Today's News

GLOBAL TRAINING

2012-01-04T00:39:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! might trim stake in Alibaba: report

2011-12-22T21:37:00.001-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO: US Internet pioneer Yahoo! is considering trimming its stake in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba and letting go of its share of Yahoo! Japan, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The publications cited unnamed sources as indicating Yahoo! might raise billions of dollars by cutting its ownership in Alibaba to 15 percent from 40 percent and by letting go of its 35-percent share of Yahoo! Japan.

Proceeds could help the faded Internet star's plan to transform from an online search engine to a "premier digital media" company and potentially be doled out to sate shareholders irked by its performance in recent years.

Alibaba's value was estimated in September to be about $13 billion.

The California company's share of Yahoo! Japan, a publicly traded company in which Japanese Internet firm Softbank owns a major stake, was estimated at $6 billion.

Alibaba has expressed interest in getting back its shares from Yahoo!, which has openly indicated it wants to release its interest in Yahoo! Japan.

The complex transaction would be tax free because it would be done in a way not considered a sale.

The Top 10 Brand Pages on Google+

2011-12-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Google+ launched brand pages just six weeks ago, but some brands have already amassed considerable followings on the social network.

This week, Zoomsphere, which tracks brand traction on social networks, released charts that rank brands by follower, activity and engagement counts on Google+. Below, we’ve highlighted the most-followed brand pages. To dive further into the rankings, see here.

10 Most Circled Brands

1. Android: 250,937 followers
2. Google+: 171,017 followers*
3. Google: 150,778 followers**
4. Google Chrome: 136,895 followers
5. Mashable: 131,953 followers
6. Gmail: 114,020 followers***
7. Coldplay: 102,481 followers
8. H&M: 91,702 followers
9. New York Times: 91,467 followers
10. Marvel: 87,118 followers

Microsoft, Nokia considered joint bid for RIM, report says

2011-12-21T20:51:00.001-08:00

As Microsoft and Nokia were working out their Windows Phone 7 plans earlier this year, the companies were also considering a joint bid for Research In Motion, a new report claims.

Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Microsoft and Nokia neared a joint bid for RIM "in recent months" before deciding against it. The Journal's sources also said that while RIM co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis won't necessarily turn their backs on any buyout offers, the executives are waiting until next year's launch of the company's new mobile software before taking any buyout bids seriously.

Microsoft and Nokia surprised many industry observers this year with a partnership that would make Windows Phone 7 the "principal" operating system on the handset maker's line of devices. The move effectively ended Nokia's long-standing reliance upon Symbian and could either be the move that saves Nokia or that only exacerbates its continued market share losses.

RIM, like Nokia, is in bad shape. Over the last couple years, the company's market share has dropped as Apple and Android-handset makers deliver products that consumers find more compelling than the BlackBerry. Those market share declines have spilled over to RIM's financials, which have plummeted in the last several quarters, prompting many investors to call for new management and a potential sale.

"Jaguar believes that RIM should sell its handset business and monetize its patent portfolio, while retaining its service business under new leadership," Jaguar Financial, aRIM shareholder, said in a statement last week. "Jaguar believes RIM has lost its ability to compete in the consumer hardware business and a sale or spinout to its shareholders of the handset business is recommended as an approach to restoring value."

A sale might have been unthinkable just a year ago when RIM's stock was hovering around $60 a share and its market capitalization was high. But over the last year, RIM's shares have dropped 79 percent to close yesterday at $12.52. The company's market cap is just $6.56 billion, which, assuming a suitor would offer a slight premium on that to sweeten the pot for RIM, is a bargain for major companies, like Microsoft and Nokia.

But they're reportedly not the only firms that have considered acquiring RIM. Just yesterday, Reuters reported that Amazon had flirted with the idea of merging with the BlackBerry maker, but stopped short of placing a formal offer after RIM management discouraged the idea.

RIM has, however, been willing to talk to other companies about something much different: licensing its software. According to the Journal's sources, RIM has held talks with HTC and Samsung on licensing its next operating system version. However, unlike Microsoft, which licenses its software but stops short of developing handsets, RIM would still sell its BlackBerry smartphones, even if it inked licensing deals with other firms, the sources said.

Apple fixes download bug for iPhone OS 3.1.3 users

2011-12-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

iPhone OS 3.1.3 users are reporting a fix.

(Credit: Apple)

iPhone owners still using OS 3.1.3 can once again install new apps from the App Store.

Users running the older OS reported on Apple's Support Communities over the past week that they were unable to download and install new apps directly onto their iPhone and iPod Touchdevices, though they could update existing apps and sync new apps from iTunes. The glitch seemed specific to OS 3.1.3, though some iPhone 4S users with iOS 5 reported a similar problem.

As of yesterday afternoon, forum users started chiming in that the download bug had been squashed.

"Yes, it is true, after near one week after, the AppStore works again in our 'old' iOS3 devices,"posted one commenter.

"I really think that our insistence and devotion of some, benefited to our cause. Thank to Apple to finally decide to correct this bug," wrote another.

A few people noted that some issues persist with OS 3.1.3, such as the Update button still not working, but the overall app download process seems to be up and running again.

The cause of the problem and its resolution remain a mystery. CNET contacted Apple yesterday and again today for comment, but so far the company has not responded with specific details.

