The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier

with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

The European Commission has asked major Hollywood movie studios to provide information about their choices of high-definition DVD formats as part of an informal examination for the possibility of antitrust activity.

The two competing standards — HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc — have each won exclusive support from different studios, causing concern that antitrust regulations may have been violated.

“I can confirm that we requested such information from the major studios in the context of fact-finding by the European Commission about possible discrimination towards certain formats,” Jonathan Todd, the European Commission’s spokesperson for competition, told TechNewsWorld. //–>
Still Informal

No formal investigation has been launched so far, Todd added. That question will be decided after the collection of further information.

Todd declined to provide further details about which studios have been contacted, but noted that the studios have until Friday to respond. The EC sent out letters in June, he added, noting that the commission is undertaking this effort on its own initiative.

This new shift in focus onto the Hollywood studios follows the European Commission’s launching of its broad inquiry into the competing formats last year. In August it began with inquiries directed at the Blu-ray and HD DVD originating groups, which are led by Sony (NYSE: SNE)
and Toshiba , respectively.Blu-ray Ahead

Both high-definition formats are designed to offer better quality than traditional DVDs, but which one to support is a decision faced by both consumers and producers.

Among the movie studios, Blu-ray appears to be in the lead, as it has gained the support of every major studio except Universal Pictures, which has committed to HD DVD exclusively.

Meanwhile, Blu-ray gained another vote recently from Blockbuster. After tests that found consumers with a choice rented Blu-ray discs more than 70 percent of the time, Blockbuster announced in June that it would be supporting the Blu-ray format in all its stores.

Toshiba lowered its sales
target last month for high-definition DVD players and recorders because of disappointing sales figures in the United States.Déjà Vu

The choice between Blu-ray and HD DVD is reminiscent of the one consumers faced years ago between VHS and Betamax, but so far, few consumers have committed to either format. Only about 105,000 homes have purchased Blu-ray players to date, compared with about 150,000 homes that have chosen HD DVD players, Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, told TechNewsWorld.

Of course, Sony’s PlayStation 3 also supports Blu-ray, and there are about 2 million of those in consumers’ hands, Adams added. However, few consumers use those devices to play movies, he said.

High definition will ultimately take over the market, Adams noted, but it will take some time. “Between the two formats, we’re expecting that half of U.S. homes will have a high-definition player by 2012,” he said, including game devices such as the PS3.’Inevitable Evolution’

For the movie studios, “there is not a great deal of urgency,” Adams added, since titles released in high-definition format currently bring in a fraction of what the traditional DVD versions earn.

“We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars so far, or maybe a million for a big title, compared with a hundred million on traditional DVD,” he said.

Nevertheless, “this is an inevitable evolution,” Adams concluded. “It’s still very early on.”

The

HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

Network connectivity has quickly and quietly become necessary — and is sometimes even taken for granted — in today’s high-tech, instant-communications environment.

Part 1 of this three-part series on next-generation networking takes a look at how the need to comply with new, more stringent information security
regulations and reporting requirements is prompting carriers and multinational organizations to pursue “Everything over IP” technology plans.Part 2 explores how this movement is progressing, focusing on the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers’ 802.16 (WiMax) and 802.11n wireless broadband networking standards, as well as 802.11i, more commonly known as “WPA 2″ — the all-important latest iteration of wireless communication security protocols.

Part 3 continues the discussion. //–>
The Need for Mobile Access

The multi-megabyte and gigabit throughput that optical fiber, wave division multiplexing and wide area Ethernet are bringing to the wired world is what the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
‘ 802.11n WiFi, 802.16 WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and 802.20 Mobile Broadband Wireless Access standards promise in the wireless and mobile networking space.

In the wireless local-area, or WiFi, networking space, the first 802.11n-compliant equipment is already out on the market with the complete specification only now moving through the final ratification process. The 802.11n standard promises to quadruple WAN (wide area network) throughput compared to existing 802.11 a/b/g standards, and will be backwards-compatible with them.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, as part of its strategy to develop a “knowledge-based” economy, announced plans to invest some HK$210 million (US$27 million) to build a free Hong Kong-wide WiFi network.

The Hong Kong Broadcast Network is in the midst of expanding its triple-play Metro Ethernet IP network and services to reach a targeted 95 percent of the SAR’s population — some 2 million households and 1,800 commercial buildings. It plans to invest HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) in various high-density residential areas of Hong Kong this year to develop more than 1,000 WiFi hotspots, offering wireless broadband connectivity as a community service to the public, said Wai Kay “Ricky” Wong, chairman and cofounder of City Telecom (HK).

“We are very excited to learn that the government would be investing in a free-to-all WiFi wireless broadband network,” Wong said, “as our neighbors, such as Taiwan and Singapore — with their governments’ support — have already developed into wireless broadband cities. Each now enables over 10,000 hot spots.”

