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.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2010 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

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Google Voice Tests Number Porting, for a Price

Google Voice users may soon be able to turn their cellphone numbers into their central Google Voice number for $20. The search giant recently started testing a number porting service for Google Voice with a small group of users. The feature requires you to cancel your mobile contract and move your phone number from your carrier to Google. Engadget was the first blog to report the new feature after a heads up from Twitter user QQforU.

Courtesy of Twitter user QQforu

Google Voice Explained

Google Voice is a freemium service that ties all your different phone lines, including your mobile device, office and home numbers, into one central phone number. If someone calls your Google Voice number, all your phones ring until you pick up the call on one of your phones. Google Voice includes other helpful services such as text messaging, voice mail transcripts and overseas calling rates.

One downside of Google Voice is that if the service is going to be of any use, you have to distribute your new Google Voice number to all your contacts. Otherwise, you will only get calls on your individual lines instead of routing calls through one central number. Google's new number porting service appears to solve this minor dilemma for a price.

On top of the $20 charge for moving your number to Google Voice, you have to cancel your mobile contract. That means you may also end up paying an early termination fee to your mobile carrier if your cellphone is still under contract.

The termination fees can end up costing you hundreds of dollars. Verizon came under criticism in 2009 when its fee went as high as $350, and there were reports last January that termination fees for the Google Nexus One handset on T-Mobile could reach $550.

To see if your account is sporting the new feature, log in to your Google Voice account and click on the "Settings" drop down menu in the upper right corner. Select "Voice settings" and you should see a port option under the "Phones" tab. Not all Google Voice users are seeing the new feature, so don't be surprised if it's not available.A Google spokeswoman, said, "We're continually testing new features to enhance the user experience. For a limited amount of time, we're making the Google Voice number porting process available to users. We don't have any additional details to share at this time, but plan to offer this feature to all users in the near future."

Engadget is also reporting that Google has pulled the number porting service, at least for now. Google said as early as 2009 that it wanted to provide a number porting service, so, as the Google representative said, you can count on seeing this service again.

Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) and Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.

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AT&T and Sprint, How Stupid Do You Think We Are?

Great news! Starting Jan. 23, AT&T will reportedly funnel all of its new subscribers into a $10 per month, 1,000-text message plan, or its $20 unlimited plan.

Finally, freedom from the tyranny of choice! That $5 per month, 200-message plan that gave you just the right amount of texts every month? Too stressful. The $15 per month, 1,500-message plan that gave heavy texters a way to save money? Not unlimited enough.

If I may remove my thin layer of sarcasm for a moment, how stupid do wireless carriers think we are?

According to a leaked AT&T memo published by Gear Live, AT&T is making the changes to "streamline" its services and "K.I.S.S. -- keep it simple, silly."

This is the second report this week about wireless carriers extracting more money from their customers in the name of "simplicity." Sprint, in raising its smartphone data rates by $10 to meet data demand, offered a similar explanation for why it isn't creating optional lower data tiers:

"While some of our competitors impose overage charges and complex plans, Sprint continues to provide a worry-free (emphasis mine) unlimited data experience while on the Sprint network," Bob Johnson, president of Sprint's consumer business, said. "This is responsible, sustainable and reflects our commitment to simplicity (emphasis again mine) and value."

Maybe I have too much faith in the American people, but I don't think we need to be forced into more expensive service plans for the sake of our fragile little minds. If AT&T offers me a few text messaging options, I'm clever enough to look at my usage history to decide which plan works best. If Sprint were to offer, say, a 2 GB data plan for $10 cheaper, Im sure a significant number of customers would snatch it up without a single anxiety attack.

So please, wireless carriers, don't treat us like idiots. If you want to tweak your service plans to make more money, just say so, or announce the changes without embellishment and get out of the way. It's just that simple, silly.

Am I right? Sound off in the comments.

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UN: Mobile Tech, Web Services to Aid in Disaster Relief

Traditional helpers in disaster relief, such as the U.N. and world governments, provided aid after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010, leveled Port-au-Prince, claimed 230,000 lives and caused US$14 billion in damages.

The technology space also played a role in humanitarian efforts as Haitians buried under rubble sent text messages with their locations and open-source mapping communities documented the island. To further research technology's role in disaster relief, the United Nations Foundation and it partners commissioned a study from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) on the topic.

"Our job is to design an interface between the U.N. and volunteer technology communities as well as citizens from affected nations," said John Crowley, a research fellow at the HHI and the report's lead author. "We are really at the beginning stages. We need to start this conversation now. What we saw in Haiti will happen again."

While the final study is due out in March, the report's initial findings were released last week to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. These early results indicate that mobile technology, the open-source community and Web services each have roles in future humanitarian relief missions.

Relief workers arrived in Haiti without access to data on the country, such as maps, since that information was buried under rubble, Crowley said. Workers had to reconstruct this data while simultaneously dealing with the crisis, he said. They were also given the task of incorporating new data feeds, like text messages, into their work.

Open Street Map, an open-source world map, used old maps and satellite images to construct new maps. The organization, a volunteer group of map enthusiasts, refreshed its maps every minute to address the amount of data being added, Crowley said.

Map Action, a volunteer organization of mapping professionals that is partnered with the U.N., also created new maps using GPS and satellite technology.

These efforts took Haiti "from one of the most poorly mapped countries to one that had routing tools," said Crowley.

To better aid relief efforts, Crowley suggested that the open-source groups place their volunteers on a rotating schedule. This would allow them to better balance their volunteer work with their professional and home lives.

"I wouldn't want anyone getting divorced over relief work," said Crowley.

Despite Haiti's reputation of being impoverished, clusters of advanced technology users do exist, he said.

"Our assumptions about what technology they use needs to be questioned. Yes, it is low but there are pockets that are incredible."

The country's mobile network functioned after the earthquake and people used it to send text messages and create Twitter posts.

Members of the Haitian diaspora were used to translate the most critical messages from Creole to English, Crowley said. Workers then determined which could be acted on and passed along the information to the organizations that were helping in the relief effort.

Integrating these new data fields with the traditional humanitarian groups proved challenging since aid organizations are not set up to incorporate these feeds.

"We've heard repeatedly that there is no template for capturing data," Crowley said. "We're seeing more and more of a demand for data in a structured format."

