE SKILLS
Being able to architect both in-house and hosted cloud environments.

CONTRACTS
The ability to negotiate and manage multiple contracts with cloud service providers.

SERVICE DELIVERY
The ability to negotiate and follow through on service-level agreements with internal and external customers.

COMMUNICATION
The ability to explain and sell cloud computing to stakeholders in the organization.

UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS
Cloud managers need to have a deep understanding of how cloud services can improve the business.

LEADERSHIP
The ability to convince others to make the leap to cloud computing.

INNOVATION
Being open to exploring the newest cloud-based technologies and services.

RISK-TAKING
Cloud computing requires IT execs who are willing to take risks for the overall betterment of the company.

Enterprise Cloud Services: The agenda

Cloud services have the potential to deliver important business benefits to the enterprise, including cost savings, flexibility, resiliency, agility, quicker time to market, better customer service and the ability to handle unexpected spikes in demand.

However, achieving those goals isn't going to be easy. Enterprises need to have a cloud-ready, virtualized infrastructure. They need to understand the different types and styles of cloud computing. They need to navigate through a complex decision-making process in order to determine which aspects of cloud services are the right fit. Then there's negotiating and managing contracts, keeping track of SLAs, and making sure security and compliance concerns are addressed.

This six-part series, which kicks off today and continues throughout the year, will provide a comprehensive guide to Enterprise Cloud Services. Today's package provides a set of clear definitions of cloud computing and the various models that are available to enterprise IT. It also includes a guide to preparing your network for the cloud, a discussion of the economics of cloud computing, and a look at the career opportunities that cloud computing can provide.

In future issues, we will dig into the public cloud vs. private cloud debate, provide a guide to working with SaaS and IaaS providers, examine the available management tools, look into cloud security options and analyze the cloud vendor landscape.

While there's no lack of uncertainty and questions when it comes to cloud computing, one thing is for sure: interest in cloud computing is sky high.

For example, when Deloitte Consulting began fielding questions on cloud computing around 18 months ago, 80% of the discussions centered on setting the stage, helping clients define cloud and understand what it might mean for them.

Only 15% of cloud conversations dug into actual road maps, strategies and pilots, with a mere 5% of engagements dealing with actual implementations of production solutions, says Mark White, CTO of the firm's technology practice.

Now the percentage breakdown is more along the lines of 10% setting the stage, 50% planning and 40% implementation, "with that continuing to swing more and more into production implementation as people get through the strategy and road map phase," White says.

Enterprises are adopting cloud computing at a quicker-than-anticipated rate, White says - a situation he attributes to the economic downturn that hit two years ago.

"The economic crunch caused people to really be interested in the cloud's Opex over Capex story and the ability to buy small and, if it works, to go big," he says. "That really accelerated adoption, and we're doing large-scale implementations now of private and public cloud services among our clients."

The fourth quarter of last year was a turning point for enterprises and their pursuit of cloud computing, says James Staten, vice president and principal analyst with Forrester Research. "That's when we started seeing IT's interest shift away from getting educated on the cloud to getting ready to invest in it," he says.

Whereas understanding the various cloud computing models, service types and product choices were once hot topics, now the conversation has shifted to vendor particulars and best practices. Staten points out two reasons for the shift: One, as products mature, vendors have been tapering off on the "cloud washing" that had been obfuscating what cloud is and isn't, and two, cloud definitions have begun resonating with enterprise IT, Staten says.

That is, enterprise IT - and the industry at large - now generally accepts the cloud definition put forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Cloud computing enables convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Users access the applications, infrastructure or platforms they need via a Web browser or other simple front-end interface, grabbing and releasing them at will and paying only for what they use and no more.

Also, there are now commonly accepted service models and deployment models. The three service models are: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). The four deployment models are: private, public, hybrid and community.

NATO launches cloud offensive

Today, more enterprises are getting serious about the cloud. Take for example, NATO's Allied Command Transformation's (ACT) Technology & Human Factors Branch in Norfolk, Va.

NATO ACT was in prime position to jump into the cloud because it had started down the road to virtualization a few years ago in order to consolidate data center resources, says Johan Goossens, head of NATO ACT.

Since then, NATO ACT has been gung-ho on all three cloud service models: IaaS, SaaS and PaaS. "With infrastructure as a service, we're really thinking of the consolidation of data centers and stopping the server hugging mentality that we have today and that of IT being provisioned by a central location on- or off-premises. And then with platform and software as a service we start converting existing applications to be 'Net-ready cloud offerings within the NATO enterprise," Goossens adds.

NATO ACT recently announced that it's working with IBM to create an on-premises cloud that it'll use to test and develop network solutions for command, control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance projects.

"People are starting to understand all the different options and what are the right ones for them," says Geva Perry, an independent cloud strategist and author of the "Thinking Out Cloud" blog. "Even within one enterprise, people are recognizing that no one size fits all," Perry adds.

Cloud complexities

One of the fascinating aspects of cloud computing is that it's possible for an enterprise to become both a cloud service subscriber and a cloud service provider at the same time, according to Deloitte's White.

"A CIO will say, 'I want to be a subscriber of public cloud infrastructure as a service,' and we have an actionable conversation about that, talking about the benefits, the hurdles, the business case. And then the CIO also may want to be a subscriber of public cloud software as a service, and, if the client wants to implement private cloud, that CIO might want to talk about being a provider of private cloud platform as a service, too," White says. "That CIO could be involved in all three conversations, but we do them one at a time and then put them all together so we come up with more explicit outcomes."

Early cloud adopters aren't shying away from the technology's promise.

At Ford Motor Co., cloud has become a means of innovation, says David DiMeo, service delivery network (SDN) operations manager at the Detroit automaker.

Ford's SDN, otherwise known as cloud, is a scalable model that lets Ford easily mesh data from external vendors and information stored within the enterprise for delivery to customers' vehicles, DiMeo says. "The cloud has given us efficiencies. It's allowed us to decrease our time to market, as well as reduce development costs because we're not having to build out every single piece of an application," he says.

Cloud trends

As the cloud comfort level ratchets up in the enterprise, Forrester anticipates the strengthening of two critical trends over the next six months. One, application development managers are going to put more concerted effort into running workloads in the cloud. "For those who are new to the cloud, this means more trials going on in cloud environments. For those who have experience with cloud trials, this means more applications in production on the cloud," Staten says.

And if they can't get the servers and storage they need from an IT-sanctioned private cloud, it's off to the public cloud for many. As individual developers have been doing for some time, application managers will oversee use of public cloud services.

This could be as simple as buying capacity in Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud or, when stringent service-level agreements (SLA) are in order, contracting with a hosted private cloud provider such as GoGrid or Terremark. The key is getting the resources they need in the timeframe they desire - rather than waiting weeks or months for internal IT to get its servers in order.

For its part, enterprise IT is starting to get aggressive about limiting uncontrolled use of public cloud services. One way is by offering up IaaS via private clouds, quickly deployed using cloud-in-a-box packages. "Most of time when we see IT operations setting up clouds, they're doing them for defensive reasons - so developers won't go to the public cloud," Staten says.

But getting control of what's already out in the public cloud is another matter, Perry says. In fact, he adds, some enterprise IT managers resist doing so - and for good reason.

"They've had no control over business units running off and using cloud services without permission, yet they're still being held accountable for governance, compliance, security and the like," Perry says. "But more and more, IT is coming to an understanding that they can have the best of both worlds. We can have that easy, on-demand accessibility, pay for use and all that good stuff of cloud with the proper governance and security."

