Google enters clean energy business

Google has entered the race to develop the technology to develop cheapr sources of renewable energy, promising to spend hundreds of millions on research and development efforts.

The Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal project will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies

The company will spend “tens of millions” on R&D for the project in 2008. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.

“We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers,” said Google co-founder and president Larry Page. “We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal.”

“With talented technologists, great partners and significant investments, we hope to rapidly push forward. Our goal is to produce one Gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades,” Mr Page said.

One Gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.

“If we meet this goal and large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the world will have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable sources and significantly reduce carbon emissions. We expect this would be a good business for us as well.”

Coal is the primary power source for many around the world, supplying 40 per cent of the world's electricity.

“Lots of groups are doing great work trying to produce inexpensive renewable energy. We want to add something that moves these efforts toward even cheaper technologies a bit more quickly. Usual investment criteria may not deliver the super low-cost, clean, renewable energy soon enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” said Dr Larry Brilliant, the executive director of Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org.

“Google.org's hope is that by funding research on promising technologies, investing in promising new companies, and doing a lot of R&D ourselves, we may help spark a green electricity revolution that will deliver breakthrough technologies priced lower than coal.”

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Optus appoints Huawei

OPTUS has appointed Huawei and Nokia Siemens as its vendors of choice in its accelerated roll out of its nationwide 3G/ HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network.

The company said it would use a combination of 900MHz and 2100MHz frequency ranges, and when complete the network will cover 96 per cent of the population – replicating the Optus 2G network. The 900MHz range will be used primarily in rural and regional Australia.

Optus chief executive Paul O’Sullivan said the company had completed its network upgrade in all capital cities to 3G/HSPA. The first phase of the extended upgrade is also complete, with areas in Newcastle and Wollongong already in service.

“Through our national deployment, more Australians will have access to a competitive, high quality, high speed network and will be able to choose from our array of product plans and flexible pricing,” Mr O'Sullivan said.

“Our 3G/HSPA network currently reaches 60 percent of the population, will reach around 80 percent of the population by June 2008 and is set for completion by December 2008 - 18 months ahead of schedule,” he said.


Mr O'Sullivan said Optus had adopted a multi-vendor strategy for mobile network deployments to drive better competitive and technical outcomes.

“As a result, we have awarded Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks to deliver the radio network infrastructure required for this extensive roll out,” he said.

Optus customers using the 3G/HSPA network will have access to improved speeds, of up to 3.6Mbps, on Optus Wireless Broadband modems and enabled mobile phones. They will see significant improvement in time to download and upload videos, music, maps and user generated content on their laptops and phones.

“The 900MHz range for 3G/HSPA is perfectly suited to the Australian landscape. Using this frequency, radio signals have a greater range – giving better quality and wider coverage across sparsely populated rural and remote areas,” Mr O'Sullivan said.

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Atheros joins navigation club

WIRELESS developer Atheros Communications has announced it is to acquire u-Nav Microelectronics, a semiconductor design firm specializing GPS chipsets and software aimed at location-based services.

The acquisition, for US$54 million in cash and stock, is the latest in the red-hot navigation and location-based services markets.

The addition of u-Nav’s shipping GPS technologies to Atheros’ Radio-on-Chip for Mobile (ROC) portfolio will let the company deliver high-performance, cost-efficient combinations of mobile solutions featuring WLAN, Bluetooth and GPS technologies.

The GPS-enables device market is one of the fast growing electronics segments worldwide. The research firm, In-Stat, forecasts the number of GPS-enabled mobile devices to grow from 180 million units in 2007 to 720 million units in 2011.

The company said this compound annual growth rate of more than 75 per cent is driven by the increasing popularity among consumers of GPS services in wireless handsets and personal navigation devices, and the expansion of the capability into consumer devices such as laptops, mobile gaming products and digital cameras

“With u-Nav’s GPS competency we will deliver an impressive set of wireless solutions that include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, increasing the value we bring to our customers,” said Atheros president and chief executive Craig Barratt.

The privately held u-Nav was founded in 2001 and is based in California. Its 54 employees will join Atheros but remain in Irvine and at u-Nav's European engineering facility in Finland. u-Nav chief executive Greg Winner has been appointed general manager of Atheros' GPS business.

For more Navigation and Telematics news click here.

Dutch govt adopts open source plan

THE Dutch Government has directed its agencies to start using open source software, setting a deadline of April next year to implement the policy, The Associated Press is reporting.

The Netherlands Economic Affairs Ministry said Government agencies were still allowed to use proprietary applications and formats, but would need to justify it under the new open source policy regime, the agency reported.