Web services' ability to process information in near-real time makes them the preferred data organization tool since standard documents can take too long to compose, Crowley said. He acknowledged that Web services also have latency issues, but "the Web cuts back on that delay."

"Without Web services it is very difficult to make decisions in real time," he said.

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We'll Pay by Smartphone, but Let's Not Pay for Dumb Security

It's a new dawn, people! As of today, you can walk into just about any Starbucks store and pay for your latte using nothing other than a (free) iPhone app, coupled to an existing Starbucks card account. That's right -- the day of mobile electronic payments is here at last! Ta-dah!

I will pause for the fanfare that it is sure to follow.

Still waiting.

OK, so, new infrastructure improvements don't often get much fanfare -- witness the DNSSEC and IPv6 rollouts.

Nonetheless, we truly (and finally) seem to be on the cusp of a whole new era in mobile payments. By most analyst accounts, the next generation of smartphones is sure to tackle mobile payments in a serious way.

There's a lot riding on the infrastructure for this. A stupid design mistake today can have long-term impact on all of us. Witness the (mostly) European Chip and Pin payment card system.

Researchers at Cambridge unearthed a design defect in the Chip and Pin system over a year ago. The defect enables a fraudster to make unauthorized payments using any valid (or cloned) Chip and Pin card, without needing either a PIN or a signature. (To be fair, that defect hasn't much slowed down Chip and Pin usage. With some 750 million of these cards in use, that's not going to change overnight, but rest assured that the card issuers are well aware of the problem.)

If a new payment system is rolled out to consumers only to be quickly cracked by attackers, no one wins. I'm not saying there are problems with the new Starbucks system (which was in testing for some time in limited markets). But if it does come to pass, the customers lose, the company loses and in the end, technology suffers a setback -- all quite possibly because of some silly design decision that failed to take attackers' capabilities into account.

I have the utmost confidence that a mobile payment system can be designed and implemented securely. If the engineers follow sound security principles, it's certainly within reasonable expectations that we'll have a ubiquitous and secure mobile payment system in the next few years. (I'm referring to something more general in purpose than the Starbucks system.)

But we can't afford bad judgment. Even well-intended security mechanisms can be implemented poorly. Take Apple 's hardware encryption of the iPhone (and other iOS devices), for example. All sensitive files on the file system are encrypted in hardware using AES with a key that is unique to each device. Sounds brilliant, right? Certainly, this is the stuff of breathtaking sales literature -- in which the security features are the hero for a change.

The problem is that Apple's engineers failed to adequately protect that unique encryption key, and the hardware encryption can be completely circumvented in seconds using freely available tools. That's what happens when you combine a brilliant idea with an implementation that wouldn't pass even the most casual scrutiny.

We have to get this right. For this new dawn of mobile payment systems to be accepted broadly by both consumers and enterprises, the system's security must be the hero.

Leave open the possibility of a man-in-the-middle attack anywhere in the system (as in the Chip and Pin system), and it will be exploited. Leave open the possibility of eavesdropping on a password, PIN or payment card account number, and it will most certainly be exploited. Leave open the possibility of someone spoofing a client or a server... You get the picture.

It is exactly because of how much is at stake that ubiquitous mobile payment systems didn't crop up years ago. Yes, plenty of smaller systems have been deployed, but the day of paying for anything from a can of soda to a car via your mobile phone has certainly not yet come to fruition in the U.S.

The stakes are indeed high, but we're staring at a point of confluence where the market pressures are finally overcoming the fear of screwing up. Everyone wants to be the first to get it right and to own the market (so to speak). We can thank ingenuity and competition for that.

So as consumers, we'll sit back and watch what happens as Starbucks and others roll out their offerings. I long for the day when I can throw away my wallet and just carry my (really) smart phone. If these efforts succeed, security will be the hero of the day -- albeit the unsung hero, no doubt. If it fails, it's a safe bet that security will be publicly flogged.

Whatever you do, guys and gals, don't screw this one up.

Now, I think it's time for that morning espresso. Where's my i4?

With more than 20 years in the information security field, Kenneth van Wyk has worked at Carnegie Mellon University's CERT/CC, the U.S. Deptartment of Defense, Para-Protect and others. He has published two books on information security and is working on a third. He is the president and principal consultant at KRvW Associates LLC in Alexandria, Va.

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

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2010 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

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Golden Globe Winners Edited on Final Cut Studio

At this week's Golden Globes awards ceremony, both trophies for best motion picture went to movies that were edited using Apple's Final Cut Studio--a coup for the company that's still fighting for market share among filmmakers.

The Social Network won the award for Best Movie Drama, while The Kids Are All Right took the nod in the Best Movie Comedy category. Both were edited using Final Cut, a detail that may be particularly notable in the case of the former flick. The Social Network director David Fincher--the auteur behind Fight Club, Zodiac and Seven--has long been lauded for his editing acumen and cool visual style.

At this point, though, it's not news that Final Cut can be associated with cinematic success. Nine of last year's 10 Oscar-nominated documentaries were edited on Final Cut Pro. The software was also used to put together 2008's winner of the Oscar for best picture, No Country for Old Men. The opening montage for the Oscars' own television broadcast has even been edited using Final Cut.

The numbers, though, indicate that the Apple software is in third place for market share among professional filmmakers--an unaccustomed position for a company that likes to rule its product categories. A 2009 survey of members of American Cinema Editors indicated that 87 percent of members edit their films on Macs--but just 19 percent used the Final Cut software. Avid's Composer Mojo DX was in first place with 41 percent of editors, followed by Avid's expiring Adrenaline system, which was used by 27 percent of editors.

For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld. Story copyright © 2010 Mac Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

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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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Epson Unveils New 'Gallery Quality' Image Printer

Epson America this week unveiled a new wireless printer designed to help photographers and artists create gallery-quality color images.

The Epson Stylus Photo R3000 promises to produce nine-color "exhibition quality" prints on glossy, matte, and fine-art paper stock up to 13 inches wide and 44 inches long. In auto-feeder mode, the R3000 has a capacity of 120 sheets of plain 13-by-19-inch paper or 30 sheets of similar-sized photo paper.

The R3000 can print to a resolution of 5760-by-1440 dpi, with speeds of around 90 seconds for an 8-by-10 print, and about a minute longer for a 13-by-19 print. The printer works over both Ethernet and 802.11n wireless connections, but also offers one USB 2.0 port.

