Cheaper iPhones reportedly in the works

With concerns for the jump to recent adoption of phones based on Android by consumers, Apple is trying to produce iPhones cheaper and more versatile, it has been claimed.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on a version that is less expensive and smaller of its iconic device, which, according to sources, is already being prototype.

Artwork: Dlite Chip report states that Apple is working to develop the technology that makes it easier to work on multiple networks, presumably a hybrid: GSM/CDMA. The Verizon iPhone, launched this week, has a chipset that is able to support both standards, has been revealed.

Recent figures from analyst firm Canalys show that Google's Android OS is quickly grabbing market share in the smartphone space and is now the best-selling mobile OS.

Other reports from Gartner, IDC and comScore all agree that at the moment, Android is the smartphone market in hot property.

According to the report, a model that Apple is working on is about one-third lower than the current iPhone models and has no Home button, something that was mentioned before by the fifth generation iPhone rumor mill. It can be started in the summer, perhaps alongside the iPhone 5. However, the source also said that the plans could be eliminated altogether.

HP purchase Game for Google Analytics

Hewlett-Packard announced Monday plans to purchase data warehousing and analytics vendor reserved for a sum Game.

The move comes shortly after HP gradually its Neoview data warehouse platform, which has failed to gain much market share since its launch several years ago.

The game's technology will allow HP to provide "sophisticated, real-time business analytics for large, complex data sets in physical, virtual and cloud environments," the company said in a statement.

The acquisition also represents the most significant strategic move for HP recently appointed CEO Léo Apotheker since joining the company in September. Apotheker is expected to detail its plans in more depth in an event in March.

HP is leading a broad strategy for data analytics, having recently Microsoft announced plans for a new series of analytical equipment.

In general, the company's management is not surprising, given track record of Apotheker as former CEO of SAP, who found success through the acquisition of BI (business intelligence) software vendor Business Objects, as well as the fact that the Google analytics product sales have remained strong enough through the global economic recession.

(More to follow).

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and General technology breaking news for the IDG News Service. E-mail Chris is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

Galaxy Samsung 10.1 tab set to stand out

Samsung Galaxy card 10.1It only recently was introduced formally, but the Samsung Galaxy card 10.1 was almost a foregone conclusion. Although more manageable by 7-inch tablets have made headlines in recent months, including the first Galaxy card, manufacturers have had Apple iPad in their sights. And to compete toe-toe with 9.7 inches iPad, it was only a matter of when--not if--we would see a flood of class 10-inch tablet. So much so that it is starting to get hard to tell them apart.

In this gold rush of Tablet PCs, we can expect to see slightly different designs and industrial models. But let's face it--these tablets will be dominated by their large-screen, and everything beyond is the wrapper or packaging. And there's only so much differentiation that can be made there. Is plasticky, or have a metal frame; There are ports and card slots, or is all about smooth lines and not direct-attachements; It weigh less or smaller measure than the competition? These are the kinds of details that distinguish tablets because of distance, tablets are greatly resemble each other.

The official specs on Galaxy card 10.1 make highly competitive with other tablets so far announced. Like other Android 3.0 (EPAs)-based models, the Galaxy card 10.1 Pack an Nvidia dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 2 CPUs and cameras and rear-front (from 2 megapixels and 8-Megapixels, respectively).

Size Matters

The Galaxy card 10.1 has two clear WINS physical than the competition, though: weight and dimensions. The Tablet is available in £ 1.3, compared with 1.6 pounds for the TouchPad of HP (with a screen 9.7 inches), 1.6 pounds for Apple iPad (Wi-Fi + 3 G version comparable) and 1.6 pounds for the Motorola Xoom 10.1-inch.

Xoom and iPadThat weight difference might not seem like much, but it is significant when you hold the device in hand for any period of time. Ever noticed how well Apple's commercials and ads for ipads show someone leaning the device against something? That's why iPad feels heavy, especially if you plan on holding it while reading. I have already taken the Xoom and thought that was too heavy and unwieldly at that weight--in fact, I was disappointed that Motorola nor HP appeared able to shave anything off weight specifications of iPad, one year after the model has been introduced. That Samsung has made progress in this regard is encouraging, both for Android tablets as a whole and for the prospects of this Board of Galaxy Samsung compete against any new Apple tablet is coming our way in the coming months.

