AMD has delayed general availability of some key products until early next year, when it projects the chips, along with other new processors, will return it to profitability.
The biggest hit went to its quad-core microprocessor, code-named Barcelona, which it needs to compete against Intel among server vendors. The chips, along with AMD's desktop platform, Phenom, won't be generally available to customers until the first quarter of next year. The products were supposed to ship in volume by the end of this year, but a technical design error in the chips caused AMD to slow the schedule so it could apply a fix, said Dirk Meyer, the company's president and chief operating officer (COO) in a meeting with analysts on Thursday.
The company's Puma platform, a set of chips aimed at laptop PCs, will also be delayed until the second quarter of next year, a costly miss considering the fact that the laptop PC market is growing at around 30 percent per year.
AMD also reduced its planned spending on new production lines to US$1.1 billion from a previous estimate of $1.7 billion, and said all its business divisions wouldn't return to profitability until next year.
The statements caused AMD's stock to fall as much as 5 percent during early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, before rebounding to down just 1.8 percent, at $8.81 in the afternoon. The market was still open as of this writing.
AMD executives apologized for missteps, such as the delay in Barcelona.
"We blew it and we’re very humbled by it and we learned from it and we’re not going to do it again," said Hector Ruiz, chairman and CEO of AMD. He said AMD would go back to its habit of under-promising and over-delivering.
To start, the company will be on a path to break even financially by the second quarter of next year, and return to profitability by the end of the third quarter, he said. The financial performance will be boosted by the launch of several new products in graphics, chipsets, digital TV processors and more, not including the delayed products.
The company forecast its processor shipments will rise at least 15 percent next year, while graphics processor shipment growth will be greater than 6 percent, digital TV processors more than 13 percent, and handheld chips up 8 percent.
AMD's gross margin will rise to between 46 percent and 50 percent next year, up from 37 percent during the past four quarters, said Bob Rivet, chief financial officer of AMD.
"We’re in a massive product refresh. In 2007, we were living on some old stuff. 2008 is all new stuff, and we believe it will yield goodness," he said.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
AMD fuses GPU, core logic, CPU on new 'Swift' chip
AMD plans to combine the functions of three chips into one code-named "Swift:" the GPU (graphics processing unit ), core-logic chipset and CPU (central processing unit), an executive said Thursday.
The company, which runs second to Intel in the global microprocessor business, plans to launch Swift in the second half of 2009. It's using parts of several of its top chips to create this new device, which it calls an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU).
"I keep telling you that it's not all about the CPU. The CPU is important but now there are other blocks that contribute to the experience a consumer gets in a machine," said Mario Rivas, an executive vice president at AMD, during an analyst meeting broadcast on the Internet Thursday.
Several chips make a difference in PC performance, he said. Swift will carry AMD's "Stars" processor cores, the company's latest graphics cores and the northbridge from Griffin, the central processor used in its newest laptop PC platform.
The new chip will be AMD's second attempt at such combinations. The company has pledged to launch a chip code-named "Fusion" late next year or in early 2009 that integrates the CPU and the graphics processor on one chip. AMD says combining the chips in Fusion will increase performance and energy efficiency.
Such work is important to the computing industry as people demand smaller, battery-dependent devices. It also saves space. The fewer chips required inside a laptop, for example, the more space a designer has to make it smaller or add other features.
Swift will be made using AMD's 45-nanometer production technology, Rivas said.
The company was unable to immediately provide further details of the new chip.
The company, which runs second to Intel in the global microprocessor business, plans to launch Swift in the second half of 2009. It's using parts of several of its top chips to create this new device, which it calls an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU).
"I keep telling you that it's not all about the CPU. The CPU is important but now there are other blocks that contribute to the experience a consumer gets in a machine," said Mario Rivas, an executive vice president at AMD, during an analyst meeting broadcast on the Internet Thursday.
Several chips make a difference in PC performance, he said. Swift will carry AMD's "Stars" processor cores, the company's latest graphics cores and the northbridge from Griffin, the central processor used in its newest laptop PC platform.
The new chip will be AMD's second attempt at such combinations. The company has pledged to launch a chip code-named "Fusion" late next year or in early 2009 that integrates the CPU and the graphics processor on one chip. AMD says combining the chips in Fusion will increase performance and energy efficiency.
Such work is important to the computing industry as people demand smaller, battery-dependent devices. It also saves space. The fewer chips required inside a laptop, for example, the more space a designer has to make it smaller or add other features.
Swift will be made using AMD's 45-nanometer production technology, Rivas said.
The company was unable to immediately provide further details of the new chip.
MS eScience group offers database advice to scientists
Microsoft Research's eScience group is helping scientific researchers use database and online sharing tools in ways they might not have imagined, and sharing those experiences with Microsoft product groups that can tweak their software for easier use by the scientific community.
Microsoft researchers showed off some of their projects at the American Geophysical Union annual conference in San Francisco this week, said Catherine van Ingen, partner architect with Microsoft Research's eScience group.
One example of the eScience group's work is a project with climate scientists. Many researchers in the field are independent scientists who might be doing research into local climates for the sake of their crops or other specific interests, van Ingen said. Other scientists are looking at climate change from a more global perspective. Now, the two types of researchers are combining their data.
"It becomes possible to effectively mash up scientific data from different sources and mix that with locally acquired sensor data to do fantastic science," she said.
But that presents a problem. "Most scientists I deal with aren't used to this kind of quantity of data," she said. "An awful lot of scientists, if it gets much bigger than an Excel file, it's more data than they know what to do with."
Microsoft has helped the climate scientists create a database that includes around 800 million data points, she said. Her group is helping the scientists learn how to use the database to do the kind of analysis that will help their research, she said.
The global climate scientists are particularly interested in learning exactly how efficient plants are at absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2). Scientists have discovered that there isn't as much CO2 in the atmosphere as they think there should be based on carbon emissions. It's going somewhere: either in the ocean or absorbed by plants, she said. Combining a massive amount of data that is already being collected around the globe about forests and trees and analyzing it might help them figure it out, she said.
One of the projects the eScience group presented at the conference aims to learn why salmon aren't spawning like they used to in the Russian River in California. The eScience group is helping to combine data collected by a number of agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, marine fisheries groups, the U.S. Geological Survey and other local groups that are interested in the subject. By combining all of that data, the researchers can investigate factors like water temperature and the clarity of the water, both of which affect spawning salmon, she said.
"We're stretching tools in different ways," van Ingen said of the work of the eScience group. Typically, scientists want to find data that points to the extremes, a need that corporate users often don't have. For example, a big retailer probably wouldn't use database software to look for sales of an odd product. That's precisely what many scientists are trying to do--look for extreme cases. The unique requirements of the scientific community that the eScience group discovers are fed back into Microsoft product groups, which can then decide to introduce new capabilities that might better serve scientists, she said.
Microsoft researchers showed off some of their projects at the American Geophysical Union annual conference in San Francisco this week, said Catherine van Ingen, partner architect with Microsoft Research's eScience group.
One example of the eScience group's work is a project with climate scientists. Many researchers in the field are independent scientists who might be doing research into local climates for the sake of their crops or other specific interests, van Ingen said. Other scientists are looking at climate change from a more global perspective. Now, the two types of researchers are combining their data.
