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  <title>Shanghai Daily: Information industry</title> 
  <link>
  	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/list.asp?id=59
  </link> 
  <description>Shanghai Daily Information industry</description> 
  <language>en</language> 


<item>
	<title>Microsoft hopes Kinect spur Xbox sales</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448772
	</link>
	<pubDate>9 Sep 2010 0:50:26 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Tomoko A. Kosaka</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	BATTLING its Japanese gaming rivals on their home turf hasn't been easy for Microsoft Corp. 
 
Its Xbox 360 game console runs a distant third in sales in Japan behind Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 console and Nintendo...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[BATTLING its Japanese gaming rivals on their home turf hasn't been easy for Microsoft Corp. 
 
Its Xbox 360 game console runs a distant third in sales in Japan behind Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 console and Nintendo Co's Wii.
 
But the Seattle-based company is armed with a new weapon - its new controller-free Kinect game technology - that it hopes will convince Japanese consumers to embrace the Xbox 360.
 
The company introduced the highly anticipated Kinect to the Japanese media yesterday, touting its ability to broaden the Xbox's appeal to the entire family.
 
Once known as Project Natal, Kinect stretches the concept of motion capture that propelled the Wii's global success. But Microsoft eliminated the controller completely. Kinect relies instead on a camera system that recognizes gestures and voices, enabling players to control on-screen avatars in action and sports games simply by moving their own bodies.
 
"All you have to do is play (Kinect), or watch people play it," said Takashi Sensui, head of Microsoft's home and entertainment division in Japan. "It's nothing you've seen, and it's a brand-new experience that I think a lot of people will be attracted to."
 
Until now, the Xbox has been known as the device to play hard-core shooter games such as "Halo." In the United States, Microsoft ranks second in console sales after Nintendo, just ahead of Sony.
 
Microsoft has some catching up to do in Japan. As of last week, it had sold some 150,000 Xbox 360 console this calendar year, according to Media Create Co, a Tokyo-based gaming market research company. Nintendo sold about a million Wii units during the same period, while Sony sold just under a million.
 
Microsoft said that Kinect will go on sale in Japan on November 20.
 
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	<title>Analysts calm over Vodafone sale of stake in China Mobile</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448738
	</link>
	<pubDate>9 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Zhu Shenshen</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	
CHINA Mobile Ltd lost almost 4 percent yesterday after Vodafone sold its stake in the world's biggest mobile operator by subscribers for US$6.5 billion, nearly double what it paid, but analysts are not worried as...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[
CHINA Mobile Ltd lost almost 4 percent yesterday after Vodafone sold its stake in the world's biggest mobile operator by subscribers for US$6.5 billion, nearly double what it paid, but analysts are not worried as they believed the Chinese telco's long-term development won't be greatly impacted by the share sale.
 
Based in Britain, the world's largest telecommunications operator by revenue sold about 642.9 million China Mobile shares for HK$79.20 (US$11.64) each in the Hong Kong stock market yesterday, representing a 3.4 percent discount to the stock's last close of HK$82 on Tuesday. That was the low end of the range that underwriters gave for the sale.
 
UBS, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were handling the placing.
 
The shares were sold to institutional investors in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, according to a Reuters report, without identifying any buyers.
 
Vodafone, which acquired its 3.2 percent stake in the telco in two transactions between 2000 and 2002 for US$3.25 billion, doubled the value of the investment through the sale.
 
Hong Kong-listed China Mobile tumbled 3.9 percent to close at HK$78.90, compared with the Hang Seng Index's 1.5 percent drop yesterday.
 
"The company received Vodafone's notification today (Wednesday) that it has sold its China Mobile shares," the telco said in a statement. "China Mobile and Vodafone have established close cooperation in business and technology since 2000. Both sides will continue to cooperate in these areas in the future."
 
Vodafone's lock-up period on its 3.2 percent stake in China Mobile recently expired, and though the company signaled it would sell, the timing had been unclear.
 
The sale was part of Vodafone's new strategy to exit non-strategic minority investments, which analysts and investors believe have weighed on Vodafone's overall value in recent years.
 