To stay competitive, Hong Kong should speed up the wireless networking process to sustain the region’s role as Asia’s telecommunications hub, Wong added.WiMax’s Promise

WiMax, IEEE 802.16, is foreseen to be the key enabler for “last-mile connectivity” for mobile and fixed wireless access from homes and businesses to metro-wide area networks. How quickly and how well this is realized remains to be seen.

Initial trials and buildouts are taking place primarily in Asia, the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe, while Tier 1 carriers such as BT, KT and Sprint (NYSE: S) have launched ambitious WiMax initiatives. Alvarion, Airspan, Aperto and Redline are the current infrastructure leaders, according to recent research conducted by In-Stat Research Networking Group senior analyst Daryl Schoolar.

At the end of last year, some 2,800 out of an estimated 213,300 WiMax subscribers came from Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Schoolar told TechNewsWorld. These are areas where fixed is taking hold due to lack of wire line deployments.

“In many cases, I believe the service provider starts off by targeting businesses, as they are less cost-sensitive when it comes towards CPE (customer-premises equipment) costs. This allows for quicker ROI (return on investment),” he added. “Then the service provider can concentrate on residential.”Access, Spectrum and Initial Entrants

WiMax access points, spectrum availability and who will deploy are the big uncertainties at the moment, Schoolar continued.

“Right now, it’s mainly smaller providers who have been trailing WiMax,” he said. “Sprint and KT are the big exceptions. I think it will take a few years to get all regulatory spectrum issues resolved before we get a real good understanding of what is going on. I do think over time you will see other Tier 1 Carriers move into WiMax, with BT being the most likely candidate.”

In the U.S., 2.5 GHz is owned by Sprint and Clearwire, and both can do mobile and fixed, Schoolar said. AT&T (NYSE: T) owns some 2.3 GHz, but has stated no plans for WiMax other than a possible fixed solution in areas DSL (digital subscriber line) does not reach.

“The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) just opened up 3.5 GHz which could increase WiMax in the U.S. It uses a hybrid license scheme. [Companies] don’t have to pay for it but have to register networks deployed in the space and can’t just sit on the spectrum to prevent other market entrants,” Schoolar concluded.

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In what could be a victory for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)
and a blow to the open source community, the state of Massachusetts has added Microsoft’s Office Open XML standard to its list of potential standards it will allow for government use.

The inclusion of Office Open XML came in the latest version of Massachusetts’ Enterprise Technical Reference Model (ETRM), a regularly-updated state list of permitted standards. The new ETRM includes “Ecma-376 Office Open XML Formats (Open XML)” as a potentially acceptable open format.

The “Ecma” refers to Ecma International, an industry standardization organization that standardized Office Open XML in December. Office Open XML, often abbreviated as OOXML and sometimes called just Open XML, was created by Microsoft for Microsoft Office 2007 as a proposed open standard for word-processing documents, presentations and spreadsheets that can work on multiple platforms. //–>
Send Those Cards and Letters

OOXML was standardized by Ecma International as Ecma 376 in December 2006, and it is currently being being reviewed by international standards organizations ISO and IEC. The Massachusetts proposal to accept OOXML, even before the ISO and IEC take action, is now open for public discussion and comment. The discussion period ends July 20, and public comments can be submitted to standards@state.ma.us.

Massachusetts is one of several government entities that are requiring the use of open source applications for tasks including document creation. Forcing workers to use free and open programs, such as OpenOffice, is seen by some as a way to free government from Microsoft’s virtual monopoly — with Microsoft Office — on office productivity.At Least They’re Trying

While Microsoft says OOXML is a true effort to give an open source alternative to Office, critics say the program is not truly open, despite the Ecma endorsement. Nevertheless, open source expert and advocate Andy Updegrove believes the Massachusetts Information Technology Department (ITD) should not be harshly criticized for its proposed inclusion of OOXML as an approved platform.

“After all the ITD has been through, perhaps we should just say, ‘Thanks, you deserve a rest,’” Updegrove told LinuxInsider. “Massachusetts clearly got the bandwagon rolling, and if OOXML stays in the new draft, the ITD can take credit not only for giving ODF [open document format] credibility, but also for moving Microsoft from where it was this time two years ago — with a proprietary standard — to one that is at least in Ecma and backed by a patent non-assert covenant.”

Those passionate about the issue should focus their energy on urging the Massachusetts Legislature and governor to get involved in the matter, Updegrove believes. It’s not fair, he said, to ask non-elected bureaucrats, such as Bethann Pepoli, the ITD’s chief technology officer, to bear the brunt of public pressure on one side and corporate lobbying on the other.Under Pressure

“How much pressure has the Massachusetts ITD been under to accept Ecma 376? I’ve been told by those in the know that the contacts reached all the way to Deval Patrick, our new governor,” wrote Updegrove in his blog. “Here, as in the states where legislation was introduced, the point was forcefully and repeatedly made that Microsoft is the kind of company that can provide jobs and other economic support where and as it pleases. And, to be fair, the same points were been made in the past by representatives of IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Sun when they have spoke out in favor of ODF.”