"It becomes possible to effectively mash up scientific data from different sources and mix that with locally acquired sensor data to do fantastic science," she said.
But that presents a problem. "Most scientists I deal with aren't used to this kind of quantity of data," she said. "An awful lot of scientists, if it gets much bigger than an Excel file, it's more data than they know what to do with."
Microsoft has helped the climate scientists create a database that includes around 800 million data points, she said. Her group is helping the scientists learn how to use the database to do the kind of analysis that will help their research, she said.
The global climate scientists are particularly interested in learning exactly how efficient plants are at absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2). Scientists have discovered that there isn't as much CO2 in the atmosphere as they think there should be based on carbon emissions. It's going somewhere: either in the ocean or absorbed by plants, she said. Combining a massive amount of data that is already being collected around the globe about forests and trees and analyzing it might help them figure it out, she said.
One of the projects the eScience group presented at the conference aims to learn why salmon aren't spawning like they used to in the Russian River in California. The eScience group is helping to combine data collected by a number of agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, marine fisheries groups, the U.S. Geological Survey and other local groups that are interested in the subject. By combining all of that data, the researchers can investigate factors like water temperature and the clarity of the water, both of which affect spawning salmon, she said.
"We're stretching tools in different ways," van Ingen said of the work of the eScience group. Typically, scientists want to find data that points to the extremes, a need that corporate users often don't have. For example, a big retailer probably wouldn't use database software to look for sales of an odd product. That's precisely what many scientists are trying to do--look for extreme cases. The unique requirements of the scientific community that the eScience group discovers are fed back into Microsoft product groups, which can then decide to introduce new capabilities that might better serve scientists, she said.
10 reasons IT should not support the Apple iPhone
The Apple iPhone took the consumer mobile space by storm when it was released last June and quickly became one of the most popular smartphones available. Since then, business users who've purchased the device for their personal use have been requesting that their corporate IT departments support it.
Whether the iPhone proves to be a valuable business tool or a non-issue for CIOs remains to be seen, but a new report from Forrester Research suggests that the iPhone may never get a chance to succeed in business. Forrester says IT departments should refuse to support the devices--at least for now--for the following 10 reasons.
1) The iPhone Doesn't Allow Data on the Device to be Encrypted
There's currently no way for enterprises to secure sensitive data on iPhones through file or disk encryption, according to Forrester. There's also no way for IT to enforce password policies since the decision to use a password (and when to change it) is up to the user.
2) The iPhone Does Not Natively Support "Push" Corporate E-mail or Wireless Calendar Syncing
Push e-mail (e-mail that is delivered to handhelds immediately upon receipt in a user's mailbox) is an essential feature for a business device because of the productivity such a feature enables, according to Forrester. If users need to physically retrieve messages--as opposed to having those messages pushed directly to them--they won't get them as quickly as possible and they'll waste time in the process. The iPhone can sync with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes over IMAP and SMTP, Forrester says, but IT infrastructure must be tweaked accordingly or a separate gateway product must be purchased and even then mail is delivered only every 15 minutes.
Apple's device also doesn't wirelessly sync with PCs, which means users must have access to the company's proprietary USB sync cable to retrieve calendar updates or contact changes, according to Forrester. If a meeting plan or location has been changed at the last minute, an iPhone user on the go could easily not get the notification in time.
3) The iPhone Does Not Run Third-Party Applications Without Voiding Its Warranty
Though Apple has promised a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone so that external developers and businesses can create their own applications to run on the device, the iPhone does not currently support such applications--unless certain device components are hacked, which voids the phone's warranty. Companies that deploy, for example, sales force automation apps on mobile devices won't be able to port those applications to the iPhone until this issue is resolved.
4) The iPhone Cannot be Locked or Wiped Remotely
Forrester says the single most important feature of mobile device management offerings is remote lock and data wipe functionality, both of which the iPhone lacks. Apple doesn't currently offer any mobile device management software that's anything like the many offerings available for BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile or Symbian devices. Forrester doesn't anticipate any vendors offering such a product before mid-to-late 2008.
5) The iPhone Lacks a Physical Keyboard
The iPhone's touch screen interface and virtual keyboard may be cool, but it is not ideal for power users who e-mail and text message very frequently. The problem with the touch screen is that it doesn't provide tactile feedback, which makes it difficult to type without paying attention to every single key you hit. The faster you can type, the faster your messages get sent out and the more work you can do in a shorter amount of time. That's not necessarily the case with the iPhone.
6) The iPhone Only Functions in Very Specific Geographic Locations and It's Locked Into Carriers
The iPhone is currently only available through exclusive carriers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and it's locked to those specific carriers. That means that business users who travel internationally can't use iPhones in any other countries, even if those countries offer networks that are technologically compatible.
7) The iPhone is (Very) Expensive
The iPhone sells for double what the average BlackBerry or Treo costs. At $400, plus voice and data charges, Apple's smartphone is one of the priciest such devices on the market, even after a $200 price cut last fall. Corporations seeking mobile devices often consider price a selling point, especially since many device makers or carriers offer business discounts and service plans. Apple and AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier, don't offer any such discounts for business use.
8) The iPhone Is a First-Generation Device
No mobile device is perfect when it's initially released. In order for handset makers to refine their products, they often rely on their masses of users to highlight their weaknesses. Some of the iPhone's weaknesses are, according to Forrester:
-- it can be difficult to activate quickly
-- battery life is weak/short
-- sound quality is less than impressive
-- it's currently only a 2.5 generation device, which means that data transfer speeds aren't as fast as they could be
The next iteration of the iPhone will likely address these issues. In fact, AT&T's CEO recently said a 3G iPhone is due in 2008.
9) Apple Doesn't Offer Replacement Batteries for the iPhone
Apple doesn't currently offer battery replacements for the iPhone, so users cannot carry backups to ensure that they never lose power. Forrester says that third-party vendors will likely begin to offer replacements in the near future, but because the device needs to be disassembled in order to remove a battery and insert another, the replacement process may not be simple enough for less tech-savvy users.
10) There's No Proof That iPhones Are Suitable Business Devices
The only large enterprise that is known to fully support iPhones is--surprise, surprise--Apple, according to Forrester. And it hasn't published any case studies or other support materials. Enterprises often make mobile device purchasing decisions based on the experience of their peers or industry analysts' recommendations, but with such information lacking about the iPhone, Forrester says it won't likely be making its way into many businesses anytime soon.
Additional information on Forrester's The iPhone is Not Meant for Enterprises report is available on the company's website.
Whether the iPhone proves to be a valuable business tool or a non-issue for CIOs remains to be seen, but a new report from Forrester Research suggests that the iPhone may never get a chance to succeed in business. Forrester says IT departments should refuse to support the devices--at least for now--for the following 10 reasons.
1) The iPhone Doesn't Allow Data on the Device to be Encrypted
There's currently no way for enterprises to secure sensitive data on iPhones through file or disk encryption, according to Forrester. There's also no way for IT to enforce password policies since the decision to use a password (and when to change it) is up to the user.
