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  • Funai Seeks To Ban US Imports Of TV Makers


    A US judge has ruled that the digital television products of 14 companies, including Vizio, infringe patents held by Funai.

    The Japanese company is seeking a limited exclusion order barring importation of the infringing products into the US as well as a cease and desist order to prevent sale or distribution of infringing products there.

    Included are certain models of the brand names of Vizio, Ölevia, Proview, AOC and Envision, among others.

    Funai, which produces Philips-branded LCD TVs, saw its operating income increase by 108.8 per cent in the last quarter, largely off the back of sales of Blu-ray players and DTV converters.

    Last October, Funai filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against 14 respondents claiming infringement of Funai’s digital television patents.

    Three respondents settled and entered licenses with Funai during the course of the proceedings, and the ITC case continued as to the other 11 respondents.

    Two of the respondents defaulted during the course of the ITC case.

    Upon completion of the ITC proceeding, Funai expects to resume its suits that are pending in the US District Court against the same parties, seeking damages resulting from infringement of Funai’s digital television patents.

    An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the ITC has now issued an Initial Determination (ID) as to Funai’s claims that Vizio, TPV, Amtran, Proview, Syntax-Brillian and other respondents violate Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

    The ALJ has determined that the respondents’ digital television products infringe asserted claims of Funai Electric’s US Patent No. 6,115,074. Based on such determination, the ALJ will issue a Recommended Determination on Remedy by December 1, 2008.

    The ALJ’s ID is subject to review by the full Commission and, if reviewed by the Commission, a final determination is expected by the end of March 2009.

    The following is a list of the current respondents:

    Vizio, Inc., formerly known as V. Inc. (US)
    Amtran Technology Co., Ltd (Taiwan)
    Proview International Holdings, Ltd. (Hong Kong)
    Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (China)
    Proview Technology, Inc. (US)
    TPV Technology, Ltd. (Hong Kong)
    TPV International (USA), Inc. (US)
    Top Victory Electronics (Taiwan) Co., Ltd (Taiwan)
    Envision Peripherals, Inc.(US)
    Syntax-Brillian Corporation (US)
    Taiwan Kolin Co., Ltd (Taiwan)

  • Teens Muscling In On Smartphone Market


    It wasn’t so long ago that smartphones such as RIM’s Blackberry were only toted by nomadic executives on the road.

    Now it would seem that even teens have their eyes on the high-end handsets that are as prized for their multimedia functionality as for their business tools.

    A Sprint Nextel survey into US consumers’ intended purchase plans showed that 35 per cent would consider buying a smartphone for someone between the ages of 13 and 17.

    Just how much credit Apple’s iPhone can take for this shift remains to be seen – but it has undoubtedly played a big part.

    There is also the question of how well parents understand the cost implications of buying junior the latest smartphone – not least the usual two-year contracts over and above the handset cost.

    It’s also worth noting that after last Christmas a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, showed that Smartphones (excluding the iPhone and Blackberry) were the most returned electronic technology products of the holiday season.

    Just over one-fifth (21%) of smartphone buyers returned their purchase to the retailer.

    Let’s hope that lessons have been learnt for this year.

  • Sagem Embeds GPS Receiver into SIM Cards


    Smartcard vendor, Sagem Orga has formed a partnership with BlueSky Positioning to integrate its A-GPS positioning technology onto conventional SIM cards.

    A GPS receiver and proprietary antenna are integrated into the SIM card, which the companies say then enables mobile operators to deploy applications without the need for software or hardware changes.

    The A-GPS provides accurate positioning information for the phone to emergency services in case of an emergency call as required by E112 and E911 legislation in the EU and the US respectively.

    It can also support generic location-based services such as navigation, "find a place or person" services, location-aware games, and many more.

    Navigations solutions are increasingly availabile on smartphones and mobile phones.

    Sagem Orga and BlueSky Positioning say the two broad technical approaches that can deliver the accuracy required for these services demand either significant investment in networks by the mobile operator or the purchase of new handsets by the end user.

    In a statement, they said the A-GPS SIM would allow mobile operators to significantly increase the cost effectiveness of their services and size of their marketing target when launching new LBS.

    François Blanchard, global account marketing manager at Sagem Orga, said the technology would help the mobile industry overcome the "key stumbling block" to the success of location-based services – affordable, accurate positioning technology.

    "The SIM is entering a new era where it can now be considered as a real service platform and a valuable device; the A-GPS enabled SIM card will reshape the way SIM card are perceived by MNOs and end-users," he said.

  • HDTV Owners Prefer Blu-ray….They're Just Not Buying Them


    The latest survey from SmithGeiger shows that HDTV owners would rather watch movies on Blu-ray Disc than stream content directly to their TV.

    Well, hardly any surprise there. There’s never been any doubt about the phenomenal quality of Blu-ray images – but that still doesn’t seem to be translating into sales.