There remains a chance that Massachusetts’ proposed action will be approved and will give state office workers no real reason to use anything other than Open Office XML, Updegrove said. “Office still commands a huge lead in the marketplace, and its ability to outspend the new entrants (many open source) into the office productivity suite marketplace will be enormous,” he wrote. “If no one is buying ODF-compliant products, no one will develop them. And if no one is developing them, no one will be competing with Microsoft.”

However, Updegrove told LinuxInsider he prefers to look at the bright side.

“I’m a bit more optimistic than that,” he said. “This is a comment draft, and if the comments are vigorous enough, wide enough and persuasive enough, they will give the ITD cover. Don’t forget this happened once before, when OOXML was in an earlier draft of the ITD and the public comments were what pushed it back out again.”

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A U.S. subsidiary of Germany’s SAP (NYSE: SAP)
made “inappropriate downloads” of documents from the Web site of rival Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) , SAP acknowledged, but the company denied the actions represented corporate espionage.

In response to a suit filed by Oracle in March, SAP said its division TomorrowNow was authorized to download documentation such as software patches and support documents.

While the subsidiary engaged in questionable downloads, SAP said the information was kept in that unit’s separate computer systems, and that at no time did the parent company have access to Oracle’s intellectual property. SAP claims Oracle suffered no harm as a result of the downloads. //–>
Untrue Allegations?

“Oracle’s allegation that [TomorrowNow’s] downloading conduct was ‘corporate theft’ or involved SAP AG or SAP America is simply untrue,” SAP says in its 20-page response to Oracle’s complaint. TomorrowNow, which SAP bought in 2005, was formed by former employees at PeopleSoft, which Oracle acquired around the same time.

SAP will fully cooperate with a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to provide “certain documents” relating to the case, the company noted.

“Even a single inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective. We regret very much that this occurred,” SAP CEO Henning Kagermann said. “SAP takes any departure from the high standards we set for all of our businesses very seriously, regardless of where it occurred or how confined it may be.”

Oracle claims that SAP pilfered the documents in order to be able to support customers it was trying to lure away with promises of a smooth changeover and lower support costs. That program, known as “Safe Passage,” was targeted at customers of software vendors being acquired by Oracle — especially PeopleSoft, and later Siebel — many of whom were concerned that their applications would no longer be supported after Oracle acquired their vendors.

Oracle claimed in its original complaint that SAP downloaded more than 10,000 documents over a five-month period.Connections in Question

Oracle’s suit charges SAP with copyright infringement, unauthorized use of copyrighted materials, violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as well as breach of contract and “intentional interference with prospective economic advantage.” It seeks unspecified damages as well as court costs and legal expenses.

In June, Oracle updated the complaint to include the allegation that SAP gained unauthorized entry into Oracle’s support system in January to download a patch meant to address the early change to daylight-saving time, and that within days, an identical solution was offered by TomorrowNow.

The downloads in question were confined to the Bryan, Texas, headquarters of TomorrowNow, SAP said, which is authorized to access Oracle’s support site, known as “Customer Connection,” on behalf of customers who use Oracle products and hire TomorrowNow for support.

In addition to announcing its filing with the Court, SAP said it would make changes in the way TomorrowNow is run to “ensure compliance with appropriate business practices.” SAP installed Mark White, a former SAP America COO, as TomorrowNow’s executive chairman and charged him with overseeing compliance. The firm’s employees will also undergo additional training, SAP said.

SAP did not specify what the inappropriate downloads consisted of, but it is likely that they involved cases in which the firm’s employees downloaded more than just the documentation or code they needed to support customer needs.

The case has now become as much a public relations battle as a legal one, Ovum analyst David Mitchell told the E-Commerce Times.

SAP not only responded to the complaints, but held a lengthy conference call with executives to discuss the filing and the changes at TomorrowNow. It also established a Web site where it will provide updates on the case as it moves forward, Mitchell noted.

“Although many will see the legal teams as the cavalry in this battle, the troops that really matter are the PR Special Forces contingent. PR is where this battle will be won or lost,” he said.

The legal case still has months to play itself out, Mitchell predicts. “Irrespective of the legal conclusion to the case, a significant part of the impact for both Oracle and SAP will be related to how each manages the public relations impact,” he added.Skirmish in the Application Wars

On the legal front, SAP is taking a “corporate firewall” position, saying that the TomorrowNow business was separate and distinct from SAP itself.

The corporate spying allegations are just the latest battle in what has become an all-out war to win market share in the business application space. Oracle has spent much of the past five years on an acquisition spree to arm itself for the conflict, scooping up PeopleSoft, Siebel and others as it expanded from a database player to a full-fledged provider of business applications.

Along with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , SAP remains Oracle’s main rival and is a favorite target of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who often calls out SAP by name when touting his own company’s growth.

Oracle was quick to point out that SAP had acknowledged some wrongdoing. “Oracle filed suit to discover the magnitude of the illegal downloads and fully understand how SAP used Oracle’s intellectual property in its business,” Oracle Counsel Geoff Howard said.

