Google to Allow Phone Calls From Gmail

NEW YORK: Google Inc said users of Gmail will now be able to call telephones directly from their email, putting it in direct competition with Web calling service Skype and more traditional operators such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications.

While Google had already offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services, it said that starting on Wednesday it will now allow calls to home phones and mobile phones directly from Gmail for the first time.

Google promised free calls to US and Canadian phones from Gmail for the rest of this year and said it would charge low rates for calls made to other countries. For example it said calls to Britain, France, Germany, China and Japan would be as low as 2 cents per minute.

Analysts said the service would likely be a bigger competitive threat to services like Skype's than to traditional phone companies, which have already been cutting their call prices in recent years in response to stiff competition.

"This is a risk to Skype. It's a competitor with a pretty good brand name," said Hudson Square analyst Todd Rethemeier. Skype, which owned by private equity firms and eBay Inc and planning a $100 million initial public offering, has long allowed consumers to make calls from computers to phones.

Skype became popular by first offering free computer-to-computer voice and video services. Like Skype, Rethemeier said the Google service will likely be much more popular among US consumers making international calls, than among people calling friends inside the country.

"Calling is so cheap already that I don't think it will attract a huge amount of domestic calling. It could take some of the international market," he said. Another analyst, Steve Clement from Pacific Crest, said that anybody who is tempted by Internet calling services has likely already disconnected their home phone. "The type of person who would use a service like that isn't the type of customer who still has a land line," Clement said.

Google said making a call through its service works like a normal phone in that a user could click on the "call phone" option in their chat buddy list in Gmail and type in the number or enter a contact's name. Calls that cost money will be charged from an on-line account that users can top up with a credit card, Google said.

The service will not be available for making outgoing calls on cell phones because other Google apps already cater to that market, the company added.

Google shares closed up $3.23, or 0.72 percent, at $454.62 on the Nasdaq, while the shares of eBay rose 29 cents, or 1.27 percent, to $23.16, also on the Nasdaq.

Internet Private Browsing Modes Not Safe

The private browsing modes on modern browsers leak information about where people have visited, suggests a study.

Available in many browsers, the private modes are not supposed to log information about sites visited.

However, the study found that in many cases the privacy mode was compromised by additions to the browser or extra security on websites.

Many extras that people add to browsers can "completely undermine" the anonymity of private browsing.

Computer scientist Dan Boneh from Stanford University led the study of private browsing modes on the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari browsers.

The researchers tested when people used private browsing modes by employing adverts that log the state of the machine on which the ad is being displayed.

It found that private browsing was most popular when people visited adult sites.

Private browsing modes typically work by erasing the information logged when any site is visited.

These logs include small text files known as cookies, entries on a history file and data put in the browser's cache.

However the study found that other ways in which a browser logs data were often left undisturbed at the end of a private browsing session.

This occurred, for example, if the site being visited used security systems such as those which protect data sent back and forth during web purchases.

Add-ons or plug-ins for browsers, particularly those that help with searching, also readily log information that the private browsing mode was supposed to delete, found the study.

The researchers concluded that, in some cases, these weaknesses were able to "completely defeat the benefits of private mode".

The paper will be presented at the Usenix Security conference which is being held in Washington, DC from 11-13 August.

UAE Bans BlackBerry Services

DUBAI: Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) was hit with its first major ban on Sunday after the United Arab Emirates, citing security risks, said BlackBerry services would be barred in October.

The move, which will affect half a million users as well as visitors to the Gulf state, follows a warning from Bahrain in April against using Blackberry Messenger software to distribute local news and security concerns raised by India last week.

The UAE, home to Gulf financial hub Dubai, said it would halt Blackberry services on October 11 until an “acceptable solution” is developed and applied.

“It’s a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them,” Mohammed Al Ghanem, director general of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said.

“Censorship has got nothing to do with this. What we are talking about is suspension due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations.”

The UAE objects to BlackBerry data being exported offshore and managed by a “foreign, commercial operation.”

The regulator said only Blackberry data services operate in that method. The decision will not affect users of rival Nokia and Apple’s iPhone smartphones.