Vodafone has minority stakes in operators in Poland, France and India which it might also sell, according to Reuters.
 
Analysts were still optimistic about China Mobile's performance despite the stake disposal.
 
"We do not expect a meaningful fundamental impact from the stake sale, given the shares are secondary and Vodafone's operational influence has historically been limited by the small size of the stake,'' Goldman Sachs said in a report.
 
The United States investment bank held China Mobile's target price at HK$93, 17 percent higher than yesterday's price. 
 
Deutsche Bank set a target price of HK$86, which has almost 10 percent margin to move up.
 
China Mobile now occupies 70 percent share of the telecommunications market in the country, a situation that rivals may find  "impossible to catch up within two or three years," industry officials said.
 
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	<title>Swisscom seeks to take over Fastweb</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448728
	</link>
	<pubDate>9 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Colleen Barry</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	SWISSCOM AG announced yesterday it will buy all outstanding shares in its Italian telecoms unit Fastweb SpA, which has been rocked by a money-laundering probe, for a total of 256 million euros (US$326 million). 
...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[SWISSCOM AG announced yesterday it will buy all outstanding shares in its Italian telecoms unit Fastweb SpA, which has been rocked by a money-laundering probe, for a total of 256 million euros (US$326 million). 
 
Swisscom said in a statement that the takeover "will give Swisscom greater strategic and operational flexibility."
 
It will pay 18 euros a share, a premium of 4.63 euros, or 34.6 percent, at Tuesday's close on the Milan Stock Exchange, to buy back the 18 percent stake. Fastweb will exit the stock market after a decade of being publicly traded.
 
Shares in Fastweb, Italy's second-largest telecoms company, soared 33.88 percent on opening to 17.98 euros on the news.
 
The company is under investigation in a 2 euro billion money laundering probe, in which founder Silvio Scaglia has been implicated. Fastweb denies accusations and says it was a victim of a criminal organization.
 
The company avoided the risk of being put under administration when Swisscom CEO Carsten Shloter took temporary control of the subsidiary.
 
It posted a net loss 34 million euros in 2009, after setting aside 70 million euros for the criminal investigation.
 
Swisscom took control of Fastweb, primarily a broadband provider, in May 2007. The main alternative to the former state monopoly Telecom Italia, Fastweb, which also offers cell phone services, has 1.69 million broadband customers for a market share of around 13 percent.
 
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	<title>HP sues Hurd over Oracle job</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448727
	</link>
	<pubDate>9 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Jordan Robertson</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	HEWLETT-PACKARD Co is suing Mark Hurd, the chief executive it ousted last month, to stop him from taking a top job at rival Oracle Corp. 
 
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a California state court, came a day after...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[HEWLETT-PACKARD Co is suing Mark Hurd, the chief executive it ousted last month, to stop him from taking a top job at rival Oracle Corp. 
 
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a California state court, came a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president to help lead the database software maker's efforts to lure business away from HP. HP claims that Hurd won't be able to perform his job at Oracle without spilling HP's trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement.
 
This type of complaint isn't unusual in the technology world, nor is the confidentiality agreement that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top US$40 million.
 
Technology companies often require such agreements because workers walk out the door with valuable technical information.
 
But the stakes are higher with Hurd than a rank-and-file employee, and the lawsuit may delay when Hurd could start his new job.
 
The latest lawsuit also underscores the growing rancor between HP and Oracle.
 
The companies have cooperated for 25 years to make sure that their products work well together. But that relationship is straining now that Oracle, like HP, sells the computer servers that power companies' back offices. Oracle got into that business through its US$7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems last year.
 
Oracle is known for its database software, which many people use every day such as when they're pulling money out of a bank or booking a flight. The software helps firms organize and access their data. It gives them a map to all their information, so their computers know exactly where to find things.
 
Oracle is the world's No. 1 database software maker, and with the Sun business, Oracle is now among the world's top seller of servers, as is HP.
 