Microsoft to drop CES after 2012 show

2011-12-21T20:32:00.001-08:00

Microsoft said it will pull out of the Consumer Electronics Show after 2012. The software giant is the latest company to pull out or avoid the tech confab altogether.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES 2011.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said in a blog post today that the company, which has been a mainstay attraction at the show for years, would no longer make a keynote presentation or host a booth at the show after the one scheduled for January.

"We'll continue to participate inCES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won't have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing," Shaw said.

The company has been increasingly using its own events to make major product announcements, an underlying trend that other technology companies have followed. Apple and Google have long avoided CES, even as Google has had a major presence at other conferences such as Mobile World Congress. Motorola Mobility likewise canceled its press conference for the upcoming show.

Microsoft is just the latest to reconsider its presence at CES, which is a large and costly event in which companies risk getting drowned out by the onslaught of announcements that come out. Instead, companies have been looking at smaller, individual events where they don't have to compete with other news.

Many are looking to emulate the model made successful by Apple, in which it is able to generate a huge amount of buzz and attention for an event that it puts on.

The Consumer Electronics Association said it has already received interest from other exhibitors for Microsoft's old booth space.

"Both CEA and Microsoft have agreed that the time has come to end this great run, and so Microsoft will not have a keynote at the 2013 CES," the trade group said in a statement today. "Microsoft is an important member of CEA and we wish them all the best as they evolve their plans for new ways to tell consumer stories."

"As we look at all of the new ways we tell our consumer stories - from product momentum disclosures, to exciting events like our Big Windows Phone, to a range of consumer connection points like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft.com and our retail stores - it feels like the right time to make this transition," Shaw said.

Microsoft's press conference in January of this year was mostly a recap of existing products, including the Xbox 360 and its then-recently launched Windows Phone platform. The big new piece of news was Windows 8, which itself had been detailed with compatibility for ARM processors at a separate press event ahead of the company's keynote.

The company, however, stayed mum on any new operating system features, saving those details for its Build conference in September. It's also held separate, smaller events to promote its Windows Phone mobile operating system.

Grammys to honor late Steve Jobs for contribution to music

2011-12-21T20:12:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK: The Grammys will pay special tribute to late Apple founder Steve Jobs, Brazil's Tom Jobim -- of "Girl from Ipanema" fame -- and US singer Diana Ross at the upcoming awards show, the organization announced Wednesday.

The Apple co-founder and mind behind the wildly popular iPod, iPad and iPhone died in October after battling pancreatic cancer.

Jobs, a Trustees Award honoree, will be remembered as having helped "create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books," a statement from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will be given to the Allman Brothers Band, country crooner Glen Campbell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, country star George Jones, soul stars the Memphis Horns, Ross and rap trailblazer Gil Scott-Heron, at the 54th edition of the awards fete.

Jobim, who died in 1994 at 67, is considered one of Brazil's most influential musicians, helping earn world renown for the bossa nova.

Diva Diana Ross, 67, won an Academy Award nomination for her turn as Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972), and will be honored for her musical career that has spanned decades. Though she has been nominated for Grammys on many occasions, the Lifetime Achievement honor will be her first Grammy.

"This year's honorees offer a variety of brilliance, contributions and lasting impressions on our culture," said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording Academy. "It is an honor to recognize such a diverse group of individuals whose talents and achievements have had an indelible impact on our industry."

Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim wrote the legendary "Garota de Ipanema" (Girl from Ipanema) in 1962, and it became a sort of anthem of Brazilian culture, with covers done by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Nat King Cole and Madonna.

What You Need to Know About YouTube's New Analytics Program

2011-12-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

Google's video publishing powerhouse YouTube recently unveiled a major upgrade to its video analytics predecessor YouTube Insight. The new system,YouTube Analytics, features a much-improved dashboard that's easy to navigate and understand.

Beyond aesthetics, YouTube Analytics also includes a cache of new tools that allows you to have a deeper understanding of who's watching your videos, what viewer demographic associations are and which topics viewers watch most. Here's a look at some of the most useful features that can help you tailor your business videos and offer a more engaging video channel:

Detailed viewer data: Among the new features is the ability to split off viewer data from engagement data and drill into each of these categories to generate insights into viewer "Likes" and "Dislikes" across all videos in your channel.

In addition to providing viewer stats, demographics and abandonment rates, the new program comes with data on how users are accessing content and which channels deliver the most engaged viewers. It also offers a host of engagement metrics that can help video owners understand the social side of their viewer data -- specifically, what viewers think about each of the videos in your channel. This can help you decide which videos to promote, which new videos to create and what content to scrap.

Related: Seven Tips for Marketing a Business with Video

Audience retention reports: For each video in your channel, you're now able to see exactly where viewers start to lose interest in your videos. With this information, you can learn more about the attention span of your audience, as well as what specific types of content they prefer.

How to use the data: Ask yourself the following questions to get a feel for how to use the information found in the new Youtube Analytics program to make decisions about your current and future business video choices:

1. Take a look at your Top 10 Videos, as displayed in the new Youtube Analytics dashboard. Do you notice any trends throughout these videos? Do they cover similar topics or run about the same length? Extrapolating from this information should give you a good idea of what type of video to launch next.