“Today’s decision is based on the fact that, in their current form, certain BlackBerry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE,” the TRA said.

TRA’s Ghanem said the suspension would also apply to BlackBerry users with foreign telephone numbers, closing one potential loophole. RIM officials in Canada were not immediately available for comment.
RIM shares rose last week on speculation that it might unveil a new touchscreen BlackBerry 9800 this week to better compete with the iPhone and other models.

Uproar
The suspension of BlackBerry Messenger, email and web browsing services comes after attempts dating back to 2007 to bring the service into line with regulations, the UAE’s TRA said.

One of the two local service providers, state-controlled Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat), introduced a software upgrade last year which RIM said was an unauthorized “telecommunications surveillance application.”

ACER VS DELL

Acer overtakes Dell as world’s second largest computer maker

Despite the recession, Taiwan based Acer have been enjoying steady growth and in the third quarter have managed to jump ahead of Dell to take up second place behind computer giant Hewlett Packard who quite comfortably retained their position as the world’s leading computer maker.

The information comes from research firm iSuppli who said that this was the first time an Asian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has taken up second position in world PC shipments on a quarterly basis.

According to iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins, the company’s market share of shipments was 11.6 percent last year and 13.4 percent in the third quarter this year.

“Acer’s rise to the number-two rank in the global PC business reflects not only its strong performance in the notebook segment, but also the historic rise of Asia as a primary force in the computer industry,” Wilkins said.

Apparently Acer’s growth has got something to do, at least in part, with those relative newcomers to the industry, the cheap and cheerful netbooks.

“The Asian manufacturers are a growing force in the global PC business due to their aggressive pricing, along with their ability to quickly react and embrace new developments, such as the netbook PC,” Wilkins said.

China based Lenovo are also doing well and actually had the highest growth (36 percent) out of the top ten OEMs in the third quarter says Wilkins. Lenovo have taken up position number four followed by Toshiba in fifth place.

“They were second only to Samsung in terms of year-over-year growth, but we have to be careful here because Samsung’s absolute number was far smaller,” Wilkins said.

“Acer is also doing very well in netbooks, which are contributing to the increase in shipments,” Wilkins added.

Back in 1990 at a Computex, Acer’s founder Stan Shih said that Acer would rise to take up one of the top three positions by the year 2000. Ok so it’s a little late but they got there, and in a fragile economy too.

If we look at market share then HP holds just under 20 percent, Acer has nabbed 13.4 percent followed by Dell at 12.9 percent so there’s not a lot in it but that’s not the point.
Lenovo are next in line with 8.7 percent followed by Japanese Toshiba with 5 percent.

“The third-quarter performances of Acer and Lenovo are just the latest development in the long-term rise of Asian manufacturers in the global PC market” said Wilkins.

Let’s see what the fourth quarter brings.

Nokia's 'Lessons' To Apple On Phone

Seems it's time for Nokia to get back at Apple! The mobile phone numero uno Nokia, who lately has been bruised by Apple in market share, has got a few lessons for Apple on how to hold a mobile phone.

Wondering what triggered the `enlightenment'? Though the company has not named anyone, it's apparent that Nokia is making a dig at Apple in its official blog, Nokia Conversations, where it highlights the many ways users can hold their Nokia devices.

Since its launch last week, Apple's latest-generation iPhone, iPhone 4, has been facing several customer complaints about the gadget losing signal when held in a particular manner. It is said to pose bigger problem for people who are left-handed, who can't help but cover the bottom left corner when holding it in their palm to make a call.

Indirectly criticizing Apple, Nokia goes on about how users can hold a Nokia device in any ways without any reception sufferings. The four methods highlighted step-by-step include "thumb and finger", "the cup", "the balance" and "the four edge grip".

The company goes on to note, "One of the main things we've found about the one billion plus Nokia devices that are in use today is that when making a phone call, people generally tend to hold their phone like a ... well, like a phone."

Commenting on the reception issue faced by users, Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly told users to "avoid holding it that way"

(meaning a grip that blocks the antenna).

Both Nokia and Apple are currently embroiled in patent lawsuits that seek to keep the other's devices out of the US.