    Even with price drops in the US of between USD $200 and $300, the HD players aren’t rushing off the shelves.

    Texas superstore Bjorn’s and Pennsylvania-based Gerhard Appliances reported no sales change after Sony and Samsung cut USD $100 off their respective BDP-S350 and BD-P1500 models to USD $299 at the end of September.

    US consumer electronics retailers are hoping the fast approaching Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving Day and traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year – will prove to be a sales bonanza even with the current economic troubles.

    Yet, while SmithGeiger’s survey of 1,600 HDTV owners revealed a 10-to-1 preference for Blu-ray over streaming content it underlines Blu-ray’s problem.

    Too many consumers seem happy with their DVD players and appear unwilling to fork out for another machine – even if Blu-ray prices are now dropping rapidly.

    This reluctance is a barrier that the consortium of companies behind the HD technology have so far been unable to overcome.

    So perhaps the news that the movie studios and consumer electronic makers are going to begin a USD $25 million advertising promotion for Blu-ray is a step towards addressing what could be a fatal flaw.

    Especially since more set-top boxes are focussing on offering streaming digital content, with the cost of the services decreasing.

    A monthly subscription fee to Netflix is seen by many as a cheaper alternative to purchasing a Blu-ray player and discs, not least if you already own the movie on DVD.

    Streaming content is going to continue to expand and will become more lucrative, especially as a wider library of TV episodes and movies becomes available.

    Blu-ray beware – time is running out.

  • Data Loss Stats Testament To Poor Security


    Less than a fifth of consumers regularly back up data on PCs, according to security solutions firm Webroot.

    Its latest research report, “State of Internet Security: Protecting Your Digital Life”, also shows that nearly one in five users had never backed up their personal files.

    The primary reasons cited for not backing up were forgetting that it doesn’t happen automatically and that it takes too long.

    Webroot’s report says that PC users are storing vast amounts of personal, professional and financial data on their home computers – and 46 million users lost some, if not all, of their valuable data last year because it was left vulnerable to hardware failure, software corruption and human error.

    It concludes that while 98 per cent of PC users surveyed have antivirus protection on their computers and 95 per cent use firewall protection, few have safeguards in place for their data.

    Paul Lipman, Webroot’s senior vice president and general manager of the Desktop Business Unit, said the focus of PC security had traditionally been on protecting the computer, and not the data stored on it.

    "But it’s the precious personal files – digital photos, music and financial records – that cannot be replaced if they are lost,” he said.

    “Based on our research, nearly 90 people per minute experienced some loss of personal data last year.”

    According to the Webroot report, the average home PC user has nearly 2,000 digital photos and nearly 2,500 digital music files on their computer.

    Loss of family photos was the number one concern reported, followed by loss of financial information, text documents and work projects.

    Webroot has published suggestions for protecting valuable files, including usinge automatic online backup, not relying on free sites to archive digital photos and backing up laptops and mobile devices.

  • Storage To Buck General Drop in IT Hardware Spending


    Spending on storage is the only area of IT hardware that will avoid a drop-off in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis.

    A newly revised forecast from IDC suggests worldwide investment in information technology will slow significantly next year.

    It will grow 2.6 per cent year over year in 2009, down from IDC’s pre-crisis forecast of 5.9 per cent growth.

    In the United States, IT spending growth is expected to be 0.9 per cent in 2009, much lower than the 4.2 per cent growth forecast in August.

    On a sector basis, software and services will enjoy solid growth while hardware spending, with the exception of storage, is expected to decline in 2009.

    On a regional basis, spending growth in Japan, Western Europe, and the United States will hover around 1 per cent in 2009.

    In contrast, the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America will continue to experience healthy growth, but at levels notably lower than the double-digit gains previously forecast.

    John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC, said although all the economic forecasts went from up slightly to down drastically in a matter of days, the good news was that IT was in a better position to resist the downward pull of a slowing economy.

    "Technology is already deeply embedded in many mission-critical operations and remains critical to achieving further efficiency and productivity gains," he said. "As a result, IDC expects worldwide IT spending will continue to grow in 2009, albeit at a slower pace."

    Looking beyond 2009, IDC expects IT spending to make a full recovery by the end of the forecast period with growth rates approaching 6.0 per cent in 2012.

    Despite these gains, IDC estimates that more than USD $300 billion in industry revenues will have been lost due to slower spending over the next four years.

  • USB Virus Infections Spreading


    The number of computers infected with viruses from USB flash memory drives is spreading in Japan, according to a survey from Trend Micro.

    Results from the company’s monthly surveys show USB-mediated infections with Autorun, a typical computer virus, totaled 143 in August.

    The number rose to 347 in September and 471 in October.

    Based on the finding, the Tokyo-based virus-scanning software company has called on PC users to take precautions when sharing data with others via USB memory sticks.

    Conventional viruses are programmed to attack a computer when a file attached to an e-mail message opens or on-line software is downloaded.

