Google's Goals This Year Are All Mobile, CEO Says

All of Google's strategic initiatives this year are about mobile, the company's CEO, Eric Schmidt, wrote in a guest article for the Harvard Business Review titled "Preparing for the Big Mobile Revolution."

He laid out three developments Google plans to encourage in order to realize its vision of delivering personalized, timely and location-aware information to people. The company has already made strides in each area.

The first is the development of fast networks, specifically LTE, Schmidt wrote. They will "usher in new and creative applications, mostly entertainment and social, for these phone platforms," he wrote.

All of the major operators in the U.S. are already building their LTE networks or have stated that they plan to. While Google is not in the business of building networks, it has been outspoken in its support of broadband wireless. For instance, it pushed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to require winners of a recent spectrum auction to allow any device and any application to run on the networks, ensuring that future Google services wouldn't be blocked by operators. The FCC did put open access requirements on some of the spectrum it auctioned.

Schmidt also said that "we must attend to the development of mobile money." In a recent update to the Android operating system, Google added support for near field communication, a technology that lets users tap their phones against a sensor to make purchases or debit an account. NFC has been around for years but has failed to take off, in part because it requires that phone makers include a special chip in the phones and that retailers install sensors that can read the chips. Google must rally many other industry participants in order to reach widespread use of the technology.

Thirdly, Schmidt said Google wants to increase the availability of inexpensive smartphones in poor regions. "We envision literally a billion people getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years. Can you imagine how this will change their awareness of local and global information and their notion of education?" he wrote.

A billion browser-based phones also means that Google can display advertisements to that many more people around the world.

Already, even without achieving each of those developments, interesting services are available, Schmidt said. "We are at the point where, between the geolocation capability of the phone and the power of the phone's browser platform, it is possible to deliver personalized information about where you are, what you could do there right now, and so forth -- and to deliver such a service at scale," Schmidt wrote.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com

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OSI, FSF Want Inquiry of Microsoft Consortium Deal on Novell

Protesting the secrecy of the deal, the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation have jointly asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the purchase of more than 800 patents by a Microsoft-led consortium, CTPN Holdings.

The two non-profit organizations "are concerned that CPTN represents a potential broadside not against any particular product in the market today, but against one of the only viable sources of competition for these companies in software today," that of open source and free software, wrote Michael Tiemann president of Open Source Initiative, in a letter to the DOJ.

CPTN Holdings is buying the Novell patents for US$450 million in cash. The sale is concurrent with the pending Attachmate acquisition of Novell, announced in November. In addition to Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and EMC are involved with CPTN.

OSI and FSF argue that there is not enough public information surrounding the deal, and that, given the influence of the companies, such secrecy could hide "nefarious intentions," the statement charges.

"Given the potential for collusion between these competitors to reduce competition amongst them and to harm competition that exists in the marketplace today, competition would be better served by the Department of Justice thoroughly investigating the facts and evidence concerning this transaction, rather than giving them the benefit of the commercial doubt," the statement reads.

Earlier this week, the European Union expressed no opposition to the deal. OSI and the FSF had also filed a request with the German Federal Cartel Office last month.

It is worth noting that CPTN is not alone in its interest in purchasing the patents.

In a Jan. 14 filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Novell revealed that another concern, which it referred to as "Party E," is interested in the patents.

"On January 11, 2011, representatives of Party E contacted one of our executive officers who reported that such representatives had been following recent media reports of our pending transactions and were prepared to discuss 'reasonable, competitive terms' of a transaction with us," the filing states. "On January 13, 2011, a representative of Party E clarified that their interest is in a transaction related to an acquisition of the patents and patent applications being sold pursuant to the Patent Purchase Agreement, 'and maybe more.'"

The intellectual property in question relates "primarily to enterprise-level computer systems management software, enterprise-level file management and collaboration software in addition to patents relevant to our identity and security management business," Novell revealed in the Jan. 14 filing. But no specific products have been named.

With Party E's identity currently unknown, it's not clear whether OSI and its peers would hold equally grave concerns about it purchasing the patents.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

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AMD Handily Beats Fourth-quarter Estimates

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Thursday reported net profit for the fourth quarter that beat forecasts, due mainly to income from a patent license and a legal settlement with Samsung.

The company's net profit was US$375 million, or $0.50 per share, beating the consensus earnings forecast of $0.11 per share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. AMD's fourth-quarter revenue was $1.65 billion, the same as last year and above analyst estimates of $1.63 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, AMD reported a net profit of $1.2 billion, or $1.52 per share, due mainly to a separate legal settlement with Intel.

AMD is Intel's biggest rival in the market for microprocessor chips. Its financial report comes after a tumultuous few weeks for the company in which its CEO, Dirk Meyer, resigned amid complaints he did not focus enough on mobile devices.