Ultimately, enterprise IT will create and manage what essentially will amount to an app store, Perry says. "Central IT will decide on an approved platform, on all levels - SaaS, PaaS and IaaS - and business users or developers will pick and chose what they need from this app store. It'll all be pre-integrated and IT will ensure compliancy and everything else," he says.

"And the sooner IT gets its act together around that, the better off it will be," Perry adds. That, of course, will be easier said than done at many enterprises.

Cloud-onomics 101

Industry watchers and IT execs are hailing the cloud computing model for advantages it brings to the enterprise - agility, ease of use, scalability and, especially, lower costs realized in the trade-off of capital outlays for ongoing, more digestible operational expenses.

Enterprise Cloud Services: The agenda

"Our No. 1 ambition for cloud computing is economic," says Johan Goossens, head of NATO Allied Command Transformation's Technology & Human Factors Branch in Norfolk, Va.

"With reduced budgets everywhere in the world and certainly in defense spending, we need to consolidate IT operations. And we think that the cloud offers us a chance to achieve some of that consolidation while improving information flows [among the 28 NATO nations] and allowing us to save some money," he says.

Toward that end, ACT is evaluating a number of cloud projects, and expects to find value in the private cloud as well as in public cloud infrastructure, platform and software services. "I'm convinced there will be savings, but I haven't quantified them yet," Goossens says.

Therein lies the rub.

Depending on your situation, cloud computing might not actually save you money - and even if you're convinced that cloud is saving you money, proving it can be difficult, says Geva Perry, an independent cloud strategist and author of the "Thinking Out Cloud" blog.

"When you see statistics like moving to the cloud can save you roughly 10%, you know those calculations are squishy," says Dave Hart, CTO of Presidio Networked Solutions, an IT services company. "All this economic stuff is in the eyes of the beholder."

For one, comparing the cost of using a public cloud service to that of buying and running hardware and software is an apples-to-oranges exercise.

Trying to factor in every little element is tough, Perry says.

"You've got to do things like figure out how much you'll pay for per-use bandwidth as opposed to what you'll pay when you strike a bandwidth deal. And, you've got to take into account the cost of maintenance and management of the IT infrastructure, including what's outsourced and what's not and what percentage of IT headcount goes away with a move to the cloud, for example," Perry says.

One of the only ways an enterprise can get a truer understanding of the costs is to start running applications in the cloud and then calculate the actual spend, Perry advises.

But that raises a slew of additional issues, such as how to account for fluctuating prices characteristic of an early market.

"If you look at Amazon, you'll see that it's had something like two dozen pricing announcements in the last two years - so the calculations you've made two weeks ago may no longer be relevant because your cloud provider has just slashed prices on one of its services you use," Perry says.

Also be aware that the pricing you pay for that experimentation won't necessarily mirror the cost of a production deployment.

If you're experimenting with Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, for example, you'd most likely pick and choose the resources you need from among the provider's On-Demand Instances, Perry says. These let you pay for compute capacity by the hour with no long-term commitments.

But when running production applications in the cloud, you're more likely to use Reserved Instances, which give you the option to make a one-time payment for each reserved instance and in turn receive a discount on the hourly usage charge for that instance, according to Amazon pricing charts.

Comparison conundrums

Will Gregerson, CFO of Schaeffer Manufacturing, a specialized lubricant manufacturer in St. Louis, says he faced similar frustration in running price comparisons between traditional ERP software and a cloud ERP offering.

One ERP vendor offered a flat site license, another added in costs for extra modules required. The ultimate decision came down to SAP Business One traditional ERP software and NetSuite's cloud ERP service, he says. SAP charged a per-user license fee - which would be expensive to start up, he says - while NetSuite also charged a per-user fee, but in a pay-as-you go model.

Ultimately, money was not the deciding factor; rather it had to do with ease-of-use and functionality. "The pay-as-you-go model provides a nice benefit, but we would have written the check for the SAP Business One if we had decided that's what we wanted."

Schaeffer opted for the NetSuite cloud ERP because, "We let somebody else do all the programming and we get a much better system," he says.

Furthermore, Gregerson's analysis was that the crossover point at which the cost for the pay-as-you-go cloud ERP would finally exceed the upfront cost for the SAP software would be nine or 10 years away - too far out to be a serious factor in the cost consideration, Gregerson says.

It's not all dollars and cents

For many enterprises, factoring in soft savings is yet another challenge.

"How do you measure the cost of agility?" Perry says. "I've just allowed my developers to get this new product or service up and running two weeks faster than they could before and they can make changes very easily, so how much money is that worth to me? Most good executives have an intuitive feel about how the cloud is what they should be doing, but it's hard to quantify."

Often when a cost analysis shows increased spending on cloud, an enterprise IT executive will proceed with the project regardless, Perry and other cloud watchers say. "We're seeing more and more success stories where the soft benefits like business agility are proving more important than raw cost savings of the hardware infrastructure," Perry says.

Proving cloud economics can be rather nebulous even when comparing an internal private cloud to traditional IT infrastructure, agrees James Staten, vice president and principal analyst with Forrester Research.

"When we examine cloud customers, what we find is that they're more efficient, they're faster and their overall IT operations cost for the cloud is way lower than it is for their traditional environment - so the benefits are clearly there. But it comes down to this ability to calculate the intangibles," he says.

As an example, he cites the case of one company that built an internal cloud but didn't reduce IT headcount at all. "They have exactly the same number of people, but those people are handling three times the number of virtual machines in production. So that's a definite operational advantage for the company, but one that can't be turned into a dollar value," Staten says.

On the other hand, the company might calculate a dollar cost-avoidance, he adds. "We had this ratio of administrators to virtual machines before and this many admins to virtual machines now. Before, we would have needed to hire five more administrators to handle that number of virtual machines," he says.

And while Forrester has seen evidence that IT operational costs run lower for internal clouds vs. traditional infrastructure, it's not ready to pinpoint a specific percentage savings. "There just aren't enough examples yet," Staten says.

Instead, Forrester cites its virtualization maturity model. "We talk about four stages of virtualization, with the last stage pretty much being like a cloud operation, and we see roughly a 10% to 20% operational efficiency improvement per stage."

Certainly in the pilot and "toe in the water" stages, Deloitte Consulting finds that most clients' cloud business cases have been positive, says Mark White, CTO of the firm's technology practice.

But the firm has seen clients make the decision to forego the cloud, at least for now. "There have been cases where a CIO has said, 'This just doesn't make sense. I have critical mass of skills and scale, the current solution is working well, and it makes the most sense for me to continue on that path with an upgrade, enhancement or refresh," he says.

The important thing is that they've made this decision after analyzing the business case, White adds.

"Cloud is not something around which you should roll the dice. Do the business case. Do the analysis. You're not going to be spending this money for the sake of technology," he says. "It's cool, don't get me wrong. As a CTO I think it's really cool, but that's not a reason to spend money on the business."

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Nokia fully expects, and plans, to do what Microsoft and its handset partners have so far been unable to do: make Windows Phone 7 a must-have mobile platform.

Hot technology at the annual CTIA wireless show

Nokia is in a unique relationship with Microsoft, contributing a range of its own assets, ranging from global scale, distribution, marketing and retail expertise to online services such as Ovi Maps and slick turn-by-turn navigation. That, combined with Microsoft experience as a platform vendor, and the strengths of the radically redesigned mobile UI, will "move the needle," says Kai Öistamo, Nokia executive vice president and chief development officer.