As HP's CEO for five years, a stint that ended after a sexual-harassment probe, Hurd was responsible for preparing HP's strategic plans and has intimate details about HP's profit margins and special deals it has offered customers, according to HP's lawsuit.
 
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	<title>US$5m Bonus As Part Of Package</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448725
	</link>
	<pubDate>9 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author></author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	ORACLE plans to pay newly appointed President Mark Hurd US$950,000 a year. The company also says the former Hewlett-Packard Co CEO, who was ousted by that company last month, is eligible for a fiscal 2011 bonus of...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[ORACLE plans to pay newly appointed President Mark Hurd US$950,000 a year. The company also says the former Hewlett-Packard Co CEO, who was ousted by that company last month, is eligible for a fiscal 2011 bonus of US$5 million.
 
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, Oracle Corp added that Hurd's bonus will not exceed US$10 million. Hurd's offer letter also includes details on potential stock options.
 
HP said on Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Hurd to prevent him from taking the Oracle job.
 
 
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	<title>Taobao founder in threat to shut up shop after attack campaign</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448678
	</link>
	<pubDate>8 Sep 2010 1:28:41 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Xu Chi</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	JACK Ma, co-founder of Taobao.com, has told his staff he would rather shut down the trading platform than give in to a group of sellers attacking the platform.
 
Thousands of sellers have joined an online organization...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[Jack Ma, co-founder of Taobao.com, has told his staff he would rather shut down the trading platform than give in to a group of sellers attacking the platform.
 
Thousands of sellers have joined an online organization calling itself the "Anti-Taobao Alliance" and have been  causing problems for other sellers by ordering all their goods and then cancelling them after a few days, in the meantime making the goods unavailable for sale.
 
Some of them are also clicking repeatedly on the advertisements of other vendors on Taobao.com's front page.
 
Each click raises the price vendors have to pay for advertising.
 
But the increased cost has caused many vendors to cancel their adverts, hitting the Chinese platform's income.
 
The reason for the organization's activities was made clear online by one of its leaders, calling himself "Anti-Taobao Warrior." He said their actions were to force Taobao to reconsider a new rule issued on July 8 which "only caters to the rich and large sellers while smaller vendors are suppressed."
 
But a Taobao official said the rule was issued to rearrange the sequence of search results and make more small shops available to buyers on the front page.
 
The original sequence depended on the deadline when the goods had to be sold. The closer to the deadline, the higher the products would be listed in the sequence and thus be more eye-catching. 
 
Another sequence depended on the credibility ranking of shops.

"The new regulations are made to defend customers' interests and support honest sellers," said Ma in a letter to Taobao staff. "But the intention was totally misunderstood."
 
Ma blamed people who teamed up for action in the boycott campaign for harming customer's benefits for their own profits in a black industry chain, where they offers services for hyping up products for sellers by giving fake remarks and rankings.
 
"I want to tell everyone involved in the industry that we will never change due to pressure," said Ma. 
 
 
"If you are an experienced seller, you can use the deadline wisely to easily make your products always be on the top of the search results," said the official. "But new sellers don't know anything about the trick and it's unfair to them."
 
She said the new sequence was arranged depending on an overall evaluation which included the shops' credibility level, delivery speed, customers' remarks and other elements.
 
The new method had brought 50 percent more business opportunities for more than 250,000 smaller shop sellers,  she said, but many sellers still believed their business had suffered. 
 
This was certainly the case where sellers had been involved in "ranking frauds" where they hired people to give fake rankings and remarks at their stores to hype their products.
 
The new search results sequence prevents them using credibility rankings alone to attract buyers.
 
"It's Internet terrorism," said one vendor, surnamed Zhang, a popular clothing seller who was among the sellers attacked by the alliance members. "Once their chance for competing in an inglorious way is gone, they start to bite innocent people."
 
Law expert Zhang Fan said the behavior of the alliance members violated public order and might even constitute a crime for disturbing the operation of companies, according to Law of Punishment in Public Order and Security Administration.
 
An official with Taobao said some sellers had reported the matter to the police and added that a number of cases were now under investigation.
 