AMD started shipping its first laptop and netbook chips based on its new microprocessors, called Fusion, during the fourth quarter. Fusion chips combine a microprocessor with a graphics processor in one chip, which AMD says will improve overall PC performance and draw less power.

The full year 2010 marked the first time AMD's results did not include its chip manufacturing operations. The company's manufacturing business was spun off into GlobalFoundries the previous year.

For the full fiscal year ended Dec. 25, 2010, AMD reported revenue of $6.49 billion and net profit of $471 million, according to a statement. In 2009, AMD's revenue was $5.40 billion and its net profit $304 million.

Intel, by contrast, has focused heavily on putting its chips in mobile devices, yet its profit and revenue in the fourth quarter were led by server chips. Intel last week reported its best year ever with full-year net income of $11.7 billion and revenue of $43.6 billion.

AMD executives said the company's revenue in the first quarter will be flat to slightly down compared to the fourth quarter, which is better than normal.

"We are seeing better seasonal demand," said Thomas Seifert, interim CEO of AMD, in a conference call. "AMD enters 2011 with significant momentum, amplified by the successful launch of our first Fusion APUs."

AMD expects to make a separation payment of $12 million to former CEO Dirk Meyer.

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London Olympics Will Be 'Ready' for Cyber Attacks, Says CIO

The London Olympic Games' IT will be well prepared for cyberattack attempts, according to London 2012 CIO Gerry Pennell.

Speaking at the launch of London 2012 and Atos Origin's IT testing facility, the Technology Lab, Pennell said that cyber attacks targeting the Olympic Games - including attempts to bring down the Games, interfere with the results data and DDoS attacks on the event's websites - were to be expected.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett also warned about the impact of cyberattacks on the Olympics in 2009.

Pennell said: "We will get cyberattacks, for sure. Previous Games have always been attacked, so we will be attacked.

"We are working with partners and government to make sure we have got the right defences."

By opening the Technology Lab, Atos and London 2012 were launching 200,000 of testing of the entire Olympic Games' IT infrastructure, to ensure that it is resilient, adaptable to change and secure. For example, scenarios such as a data centre fire, or a virus, will be tested in real-time.

The equipment used in the lab will be the same used in venues during the games, and includes 880 Acer PCs, 130 servers and 110 network switches.

Pennell said that he had a team dedicated to the issue of cyber security, and Atos Origin, the main IT partner for the Olympic Games, said that design and monitoring of the event's IT infrastructure was crucial.

"Most of the system is outflow of data, with very little coming in. And we have systems that monitor anything that happens on the network that is abnormal," explained Patrick Adiba, CEO of Atos Origin for Iberia, Olympics and major events.

Critical IT systems that run the Games are also "partitioned" from the technology that is available to the public, added Pennell.

Atos, which has been the major IT provider for five Olympic Games, was confident that the London 2012 event would be well-protected.

"We have never had a critical system attack - no one has come close. We block it first," said Adiba, who added that all the systems were backed up at least twice, sometimes more.

Meanwhile, Pennell said that sustainability was a key concern for London 2012, and the organisation was working with partners to come up with a suitable disposal strategy for the infrastructure, which could include making computers available to the education sector.

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Schmidt to Step Aside as Google CEO, Page Taking Over

Google co-founder Larry Page will take over as Google CEO in April from Eric Schmidt, who will remain with the company as executive chairman.

The change is an attempt to streamline the company's top-level decision-making process, the company said on Thursday, when it reported its 2010 fourth-quarter earnings.

On a conference call, Schmidt said in his new job he will focus more on external issues, working with customers, partners and government.

"I believe Larry is ready," Schmidt said. "His ideas are very interesting and clever and it's time for him to have a shot at running this."

Page praised Schmidt's leadership over nearly a decade and said his advice as executive chairman will be invaluable.

"The results speak for themselves," Page said. "There's really no one else in the universe who could have accomplished what Eric has done."

Google co-founder Larry Page will once again take the reigns as the company's CEO, effective April 4Google generated US$8.44 billion in revenue in the quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2010, up 26 percent compared with 2009's fourth quarter. Subtracting commissions paid to partners and other fees, revenue came in at $6.37 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $6.06 billion from analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Net income came in at $2.54 billion, or $7.81 per share, up from $1.97 billion, or $6.13 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2009.

On a pro forma basis, which excludes certain items, net income was $2.85 billion, or $8.75 per share, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $8.09 per share and compared to $2.19 billion, or $6.79 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2009.

In a statement, Schmidt called the fourth quarter "a terrific end to a stellar year" and credited the success on a strong core search advertising business and to the momentum in emerging businesses such as display advertising and mobile.

Page praised Schmidt in the statement, saying he has done an "outstanding job" and calling him a "tremendous leader."

"There is no other CEO in the world that could have kept such headstrong founders so deeply involved and still run the business so brilliantly," Page said in the statement.