Oracle recently posted strong quarterly earnings, though the company’s true growth rate can be hard to decipher given the continued acquisition spree, Enderle Group Principal Analyst Rob Enderle told the E-Commerce Times.

While such a strategy
is rife with risks due to the need to blend cultures and technologies, Oracle seems to have made it work so far and in doing so, has put itself on a crash course with SAP and Microsoft.

“There’s nothing subtle about SAP’s strategy,” Enderle added.

The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems

earlier with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

The Linux community is splitting — right down the middle, at this point — over Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT)
controversial claims that the open source operating system
infringes on patents it holds.

On June 19, Paris-based Mandriva became the third Linux vendor within five days to say it isn’t interested in signing a licensing deal with Microsoft to avoid possible infringement claims. A blog posting to that effect by Mandriva CEO Francois Bancilhon followed similar declarations by officials at Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and Canonical, which oversees Ubuntu Linux.

However, earlier in June, Microsoft announced collaboration agreements with Xandros and Linspire that included patent covenants absolving them of any charges that their Linux distributions infringe on Microsoft intellectual property. Those deals were similar to the highly publicized agreement that Microsoft and Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) , the developer of Suse Linux, signed last fall. //–>
‘The Battle Is Just Beginning’

Broward County Public Schools in Sunrise, Fla., uses Linux throughout its operations. CIO Vijay Sonty said via e-mail that the split between Linux vendors over dealing with Microsoft “is not good for open source” and could give Microsoft an advantage in pressing its patent claims.

Sonty added that he thinks Microsoft “is lining up partners to go against” Red Hat and Ubuntu, which he sees as the company’s biggest threats in the Linux camp. “The battle is just beginning,” he wrote. “We don’t know what is underneath the iceberg yet.”

However, Colt Jackson, a systems engineer and AIX technical expert at health insurer CareFirst in Owings Mills, Md., said in an e-mail that there are two sides to the Microsoft vs. Linux story.

“On one hand, it’s a sexy story to portray this as a bit of a David vs. Goliath [battle], or a shakedown,” Jackson wrote. “On the other hand, if a company does not defend its patents, it will effectively lose control of them. “

CareFirst is the parent company of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, which insures 3.1 million people in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Jackson, who runs some utility applications on top of Suse Linux at CareFirst, said he isn’t worried about any fallout from Microsoft’s patent claims. However, he added, “if I were running a highly specialized application on a smaller [distribution], I might be concerned enough to have a contingency plan.”Deal or No Deal?

The intellectual property issue came to a head after Microsoft executives asserted in May that Linux and other open source technologies infringe on 235 of its patents. The Microsoft officials said that they wanted to sign more deals like the one with Novell, which agreed to pay Microsoft a share of the revenue from sales of Suse Linux.

Kevin Carmony, CEO of San Diego-based Linspire, said in a statement issued June 13 that his company’s agreement with Microsoft was designed to give users “improved interoperability, enhanced functionality and confidence.”

However, in his blog posting in June, Mandriva’s Bancilhon contended that “absolutely no hard evidence” has been produced showing that Linux or other technologies infringe on any patents. “We don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job, or to pay protection money to anyone,” he wrote.

On June 16, Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth wrote in his personal blog that Ubuntu and Canonical officials had declined to discuss any deals with Microsoft “under the threat of unspecified patent infringements.” That came one day after Linux market leader Red Hat reiterated that it wasn’t interested in negotiating an agreement.

In a statement e-mailed in June by Microsoft’s public relations agency, David Kaefer, the software vendor’s general manager of intellectual property and licensing, said Microsoft “remains committed to working with all companies that have a shared interest in building the bridge between open source and proprietary software.”Softer Targets

“Microsoft has been buying up deals with little fish and companies that aren’t quite making it financially,” open source advocate Bruce Perens said, referring to its agreements with Novell, Linspire and Xandros. However, the vendors that have resisted its offers are taking the right stand, he said.

Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata in Nashua, N.H., agreed that companies like Xandros and Linspire were “softer targets” for Microsoft. Vendors like Red Hat and Canonical “don’t need to take out the insurance policies” with Microsoft on its infringement claims, Eunice said.

However, Laura DiDio, an analyst at Yankee Group Research in Boston, said it makes sense for some of the Linux vendors to sign deals with Microsoft that indemnify their customers against any claims.

“It can impact enterprise users if somebody decides to sue for patent infringement … and they don’t have any protection in place,” DiDio said. “That is always a danger.”

Be a Rockstar to Your Marketing Department


These days, IT staffers work to fulfill a lot of requests. Like finding an email marketing solution for your marketing department. Lyris ListManager is the robust, scalable, and easily integrated solution your team needs. Download your free trial version today.

Navigation planning has hit critical mass. Today’s markets are more competitive than ever. With that in mind, it is paramount that you attract visitors to your Web site. When developing a Web site, you need a strategy
, as there are crucial elements which need to be planned in order for you to succeed.