2) The iPhone Does Not Natively Support "Push" Corporate E-mail or Wireless Calendar Syncing
Push e-mail (e-mail that is delivered to handhelds immediately upon receipt in a user's mailbox) is an essential feature for a business device because of the productivity such a feature enables, according to Forrester. If users need to physically retrieve messages--as opposed to having those messages pushed directly to them--they won't get them as quickly as possible and they'll waste time in the process. The iPhone can sync with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes over IMAP and SMTP, Forrester says, but IT infrastructure must be tweaked accordingly or a separate gateway product must be purchased and even then mail is delivered only every 15 minutes.
Apple's device also doesn't wirelessly sync with PCs, which means users must have access to the company's proprietary USB sync cable to retrieve calendar updates or contact changes, according to Forrester. If a meeting plan or location has been changed at the last minute, an iPhone user on the go could easily not get the notification in time.
3) The iPhone Does Not Run Third-Party Applications Without Voiding Its Warranty
Though Apple has promised a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone so that external developers and businesses can create their own applications to run on the device, the iPhone does not currently support such applications--unless certain device components are hacked, which voids the phone's warranty. Companies that deploy, for example, sales force automation apps on mobile devices won't be able to port those applications to the iPhone until this issue is resolved.
4) The iPhone Cannot be Locked or Wiped Remotely
Forrester says the single most important feature of mobile device management offerings is remote lock and data wipe functionality, both of which the iPhone lacks. Apple doesn't currently offer any mobile device management software that's anything like the many offerings available for BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile or Symbian devices. Forrester doesn't anticipate any vendors offering such a product before mid-to-late 2008.
5) The iPhone Lacks a Physical Keyboard
The iPhone's touch screen interface and virtual keyboard may be cool, but it is not ideal for power users who e-mail and text message very frequently. The problem with the touch screen is that it doesn't provide tactile feedback, which makes it difficult to type without paying attention to every single key you hit. The faster you can type, the faster your messages get sent out and the more work you can do in a shorter amount of time. That's not necessarily the case with the iPhone.
6) The iPhone Only Functions in Very Specific Geographic Locations and It's Locked Into Carriers
The iPhone is currently only available through exclusive carriers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and it's locked to those specific carriers. That means that business users who travel internationally can't use iPhones in any other countries, even if those countries offer networks that are technologically compatible.
7) The iPhone is (Very) Expensive
The iPhone sells for double what the average BlackBerry or Treo costs. At $400, plus voice and data charges, Apple's smartphone is one of the priciest such devices on the market, even after a $200 price cut last fall. Corporations seeking mobile devices often consider price a selling point, especially since many device makers or carriers offer business discounts and service plans. Apple and AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier, don't offer any such discounts for business use.
8) The iPhone Is a First-Generation Device
No mobile device is perfect when it's initially released. In order for handset makers to refine their products, they often rely on their masses of users to highlight their weaknesses. Some of the iPhone's weaknesses are, according to Forrester:
-- it can be difficult to activate quickly
-- battery life is weak/short
-- sound quality is less than impressive
-- it's currently only a 2.5 generation device, which means that data transfer speeds aren't as fast as they could be
The next iteration of the iPhone will likely address these issues. In fact, AT&T's CEO recently said a 3G iPhone is due in 2008.
9) Apple Doesn't Offer Replacement Batteries for the iPhone
Apple doesn't currently offer battery replacements for the iPhone, so users cannot carry backups to ensure that they never lose power. Forrester says that third-party vendors will likely begin to offer replacements in the near future, but because the device needs to be disassembled in order to remove a battery and insert another, the replacement process may not be simple enough for less tech-savvy users.
10) There's No Proof That iPhones Are Suitable Business Devices
The only large enterprise that is known to fully support iPhones is--surprise, surprise--Apple, according to Forrester. And it hasn't published any case studies or other support materials. Enterprises often make mobile device purchasing decisions based on the experience of their peers or industry analysts' recommendations, but with such information lacking about the iPhone, Forrester says it won't likely be making its way into many businesses anytime soon.
Additional information on Forrester's The iPhone is Not Meant for Enterprises report is available on the company's website.
Study predicts data center energy spike
An AMD study has revealed fascinating changes to global data center energy use, suggesting that even small shifts in operational procedures could cut new electricity consumption.
The study, conducted by Dr. Jonathan Koomey and using data from industry analyst firm IDC, documents energy use across five regions: the United States, Western Europe, Japan, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) and the rest of the world.
It forecasts data center energy consumption, estimating that by 2010 US consumption will decline relative to consumption worldwide from 40 percent in 2000 to about one-third by 2010. The Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) will increase its share from 10 percent to about 16 percent over that period.
AMD estimated that the absolute electricity consumption for servers in the Asia/Pacific region under this scenario will more than double from 2005 to 2010, requiring electricity capacity equal to output from two new 1,000MW power plants - which is unsurprising given the rate at which those economies are growing. For the entire world, server consumption from 2005 to 2010 would require additional capacity equal to more than 10 additional 1,000MW power plants.
Koomey's report shows that electricity used by servers in the United States and Europe currently comprise about two-thirds of the world's total, with Japan, Asia/Pacific and the rest of the world each falling at between 10 and 15 percent of the total.
Examining electricity use by region from 2000 to 2005, the study found that server electricity use in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) grew at a 23 percent annual rate, compared to a world average of 16 percent a year, making this region the only one with server electricity use growing at a rate significantly greater than the world average.
The Western European growth rate of 17 percent was slightly above the world average, while growth rates in the other regions were lower than the world average.
Data centers throughout the world are designed and operated in similar ways to those in the United States, AMD said. The chip company reckoned that, if the 20 percent savings estimated in the EPA report are applied to Dr. Koomey's projections for global data center electricity use in 2010, total savings would equal approximately five 1,000MW power plants. In other words, relatively modest changes in the way data centers are designed and operated could offset approximately half the expected growth in global data center electricity use in 2010.
Koomey said in the study: "I converted total direct electricity use to total electricity consumption (including cooling and auxiliary equipment) by multiplying by a factor of 2.0. This factor is the ratio of typical total data center load to the information technology equipment plug load, and it includes both cooling electricity use and losses in the power delivery infrastructure. Future work should investigate how this multiplier might vary across data center types and geographic/climatic regions."
This new research adds detail to an AMD-sponsored study published in February that identified the worldwide costs associated with data center energy use, finding that in 2005 total data center electricity consumption in the United States (including servers, cooling and auxiliary equipment) was approximately 45 billion kWh, resulting in total utility bills amounting to US$2.7 billion. That study estimated total data center power and electricity consumption for the world to cost $7.2 billion annually.
According to AMD, both of Koomey's studies were subject to peer review by IT industry, government and energy efficiency policy professionals.
"According to a recent U.S. EPA Report, data center energy consumption in the United States five years from now could be cut by as much as 20 percent with relatively minor efforts by data center managers, including turning on available power management features, enabling higher rates of resource consolidation, shutting off unused servers and improving infrastructure operations," said AMD marketing man Bruce Shaw.
"With the findings released today we can begin to take next steps, including examining how we can power data centers around the world while addressing impacts on global climate," said Larry Vertal, senior strategist for AMD Green.
The study, conducted by Dr. Jonathan Koomey and using data from industry analyst firm IDC, documents energy use across five regions: the United States, Western Europe, Japan, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) and the rest of the world.
