Los Angeles (CA) - The market for Internet in planes is heating up, but don’t expect any talks about WiMAX. Airborne Internet provider Aircell has announced its long term technology roadmap and WiMAX and CDMA are left in the cold. The Illinois company says it will switch to 4G (also known as 3GPP Long Term Evolution) for its future products.

After deploying in-flight internet service in North America with American Airlines and Virgin America, the company is focused on deploying its Long Term Evolution network which will enable next-gen mobile services like interactive HDTV, or support for online games such as Age of Conan, World of Warcraft and so on.

The current Gogo service is bringing the only air-to-ground mobile broadband Internet access and works through CDMA’s EV-DO RevA frequencies approved by the FCC. Gogo basically turns the airplane into a flying Wi-Fi hotspot that takes the data from the ground at 12 Mbps. This is now being expanded to 22.7 Mbps (EV-DO RevC). Complete coverage is expected by the end of 2009, but the real fireworks will happen in 2011 when the 4G network will boost bandwidth to a massive 300 Mbps.

Don’t expect that this service will be used only for passengers because according to Aircell executives, the high-bandwidth connection will enable high-resolution weather-to-the-cockpit services and increase flight safety. Many airlines already have real-time storm tracking services through satellite and other links.

Doral (FL) - The building which houses Mac clone maker Psystar is up for sale. The 47,000 square foot warehouse has been advertised on a few online commercial real estate sites and the owners are asking for $4.6 million. According to the ad, the building is 100% occupied and is "priced for a quick sale."

Psystar makes desktop and server computers that run Apple operating systems. Apple is currently suing the company and wants it to stop selling computers. Apple also wants Psystar to recall all computers that have been sold.

Read more ... InformationWeek

Chicago (IL) - A reader pointed us to a yet unannounced ROM update for the HTC Touch, which is apparently scheduled to be officially released next Monday. The software upgrades the Windows Mobile operating system, delivers EV-DO Rev A support and A-GPS functionality.

If you own an HTC Touch, then it is probably time to consider the HTC WM6.1 RevA LBS Update - Version 3.03.651.4, since it brings a wealth of new features that revitalize the phone. Most significantly, the phone now supports EV-DO Rev A connectivity, which, according to Sprint, should boost the devices download link to 600 -1400 Kb/s and uplink to 350 - 500 Kb/s.

HTC includes an update from Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional to version 6.1. The OS has several new features such as a sliding panel home screen, threaded text messaging, Exchange server auto discovery, custom domain email support, zoom and page overview in Internet Explorer and auto-pairing of headsets.

The update is complemented with A-GPS support, a QWERTY on-screen keyboard as well as the integration of the Opera web browser.

According to HTC, the update is scheduled to go live on July 21. However, if you can’t wait, you can Comments | Print | Send to a friend

Los Angeles (CA) - AT&T has retracted its offer of free wireless Internet access for iPhone users. According to company officials, the offer was mistakenly put up on the AT&T website earlier today, but it was quickly removed after just a few hours. This is the second time AT&T has jumped the gun on the free wireless announcement.

The original text of the website read, "We are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot network with more than 17,000 hotspots." AT&T hotspots typically located at Starbucks coffee shops, many airports and bookstores. iPhone users at such hotspots would presumably be able to check their emails, surf the web and possibly use VoIP clients at a much higher speed than AT&T 3G network. In addition, battery life could also be increased - early iPhone reviewers claim 3G usage severely impacts battery life.

Back in April, AT&T said free wireless would eventually be available to iPhone users, but so far it has commented on specific dates. It’s obvious that something will happen soon since a webpage has already been created. Back in May, AT&T also mistakenly popped up an announcement of free wireless access.

Opening up wireless access to iPhone units would relieve AT&T cellular networks because traffic would be offloaded through traditional landlines installed at the wireless hotspots. However, revenue from voice and text messaging might be adversely affected if people use VoIP apps to tunnel traffic past AT&T’s prying eyes. Recently, SIPGATE announced that its application would allow VoIP access through jailbroken iPhones.

Some market research analysts claim the 3G iPhone sold over three million units since its Friday launch.