ANALYSIS: Both Nokia, Microsoft have much to gain, and lose, in mobile deal

Nokia, which has a small market share in the United States, had a more visible presence at this week's CTIA Wireless conference in Orlando, with a booth on the show floor and an announcement at the show by T-Mobile about a sleek new smartphone, the Nokia Astound. The new phone may be among the last to run a version of Nokia's trademark Symbian mobile OS, and a harbinger of what users can expect in a Nokia-branded Windows Phone.

That's because in February, Nokia and Microsoft announced a wide and deep alliance around Windows Phone 7.

The handset maker, which has been struggling in the past three years in the exploding smartphone market, chose the Microsoft OS as the firmware for all future Nokia smartphones. To do so, Nokia will pay Microsoft a licensing fee.

But Nokia's relationship with Microsoft is different from the other Windows Phone licensees, who launched the first crop of handsets, HTC, LG, and Samsung. Nokia alone has the right to customize the Windows Phone UI. Neither Microsoft nor Nokia has gone into detail about what that means.

But according to Öistamo, it means that Nokia is going to be very careful that any changes will not break Windows Phone applications or disrupt the development environment for programmers.

"Even if we have the right to change it, it would be unwise to change it in ways that cause problems," he says. Instead, Nokia plans to exploit the underlying OS to leverage both on-device features and a range of Nokia services: imaging, cameras, maps and navigation, to name just a few. Many of these changes, as well as the services themselves, are intended to flow back into the Windows Phone platform, to become accessible to developers.

Windows Phone 7 creates an opportunity for Nokia to add value to the mobile platform, whereas that would not be the case with Google Android, Öistamo says. For example, Nokia's navigation and mapping services would be in direct conflict with Google's similar offering. "We asked 'what is the value [to be added]?'" he says. "That's what you get paid for."

"We are contributing mapping and other assets across Microsoft," Öistamo says. "We get rewarded for that."

Another revenue opportunity is exploiting the two companies' combined assets to create new revenue sources. Öistamo cites the example of Nokia's mapping technology married with Microsoft's Bing search engine to create highly local and specific advertising impressions.

Öistamo says, as have others, that the future of online search will be driven by mobile users. That's a critical issue for Microsoft, he says. "It's extremely important for Windows Phone 7 to be successful to make Bing successful," he says. "And the same is true for Microsoft Office and Xbox."

Though generally well-reviewed, Windows Phone 7 has not yet been a breakthrough hit. Öistamo is not shy in claiming that Nokia can make it so. By leveraging Nokia's global scale, its retailing expertise and experience dealing with mobile end users, "We believe we can 'move the needle' in terms of making a competitive offering," Öistamo says. "No [other] OEM has placed a primary bet on Windows Phone."

Nokia asounds debuts

Nokia has consistently said that Windows Phone handsets will appear in volume in 2012, but they could begin to appear near the end of 2011. As an example of what to expect, Öistamo points to the Nokia Astound, developed for T-Mobile USA and unveiled at this week's CTIA Wireless show.

The combination of glass and stainless steel makes for a sleek, stylish phone, almost like a jewelry setting for the crisp, clear, bright 3.5-inch capacitive touch AMOLED display, at 360 x 640 pixels resolution.

It has an impressive 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p HD video capture, a Nokia strength. It has the latest version of Ovi Maps, and supports free, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation. It's pre-loaded with "automotive grade" maps for the entire U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. It's priced at $80 after a $50 mail-in rebate, which is pretty astounding itself.

Full specs can be found in Nokia's Astound data sheet.

It's not difficult to visualize the Astound running the distinctive Windows Phone 7 user interface.

Overall, Öistamo says, Nokia can do a much better job of getting phones like this into the hands of consumers, leveraging its distribution expertise, in-store retail experience, and other strengths. "This is the expertise that Microsoft has been looking for," Öistamo says.

John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World.

Linus Torvalds: Android copyright violation claim is "bogus"

Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds has said new claims that Android violates the Linux license are "totally bogus."

Intellectual property attorney Edward Naughton argued last week that with Android, Google improperly took Linux code and passed it on in a derivative work without using the GPLv2 license. But it seems that no lawsuits have been filed on the issue and several open source observers have disputed Naughton's argument.

Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream,' says free software movement founder

You can add Torvalds to that list. Torvalds objected to Naughton's conclusion that Google's use of the Bionic Library resulted in a deriviative work that had to be licensed under GPL.

"It seems totally bogus," Torvalds told IT World's Brian Proffitt. "We've always made it very clear that the kernel system call interfaces do not in any way result in a derived work as per the GPL."

A statement made years ago by Free Software Foundation creator Richard Stallman also seems to cast doubt on the argument that Android violates the Linux license. In an email written in 2003, he said it is "not the FSF's view" that "including a header file always makes a derivative work." A more "substantial amount of code" is needed to create a derivative work, he wrote.

Naughton has some ties to Microsoft, which he defended in a class action suit regarding the use of cookies with Windows, Network World reported last week.

That wouldn't disqualify Naughton from judging whether Android violates any copyright requirements, but the statements from Torvalds and Stallman do make his claims seem unlikely. In any case, Microsoft isn't shy about attacking Android - it doesn't need a third party to do that. Microsoft, in fact, just launched a patent infringement suit against Barnes & Noble regarding the Nook e-reader, which uses Android.

Google is still dealing with that pesky lawsuit from Oracle too. While it seems Naughton's Android infringement claim may not lead anywhere, Google isn't completely out of the woods yet.

Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream,' says free software movement founder

Richard Stallman: iPhones and Androids are 'Big Brother' tracking devices

Nearly three decades into his quest to rid the world of proprietary software, Richard Stallman sees a new threat to user freedom: smartphones.

"I don't have a cell phone. I won't carry a cell phone," says Stallman, founder of the free software movement and creator of the GNU operating system. "It's Stalin's dream. Cell phones are tools of Big Brother. I'm not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time, and I'm not going to carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop."

Stallman firmly believes that only free software can save us from our technology, whether it be in cell phones, PCs, tablets or any other device. And when he talks about "free," he's not talking about the price of the software -- he's talking about the ability to use, modify and distribute software however you wish.

Stallman founded the free software movement in the early- to mid-1980s with the creation of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation, of which he is still president.

When I asked Stallman to list some of the successes of the free software movement, the first thing that came up was Android -- not Google's version of Android, but rather a third-party version of the mobile OS in which all proprietary software has been stripped out (see also: Stallman supports LibreOffice).

"It just recently became possible to run some very widely used phones with free software," Stallman said. "There's a version of Android called Replicant that can run on the HTC Dream phone without proprietary software, except in the U.S. In the U.S., as of a few weeks ago there was still a problem in some dialing library, although it worked in Europe. By now, maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't. I don't know."

Although Android is distributed with free software licenses, Stallman notes that manufacturers can ship the devices with non-free executables, which users cannot replace "because there is a device in the phone that checks if the software is changed and won't let the modified executables run." Stallman calls it "tivoization," because TiVo uses free software but lays down hardware restrictions to prevent it from being altered. "If the manufacturer can replace the executable but you can't, then the product is a jail," he says.

Theoretically, Stallman says, phones that use only free software can protect themselves from the danger of electronic eavesdropping. "If it's all free software, you can probably protect yourself from that, because that's caused by the software in the phone," he says.

Ironically enough, Stallman was speaking to me on a cell phone. Not his own, of course, but one he borrowed from a friend in Spain while on a European speaking tour. Over the course of 38 minutes, our connection was lost five times, including just after Stallman's comments about electronic eavesdropping and free software for phones. We tried to connect again several hours later but were unable to complete the interview via phone. Stallman answered the rest of my questions over e-mail.