2. Next, look at your top Traffic Sources. Which sites send you the most visitors? Can you use the other tools within the Youtube Analytics dashboard to learn more about the visitors from each source? Even if you have one source that sends the bulk of your traffic, keep an eye out for other sources that send highly engaged visitors and beef up your promotional efforts on these sites.

3. Finally, look at your Audience Retention reports. How long, on average, are viewers sticking around during and after your videos? If they aren't making it through your content or seem to lose interest quickly, get a handle on what they're looking for to provide future video content that's more engaging.

How does Facebook Prevent Suicide?

2011-12-21T01:06:00.000-08:00

Preventing suicide?? If this was discussed amongst a group of psychiatrists or even within a group of laymen, we would except to hear a plethora of ways and suggestions but hardly anyone would include a social networking site!

I couldn’t help but marvel at the ingenious tactic employed by the Facebook authorities to stay in the news when I saw this headline “Facebook aims to help prevent suicide”. Give me a break… How can anyone believe it for even a split second? Although Facebook has completely taken over our lifestyle and insanely invaded our privacy by letting your early morning bed tea to the moon smiling down at night be known to everyone, I still highly doubt that anyone who is troubled enough to harbor suicidal thoughts, will actually go and update their FB status before committing the ultimate sin; suicide!.

It is one thing to update your status about being mugged or having an accident and it is definitely another to drop hints about your suicidal plans on a social media site. Even if we stretch our imagination and consider for a while that somebody will actually leave messages on FB about the impending doom, I still feel cynical about the action that can be viably taken before the commitment of the actual act. We would expect that such a person who seems sane enough to share his problems through the newly launched FB feature, would not take the gross decision of committing suicide in the first place.

Leaving all the other factors behind, hopelessness is one crucial reason why people decide to end their own life. If Facebook were to be proven such a great help, with around a billion of friends on everybody’s network, why would they be so hopeless? So hopeless, that they end life? Hilarious is one word for any logic that supports this claim.

Surprising as it may sound, this new attractive claim is based on the ‘valued’ feedback from a client’s (facebooker’s) personal experience. Tomorrow, If I supposedly post a suicidal note on FB, I would expect my friends to RUSH to me… rather than being so unconcerned so as to report it to an xyz sitting miles away in a fancy office.

Real friends don’t wait for us to get to the edge, letting us turn suicidal. Whatever the nature of the problem, friends are those who not only understand our problems but are also able to sympathize with us and provide us with possible solutions.

Wake up people! We need to get real. We need to have closer connections than a virtual social media platform used solely as a too to boost oneself and fickle about the others. What’s important is to reach out and empathize each other rather than letting a hurt or sorrow get clogged in their systems, eventually consuming them. To put it straight, why wait for a flood of comments when a friend’s shoulder is right besides us?

Hollywood still struggling to focus 3D technology

2011-12-21T00:43:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES: Two years after breakthrough 3D megahit "Avatar," Hollywood is still struggling to decide how best to use the new technology, as filmgoers tire of the novelty and say no to annoying glasses.

While 2011 ends with a couple of well-received 3D movies - including Steven Spielberg's holiday smash "Tintin" and Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" - filmmakers need to focus on what works in three dimensions and what doesn't, say experts.
Following a series of 3D flops over the last 12 months, the coming year will see a new crop of releases, including a suped-up version of "Avatar" director James Cameron's record-breaking "Titanic" in April.
But experts say filmmakers can no longer count on the simple fact of putting "Now playing in 3D" on the posters to attract cinema-goers wary of paying a few extra bucks for a questionably improved experience.
"3D film distribution in 2011 has been a lesson in learning for studios and theaters alike," Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at industry data provider Exhibitor Relations told.
"While there were nearly 40 (3D) films released this year, studios have been scaling back in terms of the type of films released in this new format. The reason? Audiences won't pay for a 3D engagement that isn't a premium picture."
The 3D revolution - or the latest attempt to bring 3D to cinema, following earlier failed efforts - comes as the film industry is struggling to reinvent itself as the ways of watching movies multiply.
Hollywood could arguably be said to be seeking its "iTunes moment," like the arrival of the Apple song purchasing site for the music industry, as pirate copies of films proliferated from DVDs to illegal downloads and online streaming.
But signs that 3D has struggled came this year not only from summer box office flops - "Fright Night," "Conan the Barbarian," "Glee," and "Spy Kids - but also from flagging sales of 3D televisions.

Saudi prince buys $300 mn stake in Twitter

2011-12-19T23:08:00.001-08:00

RIYADH: Saudi billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company announced a combined investment of $300 million in the social networking site Twitter, in a statement Monday.

"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," Prince Walid said in the statement released on Kingdom Holding's website.

The statement said that the investment was finalised after "several months of negotiations" and represented a "strategic stake" in the social networking site.

Prince Walid, a media mogul and one of the world's richest men, in September announced plans to launch Alarab, a pan-Arab news channel, by 2012, saying the television network will promote freedom of speech.

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook played a crucial role in spreading information and organising protests in the revolutions that have rocked the Arab world since January.

Apple scores hit on HTC in US patent case

2011-12-19T23:04:00.001-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Monday scored a hit in an ongoing patent brawl with mobile handset giant HTC with a US trade authority ruling the iPhone maker has rights to features using one-tap screen commands.

The International Trade Commission gave Apple part of what it wanted in a "limited exclusion order" directing that HTC stop bringing offending smartphones into the United States effective on April 19, 2012.