The Epson Stylus Photo R3000 has a suggested retail price of $849 and is compatible with Macs running all versions of OS X 10.5 and 10.6. It will be available for sale in March.

For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld. Story copyright © 2010 Mac Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

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Amazon Buys Movie Rental Service LoveFilm

Amazon has purchased movie and game rental service LoveFilm.

The online retailer did not reveal how much it paid for the service, which combines online rentals on PCs, internet-enabled TVs and the Playstation 3 with offline rentals by post.

Amazon already owns a significant majority sharehgolding in LoveFilm, which operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, but does not operate any similar business itself in Europe.

"LoveFilm has been innovating on behalf of movie rental customers across Europe for many years, and with the advent of the LoveFilm player, they are further delighting customers by streaming digital movies for their immediate enjoyment," said Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice-president of European retail.

"LoveFilm and Amazon have enjoyed a strong working relationship since LoveFilm acquired Amazon Europe's DVD rental business in 2008, and we look forward to a productive and innovative future."

Simon Calver, chief executive of LoveFilm International, added that the deal ensures the company can "significantly enhance our members' experience across Europe".

The deal is ecpected to be completed by the end of the first quarter, but will first have to be approved by regulators.

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See also: LoveFilm brings movie streaming to PS3

More PC news and reviews at PC Advisor. Story copyright © 2010, PC Advisor. All rights reserved.

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Five Things to Consider Before Porting Your Number to Google Voice

If you're one of the few Google Voice users granted the option to port your existing phone number to the service--congratulations. This new feature is being tested by Google now, and will roll out to all users in the "near future," according to a company spokeswoman.

Google Voice is a phone management service whose features include call forwarding, call screening, visual voicemail, and free text messages. There are many advantages to making a Google Voice number your primary point of contact, but handing over your old number isn't a decision to be made lightly. Your cell number, after all, is precious -- I've had the same one since high school -- so here are five things to think about first:

Early Termination Fees

As my colleague Ian Paul points out, porting your cell phone number to Google Voice before your contract is up will result in a $20 charge from Google and an early termination fee from your cell phone carrier. These fees can be as high as $350, depending on type of phone, carrier and time remaining on your contract. Find out how much you'd owe before making the switch.

Use of Gmail Calling

Just to be clear, Google Voice is not a VoIP service. It will consume voice minutes for cell phone calls. But Google does have a VoIP service that works through Gmail, and you can set it up to work with your Google Voice number. Calls to and from Gmail are free within the United States and Canada through the end of 2011, so this is a great way to save cell phone minutes when you're at a computer.

Text Messaging Habits

As I mentioned above, Google Voice lets you send and receive text messages for free, potentially resulting in huge savings on your monthly wireless bill. (MMS messages will still cost extra, because Google Voice doesn't support photos or video in its messages). However, T-Mobile and Sprint already offer unlimited messaging with their smartphone plans, so there's no financial gain to be had with those carriers.

Android User?

The Google Voice apps for iPhone and Blackberry are fine, but you can't tap the service's full potential without an Android phone. The app for Google's operating system lets you customize ringtones and dial directly through the app (instead of bouncing you to the default dialer). It also integrates messages directly into Android's notification bar.

Faith in Google

Porting your cell number to Google Voice seems simple enough. You pay the $20 fee, get another number from your wireless carrier and set up call forwarding through Google Voice. But it's not yet clear what happens if you to port your number back to a wireless carrier -- say, if you get tired of the service, or if for some reason Google stops offering it. I've had the same phone number for a decade because carriers have a system for transferring numbers amongst themselves. I'm not sure whether carriers are equipped to grab your number back from Google.

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Dell: On-demand Cloud Compute Won't Kill On-Premise Servers

Despite a maturing Cloud sector making the procurement of virtual servers an increasingly attractive alternate to physical ones, Dell has no fears that sales of its mid-range hardware will decline any time soon.

According to Dell's A/NZ managing director, Joe Kremer, Dell's share in the server market had accelerated in recent months despite competitive Cloud offerings. "In the last 12 months, the rate at which we are gaining share has accelerated -- similarly with storage," he claimed. "I think people are going to naturally migrate to value."

Kremer also claimed Dell's strategy was paying dividends against Sun despite its acquisition by Oracle. "If you have a strategy which... tells customers, 'first, throw everything you have in the garbage, then buy everything new but only from me, then buy all this software, and consulting and managed services people and embed them in your organisation, and you can never change, and it is potentially very expensive' then there are only a subset of people who are going to go down that path," he said.

"We have a software stack and toolset which, we think, is best in industry and will quite happily run other people's hardware and manage those environments. If you implement Dell and two years later decide you don't like us anymore, you can change."

Recent data from Gartner would appear to back up Kremer's argument, with the analyst firm finding that in the Asia Pacific, Q3 2010 server sales grew some 25.7 per cent over Q3 2009.

Dell's sales over the same period increased 21 per cent, while share increased against declines in HP and IBM's share. However, Oracle did manage to increase share over the same period by 0.6 per cent and increase sales by 18.8 per cent.

Globally, however, Oracle declined 2.6 per cent in sales and slipped 1.2 per cent in share over the same period. Dell share increased 0.8 per cent and sales increased 25.6 per cent.

Tablet PCs won't cannibalise desktops and laptops

Commenting on the potential of tablet PCs equipped with add-on keyboards to be an attractive alternative to desktop PCs and laptops, Kremer said the company

"I always worry, but I worry about lots of other things that might or could happen," he said. "If someone needs to do a lot of data input, more often than not, it is just a little easier with a laptop or a desktop and a substantial screen. I carry a Streak [tablet], but when I have to do a lot of email or open attachments it is just easier to use [a laptop or PC].

"I don't think everyone will rush of [and standardise on tablet PCs]. I think there are some security questions that people have, and as you see more devices from Dell which fit into our eco-system, which have broad tech support or pro support offerings I think we will continue to be successful."

Despite this, Kremer said it was possible that refresh cycles in three years' time could see organisations standardising on iPads or Android-based tablet PCs in the place of laptops or desktops.

"I think it's a possibility, but thin client is a possibility and other virtualised implementations of a thin client are a possibility... that said, we are continuing to gain share in the desktop and laptop client space."