The Dutch policy states government organisations at the national level must be ready to use the Open Document Format to save documents by April, while state and local authorities must be ready by 2009.

The policy includes document formats, applications and platforms. Though cost savings are seen as an important, document formats are critical given archiving issues.

The new policy is seen as a move to relieve Dutch authorities from a reliance on Microsoft products and formats.

Though many cities and municipalities through Europe have implemented open source procurement strategies, this is the first national Government to dictate such a police.

AP quotes Netherlands Economic Affairs Ministry spokesman Edwin van Scherrenburg saying the plan was approved unanimously at a meeting of two parliamentary commissions on Wednesday.

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FTC chair attacked over DoubleClick

TWO high-profile privacy advocacy groups have accused US chair of the US Federal Trade Commission of having a conflict on interest in reviewing Google’s planned acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick.

The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) and the Centre for Digital Democracy (CDD) called on FTC chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras to recuse herself from the Google/DoubleClick review because of her husband’s involvement in the issue.

In a submission to the commission, the groups complain that DoubleClick has retained a Washington law firm in which Ms Platt Majoras’ husband is a partner to represent it before the FTC.

The submission further complains that Deborah Platt Majoras was also an equity partner in the law firm prior to become FTC chairwoman.

The law firm, Jones Day, is advising DoubleClick on its US$3.1 billion proposed acquision by Google. The companies would combine DoubleClick ad serving technology with Google’s search and cookie expertise.

“While at Jones Day, (Ms Platt Majoras) represented clients on civil and criminal antitrust litigation matters, including mergers and acquisitions, monopolization, price-fixing, distribution issues, and governmental investigations,” a biography on the FTC web site says.

Reports in the US say Ms Platt Majoras is consulting with the FTC’s ethics officer to see whether she should recuse herself from the review.

“As the Chairman of the Commission has previously recused herself in similar matters for similar reasons where there was a lesser conflict of interest, it is clear that she must recuse herself here,” EPIC and CDD said it the submission to the FTC.

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Asia’s datacenter energy needs double

THE energy demands of datacenters in the Asia-Pacific is far outstripping growth in data centre power consumption in other regions, and will double by 2010, a new study has revealed.

The study, by US expert Dr Jonathon Koomey using data from industry analysts IDC said the Asia-Pacific’s (excluding Japan) world share of data centre energy use would jump from 10 per cent in 2000 to 16 per cent in 2010.

The absolute electricity consumption for servers in the Asia/Pacific region under this scenario would more than double from 2005 to 2010, requiring electricity capacity equal to output from two new 1000 megatwatt power plants.

The US share of total world server electricity use from datacenters will likely decline from 40 per cent in 2000 to about one-third by 2010,

Examining electricity use by region from 2000 to 2005, Dr Koomey found that server electricity use in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan) grew at a 23 per cent annual rate, compared to a world average of 16 per cent a year, making this region the only one with server electricity use growing at a rate significantly greater than the world average.

“Our hope is that this research helps bridge the gap between knowledge and action by furthering worldwide understanding of the economic and environmental costs associated with escalating data centre energy consumption,” AMD server and workstation marketing director Bruce Shaw said.

AMD has launched a program called AMD Green that seeks to develop more energy efficient data centre solutions.

“Clearly, we must work harder than ever to not only deliver more efficient server and cooling technology, but also just as importantly, to work with our industry and government partners to develop environmentally sustainable solutions in areas where we see the most dramatic increases in energy use,” the company said.

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Navteq owners approve Nokia deal

SHAREHOLDERS of digital mapping data specialist Navteq have overwhelmingly approved the company’s acquisition by phone company Nokia.

The completion of the US$8.1 billion (A$9.2 billion) deal is still subject to certain regulatory approvals, although the acquisition has already passed inspection by US anti-trust regulators.

More than 99 per cent of the total votes cast at the special meeting of shareholder this week, were voted in favour of the adoption of the merger agreement.

Navteq makes digital mapping software for consumer and corporate applications. It software and devices are found in personal cars as well as fleet vehicles and trucks.

While the company’s heritage is in navigation systems, it is has become a leader in location-based solutions, which made it attractive to mobile phone maker Nokia.

For more Navigation and Telematics news click here.

Microsoft acquires UK’s Multimap

MICROSOFT has stepped up its search and location-based services efforts through the acquisition of UK-based online mapping innovator Multimap.

The company said the Multimap location and mapping technologies would be used in conjunction with existing Microsoft products like Virtual Earth, Live Search, Windows Live services and the recently acquired aQuantive advertising platform.

Microsoft said the technology would likely also be integrated into other products and platforms in the coming years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition will play a significant role in the future growth of our search business and presents a huge opportunity to expand our platform business,” Microsoft Online Services Group general manager Sharon Baylay said.