Whenever there’s a big event that’s bound to bring in the tourists, businesses are always looking for a way to make money from the extra crowds and Apple is no exception.

This summer will see the 2008 Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China and Apple announced a few months back that before everything kicks off on the 8th of August, there would be a brick and mortar Apple store in China.

Tomorrow will see the launch of China’s first Apple store in Beijing’s Sanlitun entertainment district.

The store will have a genius bar which will offer services in both Chinese and English as well as offering support in a few other languages.

According to PC World, prior to the iPod, Apple was almost non-existent in China but have since grown more and more popular.

The store will be largely based around the same design as the company’s other store’s except for the multi-lingual Genius bar and the storefront faces a huge video screen playing the "dancing iPod" video.

One huge difference between the Chinese store and most of Apple’s other stores is that there will be no iPhone for the time being. While China is full of iPhones that have been brought in by individuals and jailbroken, there has yet to be an official launch in China and Apple is still in negotiations with Chinese service providers with regard to securing an exclusive provider.

If you happen to be in Beijing go along and check out the new store. It opens for business at 10am local time.

Chicago (IL) - Apple’s successful shows its first effects on Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM). Analysts claim that the iPhone’s enterprise features, support from third-party developers and an increased international presence are now three key weapons in Apple’s smartphone arsenal. For the first time, RIM is facing a serious threat that is focused on conquering big businesses using powerful software platform that is years ahead of RIM.

"The days of no competition are over," said Needham & Co analyst Charlie Wolf. The analyst cut RIM’s stock rating from hold to underperform, lowering the company’s 2008 earnings estimate to $3.70 a share, down from previous $4.05 estimate. Wolf also cut RIM’s 2009 profit estimate from $6.25 down to $4.80. The analyst believes that RIM’s strength is now going to be tested as its enterprise market share "is bound to come under siege because of the iPhone."

Apple is already the world’s third smartphone maker and the second largest in the U.S. IDC estimates that RIM held 44.5% (Gartner: 42%) of the U.S. smartphone market share in the first quarter, while Apple came in second with 19.2% (Gartner: 20%). Wolf claims that RIM increased its enterprise subscriber base by 28% in fiscal 2008 and by 31% in the firm’s first fiscal quarter of 2009. RIM actually surprised with consumer subscriber base increase of nearly 300% in fiscal year 2008 and 174% in the first fiscal quarter of 2009. Most analysts agree that consumer market was RIM’s key growth driver over the past two years.

RIM’s success in the consumer space was supported by a lack of competitors. Wolf said that users love the consumer-oriented Pearl smartphone, stressing that Motorola, Samsung and HTC have been no match for the fancy device - since competing handsets largely rely on the "justifiably maligned Windows Mobile operating system." The analyst noted that the smartphone market increased 50% in 2007 and will continue to grow. But now that the iPhone 3G is on sale, the Pearl faces a strong challenger. "It has quickly become obvious that the iPhone is bound to slow the red-hot growth of Blackberry Pearl and RIM’s new consumer-oriented entries," Wolf said. RIM and Apple may be able to co-exist in the consumer space for now as there is still room for growth. The enterprise market, however is different.

Wolf believes that RIM’s dominance in the enterprise remains strong. However, Apple has done its homework by introducing new enterprise features with the iPhone 2.0 firmware and by opening the handset to third-party programmers. Apple will also benefit from AT&T’s expertise and experience in selling the handset and services to big businesses through bulk contracts. Analysts seem to agree that the increased iPhone footprint coming from iPhone introduction in 70 countries by the end of this year will help Apple to work more efficiently with enterprise customers.

Apple’s unique advantage over RIM is the software platform and third-party applications distributed through the App Store. There are already 800 applications available on the App Store. Specialized business applications for enterprise users are expected to follow soon, helping the iPhone to adapt to wide variety of specific business scenarios.

Needham’s Charlie Wolf claims that the iPhone OS and SDK "make the device one of a kind." He thinks that software could become determining factor that could influence outcome in the future. "RIM has no hope of catching up on the software front, which promises to be the next battleground in the smart phone market," he said.

Over the last few months we’ve seen the on-again-off-again free iPhone Wi-Fi at AT&T hotspots. The company announced this morning that there would be free Wi-Fi at AT&T hotspots around the country and it looks like this time around, the announcement is actually pretty solid.