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Yahoo: Users Can Login With Facebook or Google Credentials

Yahoo is allowing web users to sign in to its web services using Google and Facebook logins.

Until now, web users needed to sign-up for a Yahoo-specific username and password to access services such as its news pages and online games. While this does not take a long-time, some web users see it as a nuisance. However, Mike Kerns, Yahoo's vice president of social and personalisation, said the new approach make it even easier for new users to use Yahoo.

Yahoo said it had already been trialling the approach, by allowing web users to sign in to Flickr, its photo-sharing service, using their Google IDs. Facebook and Google IDs will work across all Yahoo services, apart from Yahoo email and instant messenger.

"Facebook is a big property that people are using to be social with their friends," Kerns told Total Telecom."Yahoo is embracing that trend."

The move will mark the first time a large newt firm has accepted rival login IDs across the whole of its system.

"Yahoo has to do something to reverse the trend lines," Gartner analyst Ray Valdes told Total Telecom .

"They are redefining a new role for themselves as the Switzerland of the web."

Yahoo plans to allows web users to login with details from other web services such as Microsoft, Twitter and AOL later this year.

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See also: Yahoo: We're not shutting down Delicious

More PC news and reviews at PC Advisor. Story copyright © 2010, PC Advisor. All rights reserved.

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Acer Says It Has No Plans to Phase out Netbooks

Acer on Wednesday in a statement said that it has no plans to phase out netbooks as it increases its focus on tablets.

The company also said that it does not foresee tablets based on Sandy Bridge processors, contrary to comments made earlier this week by an Acer sales manager in Taiwan.

Lu Bing-hsian earlier this week told the IDG News Service that Acer would begin selling new tablet PCs in the first half of this year as it gradually phases out netbooks and that tablets would come with processors based on Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitecture.

"For the moment it is not foreseen yet ... devices based on Sandy Bridge," Acer said.

Acer said the range of devices available to users is expanding and that tablets "will find their space next to netbooks and notebooks, without taking over."

Acer in November announced new tablets with 5-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch screens running on Google's Android operating system, which were also shown at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. The company also showed a tablet with a 10-inch screen running Windows 7. The company reiterated the launch plans of those devices in the statement.

The growing craze around tablet shipments has hurt PC shipments, especially netbooks, research firm IDC said last week. PC shipments for Acer, which was one of the top netbook vendors, declined year over year by 15 percent during the fourth quarter.

IDC in a separate study said that worldwide tablet shipments totaled 4.8 million in last year's third quarter. IDC is projecting 2010 tablet shipments to total 17 million units, with 44.6 million shipping in 2011.

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Playboy on iPad Renews Debate Over Privacy, Workplace Rules

Every issue of Playboy will be available on the iPad in a browser window beginning in March, the magazine confirmed Wednesday.

That news ressurects an old, thorny concern for IT managers who don't want objectionable material stored on personal hardware used at work.

Companies can only impose limited controls -- through human resources policies and network management tools -- over tablets and smartphones that run outside of workplace networks but still store and use plenty of corporate data and e-mail, analysts said Wednesday.

"There's always been worries about porn with desktops and laptops..., but as you get new devices like iPad, it becomes a bigger problem," said Will Stofega, an analyst at IDC. "You obviously don't want an employee doing a presentation on an iPad which comes up with Playboy during the presentation."

Stofega credited Apple with blocking nudity in apps in its App Store, but he urged greater efforts by Apple and other vendors -- as well as corporate IT shops -- to set policy controls in some fashion to limit browser-based content or apps outside of the App Store. "I see Apple continuing to block nudity in apps, but on the other hand, I see corporate IT wanting a tool to manage content policies," Stofega said.

It's not just Apple hardware that's affected. Apps for Android tablets and devices can contain nudity, a point Apple CEO Steve Jobs has made in the past to dig at Android.

Asked about where they draw the line between personal devices and workplace values, several IT managers at large companies refused to discuss the issue. But one IT manager at Baron Funds in New York -- where 50 iPad users connect to a Wi-Fi network at headquarters -- said he has attempted to use Blue Coat Systems software to block content, at least while the users are at work.

"It's not easy [to block content], but if you have Blue Coat in-line before your firewall, you have a good chance of doing it," said Henry Mayorga, Baron's manager of network technology. The setup requires changing the proxy setting on the iPad.

"More challenging is making the change on the iPad in a way that a savvy user cannot change," Mayorga said. "That is still an unresolved issue. To this point, the Apple devices do not play nice in corporate networks where security restrictions need to be enforced."

Stofega said most IT managers won't talk about blocking porn because the issue is so sensitive.

"This is a thorny issue that nobody wants to talk to talk about," Stofega said. "No analyst or manager or Wall Street expert wants to touch the issue of porn" on the Internet or devices.

That concern is centered around whether a co-worker or client might accidentally see something objectionable and file a complaint or drop a valuable account.

Kevin Burden, an analyst at ABI Research, recalls a one-time colleague at a former employer being arrested several years ago for storing child pornography on his workplace laptop. "It's the only case involving porn [on a workplace device] that I've ever heard of," Burden said. "The guy got fired and got ruined [when later arrested]. There is a real danger with pornography on devices, and that case goes to show what could happen when you play around with highly toxic and objectionable content."

Playboy is probably the least objectionable nude content available on the Web, Burden and others said. "But there are many other concerns, including employee productivity when somebody isn't paying attention to work because they are surfing this content," he said.

The former colleague was caught when his laptop broke down and he turned it over to his workplace IT help desk for repairs, Burden said. "IT went through it and found the pictures," he said. "He was an idiot."

While there are some technology protections available to IT shops, most analysts agreed that written corporate policies are needed. The policy would have to address how content is used on a device in the workplace, even if it was bought by the worker and isn't always running over a corporate network.

"This is the kind of thing that not a lot of people have talked about for years," Burden said. "You need a policy that talks about how employees should not get caught with something that embarrasses the company. It has to be explicit and clear."

Burden and Stofega noted that Apple has focused more on the consumer than the business user, while Research in Motion and its coming BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will allow IT shops to filter what content workers receive through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Many vendors offer third-party applications that monitor content, but that would only be possible if a device is used on a corporate-linked network, they noted.

The PlayBook is going to have partitions called personas that will allow a separation of corporate and personal content stored on the device, Burden said. When an employee leaves the company, the IT shop would be able to quickly erase corporate data on the device, leaving all the personal data intact. But even that approach wouldn't prevent a worker from downloading and browsing porn, he said.

Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, argued that the potential problem posed by Playboy access on the iPad is probably not any worse than with other devices. Ultimately, corporations have to rely on a worker's good judgment.

"Playboy is pretty soft porn compared to many sites out there," Gold noted. "If you access it over the corporate network, IT can always block a particular URL or IP address. But ultimately, I think it's about educating users to the company's policies. However, if it's their own device, it's going to be very difficult to get a user to agree to limits. At that point, it's just educating them to be mindful of what they do at work versus on their own time."

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com .

Read more about mobile apps and services in Computerworld's Mobile Apps and Services Topic Center.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2010 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

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Electronic data discovery

Generation has been in the electronic age, large amounts of data, store electronically. Work every day, millions of electronic data page, forwarding and multiple locations is stored is made. Most of this data is especially for businesses very precious, vital is. Sift through vast amounts of useful information data is almost impossible in manual arduous task. Special tools to allow a huge database of data faster and more precise searches is available.

Is the process of retrieving electronic data discovery search, find, sort, and electronic data from all kinds of electronic sources. Special database like you can get the electronic data from Internet service providers of backup media virtually any type of personal computer, Cd-rom, floppy disk, tape, hard disk, such as like, spreadsheets, CAD, CAM, CAE and graphics, personnel records, policies and procedures manual, software source code, Internet, intranet content, such as electronic data storage backup devices, fax server, personal digital assistants (PDAs), telephone and security / network activity systems, mobile phones, pagers, electronic / audio video email and CRM or ERP database.

Generating a list of the data needed to process electronic data discovery of several stages: inventory generation to discover; verification tools and checklists create; using a special software tool retrieves data; data validation. Some tools even elimination spell-checking, field validation, duplicate files, any file format and other additional options, such as the conversion of data from any file format. File extension filtering data by another file occurs in identification or keyword search. Using coding and indexing source file gets the last file is converted to the required format.

From a huge database of electronic data discovery is a convenient electronic data extraction is a highly efficient cost effective, and fast way. Special experts applies for data recovery and administration of computer forensics techniques. These technical effort, you can save thousands of dollars. Many companies offer an exclusive electronic data discovery services today.

Provides detailed information and e-discovery e-discovery, electronic evidence discovery, electronic discovery, electronic discovery software. Has partnered with electronic discovery components electronic Agency [http://www.e-ElectronicComponents.com].

To submit a request for your medical electronic billing best way?

So much hype about electronic medical claim billing. Your claim electronically is probably if you have not yet sent, admitting it too embarrassing. I whether the best way if you want to, perhaps, use. Behind the electronic invoice is real truth?.

Many of the large insurance company promotes provider really to submit their claims electronically. Some also call provider offices, they to electronic submissions require a on a specific date, with their is no longer accept paper claims. Is saying to them. Provides incentives to electronically submit no such approval is required if submitting electronically to other fast payments and billing services.

Bottom line, the real issue is provider of "electronic invoice really my practice for required" is "what becomes necessary I" and

I think unavoidable electronic submission of changes in technology and medical billing to the first question everyone must realize. Is the today's society is moving toward the many ways in paperless transactions.

To the second question many things as how large dependent or small, your Office is already how much equipment and latest.

One of the biggest misconceptions of electronic billing also call in your Office more simple will. Displays the tasks in some way, but that whole before another set of don't have. From me is nothing difficult does not mean. Only along had never read ago that there are things the electron goes to Bill and act upon reports and software maintenance and electronic updates from do.

Never submit a paper request and hear both to receive and process, and this and request. Hopefully, the latter case, call your staff, and verify the State of it after 30 days. Whether or not there is complete and accurate information about paper billing will be handled just like. Request payment of either, or displays a description of the reason for the denial of benefits.

To send claims electronically, and is not so much-easier. Whether a first electronic invoice batch is received or rejected know that report is displayed. Handle denied before if you have a claim, such as incorrect data and incorrect date of birth, until it reaches the insurance enterprise systems, claims processing. Indicate the reason denied all allegations and rejection of 24-displays a report within 48 hours. Also displays the report shows the request was accepted with no errors.

Now your request correctly incorrect information that receives notification, very useful. However, you need to verify that there is that now your staff to check this report, takes time to fix information that is required, and then search.

Knowing that problems quickly for specific requests what electronic billing is actually doing is letting. Find out about the general issue claims until the call and sending them on paper, doing a follow-up report on the insurance company do not. So, but to eliminate all issues requests for electronically submitting your claim, but it is about them soon find.

If you decide to take the plunge into electronic invoices, yet made. Whether it is possible to submit electronic claims the practice management system currently in use?, if not to change, update or software you must. You must decide how to send a request to the insurance company. Clearinghouse is the best choice. Or consider the software can be great exercise, or billing, to act as their clearing house.

Already your claims electronically and you have not sent you that in such cases, it maybe your options investigation starts to this wise. On whether or not the call is a good starting place practice management system support, any method to endorse. Another way is asking for your colleagues. Electronic claim submission is big step lightly and should be taken.

Copyright 2006, Michele Redmond

Medical billing Michele Redmond joint solutions and has been in business since 1994. She is the responsibility of the provider of more than 50 of the electronic claim submission bachelor ? s degree in computer science information. More information about other choices for clearing houses and electronic claims submission on her website, see http://www.solutions-medical-billing.com.

LinkedIn: 5 Ways to Attract Attention to Your Profile

You've written your LinkedIn summary and updated your experience field. You've joined a handful of groups and connected with colleagues. A few of them wrote you recommendations, but your activity on LinkedIn has been stagnant since.

"Your profile is your personal website, so you really want people to land on it and be encouraged by the story you tell," says Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success. If you're not promoting yourself and people aren't trying to connect with you, you're losing out on potential business partnerships and job opportunities, experts say.

Here are five quick and easy actions you can take right now to ensure you stay relevant on LinkedIn, help build your network of connections and make the most of the professional networking site.

1. Utilize LinkedIn Widgets

LinkedIn makes a number of widgets available that you can integrate into a blog, website or application.

[Want more LinkedIn tips, tricks and analysis? Check out CIO.com's LinkedIn Bible.]