Taiwan-based HTC expected to be able to adapt the Android-powered handsets to sidestep the trouble with the single patent before the deadline.

The move was likely to come at the cost of removing some features smartphone users enjoy and came as part of an ongoing campaign by Apple to cobble the momentum of smartphones powered by Google's Android software.

The patent affects functions such as touching a smartphone screen to follow a Web link or call a phone number displayed on a page.

The decision was deemed final and sent for review by the staff of US President Barack Obama, who was unlikely to overrule it.

The final order came with the commission reversing a prior decision and ruling in favor of HTC on patented technology that would have been harder to design out of handsets.

AT&T abandons bid for T-Mobile

2011-12-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

AT&T said today that it has withdrawn its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA in a deal worth $39 billion.

The company said it would take a $4 billion charge in the fourth quarter as part of the break-up fee with Deutsche Telekom. The companies had agreed to this break-up fee when they formed the deal, which was announced in March. AT&T said the companies will also enter into a mutually beneficial roaming agreement.

There had been much speculation about how long AT&T would fight to keep its deal with T-Mobile alive. In August, the U.S.Department of Justice sued to block the merger. And in November the Federal Communications Commission indicated it opposed the merger as well. In both cases, the Justice Department and the FCC said that the merger between the second largest and fourth largest wireless phone companies in the U.S would harm competition. The FCC went as far as to say in its report of the merger that the deal would result in massive layoffs and would not be in the public interest.

Despite its arguments in defense of its merger with T-Mobile, AT&T clearly saw the writing on the wall. The company withdrew its application at the FCC in November and told investors it would likely take a $4 billion charge to pay Deutsche Telekom if the deal could not be completed in a timely fashion. And just last week, AT&T asked the federal court hearing its antitrust case toput the legal proceedings on hold until mid-January.

There had been talk that AT&T was willing to give up some portions of T-Mobile to keep the deal alive. Some reports indicated the company was willing to sell off more than 30 percent of T-Mobile's assets to satisfy antitrust concerns. Leap Wireless was suggested as a potential bidder for those assets. And AT&T was supposedly in talks with the company. Satellite TV provider Dish Network was also supposedly in talks for T-Mobile's assets as part of a deal.

Earlier today, The Wall Street Journal reported that these talks were not going well, and that AT&T was finally considering giving up on its bid.

It's unclear what will happen next to either AT&T or T-Mobile. T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, has made it clear that it does not want to invest further in the U.S. wireless market. The company may look to sell its assets to other smaller carriers, such as Leap Wireless or MetroPCS, two prepaid providers that are looking to build nationwide footprints. Dish Network may be interested in the carrier's assets. Dish has acquired spectrum it can use to build a wireless broadband network and may look to T-Moblie's spectrum and customer base as a good opportunity.

The possibility of working with cable operators which have also had wireless aspirations was taken off the table earlier this month when Verizon Wireless announced it was buying spectrum from SpectrumCo, a consortium of cable operators that included Comcast and Time Warner Cable. SpectrumCo had bought Advanced Wireless Spectrum in the FCC's auction when T-Mobile acquired its AWS spectrum. Verizon plans to buy the 20MHz of spectrum these cable operators own for $3.6 billion.

It's also unclear what AT&T will do next. AT&T still faces a spectrum crunch. The company said in its statement that it has entered into a roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom so that it can use the T-Mobile network, but it did not elaborate further.

Access to wireless spectrum was at the heart of AT&T's argument for buying T-Mobile. AT&T argued that it needed T-Mobile's so that it could keep up with current and future demand for broadband wireless data. Specifically, it said the T-Mobile AWS spectrum would help it build out its 4G LTE network to more users.

The problem that AT&T and other wireless carriers face is that there is no more spectrum coming up for auction in the foreseeable future. The FCC has said it plans to make 500MHz of spectrum available over the next decade. But even that spectrum, if it ends up being identified and cleared, may not be enough to satisfy growing demand.

In its press release, AT&T said that blocking the merger with T-Mobile is essentially blocking the company's path to more spectrum, which will in turn hurt consumers.

"The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled."

The company's CEO Randall Stephenson said AT&T will continue to invest in its wireless network. But he chastised regulators for putting a stop to the merger. He said regulators need to "allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry."

He also called on lawmakers to approve legislation so that more spectrum can be auctioned off.

"The mobile Internet is a dynamic industry that can be a critical driver in restoring American economic growth and job creation, but only if companies are allowed to react quickly to customer needs and market forces," Stephenson said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski took issue with AT&T's assertions that the deal would create jobs. But he agreed with AT&T's CEO regarding legislation to approve more wireless auctions.

"The FCC is committed to ensuring a competitive mobile marketplace that drives innovation and investment, creates jobs and benefits consumers," Genachowski said in a statement. "This deal would have done the opposite. The U.S. mobile industry leads the world in mobile innovation, and we agree with AT&T that Congress should pass incentive auction legislation that will unleash new spectrum for mobile broadband."

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice issued a statement stating that consumers won as a result of AT&T and Deutsche Telekom withdrawing their merger for consideration.

"This result is a victory for the millions of Americans who use mobile wireless telecommunications services," Deputy Attorney General Jame M. Cole, said in a statement. "A significant competitor remains in the marketplace and consumers will benefit from a quick resolution of this matter without the unnecessary expense of taxpayer money and government resources."