Schmidt said this change has been under discussion "for a long time" as the company tries to "simplify" its management structure. "By clarifying our individual roles we'll create clearer responsibility and accountability at the top of the company. In my clear opinion, Larry is ready to lead and I'm excited about working with both him and Sergey for a long time to come," he said in the statement.

Schmidt said the key to good relations with regulators has been communicating and countering misunderstandings about what Google does and does not do.

"We're trying to be as transparent and as collaborative as possible," Schmidt said.

"We try to stay well within the safety zone of the way we're operating with respect to the legal issues and the competitive issues. We also argue very strongly that the things that we're doing are very pro-competitive, and I genuinely believe that," he said.

Google's other co-founder, Sergey Brin, will oversee strategic projects. Brin said he wants to focus more on his personal passions, including several "significant" new products. He said he would talk more about those products in the future, saying Google had recently been accused of announcing "vaporware" for discussing new products too vaguely.

Schmidt became Google's CEO in 2001, steering the company through its massive financial growth, including its IPO, as well as through a significant expansion of its technology and business focus beyond its core search engine market.

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Verizon Files Lawsuit Over FCC Net Neutrality Order

Broadband provider Verizon Communications has filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's authority to enforce net neutrality rules.

Verizon filed the lawsuit Thursday in Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the company said. The FCC voted Dec. 21 to prohibit broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web content and applications.

Verizon is committed to preserving an open Internet, Michael Glover, Verizon's senior vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a statement. But the lawsuit comes after a "careful review" of the FCC order, he said.

"We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself," he added. "We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers."

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

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Trapster Hack May Have Exposed Millions of iPhone and Android Passwords

Millions of e-mail addresses and passwords may have been stolen from Trapster, an online service that warns iPhone, Android and BlackBerry owners of police speed traps, the company announced yesterday.

California-based Trapster has begun alerting its registered users and has published a short FAQ on the breach. "If you've registered your account with Trapster, then it's best to assume that your e-mail address and password were included among the compromised data," the FAQ stated.

But in the next breath, Trapster downplayed the threat, saying it wasn't sure that the addresses and passwords were actually harvested.

"While we know that we experienced a security incident, it is not clear that the hackers successfully captured any e-mail addresses or passwords, and we have nothing to suggest that this information has been used," Trapster said.

And when replying to follow-up questions today, Trapster claimed that not all its 10 million users were at risk.

"Only a portion of our users were affected," a company spokesman said via e-mail. "We are choosing not to provide a specific figure, but a majority of our users who download the app do not register, which means they did not provide an e-mail address, as it is not a requirement. So the figure is well below the 10 million users which has been reported."

Users must register with Trapster, and provide an e-mail address and password for the new account, in order to report speed traps. According to the Trapster site , more than 5,300 speed traps have been reported to the service so far today.

If criminals did collect the service's complete user list, the breach would be 25 times larger than the Gawker hack last month, when details of more than 400,000 Gawker accounts were published on the Internet.

Assuming just one-in-10 users registers with Trapster, the number of compromised passwords could still be two-and-a-half times bigger than Gawker's.

Trapster provides free apps for the iPhone, Android-based smartphones, the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile phones, and Garmin and TomTom GPS devices. The apps display a map with suspected speed traps -- the traps are reported by users of the service -- and warn when drivers are approaching a potential radar zone.

The danger posed to users is not limited to their Trapster accounts, a security expert pointed out today.

"You may not care very much if your credentials on Trapster have been compromised and may think that not too much harm can come from that," said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with U.K.-based Sophos, in a post Thursday to the security company's blog. "But what if you use the same e-mail address/password combination on other Web sites such as your Twitter account, or Web e-mail address?"

Today, the head of Twitter's Trust and Safety team told Trapster users to change their passwords pronto. "Don't use the same password on multiple sites!" said Del Harvey in a tweet at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

Some of the usernames and passwords obtained last month in the Gawker hack were quickly used to commandeer Twitter accounts that had been protected by the same passwords. The Twitter accounts were then used to launch a spam campaign on the micro-blogging service.

Another security professional said everyone should simply assume that their Internet passwords will be compromised at some point.

"People really should be changing their passwords twice a year," said Andrew Storms, the director of security operations for nCircle Security, in an instant message interview. "Not because someone could have compromised it, but because someone has compromised it. Maybe we should all just assume all public site passwords will be compromised and accept it as a new fact of life."

Many companies require workers to change their e-mail passwords on a regular basis; Storms argued that the tactic makes sense for everyone.

"We usually get push back about password changes and the answer is typically, 'But it could be compromised,'" he said. "Now we are getting more and more evidence that it has been compromised."

Trapster said it has rewritten the service's code to prevent similar attacks in the future, and has "implement[ed] additional security measures to further protect your data." The company did not spell out what those measures were, however.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com .

Read more about security in Computerworld's Security Topic Center.

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