Sacrificing convenience is something Stallman is used to. He won't use Windows or Mac, obviously, and even software such as Ubuntu, perhaps the most popular operating system based on GNU and the Linux kernel, does not meet his free software requirements.

Few people are willing to make the sacrifices he will for the goal of software freedom, Stallman acknowledges.

"The decisions anyone makes depend on values," he says. "And most people are taught to think about software purely as a matter of price and performance, not whether it respects your freedom. People who make decisions on those values will not make any sacrifice of convenience to get free software, whereas I am willing to work for years and years and years to have no proprietary software in my computer."

Stallman does his computing on a Lemote Yeeloong laptop running gNewSense, a GNU/Linux distribution composed only of free software.

"There are some things I can't do. I'm using a rather slow computer because it's the only laptop with a free BIOS," Stallman says. gNewSense is the only totally free distribution that will run on the Lemote, which has a MIPS-like processor, he says. The Lemote had come with another GNU/Linux distribution that included non-free software, and Stallman replaced it with gNewSense.

Stallman, 57, experienced software sharing for the first time when he began working at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1971. The sharing community broke down in the early 1980s around the same time that Digital Equipment Corp. discontinued a mainframe hardware platform the community relied upon. Stallman could have joined the proprietary software world if he had been willing to "sign nondisclosure agreements and promise not to help my fellow hacker," he says. Instead, he pioneered the free software movement.

Stallman is a fascinating figure in the world of computing, admired by many individuals and reviled by companies such as Microsoft which see a threat from software they can't make a profit from.

Stallman has failed to break the Microsoft/Apple dominance of the desktop computer market, not to mention Apple's dominance of tablets. But the free software movement he created did lead to the proliferation of Linux-based servers which are prevalent in data centers and power much of the Internet. This is perhaps ironic because Stallman expresses resentment about the credit given to the Linux kernel at the expense of his own GNU operating system.

Stallman says he is "somewhat" proud of the proliferation of free server software, "but I'm more concerned with the size of the problem that needs to be corrected than with how far we have already come."

Free software in data centers is nice, but "with the goal of giving users freedom, their own desktops, laptops and phones are the computers that affect their freedom most." The focus is mainly on software rather than hardware, but the movement insists on "hardware that comes with specs so that we can write free software to support it fully," he says. "It is unconscionable to offer hardware for sale and refuse to tell the purchaser how to use it. This ought to be illegal."

Before agreeing to an interview with Network World, Stallman demanded that this article use his preferred terminology -- e.g. "free software" instead of "open source" and "GNU/Linux" instead of just "Linux." He also requested that the interview be recorded and that, if the recording were distributed online, that it be done so in a format that works with free software.

There are four essential software freedoms, Stallman explained. "Freedom Zero is the freedom to run the program as you wish. Freedom 1 is the freedom to study the source code, and change it so the program does your computing as you wish. Freedom 2 is the freedom to help others; that's the freedom to make and distribute exact copies when you wish. And Freedom 3 is the freedom to contribute to your community, which is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions when you wish."

Stallman came up with the term "copyleft" to indicate licenses that ensure free software code cannot be redistributed in proprietary products.

The key to Stallman's philosophy is this: "Without those four freedoms, the owner controls the program and the programs control the users," he says. "So the program is simply an instrument of unjust power. The users deserve freedom to control their computing. A non-free program is a system of unjust power and shouldn't exist. The existence and use of non-free software is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem."

"That problem" wasn't caused by one company in particular, but Microsoft is usually the most frequently criticized by people like Stallman.

"They continue regarding us as their enemy," Stallman says. Ten years ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer famously called Linux a "cancer." Microsoft has softened its public tone since then, but Stallman is not impressed: "They have in some ways learned to be a bit more subtle but their goal is that people should use Windows and not a free operating system." After that thought, our phone connection was lost again.

Other than Microsoft, Stallman calls out "Apple and Adobe, and Oracle and lots of others that make proprietary software and pressure people to use it."

Google "does some good things and some bad," Stallman says. "It has released useful free software such as the WebM codec, and is moving YouTube to distribute that way. However, the new Google Art Project can only be used through proprietary software."

Stallman is also at odds with some people in what is known as the open source community. Open source advocates clearly sprung out of the free software movement, and most open source software also counts as free software. But Stallman says that people who identify as open source advocates tend to view the access to source code as a practical convenience and ignore the ethical principles of software freedom. Various vendors have jumped on the open source bandwagon without embracing the principles that Stallman believes should be at the heart of free software.

"I don't want to make this seem too one-sided," Stallman says. "Certainly a lot of people who hold open source views have worked on useful programs that are free and also some of those companies have funded work on useful programs that are free. So that work is good. But at the same time, at a deeper level, the focus on open source leads people's attention away from the idea that they deserve freedom."

One of Stallman's targets is Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel and one of the most famous figures in the world of free software.

Stallman and his crew worked on the GNU operating system for most of the 1980s, but there was one missing piece: a kernel, which provides resources from the hardware to programs that run on the computer. This gap was filled by Torvalds in 1991 when he developed Linux, a Unix-like kernel.

Systems using the Linux kernel are usually called just "Linux," but Stallman has fought for years to get people to use his preferred term, "GNU/Linux."

Stallman "wanted to make sure GNU got proper credit," says Miguel de Icaza of Novell, who created the free software program GNOME but has been criticized by Stallman for partnering with Microsoft and selling proprietary software. "When Linux came out, Richard didn't take it very seriously for a while, and he kept working on his own kernel. It was only when Linux took the spotlight that he felt, to some extent, his project had not been given enough credit. The problem is, what happened at the time was there was a new community that was created out of the blue that wasn't necessarily aligned with GNU."

The GNU kernel, called Hurd, is still "under active development," according to the project's Web site.

Torvalds' contribution to free software will be widely celebrated this year during the 20th anniversary of the Linux kernel. But Stallman won't be one of his cheerleaders, and it's not just because of the naming dispute.

"I don't admire a person who says freedom is not important," Stallman says. "Torvalds set a bad example for the community by publicly using a non-free program for the maintenance of Linux (his kernel, which is his main contribution to the GNU/Linux system). I criticized him for this, and so did others. When he stopped, it was not by choice. More recently, he rejected [the] GPL version 3 for Linux because it protects the users' freedom from tivoization. His rejection of GPLv3 is why most Android phones are jails."

Even Red Hat and Novell, known widely as open source supporters, don't get a ringing endorsement. "Red Hat partly supports free software. Novell much less," he says, noting that Novell has a patent agreement with Microsoft.

Despite outward pessimism, Stallman does see a few positives spurred by his quest for software freedom. When he's not at his Cambridge, Mass., home, which is most of the time, Stallman is roaming the world giving speeches and holding discussions about free software. Before traveling to Spain, Stallman stopped off in London to give a speech in which he called Windows "malware," and met with a couple members of Parliament to explain free software issues. He often gets a better reception in Europe than at home.

"In the U.S., awareness of free software has been almost completely pushed under the rug by open source. As a result, you'd never find people in any government position who'd want to talk to me," he says.

Outside of North America, some governments are embracing free software. "I found out yesterday that in France, the state agencies are continuing to move to free software," he says. "There's no systematic policy requiring them to but they're doing so more and more. And in some countries, for instance in Ecuador, there is an explicit policy for state agencies to move to free software and any agency that wants to continue using non-free software has to apply for a temporary exception, permission to do so."