Time to play a Ten10 match with Imran: Sharif

2011-12-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Mian Nawaz Sharif has said that it's time to play a Ten10 match with Imran Khan, Geo News reported.

Talking to newsmen in Karachi he said he used to blast away Imran Khan’s in-swinging curveball for a four on the fine-leg fence in such a way that the turf blew off the outfield.

When asked would he pay a visit to President Zardari to inquire after his health, he prayed for him (President) to get well soon.

Samsung files new claims against Apple in Germany

2011-12-18T21:28:00.001-08:00

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Monday it has filed new legal claims against US rival Apple in Germany, claiming that the iPhone maker infringed four of its patents.

Samsung said the claims, filed on December 16 with the Mannheim regional court, relate to alleged infringement of patents including those for Samsung's telecommunications standard technology and user interface.

The two technology giants are engaged in a legal battle involving dozens of cases worldwide as they struggle for leadership in the hugely lucrative smartphone and tablet computer market.

Apple began the process in April, accusing Samsung of "slavishly" copying its iPhone and iPad designs. Samsung has focused its own lawsuits on technology patents rather than design.

The South Korean giant has received two legal boosts this month.

On December 9 Australia's High Court cleared the way for Samsung to sell its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in the country in time for Christmas, dismissing Apple's bid to have a ban extended.

Earlier in the month a federal court judge in San Jose, California, denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction that would have banned the sale of three Samsung smartphones and a tablet computer in the US.

Hands-on with Windows 8: it's good stuff on the PC, too

2011-12-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Windows 8 is going to be a "true" tablet platform that provides first-class support for touch-based tablet systems. But not everyone wants a tablet. Lots of us use PCs and are happy with our mice and keyboards. We don't have touch screens, and even if we did, we wouldn't want dirty fingerprints all over our monitors. Are we going to be left behind by this brave new world of the post-PC?

Windows 8 will be a tablet operating system. But it's also an out-and-out PC operating system. The PC still matters. The PC is still a core platform and PC users are still a core demographic. PC applications are never going to disappear, and Windows must continue to support them.

Windows 8 will run existing Windows applications on a regular Windows-looking desktop. It will, of course, support mouse and keyboard input—and pen, for those rare people who want to use styli—and for regular Windows applications, nothing much will change.

The Start screen, however, shakes things up a bit. Hit the Windows key on the keyboard, or the Windows button on the taskbar, and you don't get a regular Start menu. You get the same start screen as the touch users do. Instead of touching tiles with your finger, you click them with your mouse. Or you can navigate with your keyboard, if you want: arrow keys move between tiles, page up and and down scrolls the start screen a group at a time. The mouse wheel also scrolls the Start screen, though this doesn't work perfectly in the developer build, as Microsoft has not yet implemented acceleration (it's on the list of things to do; it's just not in this build).

The Start screen isn't as dense as the Start menu. At 1366×768, you can get about 18-21 small tiles, or half as many large tiles, on screen at once. In that sense, the Start screen is certainly a compromise.

However, just as is the case with Windows Vista and Windows 7, where clicking icons on the Start menu wasn't the best way to use the platform, clicking tiles on the Start screen isn't the best approach either. Keyboard users never have to click the search charm in the Edge UI. They can just start typing, and Windows 8 will search automatically. Though the presentation is very different from Windows 7's, the functionality is the same: hit the Start button, start typing. Windows 8 does it better, in fact, due to the search contracts and in-app search features. If you use search and tiles pinned to the "main" (left-most) Start screen, applications are typically more accessible than they would be in the Start menu—few people pin 20 apps.

If you've already switched to the new Windows 7 way of using things, then Windows 8's Start screen is essentially just a new look to the things you're already doing. If you haven't, you're in for a big shock, and you may well hate Windows 8.

Even if you do hunt through the Start menu's menu, the Windows 8 interface is not as different as it first appears. The Start menu is a bunch of icons arranged into groups. The Start screen is a bunch of tiles—which are live, active icons that can show you information without even running the application—organized into groups. You'll still be able to scroll through the menu with your mouse wheel.

The result is that while Windows 8 may always lose out to the Start menu in terms of the sheer number of applications visible per screenful of data, it may still have a comparable amount of information—thanks to tiles—and a similar structure. The semantic zoom feature, which allows you to zoom out of the Start screen, and iconify the tiles, will allow access to even more applications. Windows 8 provides a very different look and feel, but it doesn't force you to work in a fundamentally different way.

The mouse and keyboard UI doesn't attempt to slavishly emulate the gestural interface. Instead, it uses actions and movements that are natural for the mouse and the keyboard.

So, for example, instead of nudging tiles on the Start screen to select them and adjust their properties, mouse users do what's natural for mice; they right click. The result is the same, but the action is different.

Other gestures are likewise adapted. Instead of using the swipe-from-left gesture, mouse and keyboardists will switch tasks with good old alt-tab and win-tab. Alt-tab works just as it does in Windows 7; a panel of thumbnails in the middle of the screen. Win-tab has changed; it's currently the (useless, though showy) Flip-3D effect. In Windows 8, it's directly equivalent to the swipe gesture.

Swipe-from-right, to bring up charms, is done with a hot corner; put the mouse pointer in the bottom left corner of the screen, and a small charm menu appears. For keyboardists, hit Win+C and the same occurs. Pen users can just swipe; pens can do that.

