Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cisco to shut down Flip cameras

Cisco Systems has said it is shutting down its Flip video camera business and cutting 550 jobs as it overhauls its consumer products unit.

In recent years, Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, has sought to diversify and move into the consumer market.

Analysts criticised the group for trying to do too much.

Last week, Cisco chief John Chambers admitted the firm had lost its way and vowed to take "bold steps" to refocus.

"We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy," Mr Chambers said in a statement.

Unable to sell?

Cisco bought Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the Flip camcorder, for $590m in 2009.

The Flip quickly became a top seller thanks to its ease of use, with its signature feature a USB connector that flipped out of the case, allowing the camera to be connected directly to a computer.

"They announced they are shutting it down, so that implies that they were unable to sell it," said Philip Alling, an analyst with Atlantic Equities.

"It's disappointing they wouldn't be able to generate any proceeds from a sale of the business."

But Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of the Solaris Group, said: "This is one step in concentrating the focus of Cisco on the enterprise. This came faster than we would have expected, but perhaps Cisco has been studying this for a while."

He added that the company may be restructuring its consumer business so that it can sell the division.



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Sony and Hotz settle hacking case

Sony has settled its lawsuit with an American hacker who unlocked the secure operating system on the PlayStation 3.

The company dropped its action against George Hotz, also known as Geohot, and secured an injunction that bans him from similar behaviour in future.

Mr Hotz, who is 21 years old, had been facing charges of copyright infringement and fraud.

In a statement, Sony welcomed the settlement and said that it would help to protect its intellectual property.

Around 100 other individuals, named and un-named, were also facing legal action. The fate of their cases is currently unclear.

Sony began pursuing Mr Hotz after he published information on his website that enabled users to install a reprogrammed version of the PlayStation's operating system.

The company claimed that by circumventing its security, PS3 owners would be able to play "homebrew" or copied games.

Joint statement

Proceedings in the California courts appeared to have reached a relatively advanced stage.

Lawyers for the Japanese firm had obtained permission to access details of users who downloaded Geohot's crack.

Following the settlement, the two sides issued a joint statement.

Mr Hotz said: "It was never my intention to cause users trouble or to make piracy easier. I am happy to have the litigation behind me."

Sony's general counsel in the USA, Riley Russell commented: "We appreciate Mr Hotz's willingness to address the legal issues involved in this case and... to quickly bring this matter to an early resolution."

Although no further details of the settlement have been revealed, Mr Hotz has not remained entirely tight-lipped regarding his feelings toward Sony.

In a blog posting on 11 April - the same day as the case was concluded - he wrote: "I am joining the Sony boycott. I will never purchase another Sony product.

"I encourage you to do the same. And if you bought something Sony recently, return it."

Sony stressed that the decision to settle had nothing to do with recent attacks on its website, attributed to the hacker collective Anonymous.



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Amazon sells ad-subsidised Kindle

Amazon is to launch a cheaper version of its popular Kindle e-book reader which will feature on-screen advertising.

The retail giant has started taking orders in the US for the device, which costs $114 (�69) - $25 (�15) less than the current entry level model.

The 'Kindle with Special Offers' will display sponsored messages from the likes of Olay and Visa.

It will also present readers with details of other Amazon products.

The company would not confirm if an advertising-subsidised Kindle was coming to the the UK market.

"We do not speculate on future products," a spokesperson said.

Amazon said that the advertisements on the 'Kindle with Special Offers' would not interrupt reading, appearing only at the bottom of the Kindle's home screen and while the device is in its idle state.

Un-sponsored versions of the Kindle feature black and white images of iconic authors when not in use.

Amazon will also launch 'AdMash', a service which that allows users to vote on which screensaver ads they prefer.

The revised device is physically identical to the current WiFi-only model which retails in the UK for �111.

Kindle has proved incredibly popular with readers since it launched in November 2007, costing $399 (�241).

A massive pre-Christmas advertising campaign lead to Amazon's e-books sales reportedly outstripping those of paper books in the last three months of 2010.

However, the Kindle faces increasing market pressure from Apple's iPad and other tablet devices which offer a greater range of uses as well as reading books.

The first ad-subsidised Kindles will be shipped to customers in May.



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Angry Birds tops Appy Awards list

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Angry Birds and Facebook were amongst the winners at last night's (11 April) Appy Awards in London.

More than 30,000 people voted for 50 apps nominated across 10 categories.

The big winner on the night was Angry Birds which collected best game app and the main award for best app of the year.

Facebook won best time waster app and Spotify landed the best music app, whilst Google Maps won best time saver.

Oona Hilkamo works for Rovio, the company that developed Angry Birds.

She said: "It's been just amazing.

"First of all winning the public vote for best game and then afterwards the judges decided for us to be app of the year.

"It's been a great year for us."

Growing business

Apps are big business, with 350,000 on offer from Apple, 200,000 for Google's Android operating system, 65,000 from Nokia and 11,000 for Windows.

More than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the Apple App store alone in just 18 months, with the technology giant paying out �1.2bn to developers.

It's figures like those that suggest the app business is likely to grow and grow.

Ben Wood, mobile phone industry analyst from CCS, agrees: "I think the app business has still got lots of growth in it.

"Obviously Apple are kings of the hill but there are lots of other phones where people still want apps.

"So the opportunities are only limited by your imagination, if you've got a great idea you can make an app and get it out to people."

No app other than Angry Birds won more than one award but Claudine Beaumont from Google Maps was very happy with her gong.

She said: "I think it's a pretty glowing endorsement of the tool and that's what Google is all about.

"Making tools that work for users, that work for consumers, that they can use when they're out and about to get the information that they want at their fingertips."

Organisers Carphone Warehouse hope the Appys will become an annual event.



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Court upholds Facebook settlement

A US appeals court has ruled that twin brothers who say the idea for Facebook was stolen from them by Mark Zuckerberg cannot back out of a settlement deal they made with the website.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had asked in January to re-open a $65m (�42m) legal settlement signed in 2008.

The twins say Mr Zuckerberg stole their idea after he was hired by them to code their ConnectU site in 2003.

The court said it saw no reason to re-open their case against Facebook.

Facebook has rejected the brothers' claims.

"The Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace," three Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges said in the ruling.

"At some point, litigation must come to an end. That point has now been reached," the judges said.

'Stolen code'

The Winklevosses have argued that Mr Zuckerberg, who attended Harvard with them, took the code for their social networking website and launched Facebook with it in 2004.

Facebook agreed to a 2008 settlement to end "rancorous litigation" but did not admit Mr Zuckerberg had taken the twins' idea.

The Winklevosses received $20m in cash and $45m worth of stock valued at $36 per share in the deal.

"For whatever reason, they now want to back out... Like the district court, we see no basis for allowing them to do so," the judges said, referring to the settlement deal.

Jerome Falk, a lawyer representing the Winklevosses, said he disagreed with the ruling and that his legal team would file for a rehearing within the next two weeks.

"In my judgment, the opinion raises extremely significant questions of federal law that merit review by the entire Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," Mr Falk said in a statement.

Mr Zuckerberg has always maintained that Facebook was his creation.

The lawsuit over Facebook was dramatised in the film The Social Network, which was nominated for best picture at the Oscars.

Facebook is the world's biggest social network with more than 500m users, and Mr Zuckerberg is one of the world's youngest billionaires.



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