Google turns Irish town 3D
By James Sherwood
January 9, 2008 - 11:02 GMT

It is said that certain events put your town on the map, but one Irish town is taking things even further. It’s set to be immortalised in 3D on the Google Earth mapping application. The town council of Westport in West Ireland worked with digital computer modelling company AMT3D to produce a 3D version of the town.

This involved using a process called long distance laser scanning, essentially a trolley-mounted laser that was able to scan about 300m of the town each day. AMT3D told El Reg that the process sends out an 800m laser beam over 360° to capture about 20,000 X,Y and Z co-ordinates each second. These are then digitized and used to help create the 3D image, which the company claims are photo-realistic.

A spokesman for Westport Council said that the idea, dubbed Westport3D, was originally conceived to aid town planning, but that its use by Google Earth will be an “opportunity for the virtual visitor” to “walk up and down our streets”. Google Earth users can take a virtual tour of the town from 16 January.

The Register

Comcast at CES: 100Mbps connections coming this year
By Nate Anderson
January 08, 2008 - 01:16PM CT

LAS VEGAS—Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took to the stage this morning at CES to talk up his company's plan to offer HD movie downloads in four minutes. Eventually. In 2008, Comcast will begin rolling out the DOCSIS 3.0 protocol throughout its network, and the company hopes to offer speeds of up to 100Mbps over the next two years.

Such a massive speed boost appears directly targeted at Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic service, which currently tops out at 50Mbps in most places. Competition: it's a good thing. Comcast is pitching the speed boost as something transformative, saying that it moves the company from being a simple "broadband" provider to a "wideband" provider.

The ultimate goal is to reach the full 160Mbps potential of DOCSIS 3.0 over cable lines, a speed that will allow Comcast to offer HD movie downloads in minutes. Such a speed boost, should it prove popular with consumers, will obviously put DSL providers like AT&T in a difficult position. Although AT&T is engaged on a major fiber upgrade, it is pulling fiber only to the local node and not to people's homes and apartments.

The copper "last-mile" link currently tops out at 25Mbps, and that's assuming an excellent connection. 160Mbps won't be coming to Comcast customers for some time, though. 2008 will be the year that DOCSIS 3.0 rolls out, but it will happen first at lower speeds and in limited markets, as Comcast wants to make sure that the 1.5 zettabytes of weekly data on its network continues to flow without problems.

Ars Technica
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Critics Wallop Wikia
By Brian Burnsed
January 8, 2008, 12:01AM EST

Wikia Search, the highly anticipated search engine conceived by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, arrived Jan. 7 without many of its promised "collaborative" features, prompting a chorus of harsh reviews around the blogosphere.

Preliminary testing of the site by BusinessWeek.com produced disappointing results consistent with the widespread grumbles, many of which concluded that Wikia Search went live far too early with this Alpha version. Wales, who has touted plans to incorporate user feedback into search results, launched the site without any of those capabilities in place. For now, Wikia Search is little more than an ordinary algorithm-driven search engine mixed with a few Facebook-type frills such as user profiles that can be used to find others with common interests.

The scathing reaction among bloggers and other commentators was epitomized by a TechCrunch.com piece bluntly titled "Wikia Search Is a Complete Letdown." The article's author, Michael Arrington, said that while poor results are to be expected early in a search engine's life, expectations that the people behind Wikipedia might produce a second Web phenomenon had run wild.

BusinessWeek
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Wikia Search finds few fans in early going
By Marcus Browne
January 8, 2008 7:17:00 AM

An alpha version of the Wikia search engine has been unveiled this week and, despite the hype surrounding its appearance, online commentary has been overwhelmingly negative. "Search is part of the fundamental infrastructure of the Internet. And we are making it open-source," Wales said in a statement.

Instead of arriving on the Web preloaded with the complex algorithms required to run a search engine, Wikia Search relies primarily on users to contribute to the platform to increase its effectiveness. "This site, which we have been working on for a long time now, represents the first draft of the future of search," Wales said.

Since its launch on Monday much debate has arisen surrounding its validity, its potential to compete against search giants such as Google and Yahoo, and its current performance--which, according to many reports, is unsatisfactory.

The search engine also comes complete with several other functions, including a social-networking site, and a "miniarticles" function--a stub of a full wiki page that appears above popular search terms.