Multimap is one of the best-known online mapping companies worldwide, and is one of the Top 100 technology companies in the UK. The company will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, as part of the Virtual Earth and Search teams in the Online Services Group.

Multimap chief executive Jeff Kelisky said partnering with Microsoft gave the company new opportunities to build mapping services into new applications.

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WiMAX: 80m subscribers in 5 years

THE number of subscribers to WiMAX mobile broadband services will start to boom in 2010, and will exceed 80 million globally by 2013, according to Junior Research.

The report says that more than 50 Mobile WiMAX 802.11e trials and network contracts had been announced in this year, and that the WiMAX market was active in all geographies.

Juniper Research’ report author Howard Wilcox says the value of Mobile WiMAX services revenues would grow to US$23 billion ($26.1 billion)

The ‘Mobile WiMAX: Global Opportunities, Strategies & Forecasts, 2007-2013’ found that the US, Japan and South Korea would be the three largest markets for WiMAX.

Australia is already becoming a WiMAX player – and per capita could become one of the biggest users, with large-scale plans already in motion to roll-out WiMAX nationwide as part of the previous Government broadband schemes.

Mr Wilcox said there were several wildcard factors could increase the size of the WiMAX market, including the emergence of low cost laptops, and adding broadband capability to devices like MP3 players, and games consoles.

“Mobile WiMAX will be a device-based technology, whether handsets, laptops, datacards, or other types of consumer device such as media players,” Mr Wilcox said.

“The twin challenges are for vendors to produce the right devices at the right time and price, and for Mobile WiMAX service providers to differentiate their offerings from existing mobile operators,” he said.

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Asus EeePC spurs competition

THE spectacular sales success of the tiny, low-cost Eee PC notebook from Asus has prompted the sincerest form of flattery from its competitors – imitation.

Research group Gartner says rival companies are already developing products that compete with Eee PC at the low-cost end of the market.

Asus launched the Eee PC in Australia less than a month ago. Selling through Myer as exclusive retailer, the product has already sold out. It is the same in other markets like the US and UK.

The appeal of the Eee PC is that it is small (less than a kilo) and cheap (less than $500). But Gartner says in its Semiconductor DQ Monday Report this week that the Eee PC has attracted the attention of vendors who want to produce low-cost notebooks with better functionality – and steal Asus’ market.

Gartner said China’s Hasee Computer plans to launch a low-cost notebook soon, with a bigger display than the Eee PC, a more powerful processor and more storage.

The Hasee Q540X notebook will run an Intel Celeron 540 processor, an 80Gb hard drive, weighing 2.2 kilos and priced at about US$400 (A$450) .

The Eee PC has built in wireless connectivity and uses the Linux open source operating system.

For more Mobile Computing news, click here.

Telstra claims rare ACCC victory

TELSTRA has claimed a rare victory in its unhappy relationship with the competition regulator after the Federal Court quashed a competition notice it ruled had been issued illegally.

The court dispute related to two Telstra fixed line home phone products – one a wholesale line rental product and the other a retail home phone product.

The products were originally offered in mid-2005, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a competition notice on the products in April 2006.

Telstra complains that just four days after the ACCC issued the notice, “Optus commenced its own legal proceedings against Telstra on the back of the competition notice.”

Justice Annabelle Bennett ruled that the ACCC had acted illegally in issuing the competition notice, because it denied Telstra the procedural fairness. The ruling related to discrepancies between the competition notice and the consultation notice issued prior to it.

Telstra, which has a relationship with the ACCC best described as poisonous, is using the ruling to again call for the ACCC to have its powers curbed.

Telstra's Group General Counsel Will Irving said: "As we said in April, the ACCC's powers should be overhauled given the finding of the Court that the ACCC had not treated Telstra fairly.

“The ACCC's competition notice exposed Telstra to potential fines of up to $3 million a day, as well as third-party litigation of precisely the type we saw from Optus,” Mr Irving said.

“Telstra has long argued that Part XIB of the Trade Practices Act gives the ACCC too much selective power that is clearly susceptible to gaming by competitors.”

For more Telecommunications news, click here.

Office Live Workspace beta launched

MICROSOFT has started the roll out of its first public beta of its Office Live Workspace product, a kind of hybrid software-plus-services that lets users more easily collaborate across the internet.

Office Live Workspace is a secure online workspace that Microsoft Office users can share Word, PowerPoint, Excel or PDF files – working remotely from virtually any web-connected PC and collaborate on with others.

The services initially gives users 500Mb of storage, and is limited to users in the US, though it is scheduled for roll-out internationally in 2008.