The worst scenario is to have visitors come to your Web site only to become confused and frustrated at the fact that they can’t find what they are looking for. This ultimately leads to them exiting and finding a Web site which can deliver what they need. //–>
Taxonomy Is Key

How are users going to navigate throughout your Web site? It is vital that they understand your products and/or services. Before you start building out your Web site, invest time in determining what the top-level pages are going to be, and how the content of these top-level pages is going to help categorize your products or services.

Try to stay away from terminology such as “About Us” or “Our Services” as they do not describe what is being offered or give information on what the user will receive if they click that particular link. Try using key phrases as much as possible.

This will ensure that the search engines understand what the link is about and that weight will be given for the key phrase to the page it links to.

For example, instead of using the terminology “About Us” try featuring your actual company name, such as “About Tommy’s Bait Shack.” This allows the search engines and users to better understand the link.Technology: Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy

We now know that the planning of the navigation structure is crucial to search engines and users navigating through your site. This, however, can all be in vain as certain technology can keep the search engines from crawling your Web site, or not allow users to fully access your navigation.

For example, if your navigation was built in Java
script and uses drop down menus to showcase particular sections, the search engines most likely will not be able to follow those links. This limitation can also be felt by visitors who currently have Java script disabled within their Web browsers. Also, if there are errors within the Java script code it will most likely crash the Web browser.

Un-crawlable technologies include:Java script-based navigationFlash-based navigationAjax-based navigation

Technology exists to aid in your navigation becoming fully crawlable and easy to navigate. One of these technologies uses cascading style sheets (CSS). You can achieve the same results with CSS as you could with other technologies; however the difference is that CSS is completely crawlable by the search engines and visitors to your Web site will have no problem viewing the navigation.Maximizing the Usability of Your Web Site

We previously discussed the importance of planning and building your primary navigation in the right structure, but there is more to Web site navigation than the primary navigation. There are three other types of navigation, which are important to ensuring the visitor has the best possible experience. These secondary navigations are listed and described below.Bread Crumb Navigation. It can be defined as a horizontal navigation, which is a pathway the user has taken to arrive at the current page, relative to the home page of your Web site. We have found that it is crucial the user be only a maximum of two clicks away from any other page throughout your Web site.Footer Navigation. This style navigation should mimic the primary navigation’s top-level structure. The footer navigation typically appears at the very bottom of each page. This allows visitors navigate to other pages when at the bottom of a particular page.Sitemap. The sitemap is an additional page on your Web site which showcases the structure of the Web site from a top-level point of view, all the way to deep pages within your site. This page will act as a directory and will allow the search engines as well as visitors to access any other page throughout the Web site.

Each of the areas will help to ensure the successful navigation of your Web site.Understanding Navigation PrinciplesPoor navigation planning and build-out can impact your Web site. Using the wrong technology such as Java script or flash can have a negative impact on the crawlability of your Web site and the user experience as well.

Take the time to plan out the structure of your Web site and decide on a technology that will not inhibit the search engines or visitors from viewing your pages.

The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

While most iPhone owners couldn’t wait to try out their pricey new gadgets, a few raced to break them apart.

The dismantled — and in some cases, permanently busted — iPhones revealed one of Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL)
closely guarded secrets: The names of the companies that supplied the chips and other electronic components for the highly anticipated device.

The findings sent all but a few of the component makers’ stocks higher Monday, the first day of trading since the iPhone — a combination cell phone, music player and wireless Web browsing device — went on sale in the U.S. Friday evening for as much as US$600 a pop. //–>//–> Activation Problems

The parts makers stand to profit handsomely if the iPhone proves popular over time. Apple itself has set a target of selling 10 million units worldwide by 2008, gaining roughly a 1 percent share of the cell phone market.

The phone was sold out in most Apple and AT&T (NYSE: T) stores by Monday afternoon, said AT&T spokesperson Michael Coe. He declined to release specific sales
figures.

Coe added that most of the activation problems that surfaced over the weekend had been resolved. Some iPhone buyers had trouble switching over to AT&T from their previous wireless carrier, delays that AT&T blamed on overloaded servers, a problem with the company’s credit authorization system , and problems transferring customers’ business accounts to consumer accounts.

“The issue is essentially behind us now,” he said.Network Outages

However, as that problem passed, another glitch emerged. Some iPhone users in Western and Midwestern states were unable to get onto the Internet for several hours Monday because of outages on AT&T’s EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) network that were eventually fixed, Coe said. AT&T said it had not determined what caused the outages but was certain it wasn’t due to an influx of iPhone users.

Despite the problems, investors flocked to the iPhone’s newly unmasked parts makers.

Among the beneficiaries of Apple’s business and the tear-down buzz were semiconductor heavyweights Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) , Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) , Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and Infineon Technologies as well as lesser-known companies such as Skyworks Solutions and Linear Technology.