ZDNet News
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Sony demos faster-than-USB wireless transfer system
By Martyn Williams
January 08, 2008

Sony Corp. is developing a wireless data transfer system for gadgets that is capable of sending pictures, video and data over a range of a few centimeters.

Transfer Jet is based on a Sony-developed near-field communications system that the company envisages being built into a range of different portable consumer electronics devices to enable transfer without wires. Effective data rates of about 375Mbit/sec. over a 560Mbit/sec. physical layer can be realized with the system, which makes it faster, on paper, than USB2.0 and IEEE1394 FireWire interfaces.

A prototype of the system is on display this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In a demonstration, a digital camera equipped with Transfer Jet and about 45 images was placed onto a version of Sony's photo reader box that also packed the technology. After a short pause, the images began transferring and within a few seconds, the VGA-resolution images were inside the photo reader and could be viewed on a television.

Sony clearly sees big things ahead for the technology. During a CES news conference, Steve Haber, a senior vice president with responsibility for mobile and imaging products, said Transfer Jet "could also play a key role for Sony moving forward."

ComputerWorld
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Intel launches sixteen new 45nm processors
By Jon Stokes
January 07, 2008 09:00AM CT

Intel CEO Paul Otellini took the stage at CES today to unveil 16 new 45nm processors: five dual-core parts for the mobile space, seven desktop parts (four Duos and three Quads), and four Xeon processors. Leaked roadmaps and prior announcements meant that the launch lineup didn't carry any surprises, but it's worth recapping what Intel has announced because we may see some of these same processors featured at next week's Macworld show.

Mobile is where the action was in 2007, and 2008's full 45nm ramp-up will only throw gasoline on the mobile fire. Intel knows where the action is, so the CES spotlight was firmly fixed on the five new mobile parts: a quartet of Core 2 Duo processors at speeds from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz, topped off by a 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme part, the X9000.

All of these parts will plug right into laptops based on Intel's Santa Rosa platform, and they should be available this month. There's pretty much no technical reason why Apple couldn't announce Macbook Pro and iMac bumps based on these new parts next week, but seeing as how the lowly Macintosh doesn't really have the pizazz of the iPhone or the AppleTV or movie rentals, I'm expecting a post-MWSF stealth update. No need to waste precious stage time on a computer. (I kid, I kid. I'm just bitter about the previous Macworld.)

Ars Technica
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Nvidia to launch MCP7A in April, MCP7C in August
By Rodney Chan
January 08 2008

With the MCP73 failing to pose a strong challenge to the Intel 3-series, Nvidia will launch IGP (integrated graphics processing) versions of its MCP7A and MCP7C chipset series for the Intel platform in April and August, respectively, according to sources with motherboard makers.

The sources revealed that the MCP7A to be launched April will have two IGP versions, the MCP7A-U and MCP7A-S, both of which will support Intel 1333MHz FSB, DirectX 10, HDMI, DVI, HDCP, and PureVideo HD.

While the MCP73 only features a single-channel memory controller, the MCP7A will feature a dual-channel controller, the sources said, adding that it also supports Hybrid SLI technology.

Free on board (FOB) prices for motherboards based on the MCP7A-U will be about US$80, while motherboards based on the MCP7A-S will be priced in the US$70-75 range, the sources said.

DigiTimes
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Mozilla promotes Lilly from COO to CEO
By Stephen Shankland
January 7, 2008 4:27 PM PST

Mozilla Corp., the for-profit subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, has promoted Chief Operating Officer John Lilly to chief executive, the organization behind the Firefox Web browser and Thunderbird e-mail software said Monday.

Former CEO Mitchell Baker will remain chairman, the organization said, where she'll focus on high-level issues such as standards, interoperability, and issues around people's data. "John Lilly is the right person to guide the product and organizational maturity of MoCo. John has been doing more and more of this since he took on the COO role in August of 2006.

John understands Mozilla, is astonishingly good at operations, and has an innate facility for our products and technologies and the directions in which they should develop," Baker said on her blog on Monday. "Once I allowed myself to think about this, I realized that John will be a better CEO for the MoCo going forward than I would be."

Before Lilly joined Mozilla in 2005, he had been founder and CEO of Reactivity, a software company Cisco Systems acquired in 2007. On his blog, Lilly said his priorities will include shipping Firefox 3.0, currently in its second beta version; helping out with the new Mozilla mail company launch; and improving communications about Mozilla's economic situation and its hybrid for-profit/not-for-profit state.