It forecasts data center energy consumption, estimating that by 2010 US consumption will decline relative to consumption worldwide from 40 percent in 2000 to about one-third by 2010. The Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) will increase its share from 10 percent to about 16 percent over that period.
AMD estimated that the absolute electricity consumption for servers in the Asia/Pacific region under this scenario will more than double from 2005 to 2010, requiring electricity capacity equal to output from two new 1,000MW power plants - which is unsurprising given the rate at which those economies are growing. For the entire world, server consumption from 2005 to 2010 would require additional capacity equal to more than 10 additional 1,000MW power plants.
Koomey's report shows that electricity used by servers in the United States and Europe currently comprise about two-thirds of the world's total, with Japan, Asia/Pacific and the rest of the world each falling at between 10 and 15 percent of the total.
Examining electricity use by region from 2000 to 2005, the study found that server electricity use in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) grew at a 23 percent annual rate, compared to a world average of 16 percent a year, making this region the only one with server electricity use growing at a rate significantly greater than the world average.
The Western European growth rate of 17 percent was slightly above the world average, while growth rates in the other regions were lower than the world average.
Data centers throughout the world are designed and operated in similar ways to those in the United States, AMD said. The chip company reckoned that, if the 20 percent savings estimated in the EPA report are applied to Dr. Koomey's projections for global data center electricity use in 2010, total savings would equal approximately five 1,000MW power plants. In other words, relatively modest changes in the way data centers are designed and operated could offset approximately half the expected growth in global data center electricity use in 2010.
Koomey said in the study: "I converted total direct electricity use to total electricity consumption (including cooling and auxiliary equipment) by multiplying by a factor of 2.0. This factor is the ratio of typical total data center load to the information technology equipment plug load, and it includes both cooling electricity use and losses in the power delivery infrastructure. Future work should investigate how this multiplier might vary across data center types and geographic/climatic regions."
This new research adds detail to an AMD-sponsored study published in February that identified the worldwide costs associated with data center energy use, finding that in 2005 total data center electricity consumption in the United States (including servers, cooling and auxiliary equipment) was approximately 45 billion kWh, resulting in total utility bills amounting to US$2.7 billion. That study estimated total data center power and electricity consumption for the world to cost $7.2 billion annually.
According to AMD, both of Koomey's studies were subject to peer review by IT industry, government and energy efficiency policy professionals.
"According to a recent U.S. EPA Report, data center energy consumption in the United States five years from now could be cut by as much as 20 percent with relatively minor efforts by data center managers, including turning on available power management features, enabling higher rates of resource consolidation, shutting off unused servers and improving infrastructure operations," said AMD marketing man Bruce Shaw.
"With the findings released today we can begin to take next steps, including examining how we can power data centers around the world while addressing impacts on global climate," said Larry Vertal, senior strategist for AMD Green.
Infidelity a problem? Offset your cheating online
A Web site is offering people the chance to offset their infidelity by paying random strangers to remain faithful in a satirical bid to highlight its view of carbon offsetting as an "inadequate" and "misguided" response to climate change.
Cheatneutral began as a joke amongst three friends - Beth Stratford, Alex Randall and Christian Hunt - and works in two ways to tame fast females and philanderers.
Users can freely sign up to become a Cheatneutral "project", meaning they agree to remain single or monogamous in order to neutralize the cheating of somebody else. Or they can offset their own cheating by sponsoring a "project" with a one-time A2.50 payment.
The site suggests that jealousy and heartbreak are a natural part of modern life, and that no matter how hard we try to reduce the amount we cheat on our partners, it is just not possible to remain faithful.
"That's why we help you neutralize your cheating," the site says. "Your actions are offset by a global network of fidelity developed by us. By paying Cheatneutral, you're funding monogamy-boosting offset projects - we simply invest the money you give us in monogamous, faithful or just plain single people, to encourage them to stay that way."
Beth Stratford said Randall and Hunt came up with the idea one night in a bar.
"All winter we'd been talking about how carbon offsetting is such an inadequate and misguided response to climate change. We realized that launching an infidelity offset service - and then filming the public and media response - would be an entertaining and seductive way to draw people into the debate."
"Reassuringly (for human nature) we've actually had very few people signing up to offset cheating, we're not talking any great sum of money," Stratford said.
Each member of the team works in the environmental sector, but Stratford stresses that Cheatneutral is a project entirely independent of their day jobs.
Randall works for the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology, Hunt for the Public Interest Research Centre, and Stratford is currently working on a feature film about climate change.
The trio's inspiration stems from a belief that the carbon offset industry does more harm than good. They feel that even if the offset market was properly regulated and accountable, the culture of offsets would still present a significant obstacle to effective action in combating climate change.
"Why? Because, very briefly, it presents itself as a way that people can effectively deal with climate change while largely maintaining their levels of energy consumption. It masks the need for dramatic emissions reduction in the West, and instead seems to offer a license to pollute," Stratford said.
The group also believes that the primary beneficiaries of offset schemes are industries whose profit margins depend on delaying the transition to a low-carbon economy for as long as possible.
"From flights, to four-wheel drives, to petrol itself, carbon offsets provide a false legitimacy to some of the most inherently unsustainable products and services on the market," Stratford said.
Therefore Cheatneutral, as the site proclaims, "tries to make it seem acceptable to cheat on your partner in the same way carbon offsetting tries to make it acceptable to carry on emitting excess carbon. Having Cheatneutral's services could actually encourage you to cheat more. If the carbon offsetters persuade you that it is possible to offset your emissions, you will carry on emitting excess carbon rather than think about reducing your emissions".
While the site has attracted plenty of attention, not everyone seems to get the joke.
Stratford revealed that several North American radio show hosts showed interest in cheat offsetting as a serious method of reducing levels of heartbreak in the atmosphere.
"We also had a phone-call from Loving Links -- a 'major resource for extra marital affairs' - who wanted us to get into bed with them, so to speak, presumably to provide a built-in offsetting service for their philanderers," she said.
But Stratford said the group has also engaged in constructive dialogue with politicians, spokesmen for the offset industry, as well as "enlightened ex-offsetters".
Cheatneutral began as a joke amongst three friends - Beth Stratford, Alex Randall and Christian Hunt - and works in two ways to tame fast females and philanderers.
Users can freely sign up to become a Cheatneutral "project", meaning they agree to remain single or monogamous in order to neutralize the cheating of somebody else. Or they can offset their own cheating by sponsoring a "project" with a one-time A2.50 payment.
The site suggests that jealousy and heartbreak are a natural part of modern life, and that no matter how hard we try to reduce the amount we cheat on our partners, it is just not possible to remain faithful.
"That's why we help you neutralize your cheating," the site says. "Your actions are offset by a global network of fidelity developed by us. By paying Cheatneutral, you're funding monogamy-boosting offset projects - we simply invest the money you give us in monogamous, faithful or just plain single people, to encourage them to stay that way."
Beth Stratford said Randall and Hunt came up with the idea one night in a bar.
"All winter we'd been talking about how carbon offsetting is such an inadequate and misguided response to climate change. We realized that launching an infidelity offset service - and then filming the public and media response - would be an entertaining and seductive way to draw people into the debate."
