U.S. trade body to probe Sony

TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said it would launch an investigation into some 30 companies including Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) on possible patent infringements related to Blu-ray disc players and other products.

The commission said on its Web site on Thursday that the products involved are short-wavelength light-emitting diodes and laser diodes used in such electronics as handheld mobile devices, traffic lights and high-definition DVD players.

The move is based on a complaint filed in February by Columbia University Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is seeking to block imports into the United States of a range of products that she said were infringing her patent.

Besides Sony, companies cited in the ITC announcement include Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), Motorola Inc (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), and Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research).

A Sony spokesman said the consumer electronics maker could not as the investigation is ongoing.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka Form : http://www.reuters.com/)

Intel servers and Chinese hackers

18 months ago, Intel dropped off an SS4000-E NAS box for me to look at. It was a desirable little box on the surface – Linux-based, four drive bays, dual gigabit Ethernet ports – and I lost no time in installing it in the ZDNet UK Laboratory (Holloway). It came configured with four 250 GB drives, which I turned into a single 1TB system: it supports the usual RAID configurations for those who rate reliability over size.

My experiences thereafter were mixed. I run Linux and Windows at home – sorry, ZDNet UK Laboratory (Holloway) – and the SS4000-E supposedly supports both, with CIFS for Windows and NFS for Linux/Mac. Since it's easier to run CIFS on Linux than NFS on Windows (on Vista, for example, you have to buy either the Enterprise or Business Super Premium Four Star editions to get NFS support. MS won't let you have it otherwise), I decided to configure the various users for that.

Didn't work; after much enormo-pain, this proved to be a known bug to do with permissions in the version of CIFS in the SS4000-E – and I had a strong suspicion, backed by various email conversations with Intel support, that I'd probably die of old age or apoplexy before I extracted a fix or managed to get enough information to fix it myself. Intel had bought the SS4000-E from another company and didn't have in-house support who really knew the system, and the source code was available but in a form that promised nothing but misery.

So, I decided to use it for the Linux computers under NFS and use FTP for the Windows boxes. After learning more than I wanted about file ownership and permissions under Linux, I got things how I wanted them. It's been very reliable in those roles, although the gigabit ethernet ports only ever really aspire to 100 Mbps speeds, the box is a trifle noisy for domestic surroundings, and I've found the web management interface to be rather clumsy and limited (I'd kill for shell access to the root; the things I could fix...).

Nevertheless, it's sat under my computer desk storing all sorts of nice things for me. I also routed incoming FTP requests from the Net to it, so I could get my files when out and about – that, combined with VNC on the main server, has proved really useful. It's also been useful for friends: I have a couple of semi-private FTP accounts on it I give out to those with special needs. There's only so much harm they can do, right?

One evening last week, I was moving some photos around. I logged onto the FTP server – which told me I was “user 4 of 8 allowed”. That was... interesting. So I changed the log-in details of the friend accounts, emailed my pals with the news and assumed that somewhere along the line, the old logins had slipped out. A reset (the management interface gives no control over the FTP server beyond enabling or disabling it), and I was back to being number one on my own system.

Last night, I checked again. And again, I was number 4. This time, I asked my router to show incoming connections – and there were three persistent IP addresses, all on the FTP port. I tracerouted them: they vanished in a constellation of asterixes before I could find their home ISP – but not before it was clear that they'd originated in China.

Fascinating, captain. I'd used the FTP server the last couple of times I'd visited China – had someone been sniffing my connection? But even so, how were they still there, after I'd changed the login details? And what on earth were they doing?

I still can't answer the last question: there's not enough logging in the SS4000-E to watch users by file operation or examine the whole filing system. But I soon found out that I'd mistakenly included the Guest account (which you can't delete – why not?) in a group with access privileges to a shared directory; removing that group link and resetting freed my incoming IP log of any and all FTP connections from China. They haven't been back since. (I did check the share that the Guest account had access to, and there was nothing amiss – nor anything that anyone would particularly want to download, so that mystery remains).

But. What would happen if my drive had been filled with warez – or worse? -- and I'd had a knock on the door from the fuzz? Is there any connection between this and the ongoing (and badly underpublicised) online hacking war between the US and us, and China? Would I be breaking the law if I started to take a closer interest in those IP addresses? I was very tempted to nmap them. (Incidentally, recommendations of good tools to investigate suspicious IP addresses are very welcome; I know a few tricks, but sure ain't l33t).

Perhaps, over the weekend, I'll hook up a completely different server – one I can watch with much more detail – and see who comes visiting.
Form : http://community.zdnet.co.uk/

Intel declares 10pc increase in cash dividend

The chairman of chip giant Intel, Craig Barrett (pictured), said last night that the company has returned nearly US$12bn to shareholders since 1992. Microprocessor manufacturer Intel, which employs almost 5,000 people in Ireland, has increased its quarterly dividend on the company’s common stock by 10pc to 14 cent per share.

“The strength of Intel’s competitive position combined with our solid financials allow us to again reward Intel shareholders with an increase in the quarterly dividend,” said Barrett.

“Intel’s dividend yield remains one of the highest in the technology industry and has returned nearly US$12 billion to shareholders since 1992.”

At the end of the fourth quarter, Intel had US$12.8bn in cash and short-term investments, up almost 19pc from US$10.8bn a year earlier.

Intel generated over US$12 billion in cash from operations during 2007 and paid out US$2.6 billion in dividends during the year. The company also spent US$2.7m repurchasing 111m in common stock.

In related news, Intel and Microsoft revealed they will be jointly investing US$20m to create Parallel Computing Research Centres at University of California, Berkeley and University of Illinois.

Research will focus on advancing parallel programming applications, architecture and operating systems software.