The app bar is revealed on a right click, replacing swipe from the top or bottom.

The result is an interface that works well for all input devices, both new and traditional. The operating system doesn't work identically, but it does work, without incurring any penalty for preferring one mechanism over another.

This doesn't mean that everything translates perfectly. The pen is still the best input device for doodling, sketching, or handwriting. Fingers can, uniquely, do multitouch. It's likely that some applications will favor one mechanism over others, but it's not Windows 8 that's making that happen; it'll be down to the choices developers themselves make.

Traditional applications will tend to run on the traditional desktop, and the traditional desktop has received some love too. Functionally, it's the same as it always was; you can still stick icons on the desktop, you can still dock toolbars to the taskbar, there's still a nofication area full of icons. Apart from the loss of the Start menu, it works the same as it always did.

Only in fact, it works a bit better, at least for users of multimonitor systems. The inability to span the taskbar across multiple monitors has long been a source of frustration for multimonitor users. In Windows 8, 16 years after the taskbar first hit our computers, we'll finally be able to span the taskbar across multiple screens, without needing third party applications or special drivers.

Windows 8 is a usable touch-screen tablet operating system, and it certainly has some compelling features when used on that kind of machine. The look of the software is different from what traditional Windows users are used to, but the operating system remains true to its PC roots: you can use it on a tablet, but you won't need to.

President Zardari will be discharged on Thursday

2011-12-14T03:08:00.001-08:00

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be discharged on Thursday from a Dubai hospital where he has spent more than a week but will remain in the Gulf emirate to rest, his spokesman said Wednesday.

"All tests are clear and the doctors plan to discharge the president from hospital tomorrow to take rest at home and continue the heart medication," Farhatullah Babar said.

"The president is recovering and the doctors have advised him complete
rest," Babar said, adding that Zardari would remain at his house in Dubai.

The 56-year-old Zardari flew to the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday after falling ill in the midst of a major scandal over alleged attempts by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's military.

Babar declined to comment when Zardari would be returning to Pakistan.

Facebook aims to help prevent suicide

2011-12-14T01:11:00.001-08:00

MENLO PARK: Help is just a few clicks away on Facebook for people expressing suicidal thoughts.

The social networking site launched a new feature Tuesday that enables users to connect with a counselor through a confidential chat session triggered after a friend reports distressing content.

The new tool has several benefits, experts say, in the quest to reduce the number of nearly 100 Americans who commit suicide every day.

First, it brings quick intervention at times when it can be of most help. Second, it enables troubled people to start a chat over an instant messaging system that many find more comfortable than speaking on the phone with a counselor.

"We've heard from many people who say they want to talk to someone but don't want to call. Instant message is perfect for that," said Lidia Bernik, associate project director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The service is the latest tool from Facebook aimed at improving safety on its site, which has more than 800 million users. This year, it announced changes to how users report bullying, offensive content and fake profiles.

"One of the big goals here is to get the person in distress into the right help as soon as possible," saidFred Wolens, Facebook's public policy manager.

In recent years, distressed people have posted their final words on Facebook.

In one high-profile case in September 2010, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate allegedly used a webcam to spy on his intimate encounter with another man.

Clementi had posted on his Facebook account: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Last month, authorities in Pittsburg, Calif., said a man posted a suicide note on Facebook before he killed his wife and in-laws, then himself.

In July, police in Pennsylvania said they believed they were able to help prevent a man's suicide after his friend in California alerted police about a distraught Facebook posting. Police met with the man, who was admitted to a hospital.

Google and Yahoo have long provided Lifeline's phone number as the first result when someone searches for "suicide." Through email, Facebook directed users to the hotline or encouraged friends to call police if they perceived someone was about to do harm.

The new service goes a step further. Here's how it works:

A user spots a suicidal comment on a friend's page. He then clicks on a "report" button next to the posting that leads to a series of questions about the nature of the post, including whether it is violent, harassing, hate speech or harmful behavior.

If harmful behavior is clicked, then self-harm, Facebook's user safety team reviews it and sends it to Lifeline. Once the comment is determined to be legitimate, Facebook sends an email to the user who originally posted the thoughts perceived as suicidal. The email includes Lifeline's phone number and a link to start a confidential chat session.

The recipient decides whether to respond.

Facebook also sends an email to the person who reported the content to let the person know that the site responded. If a suicide or other threats appear imminent, Facebook encourages friends to call law enforcement.

The vetting process guards against any misuse and harassment and keeps the experience within the user's control, Wolens said.

Facebook, however, has not created any software that searches the site for suicidal expressions. It would be far too difficult with so many users and so many comments that could be misinterpreted by a computer algorithm, Wolens said.

"The only people who will have a really good idea of what's going on is your friends. So we're encouraging them to speak up and giving them an easy and quick way to get help," he said.

The Lifeline currently responds to dozens of users on Facebook each day. Crisis center workers will be available 24 hours a day to respond to users selecting the chat option.

ISAF commander contacts COAS

2011-12-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

KABUL: General John Allen, ISAF commander in Afghanistan Tuesday said Pakistan has showed signs of resumption of communication exchange which was halted following the Nato strike in Pakistan that killed 24 soldiers, Geo News reported.

General Allen told journalists in Kabul that he had talked to Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

During the conversation, both the officials expressed the resolve to get to the facts of Mohmand Agency attack.