During the first weekend in May, many members of the public claimed they had been able to access free AT&T Wi-Fi using their iPhones. All they needed to do was enter in their AT&T phone number and away they went, surfing the web at exactly $0 extra cost. While users appeared to be making the most of this in Barnes and Noble and Starbucks branches, from the get go it was considered to be a glitch. There had been no official announcement from AT&T and many assumed it was an accident on the part of AT&T and nothing more than a glimpse of what was to come.

Sure enough, not long after, AT&T’s website reflected that it would soon be launching free Wi-FI for iPhone users in AT&T hotspots, however on the 15th of May, this launch was delayed indefinitely.

Today the AT&T website shows a whole page dedicated to the announcement so we’re fairly sure that this time, it won’t be yanked out from under our noses. As we said before (each time the free Wi-Fi cropped up), the offer will allow iPhone customers access to 17,000 AT&T hotspots around the country including those in Starbucks Coffee stores, Barnes and Noble branches and various other locations such as over 800 restaurants as well as some universities, bookstores and supermarkets.

UPDATE: Just hours after AT&T announced the free Wi-Fi for iPhone customers, the company’s website shows a message apologising for the mistake that was the free Wi-Fi announcement. If AT&T isn’t careful this whole thing is going to turn into a boy who cried wolf scenario. Well, anyway, we’ll look forward to the free Wi-Fi, if we ever get it.

Details of the suit filed by Apple against Mac cloner Psystar are doing the rounds and it doesn’t look good for those of you who actually purchased the computer. Among other things, Apple is asking for a total recall of Psystar’s Open Computers and the court documents show that this suit is not just about breaching Leopard’s EULA.

All together the 18 page court document outlines 10 claims against Psystar relating to copyright infringement, dilution of the Apple brand and loss of profits. Apple asks that a court order be issued “requiring Psystar to recall all such products sold to the public as a result of Psystar’s infringement of Apple’s copyrights."

Aside from a total recall, Apple is asking the courts to award them damages for the dilution of their brand. The company also claims Psystar openly admitted that it knew full well it was in breach of Apple copyrights (and indeed, this is apparent from our conversations with Psystar president, Rudy Pedraza), which means Apple is entitled to triple the amount of damages incurred as a result of Psystar’s actions or triple the amount of Psystar’s profits, whichever is higher.

While all this goes on it seems the Psystar website is up and running after some downtime on Wednesday afternoon. Everything from the site appears normal and from looking at the Psystar.com, you’d never guess that something was amiss on the corporate side of the operation. We got in contact with Psystar via the phone but were told by a bloke named George that no one was available for press comment. When we asked about contact details for PR or similar we were told to email press@psystar.com. We asked George if there was anyone at all (PR or not) that we could speak to over the phone and he said “Right now, there isn’t. You’ll have to email press@psystar.com”.

We’ll send them an email asking for comment, but we’re not holding our breath for an answer. Stay tuned.

During the recent Freescale Technology Forum (FTF) in the US, company senior VP, chief sales and marketing officer Henri Richard noted that one of the great pleasures he has had since joining Freescale last year was to find a really good team in Asia. Asia is all about growth, he noted, and Freescale has been active over the past few months in adding new people in distribution management in Greater China to reinforce its team there.

More here at Digitimes.

Handsets will continue to serve as the key sales driver for NAND flash in 2008 and account for almost 40% of NAND flash capacity, thanks to growing adoption of small-form factor memory cards. Digital media players and digital cameras will be the two key applications after handset in terms of NAND flash, said inSpectrum.

More here at Digitimes.

A US district court judge yesterday ordered SCO to pay Novell $2.5m for unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion. Judge Dale A Kimball’s ruling in the SCO vs Novell lawsuit came 10 weeks after a four-day trial to decide how much money SCO should cough up to Novell.

Read the complete story here.

A key House lawmaker said Thursday that Internet service providers should be prohibited from tracking customers’ Web activities to deliver targeted ads without those users’ clear approval. The controversial practice, pioneered by Silicon Valley start-up NebuAd Inc., has drawn fire from privacy advocates. They say the technology, known as deep packet inspection, raises major concerns and potentially violates federal and state wiretapping laws.