Some researchers said Apple’s secrecy surrounding the iPhone’s component suppliers is yet another example of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s vaunted ability to keep their partners tight-lipped even when facing a media frenzy and rampant speculation.’A Standard of Secrecy’

“They’re very good at it — and I think they make a point of holding their suppliers to a standard of secrecy, or you could lose the next round if you slip up,” said Howard Curtis, vice president of global services for Portelligent, a research company.

The secrecy continued Monday. Most of the component makers either didn’t return phone calls or declined to comment.

Much like the examinations of other much-hyped gadgets, the deconstruction of the iPhone was a mad dash to be the first to post online, with minute-by-minute updates on Web sites and the occasional howls of researchers who wound up destroying their iPhones.

Those that released detailed descriptions of the iPhone’s innards included sites such as ThinkSecret.com and iFixit.com as well as research companies Portelligent and Semiconductor Insights. Several analysts also published the results of their own tear-downs.The Big Winners

Based on the results, one of the biggest winners is South Korean chip maker Samsung Electronics , which is making the main microprocessor used to run the phone’s operating system and various applications. Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer, is also making a type of memory called NAND flash for the iPhone.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, is supplying another form of memory, called NOR flash, according to various research firms.

Intel is in the process of unloading its troubled unit that makes the memory, which is primarily used in cell phones, amid fears about its long-term viability with the rise of NAND flash, a cheaper alternative that’s commonly found in digital cameras and music players.

Intel’s stock rose 53 cents, or more than 2 percent, to $24.27 in Monday trading.Other Involved Firms

Other chip makers whose stock rose on their involvement with the iPhone included Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom, which is making a controller chip believed to be used for managing the touch-screen display. Broadcom’s stock price rose 52 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $29.77.

Texas Instruments is supplying a power-management chip. Shares of TI gained 43 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $38.06.

German chip maker Infineon Technologies, which makes parts that handle cellular communications for the iPhone, saw its American Depositary Shares rise 50 cents, or 3 percent, to $17.03.

However, it wasn’t just the heavyweights who benefited.

Woburn, Mass.-based Skyworks Solutions was revealed as the supplier of a power amplifier used in the iPhone. Skyworks’ shares jumped 26 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $7.61.

Shares of Milpitas, Calif.-based Linear Technology rose 50 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $36.68 after the company was identified as the maker of the iPhone’s battery charger chip.The iPhone Halo

Another company profiting from the iPhone is Cambridge Silicon Radio out of England. Researchers said the company is responsible for making chips that allow Bluetooth wireless connectivity for the iPhone.

However, the iPhone halo didn’t touch everyone Monday.

Apple, for one, fell 78 cents, or less than a percentage point, to $121.26.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, attributed the slight drop to profit-taking after a prosperous run over the past year, during which Apple’s stock price has more than doubled. On Monday his firm raised its price target for Apple to $165 per share.

Marvell Technology Group, the Santa Clara-based provider of chips that allow the iPhone to connect over WiFi networks, dropped 13 cents, or less than a percentage point, to $18.08. Santa Clara-based National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) , which is apparently making a display chip for the iPhone, fell a penny to $28.26.

The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE)
released two suites of software — Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection — representing a major step for the company as it integrates its recent acquisitions.

“They promised and they delivered,” Melissa Webster, program vice president for content and digital media technologies with IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

Among those acquisitions, Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) was by far the most important. Now, the video and audio production tools of that company are combined with the graphic design tools of Adobe’s older product line to create a “whole that is greater than the sum of the parts,” Webster asserted. //–>
Video on the Move

Production Premium is a collection of integrated, cross-platform, post-production software tools targeting video professionals working with film, broadcast, DVD, Web and mobile devices, the company said.

One of the most useful applications added to the suite is Sound Booth, noted Webster. In the past, videographers looking to integrate sound into their visual material had to use higher-end audio production tools. Now, they can use a more intuitive, less technical program oriented more toward their needs and integrated better into their natural workflow, she said.

In addition, the video applications include features that enable videographers to view their footage in the field and assess its quality. This goes a long way when shooting video in temporal or remote locations. Learning after the shoot that the image quality or composition is not up to par can be frustrating and expensive.Multipurpose Design

Master Collection combines 12 of Adobe’s design and development tools, software traditionally used by graphic design, marketing
and Web professionals. However, these designers increasingly are being asked to work either in multiple media at once or with a view toward repurposing content, said Webster.

For example, an advertising campaign originally designed for a print publication might be transferred to the Web shortly after its launch. That transfer involves much more than simply resizing images or recoloring a background, Webster stressed. The fact that the Creative Suite line provides much closer integration among design tools will help teams of designers that must cope with a variety of outlets.No More Platform Wars

Adobe’s software applications have been at the center of the operating system wars for decades. The Creative Suite line, though, is available for both Windows and Mac OS platforms — a big step in the right direction, Laura DiDio, research fellow with Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld. “The operating system is, and should be, a moot point,” she said.

However, the operating system has been anything but moot to the users of Adobe software in the past. The video production tool Premier, for example, now runs on Macintosh computers for the first time in the software’s history. That’s a big deal to video production shops that had to use other programs for video production in order to stay with the Mac platform for other design applications.

