Archive for September, 2005
September 28, 2005 at 2:04 am · Filed under Internet, Tech News
In the bitter war of words between Google and Yahoo over search-engine index size, Google has decided to give its latest answer in the form of a question.
The company said yesterday that it had phased in a larger index over the last four weeks. But rather than directly proclaiming that it had surpassed its archrival Yahoo, which last month claimed index supremacy, Google said it would ask Web surfers to decide for themselves.
Google’s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, said the company would remove the current number from its home page (”Searching 8,168,684,336 Web pages,” it said yesterday) and instead ask users to guess the size of the new index.
Moreover, in typical offbeat Google style, there will be no announced prize for the best guess, although Mr. Schmidt did not rule out the possibility that one would be awarded.
“We’re suggesting that users do a little taste test,” he said in a telephone interview.
Google said it would post guidelines to help users make their own comparisons on its Web log at googleblog.blogspot.com.
Although Google would not specify the new index size, Mr. Schmidt said Google technologists said it was about three times the size of its nearest competitor - a competitor he would not name.
“We have a very specific way of counting that we believe is very accurate,” he said.
In response, Yahoo issued a statement saying: “We congratulate Google on removing the index size number from its home page and recognizing that it is a meaningless number. As we’ve said in the past, what matters is that consumers find what they are looking for, and we invite Google users to compare their results to Yahoo Search.”
Several search-engine industry executives have said that the one-upmanship on index size is not useful for consumers. They contend that the relevance and freshness of search results are more important.
Last month, Yahoo said it believed that it had the largest search-engine index, tracking 19.2 billion documents. The assertion outraged Google’s executives, who asserted that Yahoo was overestimating its index by counting duplicate information.
“This will probably calm some of this thing down,” Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, an online publication, said of Google’s latest maneuver. There is no reasonable way for an objective third party to make an accurate and independent count of the index sizes, he said.
Mr. Schmidt did not say what would happen if someone from Yahoo made the most accurate guess. [Source: New York Times]
Technorati Tags: google, adsense, searchengine
September 27, 2005 at 9:07 pm · Filed under Gadget, Tech News
Intel and Microsoft have said they will support Toshiba-led next generation DVD technology, HD DVD, over a rival Sony-led Blu-ray DVD technology.
Toshiba, with NEC, Sanyo and others, is pushing HD DVD, while backers of Sony’s Blu-ray discs include Dell and Apple.
The support from the two biggest names in personal computing is a vote of confidence for the HD DVD group.
The next generation of DVDs will be able to store much more high-quality data, including high-definition video.
For months, the two groups have been battling to win support for their competing disc formats from technology companies and Hollywood studios.
Future discs will be able to hold about six times as much data as current DVDs.
The next generation of DVDs will be very important for studios, technology manufacturers, and the games industry. Sony has already said its PlayStation 3 games console will support Blu-ray.
Big stakes
Films in the high-definition format are expected to be released for DVD later this year.
It will be more problematic for them if there are two competing standards of high-definition DVD technology with which they will have to work.
“We want to make sure that whatever is put out on the market is going to be as consumer friendly as possible from the price and usability point of view,” said Blair Westlake, vice president of Microsoft’s Media, Entertainment and Technology Convergence Group.
Microsoft added that there were no plans to build native Windows support for Blu-ray or other HD formats, but that did not mean third parties could not build that support on their own.
Intel and Microsoft were among other companies that had remained non-committal to either format for some time.
“We’d been hoping the two groups would find a common format for the sake of consumers’ benefit but apparently those efforts failed,” said Masatoshi Mizuno, a spokesman for Intel in Japan.
Winning arguments
The two groups, the HD DVD Promotion Group and the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) have spent some time arguing why their technology is better than the other.
At one point, there was hope that the two would collaborate on a hybrid solution, but there has been no agreement so far.
Although the computing and entertainment industries are keen to avoid two formats, the computing industry has overcome such problems in the past by offering drives that can read different formats.
But the industry has learned from early format wars, such as the battle between VHS and Betamax video formats, which resulted in consumer confusion and the demise of Betamax.
Backers of Blu-ray technology argue it is a more sophisticated technology with a greater storage capacity.
HD DVD supporters say their preferred technology will be available sooner and will be cheaper.
Toshiba said it had developed the first laptop with a next-generation HD DVD drive in it. It said they would be available by the start of next year in Japan. [BBC News]
September 23, 2005 at 5:16 am · Filed under Internet, Tech News
A handbook that offers advice to bloggers who want to protect themselves from recrimination and censors has been released by Reporters Without Borders.
The media watchdog said it gives people who want to set up a blog tips on how to do so, how to publicise it, as well as how to establish credibility.
It also offers advice about writing blogs from countries with tough media restrictions, such as Iran and China.
The handbook was part-funded by the French government.
Key international bloggers, experts and writers helped to produce the guidelines, such as US journalist Dan Gillmor and Canadian net censorship expert, Nart Villeneuve.
“Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure,” Reporters Without Borders said on its website.
“Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.”
Blog clamp-down
Included in the booklet, called The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents, is advice about how to blog anonymously, as well as how to identify the most suitable way to circumvent censorship.
It also outlines some help on developing ethical and journalistic values.
Blogs - easy-to-set-up diary-like websites - are proving increasingly popular on the net as vehicles through which people can publish their own thoughts.
Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks more than 17 million blogs globally. Blogs can be anything from personal diaries, to technology news, and political comment.
Many have turned to blogging in countries where mainstream media is restricted. But they are increasingly being targeted by strict authorities.
Iranian authorities have been clamping down on mainstream media for some time, but it has recently turned its attention to cyber-dissidents and bloggers.
Campaign groups say at least two dozen Iranian bloggers have been jailed as a result of the clamp-down. It is estimated that there are some 46,000 bloggers in the country.
The issue of blog censorship and freedom of speech is truly global, however.
In June, Microsoft’s MSN Spaces site in China started to block blog entries which used words such as “freedom”, “democracy” and “demonstration”.
Microsoft said the company abided by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates.
China recently introduced regulations that required all blog owners to register their sites with the state by 30 June.
And on Wednesday, two Chinese Singaporeans appeared in court charged with posting racist remarks about minority Malays on the net.
The blogger booklet can be downloaded from the Reporters Without Borders website in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Persian. [BBC NEWS]
Technorati Tags: blogger, blogging, technorati, book
September 22, 2005 at 12:27 am · Filed under Gadget, Tech News
Top of the list for the most desirable feature of a next generation mobile device is not some fancy new function, but a battery that lasts much longer.
Two-thirds of mobile and personal digital assistant owners in a marketing survey across 15 countries said two days’ active battery life was vital.
It also showed almost half wanted more memory, and a high-resolution camera.
The findings come as the electronics industry scrambles to develop the next essential device in people’s pockets.
The report by marketing firm TNS Technology said that poor battery life on mobile devices was one of the main reasons people did not play more games, music and video on their devices more often.
“The study shows that there is an appetite among consumers for powerful new applications, particularly those around entertainment media and imaging,” said Hanis Harun, from TNS.
“However, the research also indicates that consumers now fully realise that such applications require enhanced battery life and increased memory and they are demanding these improvements as a priority.”
Fourteen of the 15 countries in the research agreed that a battery that lasted two days while in active use was essential.
The exception was China; respondents there said that at least 20GB of storage capacity was the top must-have feature.
Bulging pockets
Currently, a 20GB non-mobile phone device can typically play about 5,000 songs and store approximately 20,000 photos.
The survey of 6,800 16 to 49-year-olds by market analysis firm, TNS, questioned people across the likes of India, US, UK, China, Brazil and Germany.
It gives some insight into what people want from future gadgets which combine many different functionalities.
Latest research from mobile analysts, Informa Telecoms and Media, suggests that being able to play and store content on mobiles will soon become key to the industry.
Mobiles that have enough memory to hold 50 to 60 full audio tracks will become increasingly commonplace, according to the report.
It also predicted that audio would be worth $11bn (£6.3bn) by 2010, with downloaded music likely to double as ringtones.
Games, gambling and adult content clamour to make the industry worth $42.8bn (£24.6bn) by 2010.
The latest mobile as well as portable devices which are jostling for space in people’s pockets in the run-up to Christmas have been trying to target different areas of interest that people might have.
The announcement of the Motorola Rokr mobile earlier this month left many in the industry divided, however.
Some said it compared badly with existing iPod music players in both its looks and what it can do.
Others questioned which group of consumers it was aimed at and whether people would be willing to pay a premium for such a device.
Rokr followed the recent launch of other “music mobiles”, such as the Sony Walkman W800, which have tried to sell themselves to music lovers who might want to combine functions.
But there are also more multimedia gadgets moving in on the mobile phone.
Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) games device had its European debut at the beginning of the month.
Although not a mobile, it is another device that tries to be an all-in-one gadget.
Sony wants it to take a spot beside the mobile as a multimedia entertainment device.
But historically, cramming everything into one mobile device has had mixed results, mainly because of power, people’s desire for choice, and usability issues.[bbcnews]
Technorati Tags: mobile, sony, psp, playstation, music
September 21, 2005 at 3:44 am · Filed under Gadget, Tech News
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is reorganizing its corporate structure and giving one of its newest executives broader powers in an effort to better compete against its rivals, including Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.
The corporate changes announced Tuesday are designed in part to help Microsoft move toward more Internet-based service offerings, which have been championed by those competitors and are seen by some as a serious threat to Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system. The moves also are aimed at helping the company become more nimble.
“These changes are designed to align our business groups in a way that will enhance decision-making and speed of execution, as well as help us continue to deliver the types of products and services our customers want most,” Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a news release.
Under the changes, Ray Ozzie, a highly respected software veteran who came to Microsoft when it acquired his company, Groove Networks, will be charged with helping the company coordinate and improve Internet-based service offerings. These include Windows Update, the company’s online tool for issuing security fixes; its MSN consumer online unit, including Web-based e-mail, instant messenger and search technology; and its Xbox Live online videogame service.
Ozzie will retain his title of chief technical officer. He is one of three at the company.
The company also plans to reorganize from seven broad business units to three new business divisions.
Microsoft Platform Products and Services will include the company’s Windows, server and tools, and MSN online divisions. It will be led by Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin.
Allchin, a longtime executive charged with overseeing its flagship Windows operating system, will retire at the end of 2006, after the new version of Windows is released.
The other two units are Microsoft Business Divison, which will include its Office products and products for small- and mid-sized businesses, and Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, which will include its Xbox game console, other games, mobile phone and handheld devices products. [New York Times]
Tags: Microsoft, msn, xbox, games, windows
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