    But the September survey found that 53.7 per cent of newly detected computer viruses are programmed to spread via USB devices.

    "It is recommended that users refrain from recklessly sharing USB devices. They should frequently run a virus scan," a Trend Micro official said.

    USB devices are a "blind spot" for computer users as many of them are only cautious against virus infections via e-mail messages and the Internet.

  • Internal Cloud Computing Option Avoids Outsourcing Concerns


    Data center software provider, Cassatt Corporation, has announced new service and technology offerings to help companies safely realize "internal cloud computing".

    Bill Coleman, chairman and CEO of Cassatt Corp, said this was an IT approach that delivers the benefits of cloud computing using the resources that organizations already have inside their data centers.

    He said cloud computing offers great promise by having third parties deliver the computing resources needed to run applications as an on-demand service, with a lot of the IT infrastructure invisible to the user.

    "However, at this point most IT professionals are not comfortable outsourcing Relevant Products/Services the mission-critical parts of their sensitive internal applications to an external cloud provider," he said.

    "They are concerned about availability, vendor lock-in, not having the control they need, and having to rebuild these applications from scratch with proprietary tools running on provider-specific platforms."

    To directly address these problems, the updated Cassatt offerings help customers implement cloud-style computing environments using their existing systems, inside the firewalls of their data centers without having to modify their current hardware or software.

    Coleman said the resulting "internal cloud" can provide the same operational efficiency, fault tolerance, and energy Relevant Products/Services savings promised by external clouds, but without the worries over security Relevant Products/Services, compliance, lack of control, or the need or delay required to change or replace their current applications.

  • Storage-as-a-service Market Rife With Opportunity


    Storage-as-a-service is more than just a viable alternative, according to two new IDC multi-client studies.

    An IDC survey of 812 firms reveals that demand for online storage services is very strong in small, mid-size, and large firms that are facing budgetary and IT staffing pressures.

    These companies are evaluating online services for backup/disaster recovery, long-term record retention, business continuity, and availability.

    On the consumer front, the storage-as-a-service opportunity is exploding as individuals need to store fast growing volumes of digital data.

    They are increasingly considering online services, as an alternative to a product purchase, for backing up, sharing, and preserving data long term.

    In both the commercial and consumer segments, the availability of storage-as-a-service is disrupting traditional storage software markets as it changes how individuals and firms access storage capacity and procure software functions.

    But, more importantly, storage-as-a-service is a precursor to the longer term cloud storage and cloud computing opportunity, IDC reveals.

    Brad Nisbet, program manager for Storage and Data Management Services at IDC, said that as consumers and business organizations continue to generate vast amounts of data and seek optimum methods to store and protect them, the growth of storage capacities delivered through storage-as-a-service offerings will outpace traditional storage architectures.

    "With storage-as-a-service capacity growing over 65 per cent from 174 petabytes in 2007 to over 2.1 exabytes in 2012, the market is rife with opportunity," he said.

    Laura DuBois, program director for Storage Software at IDC, said that today, in the commercial context, online backup and archiving services are the immediate manifestation of the longer term opportunity for a series of cloud-based services which will impact the storage industry.

    "Storage-as-a-service will take place in two phases: first as a way to enable protection, recovery, long-term retention, and business continuity, and second as a by-product of larger cloud computing initiatives," she said.

    Among the key survey results on the commercial side are:

    • Suppliers that offer a breadth of services to satisfy a range of use cases for storage-as-a-service will be a step ahead.
    • Storage-as-a-service is of interest as a lower cost alternative to on-premise solutions and secondarily in support of limited IT staff.
    • Firms show a preference for suppliers whose focus is on online services and for those that have a strong technical background.

    Among the key survey findings on the consumer side are:

    • Suppliers that understand the differences between the large population of consumers merely aware of online backup and those considering it will be at an advantage.
    • Motivators for early adoption of online backup have been for recovery, but individuals currently evaluating are motivated by anywhere files accessibility.
    • Consumers indicated a clear preference to get an online backup service from a dedicated online backup company, rather than from an IT supplier, phone company, or the like.

  • Vyke Announces Mobile VoIP For Windows Smartphones


    Vyke Communications has announced a beta version of its mobile VoIP software and service for all Windows Mobile 6.0 and higher based smartphones.

    The solution is based on Vyke’s stand-alone proprietary mobile VoIP technology, which the company claims allows it to provide high quality voice service while circumventing any operator handset tampering issues.

    Jan Berger, chief marketing officer, Vyke Communications, said the mobile VoIP software addressed the significant portion of the enterprise market that is Windows Mobile based.

    "As this stand alone software is compatible with a wide cross section of business orientated mobile handsets, it adds significantly to our potential customer base and will be an important tool in helping our enterprise sales team reach its goals," she said.

    While primarily intended for the enterprise sector, Vyke said the beta software will also be available for consumers to download before the end of November.