Read the complete story here.

The implications of San Francisco computer network administrator’s reckless and enigmatic decision to change all security passwords and keep them all for himself could turn bad if IT experts won’t soon manage to take back network control.Terry Childs, 43, pleaded not guilty in San Francisco Superior Court, after being arrested on July 13 for computer tampering. He will remain in police custody on $5 million bail, while his next bail hearing is scheduled for July 23.

Read the complete story here.

Mountain View (CA) - Shares of Google sank nearly $41 after profits rose slower than expected in the second quarter. The company earned $1.25 billion profit which was 35% higher than the same period last year, but investors weren’t impressed. In after hours trading, Google is currently down $40.75 to $492.69 a share (as of 4:45 PM Pacific). Company executives place some of the blame on the economy, while some analysts believe the company spent too much money on research.

Google revenues rose 39% to $5.4 billion and ad-clicks climbed 19%. On a per share basis, profits were $4.63/share which fell short of $4.74/share expected by Wall Street. The market immediately reacted and share prices immediately fell by 2% and it continues to fall in after hours trading. The stock price drubbing may actually be caused by Google’s previous success. The company has consistently posted earnings above analyst expectations and these results are the first time the company has missed beating expectations in more than a year.

Last month, Google and Yahoo agreed to partner to serve Google ads on some Yahoo searches. That agreement is currently being reviewed by the federal government for possible antitrust issues.

Isn’t it great that a company can profit $1.25 billion in a quarter and still be killed in the stock market? Perhaps Google can lend AMD a few hundred million, it looks like they could really use it.

Chicago (IL) - Big announcements at E3 cannot hide that Microsoft had a rough June with its game console: Nintendo’s Wii surpassed the Xbox 360 as the most sold current game console in the U.S. every other game console, including the PSP and Nintendo DS, sold more units. Has the Xbox 360 lost its appeal?

NPD’s June game console sales numbers hold every indication that Microsoft is increasingly under pressure by its rivals. For the first time in its life-cycle, it has lost its title as most-sold current-gen game console to Nintendo’s Wii. According to NPD, the Wii has now sold 11,008,200 units while the Xbox 360 stands at 10,465,900 units.

The PS3 still trails the two with cumulative sales 4,851,100 units, but Sony sold close to twice as many PS3s in June as Microsoft sold Xbox 360s: NPD said that U.S. retail reported sales of 405,500 PS3s and 219,800 Xbox 360s. Nintendo leads the way with sales of 666,700 Wiis. It took Nintendo only 20 months to catch up with Microsoft and nix the Xbox 360s 12-month lead.

Even portable consoles were selling at a higher pace than the Xbox 360 - the Nintendo DS moved 783,000 units and the Playstation Portable 337,400.

The best selling game title of the month was Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3; 774,600 units), followed by Guitar Hero On Tour (DS; 422,300) and Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360; 372,200). Nintendo’s Wii Fit with Balance Board had a successful start with 372,200 units, followed by the Wii Play with Remote with 359,100 units.

Microsoft recently announced a temporary price cut of its Xbox 360 (20 GB) console to $299, while the device is being phased out and replaced with a $349 60 GB version. Sony answered with an upgrade of its 40 GB PS3 to an 80 GB hard drive, which effectively could be interpreted by many buyers also as a $100 price cut of its existing and more functional 80 GB flagship console that currently sells for $499.

For a premium of $50, buyers not only get the newer console that is able of 1080p output, but also a larger hard drive and a Blu-ray drive. It is not difficult to see that Microsoft is already under pressure to introduce price cuts or system upgrades in the near future.

Nintendo’s Wii is playing in a different league.

Microsoft said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 42%, helped by strong sales of its Office and Windows software, but the company offered a softer-than-expected outlook for the current quarter. Earnings for the three months ended June 30 rose to $4.3 billion, or 46 cents per share, missing Wall Street’s expectations by a penny per share.

Read the complete story here.