"Reassuringly (for human nature) we've actually had very few people signing up to offset cheating, we're not talking any great sum of money," Stratford said.
Each member of the team works in the environmental sector, but Stratford stresses that Cheatneutral is a project entirely independent of their day jobs.
Randall works for the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology, Hunt for the Public Interest Research Centre, and Stratford is currently working on a feature film about climate change.
The trio's inspiration stems from a belief that the carbon offset industry does more harm than good. They feel that even if the offset market was properly regulated and accountable, the culture of offsets would still present a significant obstacle to effective action in combating climate change.
"Why? Because, very briefly, it presents itself as a way that people can effectively deal with climate change while largely maintaining their levels of energy consumption. It masks the need for dramatic emissions reduction in the West, and instead seems to offer a license to pollute," Stratford said.
The group also believes that the primary beneficiaries of offset schemes are industries whose profit margins depend on delaying the transition to a low-carbon economy for as long as possible.
"From flights, to four-wheel drives, to petrol itself, carbon offsets provide a false legitimacy to some of the most inherently unsustainable products and services on the market," Stratford said.
Therefore Cheatneutral, as the site proclaims, "tries to make it seem acceptable to cheat on your partner in the same way carbon offsetting tries to make it acceptable to carry on emitting excess carbon. Having Cheatneutral's services could actually encourage you to cheat more. If the carbon offsetters persuade you that it is possible to offset your emissions, you will carry on emitting excess carbon rather than think about reducing your emissions".
While the site has attracted plenty of attention, not everyone seems to get the joke.
Stratford revealed that several North American radio show hosts showed interest in cheat offsetting as a serious method of reducing levels of heartbreak in the atmosphere.
"We also had a phone-call from Loving Links -- a 'major resource for extra marital affairs' - who wanted us to get into bed with them, so to speak, presumably to provide a built-in offsetting service for their philanderers," she said.
But Stratford said the group has also engaged in constructive dialogue with politicians, spokesmen for the offset industry, as well as "enlightened ex-offsetters".
Microsoft releases beta of Hyper-V virtualization technology
Microsoft Thursday did something it rarely does. The company released a beta for a long-awaited technology -- in this case its Windows Server 2008 virtualization technology Hyper-V -- ahead of schedule.
Hyper-V, formerly code-named "Viridian," is now available for download from Microsoft's Web site and is ready to be used with the current x64 beta version of Windows Server 2008, which is also available online. The technology, called a hypervisor, is the underlying virtualization technology for the server release, which is a major update that's expected to be released on Feb. 27, 2008. A beta of Hyper-V originally was planned to be released on that date as well.
Virtualization, or the ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple OSes on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed and is now scheduled to be generally available 180 days, or about six months, after Windows Server 2008 ships. Hyper-V's released was delayed earlier this year because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.
Hyper-V takes advantage of virtualization-optimized microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and is meant to help Microsoft compete with virtualization leader VMware, which already has hypervisor technology on the market. Hypervisors allow for cross-platform support so servers can run multiple versions of different OSes -- such as Windows and Linux -- side by side on one piece of hardware.
Bill Hilf, general manager of Windows Server at Microsoft, said customers have been asking the company for a built-in virtualization technology that works directly within the Windows Server environment so it's easy to manage and implement. By design, Hyper-V is set up as what Microsoft calls a "role" within Windows Server 2008, and can be turned on or off as a customer wishes, he said. Roles are a new feature of the forthcoming release of the OS that allow servers to be set up so only the role or roles a customer wants them to play in the IT environment -- such as e-mail server or application server -- will be turned on.
Mike Neil, general manager of virtualization at Microsoft, said Hyper-V is meant to make the virtualization market "a two-horse race" between Microsoft and VMware. However, with Hyper-V not scheduled to ship until the second half of next year, the company has a lot of ground to make up to topple VMware from its leadership position. And Microsoft also faces pressure in providing built-in OS virtualization from Linux leader Red Hat, which already has integrated cross-platform virtualization into Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Windows Server 2008 eventually will be available in multiple editions and will be offered with and without Hyper-V. Microsoft also plans to release a product called Microsoft Hyper-V Server specifically as a virtualization host environment in the second half of 2008.
Hyper-V, formerly code-named "Viridian," is now available for download from Microsoft's Web site and is ready to be used with the current x64 beta version of Windows Server 2008, which is also available online. The technology, called a hypervisor, is the underlying virtualization technology for the server release, which is a major update that's expected to be released on Feb. 27, 2008. A beta of Hyper-V originally was planned to be released on that date as well.
Virtualization, or the ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple OSes on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed and is now scheduled to be generally available 180 days, or about six months, after Windows Server 2008 ships. Hyper-V's released was delayed earlier this year because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.
Hyper-V takes advantage of virtualization-optimized microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and is meant to help Microsoft compete with virtualization leader VMware, which already has hypervisor technology on the market. Hypervisors allow for cross-platform support so servers can run multiple versions of different OSes -- such as Windows and Linux -- side by side on one piece of hardware.
Bill Hilf, general manager of Windows Server at Microsoft, said customers have been asking the company for a built-in virtualization technology that works directly within the Windows Server environment so it's easy to manage and implement. By design, Hyper-V is set up as what Microsoft calls a "role" within Windows Server 2008, and can be turned on or off as a customer wishes, he said. Roles are a new feature of the forthcoming release of the OS that allow servers to be set up so only the role or roles a customer wants them to play in the IT environment -- such as e-mail server or application server -- will be turned on.
Mike Neil, general manager of virtualization at Microsoft, said Hyper-V is meant to make the virtualization market "a two-horse race" between Microsoft and VMware. However, with Hyper-V not scheduled to ship until the second half of next year, the company has a lot of ground to make up to topple VMware from its leadership position. And Microsoft also faces pressure in providing built-in OS virtualization from Linux leader Red Hat, which already has integrated cross-platform virtualization into Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Windows Server 2008 eventually will be available in multiple editions and will be offered with and without Hyper-V. Microsoft also plans to release a product called Microsoft Hyper-V Server specifically as a virtualization host environment in the second half of 2008.
AMD to face tough questions at analyst meeting
Amid further delays of AMD's quad-core server chip and plans to write off goodwill from the acquisition of ATI, AMD executives are going to face tough questions when they meet financial analysts in New York Thursday.
AMD preempted the analyst meeting with the announcement Wednesday that it plans to take a material charge for impaired goodwill from its US$5.4 billion acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI. But AMD didn't say how big that charge will be, promising to announce the amount within four days -- a span of time that implies details of the charge will be revealed after the analyst meeting.
Goodwill is a financial term that describes the difference between the price that one company paid to acquire another and the net value of the assets that it acquires. This difference, or goodwill, reflects the intangibles that a company acquires, such as the reputation and intellectual property of the acquired company.
AMD initially recorded goodwill of $3.22 billion from the acquisition of ATI. That was reduced to $3.17 billion at the end of September, primarily due to changes in income-tax liabilities recorded by the company. AMD's decision to write off a significant portion of this goodwill is a recognition that ATI is no longer worth the price it paid last year.