The other specifications that held in tablets announced I was deep. Universally, tablets of class 7 and 10-inch alike were constantly coming in half-an-inch thick. Samsung dollars that well, trend from seven-shave hundredths of an inch off the depth, size 0.43 inches, compared to the iPad's (first generation) and 0.5 inch of Xoom and 0.54 touch pad. Extra bit is not dramatic, but it is clear--and this should help keep competitive the Samsung model with the second generation of Apple iPad (rumored to be slimmer than its predecessor as well).

Looking Good

Curiously, Samsung's TouchWiz interface not on Galaxy card 10.1. Samsung Tablet called her a "Google experience", but it is not clear whether Samsung has made this choice (which would be an odd interruption from the company of other products of Galaxy), or if Google is actively trying to minimize problems of fragmentation of Android OS by Nixing overlaps and thereby OS updates to roll out more easily through devices.

The reality is that the block has a higher for Android 2.x, one that minimizes the need to overlap, so from that perspective, the lack of TouchWiz is not a bad thing. But having said that, without TouchWiz--or some other individualized and customized experience on the device--becomes even more difficult to tell these gadgets apart.

Join the Pack

So what else Samsung Galaxy card 10.1 stack up? Pretty good, only with numbers alone. You get a choice of 16 GB or 32 GB of storage, same like the TouchPad on HP; Apple also offers 64 GB, while Motorola Xoom is just a taste, 32 GB. But there is no memory card slot, and there is still no USB port--omissions both noteworthy and disappointing, given that Xoom has both Motorola and TouchPad HP has at least a microUSB.

Display resolution 1280 x 800 corresponds to that of Xoom and exceeds that of the iPad (first generation) and the TouchPad. It is interesting, I noticed that none of those companies outside of Apple is talking about the pixel depth of the screen, a specific Apple has brought to the fore with the launch of the iPhone 4 last year. The "retinal display" on the iPhone 4 loot surely eyes; the clarity and smoothness of engraving on the device and the lack of visible pixels inside the letters, makes it difficult to accept some of the screens we are seeing now. It is not clear when Apple will migrate the retinal display its Tablet PC, but you can only hope that eventually happen. As soon as possible. And, then, that the makers of Android Tablet you can step up on the side of the equation.

Samsung did not announce the carriers or U.S. availability plans for Galaxy card 10.1, but it will hit Europe in March. If I were a betting person, I would bet that we'll hear more about a U.S. launch of the Tablet 10.1-inch at the upcoming CTIA Wireless show a little more than a month from now to Orlando.

Cisco Gears up for expected Mobile data deluge

Cisco Systems will make a three-pronged attack on the Mobile World Congress this week on what it sees as an imminent flood of mobile data, especially video, extending its current product lines with the tools for a better distribution of content.

The big splash includes Cisco points for networks of service providers to access first IEEE 802 11n, extensions to its recently announced Videoscape architecture and mechanisms for its access switches optimize networks for certain types of mobile traffic.

Carriers need the types of tools that Cisco is Unveiling, even if you are already distributing their cellular networks faster still, said analyst Daryl search School of current analysis. LTE (Long Term Evolution) and other new systems represent a leap forward for 3 G platforms in terms of capacity and speed, but consumers gather in localities and popular media applications will still tax network, he said.

"No matter how operators spend on networks ... There is still limited capacity," search school said. Wi-Fi will continue to play an important role in the networks of mobile operators and carriers you will want to optimize the infrastructure for the best deal with growing traffic, she said.

"Operators cannot be constantly (ask) capacity as far as I can throw it, ' they also learn to manage the capacity that they have," search school said.

In a forecast published recently, Cisco has estimated that mobile video traffic would more than double every year from 2010 until 2015, when would make two-thirds of all mobile data. Cisco doesn't make cellular radio networks, but provides wired systems and network management that sits behind the cellular infrastructure, as well as Wi-Fi networks that some carriers use to share data from primary wireless network.

Wireless access points Aironet Cisco 1550 series Outdoor are designed specifically for mobile operators, municipalities and cable operators to provide wireless coverage in the public areas. They will integrate the company's Hotspot Technology for next generation, which has been designed to allow mobile operators to automatically subscribe to hotspot access and set the encrypted connections. The family of 1550 will include clean air, a Cisco technology has recently announced that allows access points detect interference and run on different channels in response, according to Chris Kozup, Manager of borderless networks at Cisco.