Although Stallman didn't mention it, the Russian government is requiring agencies to replace proprietary software with free alternatives by 2015 in a bid to improve both economics and security, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to free software, Stallman is devoted to political issues, and writes a blog for The Huffington Post. In fact, he sees little distinction between the corporations threatening software freedom and "the scoundrels in Washington" who are beholden to corporate donations.

In the recent Wisconsin union protests, Stallman sees something of his own spirit.

"Sometimes freedom requires a sacrifice and most Americans are not willing to make any sacrifices for their freedom," he says. "But maybe the protesters in Wisconsin are starting to change that." Corporations and mass media "have to a large extent convinced Americans ... that they're not entitled to refuse businesses whatever businesses want. Well, we need a spirit of resistance in America. We need to recover the spirit of freedom with which we created the United States."

Tegra Roadmap Revealed: Next Chip to be World’s First Quad-Core Mobile Processor

Project Kal-El came into the building, shepherded by a team of engineers from around the world, who had been working around the clock for months. For the uninitiated, the entrance that I’m referring to was by none other than the next generation of our Tegra super chip.

Today at Mobile World Congress (MWC), we demonstrated this little beauty running in an Android tablet. We not only showed that it was alive. We showed it browsing the Web, running games and streaming amazing video. This wasn’t your average amazing video. It was 1440p video content running on a 2560×1600 panel. That will enable mobile devices to output to the highest resolution monitors or tablets equipped with a 10.1-inch display with 300 DPI.

I should mention, in passing, that this is the first mobile quad-core processor. And that it contains a new 12 core GeForce GPU. Our customers are getting samples now, and they’re planning production in August.

While demonstrating Project Kal-El was exciting, we also gave a glimpse of our roadmap here at MWC. It includes Projects codenamed Wayne, Logan, and Stark, coming out in a steady one-year cadence over the next three years. You might well ask, What on earth can be done with nearly 75x improvement in performance over Tegra 2 that Stark will provide in 2014? Our customers and partners have already indicated that they’re confident they can use everything we give them.

If you’ve followed NVIDIA, you know the relentless velocity of innovation that we’ve brought to the PC space with our GeForce processors. Prepare for that same intensity to play out in the mobile space.

While we demonstrated this to our customers and press today, you can come by and see it live in our booth at MWC in Barcelona tomorrow.

Quad-Core CPU performance of Project Kal-El

I left CES thinking this was going to be the most exciting year of my career. Now, I know it will be.

I can’t wait to see the next wave of superphones and super tablets.

Emerson Success Story

Breakthrough Garbage Disposals Help Milwaukee Convert More Food Waste Into Electricity

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, people are urged to put more food waste down their garbage disposals. The reason is simple. Households using disposals, such as Emerson’s newest line of InSinkErator disposals that can grind virtually any kind of food waste, are helping communities like Milwaukee convert more of its residents’ food waste into an unending source of electricity.

• Part of Milwaukee’s wastewater system uses an anaerobic digester where bacteria and other microbes, known as archaea, digest sewage in enclosed tanks. As the waste is broken down, the microbes release methane, which is captured and used by the district to generate energy for its operations.
• In 2007, the district saved $1.9 million in energy costs from methane generated by the region’s wastewater treatment plants.
• The development of Emerson’s breakthrough InSinkErator Evolution Excel® disposals enable these devices to grind nearly all food scraps, including orange and banana peels, celery, corn cobs, potato peels, and even rib bones, without clogs or jams.
• Disposals themselves have a modest environmental footprint. The device uses only about one percent or less of a household’s total water consumption and costs—on average—less than 50 cents a year in electricity usage.

  In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, people are urged to put more food waste down their garbage disposals. The reason is simple. Food waste disposals, such as Emerson’s newest line of InSinkErator disposals that can grind virtually any kind of food waste, are helping the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District convert more of its residents’ food waste into an unending source of electricity.

  Part of Milwaukee’s wastewater system – which serves 1.1 million people in 28 municipalities scattered over 411 square miles – uses an anaerobic digester where bacteria and other microbes, known as archaea, digest sewage in enclosed tanks. As the waste is broken down, the microbes release methane, which is captured and used by the district to generate energy for its operations. In 2007, the district saved $1.9 million in energy costs from methane generated by the region’s wastewater treatment plants. Plus, the district generates additional revenue by converting its biosolids into a natural lawn fertilizer which is sold commercially.

  It's Never Been Done Before. The development of Emerson’s breakthrough InSinkErator Evolution Excel® disposals enable these devices to grind nearly all food scraps, including orange and banana peels, celery, corn cobs, potato peels, and even rib bones, without clogs or jams. With its exceptional grinding capability, the Evolution Excel is a better option than throwing food waste into a trash bag. Plus, the InSinkErator Evolution Excel runs at least 60 percent quieter than standard disposals.

  Food waste management is an often overlooked environmental challenge. The average U.S. family of four produces about 2,000 pounds of food waste each year. More than 19 million tons of this food waste from homes, restaurants and institutions is being hauled in fossil fuel-burning trucks to U.S. landfills.

  As food waste decomposes, it emits methane, a greenhouse gas that’s at least 21 times more harmful than CO2 in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Some landfill operators are attempting to capture methane, but experts say it can be challenging and costly. In addition, the decomposing food waste mixes with other landfill elements to form a liquid called “leachate” that has the potential to pollute groundwater supplies. And while disposing of food waste by composting is considered an environmentally correct solution, it isn’t practical for many households living in crowded urban settings, apartment buildings, or in cold weather.

  Decades of independent scientific studies confirm that disposals help manage biodegradable food waste in an environmentally responsible manner. Since food waste is 70 percent water, grinding it in a disposal and transporting it through the wastewater stream to be processed at a wastewater treatment plant is convenient, safe, and efficient.

  Disposals themselves have a modest environmental footprint. The device uses only about one percent or less of a household’s total water consumption and costs -- on average -- less than 50 cents a year in electricity usage.

  Emerson is working with communities like Milwaukee and others around the world to show how food waste disposals can be part of an environmentally responsible solution. Some communities in the United Kingdom even offer incentives for residents to install disposals. It’s nice to know that one solution is as close as the kitchen sink.

Aava Mobile reportedly set to reveal Medfield-based Android / MeeGo phone at MWC

Eager for a way to forget about Moorestown? We wouldn't be shocked if Intel was in the same camp, and if this here rumor pans out, it could be Medfield acting as the amnesia at Mobile World Congress. If you'll recall, Intel briefly showed off a Medfield-based phone late last month, and now we're hearing that Aava Mobile -- the same company responsible for a WoW-crunching Moorestown demonstration at Computex -- is poised to release a real stunner in Barcelona. Slashgear has it on good authority that Aava's second-generation Core design will be officially rolled out in a matter of days, complete with Intel Inside, an 8.9mm-thick chassis, Android and MeeGo. You read correctly -- both mobile operating systems will be supported. It's said that Aava doesn't actually plan on hawking these to consumers; instead, they'll be shuttled off to developers in order to promote its integrated ACPU and modem platform. Hard to say if the shell we'll (hopefully) see at MWC will remain final, but you can bet we'll be digging for more once the show floor opens.

Intel Expands Mobile Computing with New Silicon, Software and Connectivity Capabilities

Medfield Sampling, LTE Platforms, MeeGo Momentum and Silicon Hive Acquisition Accelerate Mobile Portfolio

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

• Sampling “Medfield,” Intel’s new phone chip manufactured on the company’s leading-edge 32nm process technology.
  