The Office Live Workspace is Microsoft’s hybrid answer to the Google Doc & Spreadsheets service

Microsoft Office director of consumer and small business product management Kirk Gregersen said the product helped solve collaboration challenges by giving everyone in a workgroup access to the same version of a document.

“This is just the start of a wave of new products we’re rolling out to deliver on our vision of software plus services, bringing together the features and performance of software with the convenience and reach of services delivered over the internet,” Mr Gregersen said.

“We think that Office Live Workspace will be important for our 500 million Office customers because it’s one of the first tightly integrated web-based sharing and collaboration services designed to give a seamless experience for Office users,” he said.

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Microsoft bags CNBC advertising

AS competition in the online advertising space ratchets up, Microsoft has announced it will start exclusively serving ads to the popular financial news site CNBC.

The competition between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo is turning into a land-grab for customers.

Google earlier this year announced its intention to acquire display advertising leader DoubleClick – which is still awaiting Federal approval – while Microsoft spent US$6 billion acquiring display online ad specialist aQuantive.

Microsoft will serve up contextually relevant advertising to the more than 2.6 million unique visitors to CNBC.com each month. Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party provider for both display and contextual advertising.

The companies said advanced technology would connect advertisers with CNBC.com users through a combination of graphical advertisments and automated text-based ads targeted to content.

Over time, the technology would also enable the anonymous aggregation of user behavior, the companies said in a statement.

“The addition of CNBC to our syndicated advertising partner sites will help the advertisers that work with Microsoft reach an even broader set of users in this highly strategic audience segment,” Microsoft Online Services Group senior vice-president Steve Berkowitz said.

Microsoft will start serving CNBC.com with text advertising later this month, and online display advertising in March next year.

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IBM unveils supercomputer on a chip

IBM Research has announced a photonics breakthrough that it says will soon allow the power of a supercomputer to be packed onto a single chip.

The company said it had developed way to convert electrical signals into pulses of light. The breakthrough means a chip uses pulses of light through silicon instead of electrical signals on wires.

In addition to putting the extraordinary power of a supercomputer into a single, notebook sized machine, IBM said the breakthrough had obvious benefits of drastically lower power consumption and reduced heat.

He breakthrough would also mean dramatically lower cost, while increasing speed and performance between cores by more than 100 times.

“While today’s supercomputers can use the equivalent energy required to power hundreds of homes, these future tiny supercomputers-on-a-chip would expend the energy of a light bulb,” IBM said in a statement.

In a paper published in the journal Optics Express, the IBM researchers detailed a significant milestone in the quest to send information between multiple cores – or “brains” – on a chip using pulses of light through silicon.

The breakthrough – known in the industry as a silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator – performs the function of converting electrical signals into pulses of light.

The IBM modulator is 100 to 1,000 times smaller in size compared to previously demonstrated modulators of its kind, paving the way for complete optical routing networks to be integrated onto a single chip.

“Work is underway within IBM and in the industry to pack many more computing cores on a single chip, but today’s on-chip communications technology would overheat and be far too slow to handle that increase in workload,” said IBM Research vice-president for Science and Technology, Dr T.C. Chen.

“What we have done is a significant step toward building a vastly smaller and more power-efficient way to connect those cores, in a way that nobody has done before,” Dr Chen said.

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Cabinet approves $1b schools plan

FEDERAL Cabinet has signed off on a $1 billion plan to give every student in years nine to 12 their own computer at school, with the first $100 million in funding to become available in March.

The plan is one of the first election commitments to be put through the Cabinet process, and means that schools can start applying now for funding of up to $1 million each.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said an national audit of schools’ computer resources and broadband facilities would be conducted to determine those in most need.

Though funding is available to all schools – public and private – the first round money will go to those found to be in most urgent need.

Mr Rudd said schools can elect to spend the funding on a range of digital equipment – from computers, interactive whiteboards, networking equipment, digital projects and improved broadband connectivity.

Deputy Prime Minister and education Minister Julia Gillard has also outlined broad plans to improve teacher training in ICT skills to ensure they are equipped to teach in computer-equipped classrooms.

Under its National Secondary School Computer Fund commitment during the election, Labor noted that ICT “is also now becoming critical to most jobs in most industries,” for mining, to agriculture, manufacturing and services.

For more Mobile Computing news, click here.

Oracle buys Web apps specialist

BUSINESS software Goliath Oracle has acquired a Dutch software vendor Mobiforce, which specialises in monitoring the availability and performance of web applications.

Oracle said Moniforce’s technology was expected to strengthen its Enterprise Manager suite that lets application administrators to proactively detect and resolve end-user experience and application logic issues.