LinkedIn's Profile Widget is a JavaScript widget that you can place on HTML pages to show your public LinkedIn profile. The widget shows most of the information in your profile, including current title, past positions, education and websites. And it includes links to your LinkedIn page. Two presentation formats are available: popup and inline. You can find the Profile Widget code and instructions for using it on LinkedIn's developer page.

Inserting a LinkedIn widget onto your blog or webpage is an easy way to promote your LinkedIn profile, and thus your qualifications, to website visitors.

2. Stay Active With Status Updates

The "Status Updates" box is an underused yet valuable LinkedIn feature. The Status Updates space, located on your LinkedIn homepage, is meant to be used as your "professional billboard" on which you have 140 characters to post an interesting link, share a thought or ask a question to your LinkedIn connections.

When you post an update--much like you would on Twitter--it appears in your connections' "Updates" feeds, helping to keep you top-of-mind. Try updating your status once a day, says Eve Mayer Orsburn, CEO of Social Media Delivered, a social media consultancy, but be sure that your updates are almost always work-related.

Another option: If you use Twitter, you can selectively share Twitter updates on LinkedIn. To do so, visit your Twitter Settings page on LinkedIn. You'll see an option to share only tweets that contain the hashtags #in or #li, or share no tweets at all. Including these hashtags will automatically send your tweets to LinkedIn.

3. Add Your LinkedIn URL to an E-Mail Signature

One of the best ways to draw new visitors to your LinkedIn page is by including a link to the profile in your e-mail signature, Breitbarth says. It's an easy way to promote yourself and your qualifications to contacts with whom you e-mail every day, as well as increase your reach and the size of your network.

4. Pump Up Your Profile With Apps

An effective way to attract attention to your LinkedIn profile is by making it interesting and interactive. Adding a few of LinkedIn's apps is an easy way to add another dimension to your profile and make it more memorable to visitors.

To access LinkedIn's applications, select "More..." from LinkedIn's navigation bar and choose "Application Directory." Note that for each application you choose, you can control privacy settings, so be sure to update them appropriately.

If you write a WordPress blog, you might want to showcase your latest posts on LinkedIn via the WordPress app. Likewise, if you want to share your latest presentation with connections, upload the SlideShare Presentations app. Or, if you travel frequently, try the Events app, which displays all of your connections who will be attending the same event.

5. Search-Engine Optimize (SEO) Your Profile

Ranking high in a LinkedIn search for your particular industry or profession has several advantages: If you're in the market for a new job, for example, ranking high makes it easier for recruiters to find you. If you're looking to gain exposure in your industry, appearing on the first page of search results will help you catch peoples' eyes. And if you're looking for new clients or business opportunities, ranking high is essential.

Optimizing your profile is easy, Breitbarth says. First, develop a set of appropriate keywords that people could use to find you on LinkedIn. If you're an IT consultant, those words might be "IT," "consultant" and "technology consultant." Use these keywords generously throughout your profile, but be sure not to overdo it, he says. This will increase the likelihood that when someone searches for "IT" or "technology consultant," your profile will appear in the search results.

Kristin Burnham covers Consumer Technology, SaaS, Social Networking and Web 2.0 for CIO.com. Follow Kristin on Twitter @kmburnham. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline. Email Kristin at kburnham@cio.com.

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Consumer electronics industry

Is the global business of consumer electronics industry. In recent years, witnessing phenomenal growth in the consumer electronics industry in the new wave of change. Dawn of convergence, technology, products, opened up in the market. Is a State of constant flux, such as consumer electronics DTV, portable media players, and educational toys. It is mainly because of the convergence of digital audio, video, and information technology. These changes began nearly two decades ago, has resulted in an avalanche in-the-art electronic equipment market. Tremendously and functional consumer electronic items in a large number of portable, home and car demand is increasing.

Is a key ingredient for digitization, compact, and mobility modern consumer electronic products. Digitization consumer electronic equipment that changed our way of life in the new translation to provide exciting entertainment products. How pavement for cameras, camcorders, DVD players, recorders and other digital equipment computer monitors and LCD TVs. Computer industry makes its way into the family living room, also contributed. Accelerate the growth of the consumer electronics industry also downsizing.

Basically, change of business model changes in the consumer electronics industry, industry being driven by the evolution of the product is not. Companies most successful is the ability to change and brand development.

Consumer electronics company computer, TV, DVD player, and other consumer electronic devices and other consumer goods companies the same challenges. Life cycle of the appliances to heavy price deflation, demand, pricing, and campaign management further complicates along the factor that has shrunk by. Innovation, differentiation and flexibility is important to the company? s survival consumer electronics market. Is the driving force behind influential electronic item prices are rapidly offered in fall and convergence features improved consumer demand.

Provides details of electronics electronics, wholesale consumer electronics, consumer electronics industry, consumer electronics retailers. Has partnered with the consumer electronic security camera [http://www.z-Cameras.com].

Main facts need to understand the hunting of China wholesale electronics

China electronics of all kinds, especially low is in electronics production centre. E-businesses are running where to source electronic sound quality from China as sellers of cheap price combined. This takes the reason for many years clearly through the wholesale electrical products world-wide electronic niche up preferences for growing China. Giving is here associated with sourcing from China wholesale electronics for a handful of points.

First off, despite the large number of world renowned brand name electronics Chinese factories to select from high-end electronics franchise you can trust to produce non-wholesaler is difficult, consider. Therefore, if you order the genuine belongs to the big brand electronics from companies directly get recommended. Is a copy of the brand name electronics, despite plenty of electronics. In General, most of the features of the entire stand of the prominent brand names of some of these clones of clones and electronic puts the body for company logos. Theoretically, all electronic products these practice real electronic products, as well, but bad medium quality. Indeed, on the other hand, price tag is also much lower. Therefore from China wholesale electronics distributor to obtain them at all is recommend for copyright infringement gadgets go. Discover loads of China is actually produced in everyday life in China, and very cheap but not yet violated legal rights and benefits of any wholesale electronic connection some parties. People of such electronic equipment actually has "made in China" consumer electronics and calls.

To maximize all of your back, to the electronic products of electronic products-Guangdong Province Shenzhen City especially obtaining production center of Chinese sales agent is recommended. You don't need in doing so the odds are exalted people, many types of merchant or provider level to pay heavy price tag. So that you may have if you purchased directly from the distributors from creating a hub that most competitive price range and also producer price range. Certainly, first level agency real-also can find the factory will be better to must assess the price level to find. You must pay extra fees because otherwise, still manufacturing hub in depending on how many merchants right products are being sold.