• Accelerating LTE with sampling of first multimode solutions this year with broad designs in the second half of 2012 from Intel Mobile Communications, formerly Infineon Technologies AG Wireless Solutions Business.
  
• New MeeGo tablet user experience capitalizes on the flexibility and innovation provided by the MeeGo software platform, MeeGo endorsements from companies including Orange* and Tencent*, and expansion of the Intel AppUp developer program to include new MeeGo-based development tools and ecosystem programs.
  
• Acquisition of Silicon Hive advances Intel’s video and imaging SoC capabilities.
  
• RF Radio SoC research puts three chips of a typical RF chipset on a single chip.
  
• Mobile ecosystem momentum through a series of new Intel Capital investments.
  
• Leading-edge, low-power Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices on Android Gingerbread, Honeycomb coming this year.
  
• Korea Telecom and Samsung move forward with Intel architecure to deliver services faster and cost effectively expand network capacity with demand.
  

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, Barcelona, Feb. 14, 2011 – Intel Corporation today announced a number of advancements to its mobile portfolio across a broad spectrum of silicon, software and connectivity, including the sampling of “Medfield,” the company’s 32nm phone chip.

The company also announced accelerated LTE platforms, a new MeeGo tablet user experience, the acquisition of Silicon Hive, and several new mobile investments and software development tools to aid in the delivery of premium Intel® architecture-based device experiences across multiple operating systems.

As the lines between computing and communications continue to blur, this mobile momentum builds on and complements Intel’s growing capabilities in mobility. Intel is accelerating plans to become the processor architecture of choice across a variety of smart device and market segments -- netbooks and laptops, cars, smart phones, tablets and smart TVs -- while addressing the evolving needs of device manufacturers, service providers, software developers and consumers around the world.

“The mobile Internet, with all of its complexity, presents tremendous opportunity and growth prospects for the industry at large,” said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Ultra Mobility Group. “Through these efforts and others still to come, Intel is bringing the full weight of its resources, technology investment and the economics of Moore’s Law to drive down costs and power requirements for new markets, while delivering the leading-edge performance that the industry has come to expect from us.”

Multi-Comms and Silicon
With the recent acquisition of Infineon AG’s Wireless Solution Business now closed, Intel outlined its strategy to deliver a smart, multi-communication architecture to address varying customer and service provider needs around the world, such as network capacity, application, device, cost and end-user experience with solutions from WiFi to LTE.

Intel announced that Intel Mobile Communications (IMC) will sample its first compact, low-power multi-mode (LTE/3G/2G), truly global LTE solution in the second half of the year with broad market availability for devices in the second half of 2012. IMC is also now shipping the world’s smallest, fully integrated HSPA+ solution with true 21 Mbps downlink and 11.5 Mbps in uplink for small form factor devices, and announced a new platform supporting Dual-SIM Dual-Standby (DSDS) operation for the emerging Dual SIM market. These new mobile solutions underline IMCs’ product and technology leadership and help to position the business for continued growth in an era of multi-communication solutions.

Expanding upon Intel’s silicon capabilities, the company announced that it is sampling its 32nm “Medfield” smart phone chip with customers. “Medfield” is scheduled for introduction this year and will extend the performance benefits of Intel architecture into a low-power solution specifically designed for the smart phone market segment.

Further building on these silicon capabilities, the company announced the acquisition of Silicon Hive, an Intel Capital portfolio company, which brings better still imaging and multimedia video processor technology, compilers and software tools to its growing Atom processor portfolio. The Silicon Hive capabilities will aid in the delivery of more differentiated Atom-processor based SoCs as multimedia and imaging grow in importance across the mobile smart device segments.

Intel also announced a new development by its researchers in radio frequency (RF) integration with new process technology that will make it possible to put three chips of a typical RF chipset on a single chip. Using the most efficient transistors in the world, Intel researchers are able to achieve lower power and faster radio components compared to what is possible today. By taking advantage of Moore’s Law, the research could mean better power, performance and reduced costs for future SoC designs.

Finally, an efficient and flexible access network is essential to continue the evolution of the mobile Internet and enable network operators to deliver services faster and cost effectively expand network capacity with demand. Building on this, Intel, KT and Samsung announced collaborative plans to demonstrate live-air LTE solutions using the Intel architecture-based Cloud Communications Center (CCC). The effort is designed to expand data traffic capacity and network flexibility while reducing an operator’s total cost for network deployment and operation.

Software Advancements
Further scaling the development of flexible, open software platforms and applications for all mobile devices, Intel demonstrated a compelling new MeeGo tablet user experience to be made available through the Intel AppUp Developer Program. The MeeGo tablet user experience features an intuitive object-oriented interface with panels to display content and contacts - all geared to give consumers fingertip access to their digital life: social networks, people, videos and photos. The MeeGo tablet user experience is on display at the MeeGo Pavilion at Mobile World Congress.

Since MeeGo was introduced one year ago, the open source operating system platform has made great strides with multiple code releases ranging from netbooks to handsets. MeeGo has also gained strong industry momentum with software vendors, system integrators and operators, as well as OEMs and products shipping today in multiple form factors including netbooks, tablet, set-top-boxes and in-vehicle infotainment systems in cars.

In addition, Intel announced new MeeGo and AppUp software development tools and other programs to help developers port, write new applications, and tune and publish to the Intel AppUp center more quickly. The programs include developer access to software development platforms, new tools and other expansions such as a worldwide university program, an Application labs program and porting resources.

“Intel supports all major operating system environments, working closely with developers, service providers and manufacturers around the world to deliver premium, cross platfrom experiences,” said Renée James, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Software and Services Group. “Our MeeGo tablet user experience shows the power and flexibility of MeeGo, and by adding new developer tools and programs we will accelerate our tablet strategy and MeeGo ecosystem momentum to enable faster time-to-market with innovative products for OEMs and service providers alike.”

Building on Intel’s support of multiple operating systems, the company announced its intent to deliver the industry’s fastest performance on open source Android* with Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices running Gingerbread and Honeycomb, slated to come to market this year. The company also announced a series of Intel Capital investments to drive continued innovation across the mobile hardware, software and applications ecosystems, and to enhance the user experience across a continuum of devices, including handhelds, tablets and laptops. The investments include Borqs, CloudMade, InVisage, Kaltura, SecureKey Technologies and VisionOSS Solutions.

“By applying Intel’s world-class manufacturing and the most advanced silicon transistor technology to these new segments, we plan to deliver the best transistors and the highest performing, lowest power products that will enable continued innovation and new user experiences,” Chandrasekher said. “When these chips are combined with our support for leading mobile operating systems from Android to MeeGo, our proven ability to create broad ecosystem support, and our growing software and connectivity capabilities, I’m confident we will create exciting opportunities for our partners.”

KT, Intel and Samsung to Show off the World's First LTE CCC Solution based on Open Hardware Platform at Mobile World Congress 2011

Industry leaders collaborate to develop the next generation of mobile network architecture, planning an LTE trial test in Q3 2011

SEOUL, Korea – February 13, 2011 – KT, a representative service provider in South Korea, Intel Corporation, the world leader in silicon innovation and processor technologies, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., an advanced network solution provider, jointly announced today that they will demonstrate the world’s first live-air LTE solutions based on Cloud Communication Center (CCC) network technology at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. They also plan an LTE trial test in the third quarter of this year in South Korea. Working together, KT, Intel and Samsung are shaping the future of next generation network architecture.