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	<title>Oracle hires former HP chief as co-president</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448614
	</link>
	<pubDate>8 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Jordan Rorbertson</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	ORACLE Corp has hired former Hewlett-Packard Co CEO Mark Hurd to help lead the database software maker in a pivotal moment in Oracle's 33-year history as it tries to move in on more of HP's turf.
 
Oracle and HP...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[ORACLE Corp has hired former Hewlett-Packard Co CEO Mark Hurd to help lead the database software maker in a pivotal moment in Oracle's 33-year history as it tries to move in on more of HP's turf.
 
Oracle and HP are longtime partners, but Hurd's appointment on Monday as co-president of Oracle underscores the growing fissure between the Silicon Valley heavyweights and stems from Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's belief that his friend Hurd was railroaded out of a job at HP.
 
Oracle already had two presidents.
 
One of them - Charles Phillips, a former Marine and investment banker who was with Oracle for seven years - is resigning to make room for Hurd. The other - Safra Catz, Oracle's former chief financial officer - is staying.
 
Ellison said that Phillips wanted to leave in December, but that Ellison asked him to stay through the integration of Sun Microsystems.
 
Phillips was in the news earlier this year when pictures of him snuggling with his former mistress appeared on billboards around the United States. Ellison said Oracle will miss Phillips' talent and leadership but that he respects Phillips' decision to leave.
 
Oracle said in a statement Hurd will also serve as a member of the board of directors. He will report to Ellison.
 
Ellison praised Hurd's tenure at HP and said no other executive had more relevant experience.
 
"Mark did a brilliant job at HP and I expect he'll do even better at Oracle," Ellison said. 
 
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<item>
	<title>Philips to dispose chip maker stake</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448612
	</link>
	<pubDate>8 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Ben Berkowitz</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	DUTCH electronics group Philips yesterday said it will sell its remaining equity stake in chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV to its underfunded British pension fund. 
 
Philips said it would make a cash contribution...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[DUTCH electronics group Philips yesterday said it will sell its remaining equity stake in chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV to its underfunded British pension fund. 
 
Philips said it would make a cash contribution of 350 million euros (US$446 million) to the pension fund, which the fund would then use to buy the 17 percent of NXP the Dutch firm still owns. 
 
The sale will lead to a 140 million euro gain in the third quarter, Philips said. 
 
NXP was created in 2006 when a private equity consortium bought Philips' chipmaking unit. The company listed on the stock market in New York last month in an initial public offering that raised less money than planned. 
 
Philips said in its 2009 report it was reviewing funding needs for its United States and UK pension funds.
 
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	<title>LCD TV Sales Seen At 50m Units</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448524
	</link>
	<pubDate>7 Sep 2010 0:02:30 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Zhu Shenshen</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	SALES of LCD televisions in China's mainland will hit 50 million units next year and will enable the country to rank as the world's biggest market and industry watchers expect 3D TV sales to take off domestically,...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[SALES of LCD televisions in China's mainland will hit 50 million units next year and will enable the country to rank as the world's biggest market and industry watchers expect 3D TV sales to take off domestically, said Taiwan-based AU Optronics (AUO) yesterday.
 
The world's No. 3 LCD panel maker has launched 65-inch 3D (three-dimension) TV screens in the domestic market and it expects sales of its 3D TV screens to hit 2 million units on the mainland, according to Paul Peng, AUO's executive vice president.
 
AUO has cooperated with domestic TV brand makers to produce, market and promote 3D technology on the mainland, Peng added.
 
AUO didn't reveal its 3D partners on the mainland but at a recent IT exhibition brands like Changhong, TCL and Haier all displayed 3D TV models.
 
AUO forecast sales of 50 million LCD TV sets next year, compared with 30 million to 40 million units in 2010, according to Peng.
 