Earlier this month, iPhone customers in Canada got their way as Rogers Wireless bowed to protests and offered a $30 for 6 GB data plan. Prior to the iPhone launch on July 11, customers were paying $30 for a paltry 300 MB. The entry level iPhone plan at nearly $70 offered 400 MB, with the most expensive iPhone plan stretching to more than $120 per month including 2 GB.

Rogers Communications CEO Nadir Mohamed explained to the Financial Post the company’s original view on the first iPhone packages offered. “Clearly, we were thinking mobile Internet is not only about browsing but about e-mail and connection. After that, we launched the iPhone bundles and our thinking at the time was: "All right, the most subsidized product we have in the market will be the iPhone. ... We provide a discount over what we thought was at least the right kind of data pricing." It was a reasonable proposition,” said Mohamed.

Customers, however, strongly disagreed. More than 60,000 people from online communities signed a petition at RuinedIphone.com protesting the early plans offered by Rogers. Just two days before the iPhone release, Rogers announced a limited time three-year contract offer of 6 GB for $30.

“To me, if I was to capture it, we kind of heard a few things loud and clear,” Mohamed explained. “One is, there’s lots of people who don’t understand if it’s 400 megabytes or six gigabytes — how many e-mails, Web pages, minutes of YouTube, you name it.”

Perhaps Mohamed was implying that most customers don’t need more than several hundred megabytes, but on the other hand, customers don’t like to be faced with any sort of limits.

According to Mohamed, the concept of an unlimited level of service is now a thing of the past. “If you look at what’s happened in the past few years, in both Canada and the U. S., we’ve gone to metered billing because people are recognizing that network capacity becomes an issue,” he said. “We think it actually makes sense to put in tiered [wireless] pricing because that’s where the world is going.”

“I actually think that 98% of people are not going to be using six gigabytes a month in the foreseeable future,” Mohamed continued. “Our challenge is to ... make it easy for customers to understand one gigabyte is more than enough.”

Data hungry phone users on Rogers would be wise to add the 6 GB option to their plans before it expires on August 31. Whether or not one gigabyte is more than enough will only be seen next month when iPhone owners receive their first bills.

Sunnyvale (CA) - AMD announced its seventh consecutive quarterly loss. The company lost $1.189 billion during the quarter, including a $920 million write down of ATI operations. Rumors are flying, indicating that AMD will make a big announcement during the Q2 conference call scheduled to be held this afternoon. AMD late-trade shares have been halted.

AMD posted what the company called yet another "disappointing" quarter. The company reported AMD revenue of $1.309 billion and a loss of $1.189 billion, including an impairment charge relating to the ATI acquisition of $920 million. The loss from continuing operations was $269 million. The result also included $190 million of proceeds from the sale of 200 mm production equipment, indicating that AMD’s loss without these gains would have been closer to $450 million.

For the first quarter of this year, AMD reported revenue of $1.456 billion and a net loss of $358 million.

The company said that microprocessor unit shipments and average selling prices were down sequentially and flat year over year. GPU units were down sequentially and up year over year. Average selling prices were flat with Q1 and down year over year.

Following the announcement, we heard rumors that AMD may be making a big announcement during the conference call, which is generally expected to cover the firm’s "Asset Light" strategy - and the sell-off of the company’s factories as well as a potential departure of chief executive officer Hector Ruiz.
Trading of AMD shares has been halted at a price of $5.30 per share.

Opinion - The decision of Hector Ruiz to step down from his role as CEO may not be a surprise to many, especially those to those who have been following recent stories. But the timing of the announcement is surprising - in several ways. First, Ruiz leaves a company that is in shambles and way before the saving move, Asset Smart, is announced. Second, the departure is perfectly consistent with AMD’s history. But the question will be: Can Dirk Meyer repeat the cycle and get AMD out of trouble again?

Today’s announcement could leave you shocked: AMD just announced its seventh consecutive loss - totaling a stunning $5.5 billion since Q4 2006 and the time the ATI acquisition took full effect - and AMD’s CEO announces his resignation. What followed was a shoulder-padding and belly-rubbing thanks-Hector-thanks-Dirk dialog between the old and new executive that sounded, well, strange. According to Ruiz, now is the best time to hand the company over to Meyer. Can you say run and hide?