The ISAF commander said he was confident that Pakistan would soon send back its coordination officials, who were recalled after the Mohmand strike, at Nato Headquarters in Afghanistan.

Team performance improving day by day: Abdul Razzaq

2011-12-13T07:48:00.001-08:00

LAHORE: Renowned cricket all-rounder Abdul Razzaq said the performance of the Pakistan cricket team is improving day by day and he can representative the national team for further three years.

Abdul Razzaq was talking with media here at the Allam Iqbal International Airport on the occasion of leaving for Australia where he will participate in their domestic cricket.

He said that the performance of the national team has improved and its series of victories will help a lot Pakistan in the forthcoming Malaysia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup.

The all-rounder further said that he can play T20 and one-day cricket for two to three years more for Pakistan and during this period he will try his best to transform his experience to newcomers.

Cyber attacks could wreck world oil supply

2011-12-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

DOHA: Hackers are bombarding the world's computer controlled energy sector, conducting industrial espionage and threatening potential global havoc through oil supply disruption.

Oil company executives warned that attacks were becoming more frequent and more carefully planned.

"If anybody gets into the area where you can control opening and closing of valves, or release valves, you can imagine what happens," said Ludolf Luehmann, an IT manager at Shell Europe's biggest company .

"It will cost lives and it will cost production, it will cost money, cause fires and cause loss of containment, environmental damage - huge, huge damage," he told the World Petroleum Congress in Doha.

Computers control nearly all the world's energy production and distribution in systems that are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks that could put cutting-edge fuel production technology in rival company hands.

"We see an increasing number of attacks on our IT systems and information and there are various motivations behind it - criminal and commercial," said Luehmann. "We see an increasing number of attacks with clear commercial interests, focusing on research and development, to gain the competitive advantage."

He said the Stuxnet computer worm discovered in 2010, the first found that was specifically designed to subvert industrial systems, changed the world of international oil companies because it was the first visible attack to have a significant impact on process control.

But the determination and stamina shown by hackers when they attack industrial systems and companies has now stepped up a gear, and there has been a surge in multi-pronged attacks to break into specific operation systems within producers, he said.

"Cyber crime is a huge issue. It's not restricted to one company or another it's really broad and it is ongoing," said Dennis Painchaud, director of International Government Relations at Canada's Nexen Inc . "It is a very significant risk to our business."

"It's something that we have to stay on top of every day. It is a risk that is only going to grow and is probably one of the preeminent risks that we face today and will continue to face for some time."

Luehmann said hackers were increasingly staging attack over long periods, silently collecting information over weeks or months before attacking specific targets within company operations with the information they have collected over a long period.

"It's a new dimension of attacks that we see in Shell," he said.

NOT IN CONTROL

In October, security software maker Symantec Corp published a report on a mysterious virus, discovered and named Duqu by Hungary's Laboratory of Cryptography and System Security, that contained a code similar to Stuxnet.

Experts said it appeared to be designed to gather data to make it easier to launch future cyber attacks.

Other businesses can shut down their information technology (IT) systems to regularly install rapidly breached software security patches and update vulnerable operating systems.

But energy companies cannot keep taking down plants to patch up security holes.

"Oil needs to keep on flowing," said Riemer Brouwer, head of IT security at Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations

(ADCO).

"We have a very strategic position in the global oil and gas market," he added. "If they could bring down one of the big players in the oil and gas market you can imagine what this will do for the oil price - it would blow the market."

Hackers could finance their operations by using options markets to bet on the price movements caused by disruptions, Brouwer said.

"So far we haven't had any major incidents," he said. "But are we really in control? The answer has to be 'no'."

But the threat of a coordinated attack on energy installations across the world is also real, experts say, and unlike a blockade of the Gulf can be launched from anywhere, with no U.S. military might in sight and little chance of finding the perpetrator.

"We know that the Straits of Hormuz are of strategic importance to the world," said Stephan Klein of business application software developer SAP.

"What about the approximately 80 million barrels that are processed through IT systems?," said Klein, SAP vice president of oil and gas operations in the Middle East and North Africa.

Attacks like Stuxnet are so complex that very few organizations in the world are able to set them up, said Gordon Muehl, chief security officer at Germany's SAP, but it was still too simple to attack industries over the internet.

Only a few years ago hacking was confined to skilled computer programmers, but thanks to online video tutorials, breaking into corporate operating systems is now a free for all.

"Everyone can hack today," Shell's Luehmann said. "The number of potential hackers is not a few very skilled people -- it's everyone."

US lawmakers freeze $700m to Pakistan over IEDS

2011-12-12T19:57:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON: The leaders of a US House-Senate negotiating panel said on Monday they had agreed to freeze $700 million in US aid to Pakistan until it provides some assurances of assistance in the fight against improvised explosive devices in the region.

The explosive devices are among militants' most effective weapons against US and coalition troops in Afghanistan. Many are made using ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer shipped across the border from Pakistan.

The freeze on US aid was agreed as part of a defense bill that is expected to be passed this week.