Parallel computing brings together advanced software and processors that have multiple cores or engines, which when combined can handle multiple instructions and tasks simultaneously.

Although Microsoft, Intel and many others deliver hardware and software that is capable of handling dual- and quad-core-based PCs today, in the coming years computers are likely to have even more processors inside them.

“Intel has already shown an 80-core research processor, and we’re quickly moving the computing industry to a many-core world,” said Andrew Chien, vice-president, corporate technology group and director, Intel Research.

“Working with Microsoft and these two prestigious universities will help catalyse the long-term breakthroughs that are needed to enable dramatic new applications for the mainstream user.

“We think these new applications will have the ability to efficiently and robustly sense and act in our everyday world with new capabilities: rich digital media and visual interfaces, powerful statistical analyses and search and mobile applications. Ultimately, these sensing and human interface capabilities will bridge the physical world with the virtual,” Chien added.

Form : http://www.siliconrepublic.com/

Intel's Trickle-Up Laptops

BURLINGAME, CALIF. -

Call it trickle-up technology. Microprocessor giant Intel confirmed Thursday that it plans to bring to the U.S. a second generation of the cheap laptop computers it originally designed for kids in poor countries.

The machines will be a fresh version of Intel's (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) Classmate PC design, which competes with an offering by the high-profile One Laptop Per Child project, the XO Laptop, built around chips cranked out by Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices (nyse: AMD - news - people ).

But while the Classmate PC and XO Laptop have competed for the job of digitizing classrooms in poor nations around the world, Taiwan's Asustek Computer has proved that there's a market for cheap laptops in the U.S. and Europe (see "The Jonney Machine"). Asustek's Eee PC has been a hit in the U.S., thanks to a price tag that goes as low as $299 at some retailers, such as Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ).

The success of the Eee PC has led Intel to make cheap, Web-friendly laptops it calls "netbooks" part of its plan to revive sales growth (see "Intel Goes Atomic"). Manufacturers in India and Indonesia have already announced plans to sell laptops based on the Classmate to consumers outside of the U.S. But as U.S. consumers go on recession watch, lower-cost PCs could help shore up flagging demand for new computers in developed economies.

Intel said laptops based on the updated Classmate design will cost between $250 and $350 to build, giving PC makers the ability to slot in a new class of laptops below their cheapest offerings, which typically start at $499.

Form : http://www.forbes.com/

Test Blog

Hope for AMD amid a storm of bad news?

Update: AMD has denied claims of present lay offs although it did not discard the possibility for the near future.

AMD is in a less than ideal place today. Despite of the revival of innovation on its ATI graphics business, which had slowed down considerably since they acquired it, they are not doing quite as well with processors, which is the company's bread and butter. But perhaps even more alarming is AMD's financial state after reporting a $3.3 billion loss in 2007 from $6 billion in revenues.

In order to get its act together, AMD depends on its processor business, but with the constant delays of Phenom, it will be an uphill battle against a dominant Intel not only in the desktop and server markets, but the fast growing mobile segment as well. There are rumors around that AMD may soon announce lay offs for 5% of its workforce, which may be part of a plan to reduce costs. Then again, we also hear that the Phenom could be doing better than expected.

At the end of the day, what we do know is that we rather have AMD alive and kicking pushing Intel and everybody else around for innovation, faster releases and lower costs.

Form : http://www.techspot.com/

Good And Bad News For AMD

AMD has denied published reports that it has cut its workforce in anticipation of another gloomy quarter and declined to comment on how the quarter, which ends in a week, will shape up.

Some reports said AMD (NYSE: AMD) would cut about 5 percent of its workforce, which would translate to around 800 from its staff of 16,000 worldwide. The company refuted this and declined to speculate on what might happen after the first quarter results come out.

"We haven't had a workforce reduction," company spokesman Drew Prairie insisted to InternetNews.com. "As a matter of policy we don't comment on rumor and speculation on what we may do in the future."

On the plus side, the Quad Core Opteron, a.k.a. Barcelona, is finally shipping. And they mean it this time.

Quad Core Opteron has been delayed numerous times, the most recent due to an errata bug that cropped up just as the chip was to roll out. It was due in early 2007, then delayed until a splashy launch in August 2007, but the rollout didn't really begin until the end of the year -- and then came the errata bug.

AMD initially denied a delay in Quad Core Opteron shipments but later admitted it did delay processor shipments while it fixed the problem. Those new chips, with the B3 revision, are finally shipping in volume next month. HP was the first to jump on the bandwagon, announcing a high-end ProLiant server with eight CPUs.

But that may be too late. At an Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) briefing earlier this week, Senior Vice President Patrick Gelsinger said the chip giant's newest multiprocessor (MP) chip, Tigerton, was doing extremely well. The MP market is defined as servers with four or more processors.

"All the market forecasts would indicate we have the single largest quarter-to-quarter swing in market segment share in the history of the MP marketplace," he said.

Dean McCarron, president of Mercury Research who closely follows the semiconductor markets, said Q1 is traditionally a slow one coming off the big holiday rush, and given the current economic situation, this one looks even softer than usual.

"Most people knew the U.S. economy was going to be on the weak side," he said. "The weakness has spread to other regions, and it may be due to people having uncertainty about the state of their local economy." Europe in particular was suffering from some softness, he said.

But there is good news

The emerging market growth continues to be strong, and that's going to offset some of the economic fallout in the U.S., said John Spooner, senior analyst with Technology Business Research. He noted that AMD has had some pluses this quarter. "Things should start to look up for AMD. They shipped Barcelona, they are shipping triple-core and quad-core Phenoms, too."

Continue : http://www.internetnews.com/