Ok, let’s be rational here. Ruiz has been rumored to have escaped his firing several times in the past and it was no secret that, lately, he wasn’t loved by analysts and investors anymore. Dirk Meyer was generally expected to become the next CEO. The question was not if, but when. Last December, Reuters ran an article stating that Hector Ruiz would not step down in 2008. And back then, analyst Ashok Kumar was quoted saying that "Ruiz has to turn the ship around before he can turn over the helm." Really? No, he did not.

In fact, when Ruiz took over AMD from the legendary Jerry Sanders, he was in a similar situation as Meyer is today. Actually, the similarities are striking: The economy was in a terrible shape. AMD had just announced its third straight quarterly loss with no short term solution in sight. As today, sales of consumer notebooks and desktops did not show any gains (and were down back then), but the company had "Hammer" in planning - a product which eventually turned into the Athlon 64 family of products that brought Intel down to its knees in 2005. Meyer’s position is similar, but a bit more challenging: The company’s balance sheet is a disaster, losses are much higher, but there are new and promising products in sight - such as Fusion.

So, Ruiz’ move isn’t particularly surprising. In some way, he is continuing a tradition and, from that point of view, it is exactly the right time to leave.

But who is Meyer and what is on his agenda? Meyer has engineering background and came to AMD in 1995, when he led engineering for the Athlon processor. In April 1999, he became vice president of engineering, in 2001 group vice president and general manager of AMD’s microprocessor business and in 2002 senior vice president and an executive officer of AMD. Before AMD, he was at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC, alter acquired by Compaq, which was acquired by HP), where he was a co-architect of the Alpha 21064 and 21264 microprocessors.

It is too early to say whether Meyer’s engineering background fits what AMD needs at this time, but I actually feel that AMD should have looked to the blue team, where a business expert is in charge - Paul Otellini. Makes you think, right?

From what we heard at the conference call, Meyer won’t be introducing many changes. The company stays on track to get its operating expenses down to $1.5 billion per quarter (they are now slightly above $1.6 billion), as the company’s chief financial officer Bob Rivet said that it is unlikely that the company will make much more than $1.5 billion per quarter in the current economic climate. On the product side, Meyer is pushing 45 nm chips, which are now scheduled to debut early in Q4 (or 3-6 months late from the original plan), with a complete transition from 65 nm planned to be happening two to three months later. Everything points to Asset Smart as the big savior of the company. No announcement has been made, but Rivet said that "Asset Smart is not a 2009 event", indicating that the announcement will be made in Q3 or Q4. According to our sources, Asset Smart will spin off AMD’s fabs into a new company that will be run by Hector Ruiz. Dirk Meyer will keep control of the development and then fabless AMD.

So, don’t expect any big changes from Dirk Meyer for now. Meyer’s appointment makes sense from the view of AMD history and Ruiz’ legacy is preserved.

Asset Smart (or Asset Light) is what will bring the big change. Our sources mentioned that AMD is already working on an announcement and a strategy how to sell the story.

However, from a general view, Meyer has now one of the toughest jobs in the industry - to lead an extremely vulnerable semiconductor company. It is in all our interest that AMD will come back, get more competitive and drive innovation in the processor industry again. An Intel-only world would be boring and certainly not offer the excitement we have seen in the past two years.

New York (NY) - Think about your typical city gym: Tons of jogging, lifting, spinning, stair stepping but no one is actually moving anywhere. That is tons of wasted energy. That is where the innovative idea of the River Gym comes in. Architect Mitchell Joachim of Archinode Studio and Douglas Joachim, a lecturer and personal trainer, believe that there is a use for that energy, and that’s where this design idea came from.

The River Gym is an extremely simple concept. It’s a floating gym that harnesses all of the expended energy to propel vessels along both the East and Hudson rivers to several different points across the city. Not only will the concept convert mechanical energy into propulsion, a purification device onboard would help to clean up the water that the gyms travel through.

These gyms would also aid the non-athletic commuter: According to the designers: The gyms could function as a transportation system in addition to an athletic facility, meaning you can hop on and travel from one location to another.

The design won third place in a gym concept competition that was organized by New York Magazine back in 2005. It appears that the idea is completely up for grabs, but is currently being utilized in Hong Kong.