Moniforce boasts customer spanning key industries, including financial , retail, and government. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“The transaction underscores Oracle's strategy of lowering total cost of ownership and delivering higher quality of service for customers running packaged or custom applications in Oracle or non-Oracle environments,” said Oracle Product Development executive vice-president Chuck Rozwat.

Moniforce chief executive Willem-Jan Scholten said real end-user information was essential for improving application usage and business performance – and for lowering total cost of ownership.

“We're proud to become part of the world's largest enterprise software company and look forward to delivering solutions that maximise our customers' return on their application investments by ensuring the highest end-user satisfaction.” Mr Scholten said.

For more Business Software news, click here.

Moon 2.0 attracts first entrant

THE Google-sponsored Lunar X Prize competition – which aims to encourage private sector space exploration – has attracted its first official entrant.

Odyssey Moon Limited, a privately-held company based in the Isle of Man and boasting shareholders from many different countries, announced its plans to launch a robotic mission to the surface of the moon.

The Google Lunar X Prize offers US$30 million (A$34 million) prize to the first company that sends a robotic lander to the moon that is capable of carry out a series of exploration tasks.

Odyssey Moon is the brainchild of Dr Bob Richards, a founder of the International Space University

Richards said that the company’s goal is to lower the price of getting to the Moon by an order of magnitude. Exploration would encourage a “moonrush” to Earth’s sister world, which he describes as an eighth continent rich in energy and resources.

“Our business plans have been in development for a series of missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, exploration and commerce,” Dr Richards said.

Odyssey Moon has pulled together a team with deep experience in space exploration, overseen by chairman Ramin Khadem, a well-known figure in the international satellite industry and a former chief financial officer of InMarSat.

Odyssey Moon has appointed as its prime contractor MDA of Canada, a company with vast space heritage in providing robotics on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, and more recently for satellite servicing and planetary exploration.

For more Future Parc news click here .

Li Ka-shing buys Facebook stake

HONGKONG billionaire tycoon Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man, has acquired a 0.4 per cent sliver of equity in the social networking site Facebook for a reported US$60 million (A$68.1 million).

Wire reports say the investment was made through the Li Ka-shing Foundation, and did not involve his flagship companies Cheung Kong or Hutchison Whampoa.

79-year-old Mr Li is a much-loved business superstar in Hongkong, a genuine rags-to-riches success in the former British colony.

The investment follows a series of high-profile stakes taken in Facebook in recent months. In October, Microsoft paid UA$240 million (A$272.5 million) for a 1.6 per cent chunk of Facebook.

Forbes magazine puts Mr Li’s personal fortune at about US$23 billion, making him the ninth wealthiest man in the world.

Mr Li and Microsoft’s investments value the privately-held Facebook at US$15 billion.

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IBM lodges Asus patent complaint

IBM wants the US government to ban the imports of Taiwanese OEM manufacturing giant Asustek, claiming the company infringes IBM patents in a broad variety of its tech products.

Asustek, which is best known for manufacturing PCs, notebooks and other products on behalf of big brand companies, has in recent years established it own ASUS brand in a growing number of international markets.

IBM claims it has made “repeated attempts” to reach licensing agreements with Asustek and its subsidiary in the US, ASUS Computer International.

Big Blue has now filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission outlining three specific breaches concerning patents covering power supply, automatic fan speed control, and computer clustering.

“The infringing Asustek computer products include notebook computers, so-called barebones computer systems, servers, routers and various computer components,” IBM said in a statement.

The US International Trade Commission is an independent federal agency that has the authority to ban the importation of products found to infringe the patents of US companies.

Asustek, which builds products on behalf of companies like Dell and Hewlett Packard, has denied the allegations.

For more IT Hardware news, click here.

Hostworks acquired for $69 million

ADELAIDE-based hosting and managed services firm Hostworks has been acquired by Broadcast Australia for $68.9 million.

Hostworks has been an industry pioneer, and is one of the largest full-service web hosting companies in the region. Its customer base includes NineMSN, ABC, SBS, News Ltd, Optus, and AAMI.

More than 15 per cent of all page views each month by Australia’s 10 million internet users are hosted by Hostworks.

Hostworks’ board of directors unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the Broadcast Australia offer. Major Hostworks shareholders including managing director Marty Gauvin and non-executive director Stephen Chapman granted Broadcast Australia an option over a 19 per cent parcel of Hostworks shares.

In the eight years since foundation, Hostworks has become recognized as Australia’s leading provider of managed services for on-line media and entertainment companies and management and hosting services for a broad range of critical applications.