 
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<item>
	<title>Emerging devices 'the next big thing'</title> 
	<link>
	
	http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=448507
	</link>
	<pubDate>7 Sep 2010 0:00:00 +0800</pubDate> 
	<category>Information industry</category> 
	<author>Zhu Shenshen</author>
	<description><![CDATA[
	THE proliferation of digital gadgetry made possible by higher-speed networks and more-powerful chips is proving a gold mine for companies like chip designer Qualcomm, telecommunications giant AT&amp;T and device maker...]]></description>
	<content:encoded><![CDATA[THE proliferation of digital gadgetry made possible by higher-speed networks and more-powerful chips is proving a gold mine for companies like chip designer Qualcomm, telecommunications giant AT&T and device maker HTC.
 
The booming emerging devices market includes e-book readers, portable navigation devices, in-car telematics, digital photo frames, smart meters and game devices.
 
After the mobile phone, "it's the next big thing," said David Haight, vice president of AT&T's emerging devices business development division. 
 
By 2014, more than 84 million WiFi or 3G-connected devices will be sold in the United States, up from 6 million units in 2008, according to estimates from Strategy Analytics, a US-based research firm.
 
Haight's industry outlook is shared by Bill Davidson, senior vice president of San Diego-based chip designer Qualcomm. The company is working on a range of emerging devices products, from chip design and portable satellite TV services to next-generation displays for e-book readers and application stores.
 
"Every consumer electronics device and car will be connected," Davidson said during an Editor's Day conference last month held by Qualcomm.
 
San Diego-based Qualcomm held the conference to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
 
"Devices will be able to receive the Internet and tell drivers where they are," Davidson said.
 
In the realm of design, Qualcomm has developed a chipset family coded Snapdragon. The latest Snapdragon, expected in the fourth quarter, features a clock speed of 1 gigahertz and 1.5 gigahertz - close to that of an entry-level laptop. 
 
The Snapdragon is designed to power a new generation of devices, including advanced smart phones, smart books that feature a computer function just slightly bigger than a handset in size, and connected consumer electronics, according to Qualcomm.
 
Some emerging devices, such as Amazon's Kindle, Dell's Streak, Huawei's S7 Tablet and wireless health care devices with chips and wearable wireless sensors, run on chips manufactured by Qualcomm.
 
Qualcomm's next-stage marketing strategy is to put Snapdragon logos on devices, said Wang Jing, the company's executive vice president.
 
The new FLO TV device, made by Taiwan-based HTC, is a centerpiece of emerging devices. 
 
The broadcast TV service, with complementary 3G network support, allows users to watch customized TV channels from any location. The device can be slipped easily into a pocket.
 
The service charges users fees starting from US$10 to US$15 monthly. 
 
It is especially popular during events such as the World Cup, according to service operator MediaFLO Technologies.
 
The company is in talks with other possible services partners, such as PCCW in Hong Kong. 
 
"Clearly, mobility and data are universal needs," said Martin Fichter, HTC's vice president of product management and planning.
 
HTC, which launched its own brand in the Chinese mainland for the first time last month to replace Dopod, will develop more new devices, said Fichter.
 
"This is the year of data," said AT&T's Haight.
 
AT&T aims to cash in by providing WiFi and 3G services enabling devices to access the Internet and application downloads, according to Haight.
 
In the realm of e-book readers, for example, AT&T has set up business models to address the needs of varying user bases of readers, according to data traffic.
 
The models include wholesales data packages for Amazon's Kindle and prepaid data for Apple's iPad.
 
The rapidly growing e-book market will bring carriers a unique opportunity because users want to "be connected," said Cong Sen, an editor of ZOL, a professional IT Website in China. "It's a nice idea, and Chinese carriers should learn something from it." 
 
Chinese carriers have cooperated with e-book reader vendors like Hanwang and Shanda, but high data-traffic fees have discouraged users. 
 
Meanwhile, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have all opened mobile application stores, not only on phones but also on emerging devices.
 
In the first half of this year, the mobile application market reached US$2.2 billion, surpassing US$1.7 billion for the whole of 2009, according to Research2guidance, a US-based IT research firm.
 
Qualcomm has also developed a platform called Brew Mobile Platform, which provides both an operating system and an online application store. 
 
"We are not just talking about opportunities in the tens of millions but rather in the hundreds of millions of devices," said Jason Kenagy, Qualcomm's vice president of Brew.
 
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