The expected charge further dims AMD's gloomy financial outlook. The company has so far lost $1.6 billion this year on sales of $4.2 billion. By comparison, AMD recorded a $410 million profit on sales of $3.9 billion during the first nine months of 2006. At the same time, AMD borrowed heavily this year to keep its operations moving, issuing $3.7 billion in notes that are convertible into company shares.
AMD received a further boost last month with a $608 million investment from a company owned by the Abu Dhabi government, but the company still faces significant challenges.
Those challenges are reflected in the decline of AMD's gross margin since last year, partly as a result of the ATI acquisition, which brought lower-margin products into AMD's lineup, but also because server chips represented a lower percentage of the company's microprocessor sales. Server chips are generally more expensive and have higher margins than processors used in desktops and notebooks, and strong sales of server chips would give a badly needed boost to AMD's financial situation.
The problem is that AMD's latest server chip, the Quad-Core Opteron formerly known as Barcelona, has been repeatedly delayed, giving rival Intel an opening to expand sales of its own server chips at AMD's expense.
After recently discovering a bug in the Quad-Core Opteron that stopped shipments of the chip, AMD now expects the processor, launched in September, to finally ship in large volumes sometime during the first quarter of 2008. That means the Quad-Core Opteron might not be available to most customers until March, six months after its launch and more than one year after the first pre-production samples of the chip were made available to server makers.
While analysts will be looking for more detailed guidance on when AMD expects to ship Quad-Core Opteron chips in volume, they will also be looking for information on the next version of the Quad-Core Opteron, called Shanghai. AMD promised to ship Shanghai during the middle of 2008, but the company has yet to produce working samples of the chip.
"We will have initial samples also in January. I'm fairly confident that those puppies are going to boot, and then we can have a follow-up conference call and I'll tell you, 'The sucker is booting,'" said Mario Rivas, the executive vice president of AMD's Computing Products Group, responding to a question about Shanghai during a recent interview with CRN.
Whether that means AMD will release Shanghai in mid-2008 as promised remains to be seen.
Shanghai is a 45-nanometer "shrink" of the problematic Barcelona chip, which is produced using a 65-nanometer process. These numbers represent the average size of the smallest feature that can be created on a chip, and smaller is generally considered better.
Moving to a more advanced production process offers chip makers several benefits, such as reducing unit production costs by making the chip smaller or adding more features, such as additional on-chip cache. But the move to a more advanced process also carries risks, such as the possibility of lower production yields that can result in limited availability or chips that run at lower clock speeds than expected.
Along with these issues looming over AMD, there are questions about the future of Hector Ruiz, the company's CEO and chairman. As head of the company, Ruiz ultimately bears responsibility for the company's recent performance problems and the impending write down of goodwill from the ATI acquisition. For months, there has been speculation within the industry that Ruiz would be forced to step down from his current position.
However, that's unlikely to happen, according to a Reuters report citing comments made by Ruiz in a television interview to be aired by CNBC Europe later today. During that interview, Ruiz named AMD President and COO Dirk Meyer as his successor, but scotched speculation he plans to step down next year, the report said.
AMD preempted the analyst meeting with the announcement Wednesday that it plans to take a material charge for impaired goodwill from its US$5.4 billion acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI. But AMD didn't say how big that charge will be, promising to announce the amount within four days -- a span of time that implies details of the charge will be revealed after the analyst meeting.
Goodwill is a financial term that describes the difference between the price that one company paid to acquire another and the net value of the assets that it acquires. This difference, or goodwill, reflects the intangibles that a company acquires, such as the reputation and intellectual property of the acquired company.
AMD initially recorded goodwill of $3.22 billion from the acquisition of ATI. That was reduced to $3.17 billion at the end of September, primarily due to changes in income-tax liabilities recorded by the company. AMD's decision to write off a significant portion of this goodwill is a recognition that ATI is no longer worth the price it paid last year.
The expected charge further dims AMD's gloomy financial outlook. The company has so far lost $1.6 billion this year on sales of $4.2 billion. By comparison, AMD recorded a $410 million profit on sales of $3.9 billion during the first nine months of 2006. At the same time, AMD borrowed heavily this year to keep its operations moving, issuing $3.7 billion in notes that are convertible into company shares.
AMD received a further boost last month with a $608 million investment from a company owned by the Abu Dhabi government, but the company still faces significant challenges.
Those challenges are reflected in the decline of AMD's gross margin since last year, partly as a result of the ATI acquisition, which brought lower-margin products into AMD's lineup, but also because server chips represented a lower percentage of the company's microprocessor sales. Server chips are generally more expensive and have higher margins than processors used in desktops and notebooks, and strong sales of server chips would give a badly needed boost to AMD's financial situation.
The problem is that AMD's latest server chip, the Quad-Core Opteron formerly known as Barcelona, has been repeatedly delayed, giving rival Intel an opening to expand sales of its own server chips at AMD's expense.
After recently discovering a bug in the Quad-Core Opteron that stopped shipments of the chip, AMD now expects the processor, launched in September, to finally ship in large volumes sometime during the first quarter of 2008. That means the Quad-Core Opteron might not be available to most customers until March, six months after its launch and more than one year after the first pre-production samples of the chip were made available to server makers.
While analysts will be looking for more detailed guidance on when AMD expects to ship Quad-Core Opteron chips in volume, they will also be looking for information on the next version of the Quad-Core Opteron, called Shanghai. AMD promised to ship Shanghai during the middle of 2008, but the company has yet to produce working samples of the chip.
"We will have initial samples also in January. I'm fairly confident that those puppies are going to boot, and then we can have a follow-up conference call and I'll tell you, 'The sucker is booting,'" said Mario Rivas, the executive vice president of AMD's Computing Products Group, responding to a question about Shanghai during a recent interview with CRN.
Whether that means AMD will release Shanghai in mid-2008 as promised remains to be seen.
Shanghai is a 45-nanometer "shrink" of the problematic Barcelona chip, which is produced using a 65-nanometer process. These numbers represent the average size of the smallest feature that can be created on a chip, and smaller is generally considered better.
Moving to a more advanced production process offers chip makers several benefits, such as reducing unit production costs by making the chip smaller or adding more features, such as additional on-chip cache. But the move to a more advanced process also carries risks, such as the possibility of lower production yields that can result in limited availability or chips that run at lower clock speeds than expected.
Along with these issues looming over AMD, there are questions about the future of Hector Ruiz, the company's CEO and chairman. As head of the company, Ruiz ultimately bears responsibility for the company's recent performance problems and the impending write down of goodwill from the ATI acquisition. For months, there has been speculation within the industry that Ruiz would be forced to step down from his current position.
However, that's unlikely to happen, according to a Reuters report citing comments made by Ruiz in a television interview to be aired by CNBC Europe later today. During that interview, Ruiz named AMD President and COO Dirk Meyer as his successor, but scotched speculation he plans to step down next year, the report said.
Group asks FTC chairman to step down from DoubleClick review
U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras is consulting with the agency's ethics officer to see if she should recuse herself from a review of Google's planned acquisition of online ad network DoubleClick.
On Wednesday, two technology lobbying organizations called on Majoras to recuse herself, citing her husband's involvement in the matter. John Majoras is a partner with Jones Day, the law firm that is advising DoubleClick on antitrust issues relating to the US$3.1 billion buyout. Jones Day representatives, including John Majoras, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Chairman Majoras "has previously recused herself in similar matters for similar reasons where there was a lesser conflict of interest," representatives of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) wrote in a complaint submitted to the U.S. regulator late Wednesday. "It is clear that she must recuse herself now."