Finally, ordered the wholesale China electronics retailer, make sure and fashionable risk free. Security and safety is first of all point with an interest in international trade. To ensure valid on frauds and scams to fraud protection cover, you can be in dollars spent to buy from suppliers in China wholesale electronics for a while to decide. Highlights need to ensure that reputation good pay is you can get a refund if not satisfied with the MoneyGram service providers like pay, and received the item. If you purchased from a company like this, using a third-party platforms, you can trust to research compliance information is what any service plan; To test the reliability of the market by if you can provide Lightinthebox China wholesale website to purchase from the Internet services market, store and product reviews to read.

http://www.chinawholesalereviews.com/China-wholesale-electronics-shopping-guide

Twitter Sued By Celebrity Network

Micro-blogging service Twitter is being sued by a company that claims it had already come up with the idea for an online network of celebrities.

One of Twitter's biggest appeals is that it gives web users a chance to get inside the mind of their favourite celebrities by reading updates about their daily lives. Whether it's musings from Demi Moore, Aston Kutcher and Stephen Fry, or the likes of Katie Price discussing her divorce.

However, according to VS Technologies, Twitter infringes on its patent, which was granted in 2002, for a "method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people".

According to TechCrunch, the complaint, which has been filed with a US court, reads: "As it pertains to this lawsuit, very generally speaking, the '309 Patent discloses methods and systems for creating interactive, virtual communities of people in various fields of endeavour wherein each community member has an interactive, personal profile containing information about that member."

VS Technologies is seeking damages, but whether the firm will be successful remains to be seen.

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See also: US subpoenas Twitter for Wikileaks info

More PC news and reviews at PC Advisor. Story copyright © 2010, PC Advisor. All rights reserved.

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Buy electronic dog training collars are not shocking that

Has to be trained dog charm very least cliched. Pet dogs are born. When properly trained dog support and affection than they were born, you can render. Therefore, in the old adage, "dogs are man's best friend," isn't purely clichés.

However, the dog's innate qualities is important even though is to train them to develop the skills they have. Spontaneously in the gentle dog animal. However, training for that character is important.

For this reason, many obedience training and advanced education programs to develop skills required for the dog was created. Sitting in these basic obedience skills, walk, or usually taught to the next.

To do this, the help of a professional dog trainer can be very useful. However, if you do not have the budget, all to train your dog yourself. You must equip yourself with the right tools and equipment.

Across various devices needed dog training collar is most important to train a dog. Dog training collars, owners can create air of authority of the dog control is your dog's behavior. Therefore, dog never follow them easily understandable to be master.

In one of the most common type of collar professional trainers not only in use or dog owners own electronic dog training collars. If you are properly using the electronic dog training collars very controversial, but very effective.

Pretty cautious use when the number of dog owners had created for electronic dog training collars, such as media hype. Issues from pain due to skin dog collar to perform electronic current) is focused on giving an outright. These currents can create shock can be very harmful to the dog.

However, proper use and electronic dog training collars says professionals who can manage an effective training-dogs and dog behavior problems. Actually, safe electronic dog training collars and know how an effective trainer or a user device to work successfully if you can.

Create an alert is essentially electronic dog training collars electric shock dog how to respond appropriately. Controlling dog trainer during a training session, your dog's behavior is the main purpose of the production of electric shock, that is to assist.

Nevertheless, it is equivalent to all electronic dog training collars. Benefits of your own product and its features.

Here is some tips are electronic dog training collars to purchase.

1. Budget

Electronic dog training collars can be very expensive. If you do not have the budget, you can purchase issues the electronic dog training collars.

Before determining the specific types of electronic dog training collars, so see whether or not it can be your budget first.

2 Features

Specific features for each type of electronic dog training collars. Electronic dog training collars to know what you want is recommended, therefore, it is.

For example, every time he walks to control your dog track, available near your dog's nose to fit training collar. Electron impact the direct road to him. Controlling excessive barking like your dog's behavior problems in the sending machine device near the dog's neck connected to the collar of the electronic dog training collar to use.

3. Breed

Buy the electronic dog training collars, dog breeds must be considered. It is recommended to buy for small breeds, little neck fit collar. In addition, training devices to promote this type of dog training collar training process.

Four types of training

It is recommended to use remote electronic dog training collars is fixing the dog's behavior problems. Transmitter signal can send collar up to 300 feet. Do not need distance and thus, your dog to train him to gets every time he annoying behavior.

Select the best electronic dog training collars is all of these things could be. Electronic dog training collars, certainly, one, in the most effective training tools available today is market by combining the knowledge of the product.

Http://dogcollars.topicgiant.com can learn Lee Dobbins more dog collar electronic dog training collars writes about all kinds, such as [http://dogcollars.topicgiant.com/Articles/Electronic_Dog_Training_Collar.php].

Black Swan

It is not just the timbre of Norah Jones's voice that is mature beyond her 22 years. Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone but herself. Any way you slice it, she is a singer to be reckoned with. Her readings of the Hank Williams classic "Cold Cold Heart" and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You" alone are worth the price of the CD. Jones's own material, while not bad, pales a bit next to such masterpieces. They might have fared better had she and producer Arif Mardin opted for some livelier arrangements, taking better advantage of brilliant sidemen such as Bill Frisell, Kevin Breit, and Brian Blade; or if the tunes had simply been given less laconic performances. Jones has all the tools; what will come with experience and some careful listening to artists like J.J. Cale and Shirley Horn is the knack of remaining low-key without sounding sleepy--sometimes less is not, in fact, more. --Michael Ross

Price: $11.98

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Samsung Galaxy S: Let the Upgrades Begin

T-Mobile is talking up its next-generation Samsung Galaxy S phone today -- but for millions of Android users, that news is being overshadowed by another juicy bit of Galaxy S info.

After revealing plans for its Samsung Galaxy 4G device -- expected to launch at the Mobile World Congress conference next month -- T-Mobile turned its attention to its existing Galaxy S model and the phone's long-awaited Android 2.2 upgrade.

Long story short, it's finally time for the Galaxy S and Froyo to get acquainted.