At MWC, KT, Intel, and Samsung will demonstrate a Full-HD 3D video streaming using LTE solutions based on CCC prototype systems. For this demonstration, Samsung will utilize its commercial-ready LTE end-to-end solution and commercial servers powered by Intel architecture, a general purpose processor platform.

LTE CCC is an innovative network technology converging cloud computing and telecommunications. It enables enhancement of data traffic capacity and network flexibility while reducing an operator’s total costs for network deployment and operation. As mobile data traffic continues to increase sharply, CCC architecture is expected to be a key solution of next generation network for mobile network operators.

With CCC architecture, Radio Unit (RU), which is placed in its own local site, only performs radio transmissions and Digital Unit (DU) connected to RU via a wired network such as optical fiber carries out all communication signals processing with Intel architecture based servers and Samsung modems in a centralized communication center. This minimizes the real estate costs and operations personnel required to manage equipment at the local site, and allows for more cost-effective centralized operations management.

CCC architecture applies virtualization technologies which enable the management of overall network conditions at the communication center, so that operators not only can effectively allocate radio resources by time and place according to the volume of data traffic, but also benefit from improving the scalability of network capacity.

In addition, CCC architecture allows operators to reduce the number of base stations required and support a smooth network migration to next generation mobile services. This is made possible by software-oriented development while avoiding the conventional approach of hardware-oriented system development. As a result, CCC architecture is also expected to contribute to Green IT by reducing power consumption for each coverage area.

The three-way collaboration among KT, Intel and Samsung is intended to deliver the highest quality of experience to users on KT’s network, and to securely manage their voice and data communications in a cost-effective way. KT, Intel and Samsung plan to begin their LTE trial test in the third quarter of this year in Seoul, South Korea, and will strengthen their partnership in CCC architecture to support multiple radio standards and expand the market around the globe in the future.

Dr. Hyunmyung Pyo, President of Mobile Business Group of KT, said “KT is looking for integrated wired and wireless solutions for our customer to enjoy IT services securely as they wish. As one of these solutions, KT is trying to deploy a CCC network and expects that the LTE CCC system developed by the three way collaborations among KT, Intel and Samsung will enable a green mobile network as well as reduce total cost of ownership via the flexible software on an open hardware platform, and therefore show an innovative way to mobile wonderland”

“Network operators need to deliver a smart, secure experience to billions of new devices.” stated David Perlmutter, Intel Executive Vice President and Co-general Manager of the Intel Architecture Group. “By utilizing cloud communications center technology based on Intel architecture, KT will be able to drive a faster rate of innovation and quickly expand network capacity as demand for services rises, all while maximizing revenue.”

Mr. Youngky Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Telecommunication Systems Business of Samsung Electronics, said “We’re very excited to introduce one of the most competitive 4G solutions which increase network throughput and drastically decrease operator’s CAPEX and OPEX as well.” “By leveraging LTE solutions based on CCC and our accumulated experiences in the 4G OFDMA market, Samsung will provide the most optimized mobile broadband solutions to service providers and strengthen our technology and market leadership.” he added.

About KT
KT, the largest telephony carrier in South Korea, holds around 87% of the fixed-line telephone service, 32% of the mobile phone service, and 43% of the broadband internet service of the nation. The company is providing individuals, families and companies with advanced IT services, including voice & text data, wired & wireless networks, and broadcasting & telecommunications services. Now KT is moving toward the vision of becoming a Global ICT leader with its convergence technology.

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 174,000 people in 193 offices across 66 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

CEO: Intel-powered smartphones arriving this year

BARCELONA, Spain--In a trade show dominated by phones and PCs using ARM-based processors, Intel Chief Executive took the stage to tout his own x86 chips.

Intel, of course, grew to power on the basis of its x86 chip family, including Pentium, Xeon, and now Core and Atom processors. Today's smartphones, though, use ARM-based chips from companies such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and perhaps most concerning for Intel, now Nvidia as well. Those products are hogging the spotlight at the Mobile World Congress show here.

So when will Intel-powered smartphones arrive?

"This year," Otellini said, though he was reserved about further details. "We can't preannounce our customers. I think it's going to be pretty exciting."

Mobile devices have been a painful experience for Intel for years, but it's clear the technology remains a priority. Microsoft, like Intel a PC-generation company that's also been a mobile-market laggard, inked a high-profile partnership with Nokia to try to accelerate its push to relevance. Intel clearly understands the urgency, too.

"We see an emerging class of ultramobile devices," Otellini said. There was a "seminal event in the fourth quarter. Smartphone shipments passed PC shipments for the first time."

And yet tablets and smartphones will live alongside PCs. Otellini defended the PC business' 17 percent growth last year, and said customers won't settle on just one machine.

"No single device wins," Otellini said. "We don't see an environment where one machines satisfies all needs. At least for the next four to five years, we're likely to see multiple devices and multiple form factors simply because people want to do multiple things."

In his own speech, though, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son said that PCs can be replaced by tablets. He made the switch completely a year ago, and said as well that every one of Softbank's employees gets an iPhone and iPad.

"I'm using this tablet every day, everywhere I go--even in the bathroom," Son said, holding up an unidentified device. "In the last 12 months, I've never touched the PC."

Intel CEO shows off a host of Intel-powered tablets at Mobile World Congress.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Asked during a panel discussion after his remarks where he'd invest with the intent for returns over the next five to 10 years, Otellini had a quick response: "Batteries."

"We can't keep using lithium ion," Otellini said, referring to the standard battery format. "It'll be silicon-based, higher-capacity, longer-life. Whoever invents that is going to make a fortune."

Intel has been at the center of a PC ecosystem with companies offering operating systems, processors, and computers. This horizontal integration is not as common in the mobile phone market--perhaps most notably today with Apple's iPhone, whose vertical integration extends all the way through the app store.

Otellini touted the operating system choices possible when using its processors. However, he neglected to mention that using ARM processors brings different choice: chipmakers including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Samsung, Freescale, ST Ericsson, among others.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Otellini sees an end to vertically integrated, proprietary technology, though.

"Computing technology is something that always starts out closed," he said, pointing to the bygone ages when mainframes and later minicomputers ruled the industry. "Over time, people evolve on those. You create standards. You have millions of people developing on them. What you see is a very normal process of development and diffusion of technology."

"In general, to harness all the abilities of all the engineers in the world and all the developers in the world, open wins," Otellini said.

One area where Intel evidently hopes to get an edge in the mobile world is security. Power-efficient processors and network connectivity are essential, but they're not enough.

"I contend security is going to be as important a feature set as all these other features," Otellini said.

Another feature he likes is WiDi, short for Intel Wireless Display, which lets people beam video from a PC to a TV. It's not just for PCs, though: "We'll put this technology next year into tablets and into phones," Otellini said.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Platform to Help Enable Instant Streaming from Netflix on Android Devices

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, today announced that future Android devices powered by the Snapdragon™ platform will have access to instant streaming of TV shows and movies from Netflix.

“We’re excited about this collaborative effort to help bring the Netflix application to Android devices running on the Snapdragon platform,” said Liat Ben-Zur, senior director of software strategy and ecosystems for Qualcomm. “Qualcomm is in a unique position to help bring the most optimized and advanced Android apps to market through working closely with the strong ecosystem of Snapdragon developers like Netflix.”

Snapdragon processors are designed to deliver dynamic performance and media protection features in a turnkey package, allowing the devices they power to more easily pass through the approval process required for Netflix certification. Additionally, Netflix video decoding is handled by highly efficient dedicated hardware, extending battery life and improving picture quality.