CNET Blogs

Intel responds to EU antitrust charges
By Jon Stokes
January 07, 2008 - 10:50PM CT

On Monday, Intel submitted a formal, written response to the Statement of Objections that the European Commission sent to the company this past July. The contents of Intel's response have yet to leak out, but the company has confirmed that it has also requested a hearing before the EC in order to orally refute the charges of anticompetitive behavior leveled against it by the EU.

At issue in the antitrust dispute is Intel's alleged practice of offering hefty discounts to Intel-only shops, a practice that violates EU monopoly laws when it's done by a market leader like Intel. Luckily for Intel, its alleged habit of handing out discounts and sweet advertising subsidies through its logo program to Intel-only OEMs is not illegal in the US, though rival AMD has filed a lawsuit in civil court against the chipmaker for these and other practices.

Intel's formal response is just the latest move in a dispute with the EU that has been going on for years. The EU had been eyeing Intel for some time before launching a 2005 raid on the company's offices in Europe. The EU also hit Dell's European offices, looking for evidence of the kinds of kick-backs that everyone figured Intel must be slipping to the PC maker in order to keep it from using AMD's products at a time when the Hammer and Opteron where killing Intel's Netburst-based processor offerings in just about every contest that mattered.

With Intel's move in recent years to lower prices across the board, the kinds of "most favored OEM" pricing practices that got the company into trouble with antitrust investigators in the US, Korea, and Europe have pretty much come to an end.

Ars Technica

Sony-BMG to sell (some) DRM-free music downloads... through stores
By Peter Sayer
January 08, 2008

January 08, 2008 (IDG News Service) -- Sony BMG Music Entertainment will crack open the door to its music vaults on Jan. 15, taking the DRM copy-prevention wrapper off a limited selection of downloadable tracks.

The tracks will be offered in MP3 format, without DRM (digital rights management), from Jan. 15 in the U.S. and from late January in Canada. The move is far from the all-digital service offered by its rivals, though. To obtain the Sony-BMG tracks, would-be listeners will first have to go to a retail store to buy a Platinum MusicPass, a card containing a secret code, for a suggested retail price of $12.99.

Once they have scratched off the card's covering to expose the code, they will be able to download one of just 37 albums available through the service, including Britney Spears' "Blackout" and Barry Manilow's "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies." In contrast, online retailer Amazon.com offers 2.9 million DRM-free tracks in MP3 format from the catalogs of EMI Group, Warner Music Group, Universal Music and a host of independent record labels.

Apple's iTunes Store has around 2 million DRM-free tracks in the AAC format supported by its iPod and many mobile phones. No store visit is necessary to download those tracks, and an album typically sells for $9.99 or less. Independent retailer eMusic also offers around 2.8 million DRM-free paid MP3 downloads.

Computer World
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Intel CEO sees Net boosting consumer electronics
By Scott Ard
Jan 7, 2008 6:25:00 PM

LAS VEGAS--The ability to connect practically all electronic devices to the Internet will unleash a burst of innovation and business opportunities that will rival the impact on personal computers, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said Monday.

Speaking here at the Consumer Electronics Show, Otellini presented a vision of an always-on, always-connected experience for consumers, whether in their homes, or riding a car or bike. "We're now in the midst of the largest opportunity to redefine consumer electronics and entertainment since the introduction of the television," Otellini said.

"Increasingly, computing and communications are coming together, bringing a new level of capabilities and intelligence to the Internet experience. The personal Internet of tomorrow will serve you--delivering the information you want, when you want it, how you want, wherever you are."

For an example of how dramatic the impact could be, one need look no further than to the 1990s, when the Internet injected almost limitless potential into the personal computer and severely disrupted industries as diverse as gaming, media and retail.

ZDNET Blogs
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Yahoo hopes developers don't pass 'Go'
By Ina Fried
January 7, 2008 11:19 AM PST

Updated at 12:10 p.m. to include potential Yahoo Mail features. LAS VEGAS--Yahoo is hoping to prove it can be as mobile and open as its rivals. As expected, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang used his speech at CES to announce several mobile efforts including a redesigned mobile home page and a beta of Yahoo Go 3.0, which is open to widgets created by outsiders.