“Broadcast Australia’s proposal represents an excellent outcome for our shareholders as well as providing significant benefits for customers and employees,” Mr Gauvin said in a statement.

Broadcast Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ASX-listed Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group.

“We are pleased to have entered into an agreement to acquire Hostworks, which enhances Broadcast Australia’s core business of being a trusted provider connecting content owners to customers across multiple platforms,” said Broadcast Australia managing director, Graeme Barclay.

For more IT Services news, click here.

Malware incidents double in 2007

EUROPEAN tech security specialist F-Secure has reported it has detected as many malware signatures during 2007 as it had in the entire preceding 20 years.

And the company is predicting a miserable 2008, with malware volumes continuing to increase as criminals successfully create a network-based underground ecosystem, trading malware development tools, skills, capabilities and resources.

F-Secure says in its 2007 Data Security Wrap-Up that it has identified a total about 500,000 malware signatures in its cumulative database – compared to 250,000 a year ago. The number of examples of malware had doubled in just one year.

“We've never seen as many samples arrive to our labs,” F-Secure Corporation Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen said.

“We would be unable to handle such huge samples loads if we would not have built a high degree of automation into our malware analysis systems over the past years,” he said.

The company said that while no truly new malware technologies were seen the existing ones were refined and adapted for much greater effectiveness.

Financial transactions remain a favorite target for network crime. The amount of phishing sites continues to increase, but as bank customers have become more aware of this threat the criminals have started employing more sophisticated techniques.

For more IT Security news, click here.

ATO briefs on massive contract

THE Australian Taxation Office will conduct its first briefing for potential tech suppliers to its $1 billion outsourcing plan.

The briefing covers the first stage of a program that will eventually replace the nine-year outsourcing contract the ATO has held with US services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

The ATO announced through the Commonwealth tenders website it would meet with interested suppliers to the Managed Network Services component of its plans on Monday December 17.

The Tax Office said its sourcing plans called for market testing of various services between mid-next year and mid-2010. It plans to issue a series of Expressions of Interest (EoIs) and Requests for Tender (RfTs) during that period.

The first EOI, for Managed Network Services, will be released in late January. It will cover areas ranging from voice, mobile and data carriage services, desktop handsets and PBX systems, network switches and security gateways.

Following the EOI, the Tax Office is expected to select a shortlist of suppliers to participate in further briefings and workshops before being invited to respond to a formal RfT.

For more IT Services news, click here.

IBM wins expanded Telstra deal

IT’S not every day that IBM’s global chief rolls into town. So when Big Blue CEO Sam Palmisano blew into Australia for the first time since taking the helm, it was always a good bet that the local subsidiary would make a big announcement.

No surprise that the announcement should involve Australia’s largest company (and a nine-figure number).

IBM said it has expanded its existing seven-year supply chain deal with Telstra, an extension that would deliver $200 million in additional cost reduction benefits to the telecom giant.

Telstra procurement executive director Ian Wheatley said Phase One of the company’s supply chain project with IBM had been a success and the company was on target to save $500 million over seven years.

The next phase of the supply chain transformation program would focus on improving Telstra’s efficiency in ordering, managing and delivering telecommunication parts needed by technicians and engineers to perform network maintenance, fault repairs and activation of customer services.

“In the first phase of our supply chain transformation, we replaced four payment and ordering systems with IBM's out-of-the-box software,” Mr Wheatly said.

“In phase two of the program, IBM will provide a single end-to-end view of our inventory supply chain and enable us to deliver the right part, at the right place, at the right time – improving customer service and reducing costs. This is great news for our customers and shareholders,” he said.

Telstra says it has reduced its procurement costs by $159 million since September last year.

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We’ll proceed without Telstra: Tanner

THE Rudd Government was unfazed by Telstra blunt rejection of plans to build a national broadband network based on joint public-private funding and ownership.

Newly sworn-in Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has told ABC Television the Labor Government would proceed with the $4.7 billion plan for the national network with or without Telstra.

And the Government’s new Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, said Labor remained committed to building a national fibre-to-the-node network.

Senator Conroy said government hoped to complete the tender process to select partners to build the network by the middle of next year.

“It will be open access, promote competition and put downward pressure on consumer prices,” Senator Conroy said. “We will hold an open and transparent process to determine who will build the network with our ambition being to complete the process by the end of June next year,”

“We expect that there will be much public commentary, jockeying and lobbying from parties as they work to convince the Government that they are best placed to build the new network and seek the terms that are most favourable to them.”

Labor promised in March that it would contribute $4.7 billion in public money toward a public-private national “open access’’ network. Government will issue tenders next year seeking proposals from the private sector to build the network.

But Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo last week last week rejected the plan, saying the company would only participate in projects that “we own and control.”

Mr Tanner said the Government’s plans were not contingent on Telstra taking part.

“The policy we put forward some months ago is a position that still stands. We are going to proceed,” Mr Tanner said.

“It is Telstra’s choice as to what role they want to play or not,” he said.

Government would wait until seen private sector proposals as part of the tender process before deciding how to structure the network.

Mr Tanner said the policy had been kept as flexible as possible so that the private sector could develop new ideas for implementing a cost effective and technologically efficient network.

“We are going to proceed with the position that we put to the Australian people,” Mr Tanner told the ABC Inside Business program.

For more Telecommunications news, click here.

ICT get a boost in new Cabinet

THE technology industry has been given a major profile boost in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s first Cabinet, with the appointment of two senior Ministers with responsibility for ICT-critical issues.

Stephen Conroy was appointed as Minister to the newly-named portfolio of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy. Senator Conroy has been shadow IT and communications spokesman since 2004, and had been expected to retain those responsibilities – largely because of the incredible complexities of telecommunications regulation (and Telstra-related regulatory issues).

Senator Conroy was a driving force behind Labor’s bold A$4.7 billion national broadband pledge, made in March.

Less expected was the appointment of fellow Victorian Senator Kim Carr as Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Senator Carr had been shadow Industry Minister, but Mr Rudd bolstered the portfolio with the addition of Innovation.

Senator Carr will oversee the implementation of industry assistance programs – which will play a huge role in the development of indigenous software companies.

The appointments have been welcomed by the industry.

“We are pleased that the Prime Minister-elect, Kevin Rudd, has acknowledged technology as the driving force of our nation’s economic prosperity and reinforced this stance by including the ICT portfolio in Cabinet,” said the Australian Computer Society’s out-going national President Philip Argy.

“Innovation is a pivotal force in building our national economy and energising our industry. Our prosperity is dependent on productivity gains underpinned by innovation in information and communications technologies,” Mr Argy said.

Lindsay Tanner’s appointment as Finance Minister in the Rudd Cabinet has also been welcomed. Mr Tanner has been a Shadow Communications Minister and is very familiar with the industry.

As a technology buyer, the federal government wields, tremendous influence through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), which falls within the Department of Finance.

For more e-Government news, click here.

Facebook buried in privacy complaints

FACEBOOK has been forced to overhaul its new advertising system following an avalanche of privacy complaints and bad press about the company’s lack of respect for its users.

The advertising system, called ‘Beacon’, was introduced less than two weeks ago and sought to share what online purchases its users had made with their friend network.

While Beacon displayed an “opt out” button when a user was making a purchase, large numbers of Facebook users were incensed. Others complained the ‘Opt Out’ feature was itself offensive, but were more bitter that the ‘Opt Out’ button was so well hidden.

Within nine days more than 50,000 users joined a “Facebook, Stop Invading My Privacy” group on Facebook itself, and signed a petition complaining about the intrusion.

Facebook has now announced adjustments under which users will have to the give explicit consent in the form of an ‘Opt In’ regime before any of their information is shared.

More than 40 web sites had embedded Beacon into their pages in order to track the transactions of Facebook users.

The privacy advocacy group MoveOn.org, which organised the petition campaign, welcomed the changes.

“If Facebook changes their policy so that no private purchases made on other websites are displayed publicly on Facebook without a user's explicit permission, that would be a huge step in the right direction – and would say a lot about the ability of everyday Internet users to band together to make a difference,” MoveOn.org Civic Action organiser Adam Green said.

For more e-Marketing news, click here.

Adobe, Yahoo launch PDF advertising

ADOBE and Yahoo have launched a service that lets commercial publishers run dynamically generated advertising within PDF documents.

The companies say the service opens up a new frontier for the online advertising market, putting contextual advertising that matches the readers interests in PDFs.

Called ‘Ads for Adobe powered by Yahoo’, the service has been launched initially as a beta program.

“By partnering with Yahoo! on this innovative advertising service we are creating opportunities for publishers to build new businesses around unique content that previously was just given away or not available to a mass online audience,” said Adobe senior vice-president for Corporate Development, Rob Tarkoff.

“As advertisers look to touch new audiences, readers can look forward to some exciting Adobe PDF content coming their way.”

Yahoo! Publisher Network senior vice-president Todd Teresi said the partnership created a previously untapped opportunity for advertisers to connect with qualified audiences, while opening new revenue streams for publishers.

Particpants in the beta program include IDG InfoWorld, Wired, Pearson’s Education, Meredith Corporation and Reed Elsevier.

For more Digital Content news, click here.