“We’re pleased to expand our mobile offering by providing our members an app for TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix to Snapdragon-enabled Android devices,” said Bill Holmes, Netflix vice president of Business Development. “Qualcomm’s expertise in mobile hardware/software integration and their collaboration in the consumer electronics space makes them the perfect fit in bringing Netflix to a range of Android handsets and tablets.”

Qualcomm will demonstrate the Netflix application for at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in the Company’s exhibit, located in Exhibit Hall 8, #8B53.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies. For 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of wireless communications, connecting people more closely to information, entertainment and each other. Today, Qualcomm technologies are powering the convergence of mobile communications and consumer electronics, making wireless devices and services more personal, affordable and accessible to people everywhere. For more information, visit Qualcomm around the Web:
www.qualcomm.com
Corporate Blog: www.qualcomm.com/blog
Twitter: www.twitter.com/qualcomm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/qualcomm

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company’s ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of Snapdragon components on a timely and profitable basis, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2010, and most recent Form 10-Q.

Intel-powered smartphones coming this year

Intel CEO Paul Otellini said during a keynote at Mobile World Congress that a number of smartphone models would be launched this year using the firm's processors. The company seems very optimistic about its upcoming smartphone core, dubbed Medfield, but so far remains tight-lipped on possible partners or any further information besides saying that it is a "pretty exciting" time for them.

Otellini sees the emergence of the smartphone and tablet device categories as an opportunity for Intel and not a challenge to its commanding lead in the CPU market. According to the CEO, tablets and smartphones will live alongside PCs, and this will allow them to ship even more processors than the hundreds of millions it currently ships. "We don't see an environment where one machines satisfies all needs. At least for the next four to five years, we're likely to see multiple devices and multiple form factors simply because people want to do multiple things," he said.

Intel has been virtually absent from the fast growing smartphone market so far, but the company is hoping to change that with its upcoming Medfield chips, which are supposedly posed to outclass ARM in processing and power efficiency. The company will have to prove its bold claims with actual products, and with ARM currently holding close to 90% of the mobile market through licensing agreements, convincing hardware manufacturers to embrace Medfield won't be easy.

10 reasons for quitting IT

There are a lot of upsides to working in IT — but depending on your situation, you might find yourself considering other career options. Jack Wallen describes a few factors that could be the last straw for some IT pros.

Raise your hand if you’ve nearly quit your job on at least a few occasions. Go on. You don’t have to be shy. We all know that IT is one of the more stressful careers you can choose. And unfortunately, universities don’t teach you coping mechanisms for getting through the days/weeks/months that can turn into long years. Let’s take a look at a few reasons you might decide to leave that beloved career in IT.

1: Stress

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that a career in IT is easy going. It’s a rare occasion that someone will have a job in the IT field where there isn’t stress. Remember, IT is disaster management. When a client or user calls you, it’s almost always an emergency that must be taken care of immediately. And when you are working on those jobs, you had better get everything right, as failure could cost you a contract or a job. What makes this worse is that the stress rarely lets up. Every minute of the day, you are working and working harder than you might expect.

2: Hours

If you want a Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 job, look elsewhere — IT seems to be a job you carry around with you 24/7. Not only do you put in more hours in the office (or the field) than your average professional, you also have to work outside the office to keep your skills up and make sure you’re better than the guy standing next to you. And the people who aren’t your clients or users (friends and family, for example) will want to take advantage of your knowledge and keep their computers running smoothly for free.

3: Getting paid

If you are an independent contractor, one of the most stressful issues you face is getting paid. I can’t tell you how many consultants I know who have had to make threats or use an attorney to get paid. And when you’re freelancing, if they don’t pay you, you don’t eat. That is some serious stress there. You don’t have the advantage of having that regular check coming in weekly or biweekly. Honing your interpersonal skills is key to keeping those relationships as good as possible. Good relationships (even with not-so-good people) will go a long way to make sure you do eventually get paid.

4: People (in general)

This one I hate to mention. A long time ago, I was a positive, upbeat, people-loving kind of person. But after being in the consulting business, I’ve found myself getting taken advantage of, used, abused, unpaid, underpaid, unappreciated, and more. It’s a constant fight to resist wanting to retreat to the woods and off the grid. That is not to say that people, in general, are bad. It’s just that when you have your IT hat on, people seem to look at you in a different light. You are both savior and sinner in one stressed-out package.

5: The chain of command

Let’s face it. Not many higher-ups understand your job. They think you should be able to get everything done on a shoestring budget, with no help, and you should treat end users as if they were better humans than yourself. And to make matters worse, the higher-ups want you to magically make those PCs last for more than a decade. This misunderstanding of both duty and technology does one thing: It makes your job impossible. When the powers-that-be begin to micromanage your department for you, every single bad element is exacerbated. You know your job and you know you know your job. Management does not know your job, but they don’t know they don’t know your job. It’s all a vicious Mobius strip of stress.

6: Technology

Have you ever had one of those days when it seems like the whole of technology has rebelled against you and it looks like the singularity might very well be on the horizon? Those days will have you wishing you were walking out of the building with your belongings in a cardboard box. This has been one of the issues I have had to deal with since working with a consultancy that deals primarily with Windows clients. It seems that entropy has a strong hold on the Windows operating system, and every day is a battle to keep PCs and systems working. Some days you win that battle, some days you lose it. The days you win are always lost in the pile of days you lose.

7: Competition

One thing you can count on — there will always be someone better than you. But in the IT industry, it isn’t a 1:1 ratio. Instead, it seems that for every one of you there are one hundred IT pros who are smarter, faster, and better equipped. That ratio is quickly realized in dollar signs. Remember, the IT landscape is constantly changing, and if you can’t keep up, you may not be hired or remain employed. The longer I am in this business, the more I realize it’s a young person’s game. Being as agile as necessary, being able to work the necessary hours… it all adds up. I’m not saying us older folks can’t run with the pack. We can. But every day we work is another day even more competition is added to the field, and the competition is fierce.

8: The cloud

Every time I hear an actor on TV speak the phrase “to the cloud” I want to pull out my hair and kick in the television. The cloud has been one of those aspects of IT whose definition has been, and probably always will be, in flux. What exactly is the cloud? Should I be using it? Is the cloud safe? How much does the cloud cost? I get hit with these questions all the time. Generally, I just answer by asking the clients if they’ve used Google Docs before. If they say “yes,” I tell them they are already using the cloud. But that is never satisfying. Clients and end users want the cloud to be some magical experience that will make all their work easier, better, and faster. If only they knew the truth.

9: Lack of standards

Our lives would be infinitely better if some sort of standards could be applied, across the board, in IT. Many open source projects have done everything they can to achieve a set of standards, only to be knocked down by proprietary software. Those proprietary software vendors want to keep their code closed and not compliant with standards so they can keep their bottom line as padded as possible. I get that, I really do. But while they are refusing to conform to any sort of standard, they are causing end users and IT pros any number of horrendous headaches on a daily basis. There is no reason why standards can’t be followed without preventing proprietary software vendors from making a killing.

10: Respect

The general public has a bad taste in its mouth for IT professionals. Why? There are many reasons. They’ve been burned before. They’ve been ripped off before. They’ve had consultants who only seemed to want to sell them bigger and better things. So long has this gone on, and so jaded has the public become, that IT pros have a hard time earning respect. Oh sure, when they see you walk in the door you are their best friend… for the moment. But the minute you get that one “impending doom” issue resolved, it’s time to go off on you or insist you do more than they hired you to do (or more than you have time to do).