However, for those in the crowd hoping to see the new face of Yahoo, he apologized. "It's still the same old face," he said pointing to his head. But, he said, he has learned a few things since he started the company. "I think it is time to get Yahoo yodeling again," he said. The goal, he said, is the same as in the early days--to make Yahoo the starting point on the Internet. But he said the world is far more open, social and mobile.

"We're already the home page for hundreds of millions of people." Yang and Marco Boerries, executive vice president for Yahoo's Connected Life unit, showed off the new Yahoo Go complete with a lot of eye candy, including an animated user interface and mobile Flickr and maps applications.

Yahoo is hoping its reach will woo developers to write widgets using its XML development environment, dubbed Blueprint. In its early beta form Yahoo Go 3 will run on 30 devices, but the company will move to reach the more than 300 devices that can run Yahoo Go 2.0.

CNET Blogs
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SanDisk ups ante with 32GB flash player
By Nate Anderson
January 07, 2008 - 08:10PM CT

SanDisk today announced at CES a refresh to its Clip and View media player lines, but the updates don't bring much in the way of new features. Instead, they stress massive capacity boosts, with the View surging to a maximum capacity of 32GB of flash memory.

The storage capacity of flash-based devices is now large enough to put serious pressure on the remaining hard drive-based players, and that's good news for consumers who like long battery life, reliability, and the ability to jog with a player. The View now has a 32GB version that will be offered in February for a suggested $349.

The device handles MPEG4, WMV, and H.264 video along with MP3 and WMA audio, and it promises 35 hours of battery life when listening to music. The Clip, SanDisk's smallest player, gets a bump to 4GB for a suggested $79. Less than a year ago, 2GB miniature devices like the Zen Stone went for the same price.

Flash devices have traditionally been designed to hold only portions of a consumer's audio and video catalog. They've been suitable for listening at the gym or on a commute, but they haven't been good solutions for the completist who wants their entire library available in a pocket-sized device.

Ars Technica
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More Nehalem CPUs named; performance and mainstream chips targeted for 2Q09
By Joseph Tsai
January 07 2008

Following the launch of the first Nehalem-based CPUs, the quad-core Bloomfield for high-end markets, in the fourth quarter this year, Intel is planning to launch a performance level Nehalem-based quad-core series, Lynnfield, before the second quarter of 2009, while dual-core Havendale CPUs will be launched in the second quarter of 2009 targeting markets from entry-level to mainstream, according to sources at motherboard makers.

Lynnfield and Havendale will be designed to be to paired with an Ibexpeak southbridge and Havendale CPUs will also feature integrated graphics, the sources detailed. Intel will launch Nehalem-based notebook CPUs at the end of the second quarter of 2009, including the quad-core Clarkefield and dual-core Auburndale series.

Auburndale will have integrated graphics, while the power consumption of both CPUs will drop significantly. Wolfdale CPUs will continue shipping for the entry-level segment, the sources added. Intel declined the opportunity to respond to this report saying it does not comment on unannounced products.

DigiTimes

Wikia launches open-source search engine
By Nate Anderson
January 07, 2008 - 02:01AM CT

Wikia Search, the Jimbo Wales-backed open-source search project, officially launches today after a year of development. Wales, a Wikipedia co-founder, wants to "do cool stuff" by launching the project, but he also hopes to make "a political statement about transparency and openness."

Ars spoke with Wales about Wikia Search, taking on Google, and the fact that even algorithms are editorial statements. Wikia Search was announced at the end of 2006, but it wasn't clear at the time how the system would work (the for-profit Wikia is not affiliated with Wikipedia). There was much talk about "openness" and "user control" and "transparency," but the details were elusive.

In July 2007, the project came into some focus when Wikia acquired the Grub indexing system and released it under an open-source license. But only in the last few weeks has Wikia Search entered even a "pre-alpha" state suitable for limited user testing. Wales says that Wikia Search will be open to users in two ways. First, anyone can rank search results by using a simple five-star system.

Second, the backend systems that power Wikia Search will all be open-source projects like Grub, and anyone with a bent for coding can get their hands dirty with the actual search algorithms that operate in the background. To Wales, this algorithmic transparency is key to what Wikia Search wants to do.

Ars Technica
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