Similarly, graphic designers historically have clung to their Macs despite the fact that popular illustration and design applications have been available in Windows versions for some time. Now, design studios that have felt pressure to switch to one platform or another will make those decisions based on the merits of the operating systems, not the applications that run on them, noted DiDio.

Both suites are available immediately. The estimated retail price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection is US$2,499. The estimated retail price for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is $1,699.

The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier with Systems Insight Manager software — and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)
and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) have come together to launch the 1,000 Indies Project, in which the online retailer will sell independent films in the HD DVD format via its CustomFlix DVD on Demand service.

The venture, according to Microsoft, is designed to lower the barriers to entry for filmmakers to produce and distribute movies in the HD DVD format by providing free authoring and setup services for as many as 1,000 selected indie titles.

“This collaboration with Microsoft is a great opportunity for independent filmmakers to reach Amazon customers with their films via the HD DVD format,” said Peter Faricy, vice president of music and movies at Amazon.com. “By working together with Microsoft and leveraging the proven CustomFlix DVD on Demand model, we can lower the barriers to entry for independent filmmakers and dramatically increase the selection we offer our customers.”

Joining the two companies, the Sundance Channel will review the high-definition features for possible broadcast on the pay-TV network. The channel has also committed to making its own original eco-series in high-definition, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” that will also be available using the CustomFlix service. //–>
Customized HD DVDs

CustomFlix, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, is a technology through which HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs are produced and shipped as they are ordered. Consumers trigger the automated process when they purchase a movie using CustomFlix. After purchasing the film, it is then burned onto a disk and any accompanying packaging is also produced at that time. The newly made disk is then shipped out.

The boon for independent filmmakers is that it greatly improves the cost structure for independent filmmakers by eliminating the need for costly inventory. They also get the benefit of using Microsoft’s VC-1 HD DVD encoding technology and authoring innovative interactive scenarios with HDi, said Amir Majidmehr, corporate vice president for the consumer media technology group at Microsoft.

“From a technical standpoint, we found that the HD DVD format fits our business model perfectly,” said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, cofounder and managing director of CustomFlix. “With retail shelf space at a premium, our model eliminates the risk of carrying inventory and immediately expands the number of great HD DVD titles available to consumers.”Another Salvo

Blu-ray, a high-definition disc format backed by Sony (NYSE: SNE) , lately appears to have been winning the lion’s share of skirmishes in the high-def format wars, in part due to the inclusion of the player in the PlayStation 3 video game console, James McQuivey, a Forrester Research analyst told TechNewsWorld. In addition, Sony was able to straddle the line between consumer equipment manufacturer and movie studio to convince all but one of the major film studios to exclusively release their films on Blu-ray.

“They are the one player that is both a movie studio and a manufacturer,” McQuivey pointed out. “They were able to speak the language of both sides. So they were able to get more manufacturers and more movie studios.”

For Amazon, one reason behind their decision to go with HD DVD over Blu-ray was that authoring HD DVD is much cheaper than Blu-ray. More technology is needed to create the manufacturing line for Blu-ray disks than for HD DVD, Joshua Martin, a Yankee Group analyst told TechNewsWorld.

“It’s completely different than standard DVD, and HD DVD is only a little different. With HD DVD you can use the same infrastructure
, just change some of the parts,” he explained.

However, Martin does not believe that the project will do much to boost the HD DVD format. “I don’t think it really does a whole lot. If the big blockbuster movies aren’t doing enough to resonate with consumers, independent films that have a small or niche audience wouldn’t be compelling enough for consumers to pick one format over the other or even upgrade to that format at all.”

The deal between Microsoft and Amazon.com is yet another episode in the tit for tat battle between the HD DVD and Blu-ry formats, which is really between the Toshiba/Microsoft camp and Sony, Van Baker, a Gartner (NYSE: IT) analyst, told TechNewsWorld. Last week, Blockbuster announced that it would expand its offerings of Blu-ray discs rather than the HD DVD format. With Amazon, however, it appears HD DVD has won the battle.

“Given Sony’s struggles with PS3 sales , this could be a protracted battle, and that favor HD VOD over either physical media format,” he explained. “The longer the battle goes on the less relevant both formats become.”

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In the U.S., a lot of folks are off this week because the 4th of July, which marks the Independence Day holiday, comes on a Wednesday this year. An impressive number of Americans have been spending the last few days scrambling to buy a US$3,000 phone, and I think it is time to begin talking about the impact of this event.

In addition, last week Gateway (NYSE: GTW) announced a laptop that has been designed specifically for artists and would likely be ideal for photographers and video artists that need editing capability in the field.

Finally, given that summer is here, my recommended products will drift to things you build or play with during your lazy summer days. I just discovered an Xbox 360
mod kit that was a dream to install and resulted in what I think Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) should have done with this product to begin with, so it’s my product of the week.