Samsung Galaxy S and T-Mobile: Hello, Froyo

According to PCMag's Sascha Segan, who attended a private media breakfast held by T-Mobile, T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman stated that the Samsung Vibrant will begin receiving Froyo this Friday, January 21. Provided everything goes as planned, that'll make the Vibrant the first U.S. Galaxy S device to feast on the high-profile update; Samsung, compared to other manufacturers, has fallen increasingly behind when it comes to Android upgrades in America.

The aggravation surrounding Samsung's pokey process -- coupled with the lack of any meaningful communication about the delay -- has led to a growing sense of resentment around the Web. An anonymous posting spread around various Android blogs this month claiming that T-Mobile was withholding the Vibrant's upgrade in order to boost sales of the upcoming Galaxy 4G phone. Another tale, published anonymously at an Android message forum last week, said the upgrade delays were a result of Samsung trying to charge U.S. carriers extra money for the software.

Neither story was ever substantiated. And, according to Segan's report, there's good reason: T-Mobile's Brodman says the delay was purely the result of technical issues.

"The biggest challenge is integration and customization," Brodman is quoted as saying.

T-Mobile's Vibrant upgrade, like most over-the-air software updates, will be sent out in waves. That means it could take several days or a few weeks for the process to complete and every handset to be upgraded.

Samsung Galaxy S: The Other Carriers

So what about the other carriers? Sprint has already come forward with an update on its Galaxy S smartphone, sending out the following message via Twitter this afternoon:

"Sprint & Samsung are working to release Froyo for Epic ASAP, but only after it meets rigorous testing criteria to ensure quality experience."

No word yet from Verizon or AT&T, but I suspect it's only a matter of time. Funny how one carrier's action causes the others to suddenly start communicating, isn't it?

(U.S. Cellular, it's worth noting, released a vague upgrade schedule for its Galaxy S phone earlier this month. The company says its Mesmerize handset should be upgraded sometime "around March.")

So stay tuned, Galaxy S owners: The process is long overdue, but the wheels are finally in motion -- and with any luck, this is only the beginning.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the author of the Android Power blog. You can find him on both Facebook and Twitter.

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Philips AVENT 272 SCF15202 Niplette Twin Pack

Flat or inverted nipples can be a potential problem for women wishing to breastfeed. Through gentle suction the Niplette pulls the nipple out into a small plastic thimble-like cup.

Price: $0.00

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Facebook Wants to Be on Your Dumbphone, Too

While Facebook has definitely been able to expand its reach through its smartphone apps, there is still a signficant portion -- a majority, actually -- of mobile phone users who do not own a smartphone, or maybe even want one. The social networking giant seems determined to put itself in front of those consumers as well.

In collaboration with Snaptu, a company that specializes in developing stripped-down apps for use on so-called "dumb phones," Facebook has launched an app which will work on about 2500 devices from a range of manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and LG. It aims to provide a similar experience to that of its fancier smartphone counterpart.

It appears that the focus (at least initially) is to expand mobile usage of the site into developing markets. Facebook has struck deals with several carriers across Asia, Europe, and the Dominican Republic to offer use of the app for 90 days without any data charges.

Facebook plans to offer the application to other carriers worldwide over the next several months, it says. The offering is much like "Zero," its free-to-use low bandwidth website that the company launched last year.

One caveat-if you are downloading Snaptu in an attempt to get Facebook, unless you're on a launch carrier it will not work (whether you pay for the data charges or not). It's not clear when this restriction is set to be lifted. Snaptu still has its own unofficial app, which according to TechCrunch is similar to the official one.

For more smart takes on technology, visit Technologizer.com. Story copyright © 2010, Technologizer. All rights reserved.

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Shawshank Redemption [VHS]

When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. --Jeff Shannon

Price: $6.98

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Expo: Recosoft Announces InDesign-to-Office Conversion Tool

Software maker Recosoft will expand its family of conversion tools with the release of ID2Office. The application, scheduled to ship later this spring, converts InDesign files into Microsoft Office file formats, preserving the original file's layout.

Recosoft unveiled ID2Office at Macworld Expo on Thursday.

ID2Office works as a plug-in for the CS4 and CS5 versions of InDesign, Adobe's page layout tool. It will convert the text, associated fonts and styles, paragraph structure, tables, graphics, and other object and document properties to their matching object and file properties in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Because ID2Office promises seamless integration with Adobe InDesign, that eliminates the need to recreate the contents of InDesign files within Microsoft's word processing and presentation programs.

ID2Office works on both the Mac and Windows platforms. It converts files to Office 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 formats.

Recosoft didn't disclose a price when announcing ID2Office Thursday.

Macworld Expo attendees can get a first-hand look at the upcoming program. Recosoft is previewing ID2Office at Booth #519 in Moscone West.

Unveiling new PDF conversion tools at Expo is becoming old hat for Recosoft. Last year, the company took the wraps off PDF2Office for iWork, its Mac-only program for converting PDFs into editable Keynote and Pages files.

For more Macintosh computing news, visit Macworld. Story copyright © 2010 Mac Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

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iPad 2 Launch Date Evidence Mounts

The iPad 2 could be launched in April, according to reports from Taiwan, with Apple making plans with several circuit board suppliers.

Digitimes reports that three new suppliers have been asked to provide any-layer HDI-PCB boards for Apple. The company already has four other HDI-PCB suppliers lined up, bringing the total to seven.

The suppliers will be making limited shipments of the boards from the end of February, the report claims, and early March. Mass shipments will begin in April.

This suggests that Apple is gearing up for some kind of launch in April - probably US-only at first, as Macworld reported last week, followed by a July launch for some international markets.

However, another theory is that Apple is thinking more about making sure the activities of other tablet vendors don't cause any production delays. Motorola and RIM both plan to launch tablet devices soon and there were dozens more on display at the recent Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month.

These vendors will all require HDI-PCB boards for their own tablets, so Apple may simply be making sure it gets in first in order to make sure its launch schedule isn't disrupted.

Demand for the iPad since its 2010 launch has exceeded expectations, with Apple shifting 7.33 million units in the last quarter. Demand for a second-generation iPad is bound to be high, even if the feature set of the iPad 2 device is still something of a mystery.

Reports that the iPad 2 would have a greatly increased resolution have been questioned this week, with Digg founder Kevin Rose saying that there will be "no change in resolution" on the iPad 2, reports 9to5Mac.

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