Google confirms wireless spectrum bid

SEARCH leader Google has confirmed it will participate in the US Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction – underlining the company’s interest in entering the wireless voice and data device markets.

As part of the US’ mandated transition to digital television, the 700 MHz spectrum auction – which begins January 24, 2008 – will free up spectrum airwaves for more efficient wireless internet service for consumers.

Bidding for the spectrum will start at a reserve price of US$4.6 billion (A$5.2 billion). Google announced it will enter the auction without the assistance of a partner. Some industry observers had thought the company would partner with a telecommunications firm for the auction.

The auction stipulates that part of the spectrum be used for open access purposes – under which the winning bidder is compelled to give customers the right to download any application they want on their mobile device and the right to use any device they want on the network.

“We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are,” Google chairman and chief executive Eric Schmidt said. “Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world.”

“No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the internet,” Mr Schmidt said.

The 700MHz spectrum is attractive to communications companies as it wavelength travels long distances and easily penetrates obstacles like concrete walls. This means the spectrum requires fewer communications towers and is therefore cheaper.

Regardless, a national wireless network would be expected to cost the owners an additional US$7 billion.

For more Telecommunications news, click here.

CeBIT Asia mission reports $29 million in sales

THE Victorian delegation to the CeBIT Asia business technology fair in Shanghai generated more than $29 million in projected business in China, the state’s technology agency Multimedia Victoria has reported.

The 29 Victorian companies participating in the October mission to CeBIT Asia found more than 30 reseller and distribution partners, and secured more than 100 serious business leads, the Multimedia Victoria mission report said.

In the wake of that success, Hannover Fairs Australia (HFA) has already confirmed it will again take a delegation of Australian companies to the CeBIT Asia next year. HFA, the organiser of the giant CeBIT Australia ICT fair, is the local unit of global exhibition group Deutsche Messe AG, which runs CeBIT events worldwide.

Victorian Information and Communications Technology Minister Theo Theophanous said China was an important and fast-growing market for Victorian ICT companies. The delegation was supported by the Brumby Government’s ICT Trade Events and Export Assistance Program.

The Victorian Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Theo Theophanous, said it is the second year that the Victorian Government has led an ICT delegation to China and reinforces the State’s enthusiasm to forge partnerships in this lucrative market.

“Victorian ICT companies specialising in areas such as mobile technology, digital media, web development, eLearning and content management stood out, presenting their ingenuity to a global audience,” Mr Theophanous said.

“China is one of the largest emerging ICT markets and this trade mission has provided home-grown Victorian companies fantastic opportunities to build on previously formed relationships, open up new supply chains, gain new clients and network for future export opportunities.”

Since 1999, the Victorian Government’s Export Assistance Program has helped 480 Victorian companies on trade missions to 40 countries, generating $1.7 billion in projected exports.

While CeBIT Asia in Shanghai was the centrepiece of the Multimedia Victoria trade mission to China, it also included meetings and networking events in the Chinese business centres of Chengdu, Kunming, Beijing and Hong Kong.

Hannover Fairs Australia managing director Jackie Taranto said the Victorian Government’s long term view of building business relationships in China was paying off. Six companies involved in CeBIT Asia with Multimedia Victoria had returned to the event for their second year, cementing the business ties established at the 2006 event.

“Establishing ongoing exports links with partners in China can take time and patience, and it was great to see those Victorian companies returning to CeBIT Asia for a second time doing so well,’’ Ms Taranto said.

“Multimedia Victorian has built enormous expertise in the China ICT sector, and they run targeted and superbly professional trade missions. The long term commitment to the China ICT market is showing clear results, not just by generating exports dollars, but attracting inward investment from Chinese companies as well,” she said

China the Victoria’s third largest export market (A$1.8 billion in 2004-05) and largest source of goods imports (A$6.3 billion). Some of China’s largest ICT companies are represented in Victoria, including communications giants Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation, as well as consumer electronics makers Changhong Electric and TCL.

The Multimedia Victoria pavilion at CeBIT Asia attracted a stream of political and business leaders, including the vice-chair of the Shanghai People’s Congress Zhou Yu Peng, one of the most influential figures in the region, and California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who led a US trade mission to CeBIT Asia.

Victorian software firm Business Intelligence Technologies participated in the CeBIT Asia trade mission for the second year, and reports significantly extending its China business.

“The trip presented challenging and unique opportunities for our products and services, and we are seriously exploring setting up a China entity,” said Raghu Iyer, founder and chief executive of Business Intelligence Technologies. “Attending CeBIT Asia as part of a government delegation – going with Multimedia Victoria – is definitely a help because it helps build a network of contacts.”