The chairman is now reviewing the matter with the FTC's chief ethics officer, Christian White, but an FTC spokeswoman on Wednesday downplayed the possible conflict of interest. John Majoras' law firm has not appeared before the FTC in this matter, according to FTC spokeswoman Claudia Farrell. "We learned only yesterday that Jones Day is representing DoubleClick before the European Commission, not the Federal Trade Commission," she said.
Even so, the Jones Day connection may have influenced FTC staffers or the chairman herself, said Jeff Chester, executive director with the CDD. "There's no question that there's a stealth set of influences here that could have shaped the staff opinion," he said. "We do not know what impact it might have on the chairman."
Jones Day is advising DoubleClick on "international and U.S. antitrust and competition law aspects of its planned $3.1 billion acquisition by Google," the law firm says in a note on its Web site.
The deal has come under scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and Europe who are examining whether it will give Google too much control over the Internet advertising market and too much data on the online behavior of its users.
On Wednesday, two technology lobbying organizations called on Majoras to recuse herself, citing her husband's involvement in the matter. John Majoras is a partner with Jones Day, the law firm that is advising DoubleClick on antitrust issues relating to the US$3.1 billion buyout. Jones Day representatives, including John Majoras, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Chairman Majoras "has previously recused herself in similar matters for similar reasons where there was a lesser conflict of interest," representatives of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) wrote in a complaint submitted to the U.S. regulator late Wednesday. "It is clear that she must recuse herself now."
The chairman is now reviewing the matter with the FTC's chief ethics officer, Christian White, but an FTC spokeswoman on Wednesday downplayed the possible conflict of interest. John Majoras' law firm has not appeared before the FTC in this matter, according to FTC spokeswoman Claudia Farrell. "We learned only yesterday that Jones Day is representing DoubleClick before the European Commission, not the Federal Trade Commission," she said.
Even so, the Jones Day connection may have influenced FTC staffers or the chairman herself, said Jeff Chester, executive director with the CDD. "There's no question that there's a stealth set of influences here that could have shaped the staff opinion," he said. "We do not know what impact it might have on the chairman."
Jones Day is advising DoubleClick on "international and U.S. antitrust and competition law aspects of its planned $3.1 billion acquisition by Google," the law firm says in a note on its Web site.
The deal has come under scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and Europe who are examining whether it will give Google too much control over the Internet advertising market and too much data on the online behavior of its users.
International Trade Commission rules in Nokia's favor
A U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) judge made an initial ruling in Nokia's favor in an ongoing and long-running dispute with Qualcomm.
The case was brought by Qualcomm and charged Nokia with infringing on patents in its GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service/Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) handsets that do not include WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). The patents cover certain power control technologies.
The judge also ruled that one of Qualcomm's patents in question is invalid, Nokia said.
Qualcomm, which is best known for its development of CDMA technology, was seeking a ban on the importation of Nokia handsets using the technology into the U.S. The original complaint alleged that Nokia infringed on six patents, Nokia said. Since then, Qualcomm withdrew three patents from the complaint, Nokia said.
Nokia and Qualcomm are embroiled in a bitter battle that likely has at its heart a cross-licensing agreement that expired earlier this year. Nokia clearly believes so. "It appears to us the lawsuits are tactics related to our ongoing cross-licensing negotiations," said Rick Simonson, Nokia's chief financial officer, during a conference call with media on Wednesday.
Qualcomm has filed 11 patent infringement suits against Nokia around the world over the past two years, he said.
"Qualcomm is attempting to resolve the negotiations in its favor without having to address the true value of its patent portfolio," Simonson said. Nokia argues that while Qualcomm was the leading contributor to CDMA, the chipmaker's contribution to WCDMA, a third-generation mobile standard, is much smaller. That, combined with an increase in value of Nokia's intellectual property, means the phone maker should have to pay Qualcomm less than previously paid as part of their cross-licensing deal, Nokia argues.
Simonson would not comment on the progress of the renegotiations beyond to say that discussions continue.
In its statement, Qualcomm did not comment further than to say that it plans to petition the ITC to review the ruling. The ITC is scheduled to make a final ruling on April 14. Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The case was brought by Qualcomm and charged Nokia with infringing on patents in its GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service/Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) handsets that do not include WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). The patents cover certain power control technologies.
The judge also ruled that one of Qualcomm's patents in question is invalid, Nokia said.
Qualcomm, which is best known for its development of CDMA technology, was seeking a ban on the importation of Nokia handsets using the technology into the U.S. The original complaint alleged that Nokia infringed on six patents, Nokia said. Since then, Qualcomm withdrew three patents from the complaint, Nokia said.
Nokia and Qualcomm are embroiled in a bitter battle that likely has at its heart a cross-licensing agreement that expired earlier this year. Nokia clearly believes so. "It appears to us the lawsuits are tactics related to our ongoing cross-licensing negotiations," said Rick Simonson, Nokia's chief financial officer, during a conference call with media on Wednesday.
Qualcomm has filed 11 patent infringement suits against Nokia around the world over the past two years, he said.
"Qualcomm is attempting to resolve the negotiations in its favor without having to address the true value of its patent portfolio," Simonson said. Nokia argues that while Qualcomm was the leading contributor to CDMA, the chipmaker's contribution to WCDMA, a third-generation mobile standard, is much smaller. That, combined with an increase in value of Nokia's intellectual property, means the phone maker should have to pay Qualcomm less than previously paid as part of their cross-licensing deal, Nokia argues.
Simonson would not comment on the progress of the renegotiations beyond to say that discussions continue.
In its statement, Qualcomm did not comment further than to say that it plans to petition the ITC to review the ruling. The ITC is scheduled to make a final ruling on April 14. Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Facebook to license its platform for other social sites
Facebook will help other social networking sites to run applications developed for its own software platform, it said Thursday.
The company already encourages developers to build applications that work with its site, publishing details of the tags and APIs (application programming interfaces) needed to exchange data.
Now it plans to license those details for use by other social networking sites and platforms, according to the Facebook Developers blog. The idea is that developers will only have to write their widget or small application once if there is a common platform for structuring how the applications integrate with sites.
The initiative runs in parallel with Google's OpenSocial project, which revolves around creating standard APIs (application programming interfaces) for social networking applications. APIs let applications exchange information and are crucial to building programs that, for example, take information from Facebook profiles and blend it with some new functionality or feature.
Facebook already has a taker. On Wednesday, social networking site Bebo said it would use Facebook's standards for its own Open Application Platform. Bebo isn't taking sides, however: it will eventually support Google's OpenSocial too, it said.
MySpace, the largest social networking site, has also said it will support OpenSocial.
Facebook said its architectural platform is composed in part of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) related tags and methods for building applications.
It published details of FBML, its set of tags for formatting data exchanged between applications and users. Some of the tags enable developers to build programs with the same design elements as Facebook's site, so the application blends in.
External developers have created about 7,000 applications since Facebook opened up its site in June. The applications have offered a commercial opportunity for developers, although Facebook has been under fire for how those programs respect users' privacy.