Before moving on, check out how a couple of enterprising IT guys got their company tobuy them iPhones. //–>
iPhone Impact

While I’m tempted to start by suggesting a lot of spouses will be having their significant othercommitted for buying a first-generation phone and paying between $2,000 and $6,000 for it, the fact of the matter is this is a major event, and it will have a significant impact throughout the year.

The most obvious thing is the revelation for companies like Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and Sony. Their marketing
, R&D and engineering staffs are likely getting an earfull from their executive managers, boards and stockholders, all asking why Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) could get lines around stores and they couldn’t.

Think about it, the cell phone market is a mature market. Regardless of any limitations the iPhone has, no outside vendor should have been able to step in and create so much demand. Even the Razr didn’t have lines of people waiting to buy it on the first day.

The initial performance of this product makes every other company in this space — with the possible exception of HTC, which actually got a competing product to market — look like it needs a top-level shakeup. Were I an executive manager or board member for any of these firms, I would be asking whether we needed a new executive staff that could execute like Apple did.

The second thing is what the backlash for this product is likely to be to the technology industry in general — and Apple in particular. The phone does promise more than it actually delivers, and there will be a number of folks with serious buyer’s remorse as a result.

In addition, the money folks are using to pay for this likely otherwise would have been spent for other technology items like laptops, TVs, and stereos. This money is now spent, and there is no expected windfall coming that will allow it to be spent again. This suggests sales for a lot of these high-ticket items will be soft for a while, and Apple — and others — will likely see a drop in PC and iPod product sales as a result.

No one has a money tree — or anyone who does isn’t telling anyone. The significant sums iPhone owners are paying initially and then monthly will decrease their disposable income — and, as a result, the number of additional tech products they buy.

The third big thing is a change in how consumers generally look at phones. This may be the beginning of the end for traditional laptop computers and MP3 players like iPods. You don’t need two music players. Even before the iPhone, kids in Asia were indicating they could live off their cell phone and increasingly didn’t need a laptop computer.

As cell phones like the iPhone continue to gain in capability, there likely will be less and less need over time for either a standalone MP3 player or a laptop. Desktops could come back into vogue, or server-based services could fill the gap, but this is a huge change — and it is just beginning.

Finally, this clearly demonstrates the power of solid demand-generation marketing. For any engineering company that simply doesn’t understand the value of good marketing, the iPhone launch provides a solid example of how great marketing is even more valuable than a great product.

What happens after launch will have a lot to do with both Apple sustaining marketing and how well these new Apple customers are treated by operations, but there has never really been a more solid example of the value of good marketing than the lines waiting for iPhones and Apple’s market valuation.The Artist’s Laptop

I’ve been doing a lot of photo and movie work of late as I test out the current crop of cameras and editing products. With the incredible power available in current editing tools, it’s possible to create professional quality projects with desktop hardware.

For instance, for video, I’ve recently fallen in love with Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate, which allows you to do green screen work. (If you watch “The Daily Show,” this is how they make it look like “reporters” are on location.)

Typically, however, you have to do all of this back at your desktop, and most of us simply aren’t equipped with the editing hardware — even on the desktop — to make this as easy as it should be. The problem, particularly with editing frames or photographs, is that the mouse sucks for detail work. Even if it didn’t, tracing things on a separate pad that are on a monitor or laptop screen requires a level of hand-eye coordination that only a very lucky — and well trained — few possess.

The right way to do it would be with a tablet computer, but the typical tablet screen is both too small and too imprecise to do the job easily enough.

Gateway stepped up and actually updated its 14-inch widescreen laptop, which was already unique, to specifically address this need. With theE-295C, it has gone to using a Wacom Pen and digitizer — a version of which is often used by professional artists — as its new touch screen technology.

Suddenly, there’s a tablet PC uniquely designed for those who want to create and edit graphics as God intended — with a stylus, not a mouse. Evidently, this product has been blessed by the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, which apparently helped drive this design specifically for its animation needs.

The product is heavy — particularly with the massive extended battery, which should last for about a day in use — but there is no product on the market I know of that addresses the artist better, and summer is a wonderful time to create memories, even if they actually exist only in your mind.Product of the Week: Xbox Mod

What is kind of funny about this is the way I discovered this product. A Microsoft friend of mine asked if I’d ever tried to mod an Xbox and pointed me at a product he was thinking of trying. After seeing thepictures, I immediately ordered it myself and modded both my Xbox 360 and two of mycontrollers.

Even without instructions — instructions are for pussies — I did both controllers in an hour and the Xbox itself in 20 minutes, and what resulted is incredibly cool. Total price including shipping and the recommended tool kit was under $150. The company also has mods for the Wii and the PS3, among others.

Couple of hints: If you try this, take off the ends of the Xbox 360 first, and don’t be afraid to break the case you are removing — it is tool-less and comes apart hard. Make sure you put on the DVD eject button before you snap the case closed, as it doesn’t want to come open once closed. On the controllers, there is a hidden screw under the label in the battery compartment.

Even making a number of mistakes,I did the whole thing in less than 90 minutes and it was a ball.