Pakistan crush Bangladesh by innings & 184 runs

2011-12-12T03:21:00.000-08:00

Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh by an innings and 184 runs on the penultimate day of the opening Test here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday to gain a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Bangladesh, trailing by 459 runs, resumed their second innings at 134-4 and were bowled out for 275 after lunch to suffer their 62nd defeat in 72 Tests.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman grabbed four wickets for 88 runs as he, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and paceman Aizaz Cheema shared five wickets that fell on the fourth-day.
Fast bowler Rubel Hossain did not bat due a shoulder injury, suffered while fielding on Sunday.
Debutant Mohammed Nazimuddin (78), Shakib Al Hasan (51) and skipper
Mushfiqur Rahim (49) were the main run-getters for Bangladesh.
Cheema ended the innings when he had Shahadat Hossain (21) caught by Umar Gul in the covers in his first over with the second new ball.
Rehman dismissed well-set Nazimuddin and former captain Shakib in the morning session before accounting for Rahim to finish the match with seven wickets after having taken three in the first innings.
Ajmal was the other wicket-taker in the morning when he bowled Mohammad Mahmudullah for no score.
Nazimuddin was involved in two stands, adding 78 runs for the fifth wicket with Shakib and 47 for the next with Rahim before being caught by Ajmal at mid-off.
Opener Nazimuddin, 41 overnight, hit two sixes and nine fours in his 186-ball knock.
He was the second-highest scorer in the first innings with 31.
He defied the Pakistani attack for more than an hour and completed his half-century when he turned Rehman to deep mid-wicket for three runs.
He then played a couple of big shots, lofting Rehman over extra cover and then Ajmal over mid-wicket for sixes. He gave two chances off Ajmal after completing his half-century but wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal missed both.
Bangladesh had added only 24 runs to their overnight total when Shakib was trapped leg-before by Rehman after hitting eight fours in his ninth Test half-century.
Pakistan had on Sunday posted a mammoth 594-5 declared in their first innings in reply to Bangladesh's 135, with Younis Khan (200 not out), Mohammad Hafeez (143) and Asad Shafiq (104) being the main scorers.

Twitter introduces revamped Web site

2011-12-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter revamped its website on Thursday to make the microblogging service easier to use and to help companies better showcase their brands.

The new version of Twitter, which the company is gradually making available starting on Thursday, will feature a new look and feel and faster performance, the company said.
The redesigned website comes as Twitter is taking steps to introduce more advertising on the site and as Twitter faces increased competition from Web giants Facebook and Google Inc .
"We have to provide the simplest and fastest way for people around the world to connect to everything they care about," Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo said as he introduced the new version of the site at an event at the company's future headquarters in San Francisco.
Costolo appeared alongside Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who returned to the company in March as executive chairman to oversee the company's product design and development efforts.
Twitter allows people to send 140-character messages, or "tweets," throughout the network of over 100 million users. It is one of the Web's most popular social networking services, along with Facebook and Zynga.
In October, Apple Inc integrated Twitter's service directly into the software that powers the popular iPhones. Since then, Dorsey said, the number of monthly sign-ups for Twitter have increased 25 percent.
Even as Twitter continues to grow, it faces fresh competition from Google, which introduced a social networking service with capabilities similar to Twitter earlier this year.
On Thursday, Facebook, the world's No.1 social networking service, announced a new feature that allows its users to visit a website and "subscribe" to updates from celebrities, journalists and other public figures.
The new version of Twitter seeks to simplify the service and to make it easier for new users to understand various Twitter-specific features, such as the # symbol that is used to search for topics on the service.
"Twitter should be useful by those who know the shortcuts, and also equally useful by those who don't really use the shortcuts," said Dorsey.
A new "Discover" section of the website highlights the most popular topics on the site based on each user's location and interests.
The new version of Twitter also features a revamped profile page, in which a company can customize the look of their brand and highlight specific content, such as videos or photos. Previously, the profile pages displayed a chronological list of the company's most recent Tweets.
Twitter said that 21 brands, including General Electric and Pepsi, have already revamped their profile pages to take advantage of the new capabilities. Twitter will gradually make the new profile page features available to all its users.
"For marketers, this is something that they've been asking for of us for a while," Adam Bain, who leads Twitter's revenue efforts, said in an interview after the briefing.
Twitter is taking steps to build a profitable business on top of its popular service. The company began showing ads on limited parts of the service in 2010 and is expected to generate about $140 million in ad revenue this year, according to estimates by industry research firm eMarketer.
The company said it has more than 2,400 advertisers and it expects to launch an advertising system early next year that will allow companies to quickly create marketing campaigns on Twitter.
Twitter hosted Thursday's event at its future headquarters in San Francisco, which are currently under construction and which Twitter plans to move into this summer. The building will accommodate far more than the company's current staff of 700 employees, Costolo said.
"It holds thousands of people," he said of the office. "We're going to need all this space to scale the company to support the growth of the product we've been experiencing over the last year."

No threat from PTI: Punjab CM

2011-12-11T05:40:00.000-08:00

D.G.KHAN: Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that there was no threat from Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and added electoral alliance with any party would be made with the consultation of his party leaders, Geo News reported.

Addressing the Dera Ghazi Khan Government Girls College students, Punjab CM said that so long the money begged from abroad continue pouring in, the nation could not live the life with respect and honour..

Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of Ghazi Medical College.

Mian Shahbaz Sharif on this occasion said that the construction of medical college would be completed in eight months at a cost of Rs8.18 billion.

Later, talking to media Shahbaz Sharif said that ML-N was not worried over PTI advance in Punjab.