Google's OpenSocial platform got off the ground last month with Plaxo's Pulse, the first application to use the APIs. Pulse, which aggregates and delivers new information from social networking and other Web sites, is a feature of Plaxo's Web-based address book service.
The company already encourages developers to build applications that work with its site, publishing details of the tags and APIs (application programming interfaces) needed to exchange data.
Now it plans to license those details for use by other social networking sites and platforms, according to the Facebook Developers blog. The idea is that developers will only have to write their widget or small application once if there is a common platform for structuring how the applications integrate with sites.
The initiative runs in parallel with Google's OpenSocial project, which revolves around creating standard APIs (application programming interfaces) for social networking applications. APIs let applications exchange information and are crucial to building programs that, for example, take information from Facebook profiles and blend it with some new functionality or feature.
Facebook already has a taker. On Wednesday, social networking site Bebo said it would use Facebook's standards for its own Open Application Platform. Bebo isn't taking sides, however: it will eventually support Google's OpenSocial too, it said.
MySpace, the largest social networking site, has also said it will support OpenSocial.
Facebook said its architectural platform is composed in part of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) related tags and methods for building applications.
It published details of FBML, its set of tags for formatting data exchanged between applications and users. Some of the tags enable developers to build programs with the same design elements as Facebook's site, so the application blends in.
External developers have created about 7,000 applications since Facebook opened up its site in June. The applications have offered a commercial opportunity for developers, although Facebook has been under fire for how those programs respect users' privacy.
Google's OpenSocial platform got off the ground last month with Plaxo's Pulse, the first application to use the APIs. Pulse, which aggregates and delivers new information from social networking and other Web sites, is a feature of Plaxo's Web-based address book service.
Opera files EU antitrust suit against Microsoft
Opera Software has filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the European Union, accusing it of stifling competition by tying its Internet Explorer Web browser to Windows, the Norwegian company said Thursday.
The complaint, which was filed with the European Commission on Wednesday, says Microsoft is abusing its dominant position in the desktop PC market by offering only Internet Explorer as a standard part of Windows, and hindering interoperability by not following accepted standards with IE.
Opera is asking the Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to force Microsoft to unbundle IE from Windows, or include other browsers as a standard part of its operating system. It also wants it to require Microsoft to adhere to industry standards with its Web browser.
The issue of standards is seen as important because if all Web browsers do not use the same standards, Web site developers are likely to design their Web sites to work with the most widely-used browser, which is Internet Explorer. That gives people a disincentive to use other browsers.
Microsoft said it will cooperate with any antitrust investigation that may result from the Opera complaint.
"We believe the inclusion of the browser into the operating system benefits consumers, and that consumers and PC manufacturers already are free to choose any browsers they wish," the company said in a statement.
Opera said it filed the complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them.
The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a Brussels-based trade group that counts Opera among its members, said it strongly endorses Opera's move.
"By tying its Internet Explorer product to its monopoly Windows operating system and refusing to faithfully implement industry accepted open standards, Microsoft deprives consumers of a real choice in internet browsers. Browsers are the gateway to the internet. Microsoft seeks to control this gateway," said Thomas Vinje, speaking for ECIS.
Opera's complaint signals a potentially new front in Microsoft's long-running battle with the European authorities, and comes three months after the Court of First Instance (CFI) -- Europe's second highest court -- threw out Microsoft's appeal of a 2004 European Commission antitrust ruling against it.
The CFI endorsed the Commission's finding that Microsoft had illegally bundled its media playing software, Media Player, into Windows, exploiting its monopoly in the desktop operating system market to gain influence in the market for desktop media player software.
There are parallels between Opera's complaint and the earlier antitrust suit, Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said at the Commission's midday briefing.
"We will study [Opera's complaint] carefully in light of the case law set in the Court of First Instance judgement in September," he said.
However, the Commission's remedy against Microsoft's bundling has proved useless, which may weaken the value of the 2004 ruling as a legal precedent.
The Commission ordered Microsoft to sell a second version of Windows that has Media Player stripped out. Microsoft christened the second version Edition N, and put it on the market in 2005, at the same price as the fully bundled Windows. Not surprisingly, no one bought it.
Microsoft disputes both aspects of the Opera complaint.
It claims that computer users have complete freedom of choice "to use and set as default any browser they wish, including Opera, and PC manufacturers can also preinstall any browser as the default on any Windows machine they sell," Microsoft said.
Concerning the complaint that it has been undermining open web standards to its own advantage, Microsoft said "Internet Explorer has been an integral part of the Windows operating system for over a decade and supports a wide range of web standards."
The complaint, which was filed with the European Commission on Wednesday, says Microsoft is abusing its dominant position in the desktop PC market by offering only Internet Explorer as a standard part of Windows, and hindering interoperability by not following accepted standards with IE.
Opera is asking the Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to force Microsoft to unbundle IE from Windows, or include other browsers as a standard part of its operating system. It also wants it to require Microsoft to adhere to industry standards with its Web browser.
The issue of standards is seen as important because if all Web browsers do not use the same standards, Web site developers are likely to design their Web sites to work with the most widely-used browser, which is Internet Explorer. That gives people a disincentive to use other browsers.
Microsoft said it will cooperate with any antitrust investigation that may result from the Opera complaint.
"We believe the inclusion of the browser into the operating system benefits consumers, and that consumers and PC manufacturers already are free to choose any browsers they wish," the company said in a statement.
Opera said it filed the complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them.
The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a Brussels-based trade group that counts Opera among its members, said it strongly endorses Opera's move.
"By tying its Internet Explorer product to its monopoly Windows operating system and refusing to faithfully implement industry accepted open standards, Microsoft deprives consumers of a real choice in internet browsers. Browsers are the gateway to the internet. Microsoft seeks to control this gateway," said Thomas Vinje, speaking for ECIS.
Opera's complaint signals a potentially new front in Microsoft's long-running battle with the European authorities, and comes three months after the Court of First Instance (CFI) -- Europe's second highest court -- threw out Microsoft's appeal of a 2004 European Commission antitrust ruling against it.
The CFI endorsed the Commission's finding that Microsoft had illegally bundled its media playing software, Media Player, into Windows, exploiting its monopoly in the desktop operating system market to gain influence in the market for desktop media player software.
There are parallels between Opera's complaint and the earlier antitrust suit, Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said at the Commission's midday briefing.
"We will study [Opera's complaint] carefully in light of the case law set in the Court of First Instance judgement in September," he said.
However, the Commission's remedy against Microsoft's bundling has proved useless, which may weaken the value of the 2004 ruling as a legal precedent.
The Commission ordered Microsoft to sell a second version of Windows that has Media Player stripped out. Microsoft christened the second version Edition N, and put it on the market in 2005, at the same price as the fully bundled Windows. Not surprisingly, no one bought it.
Microsoft disputes both aspects of the Opera complaint.
It claims that computer users have complete freedom of choice "to use and set as default any browser they wish, including Opera, and PC manufacturers can also preinstall any browser as the default on any Windows machine they sell," Microsoft said.
Concerning the complaint that it has been undermining open web standards to its own advantage, Microsoft said "Internet Explorer has been an integral part of the Windows operating system for over a decade and supports a wide range of web standards."
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