To address the growing volume of videos on all types of mobile carrier networks, the company is announcing Cisco Mobile Videoscape, a member of global platform Videoscape announced last month at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Mobile Videoscape consists of new technologies for switching Cisco ASR 5000 and UCS server platform (Unified Computing System) to deliver video content smoothly regardless of power or network device, said Andy Capener, Director of marketing for mobility service providers. Among other things, Videoscape can transcode video Mobile in different formats and resolutions for display on screens of different sizes and networks slower or faster, he said.

Cisco is also introducing its switch software for ASR access, 1000, 5000 and 9000, residing on the end of the wired network to a mobile operator, to route traffic more intelligently and efficiently. AIR technology (Adaptive intelligent Routing) uses detailed information about subscribers, locations and applications infrastructures EPC (Enhanced Packet Core) to take such decisions, said Capener. EPC is the next generation of systems to control traffic on mobile networks, and can be used to assign specific levels of service quality based on policies, application vendors and current conditions of the network.

Traffic management tools can help carriers, but can also benefit users if deployed well, said search school. Although some subscribers may balk at the notion of a vector by reducing video from high-standard definition so that you can stream smoothly on a congested network for a laptop, others on cell that can keep browsing the Web at the same time might be grateful, said search school.

Consumers are likely to start benefiting from the new technologies in the hands of carriers within a year or so, because service providers will be aggressive in distributing, believes search school. "It seems that things are ramping up faster than we thought," he said.

The family of 1550 access points will begin to roll out in April and will range in price from US $ 4495 to $ 5,288.

Even if it does not provide radio networks as rivals such as Alcatel-Lucent do, search school believes that Cisco may be ready to grab a growing share of investments of the mobile operators because of its long heritage in data network. Data are today what being a cellular carrier is mostly about, he said.

Stephen Lawson covers mobile technologies, storage and networking for the IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @ sdlawsonmedia. E-mail address of Stephen is stephen_lawson@idg.com

EU to consider new plans to reduce telephone Roaming charges

The European Commission will have to consider radical new measures to reduce the cost of mobile roaming rates after nearly all respondents to the consultation said that prices were unfair.

European roaming charges are currently more than three times that of domestic charges. Even Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Monday described the current expenditure as "rip offs." And the prices for roaming data is even higher. "Consumers often pay less than 5 cents to download a MB of data at home, but this can turn into Euro 2.60 MB when the consumer himself through a border invisible!" "said Kroes.

This is despite efforts by the Commission to bring down prices. Roaming caps were introduced in 2007. -The limit Travelers ' data roaming is default set at € 50 (US $ 67) excluding VAT and operators must send users a warning message when they reach 80% of that. Customers can change this limit, but it was the objective of the default to remove the so-called "bill shock" received by many customers to return from abroad.

These rules shall apply until the end of June 2012, but the Commission is due to present new plans by June of this year aimed to move closer to the goal of zero difference between domestic and roaming rates by 2015.

One idea is to break down the roaming services from other mobile telephony service, allowing customers to purchase roaming irrespective of their national mobile provider. Such a move could create an entirely new telecommunications market.

Other suggestions include legislation to mandate a phrasing between roaming charges and domestic prices. "Initial indications from our consultation suggests strong support for continuing price regulation. A significant number of respondents seem to agree that some form of regulation of retail prices should also be introduced for roaming data, "said Kroes.

A Eurobarometer survey published on Monday, revealed that 72% of European mobile phone users to limit their voice calls while abroad because they are worried about the cost, while about one in five has reduced the use of roaming services in the past four years.

Meanwhile, Ryanair Monday launched a roaming service with Maxroam. Although it claims to be "the world's first free mobile phone roaming service" customers must still pay for calls to a fixed rate of € 0.29 per minute and for sending texts to € 0.09 each. But Ryanair has also offered 1 million free minutes for incoming calls.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter to feedback @ BrusselsGeek or via email at jennifer_baker@idg.com.

Dell introduces CPU core Server with 96

Dell on Monday introduced a server that can host up to 96 CPU cores--a big boost of computational power provided by your hardware.

The Dell PowerEdge server C6145 is one of the fastest ever introduced the company, "said Armando Acosta, product manager at Dell PowerEdge-c. The server includes two nodes to four sockets for up to eight 12 AMD Opteron 6100 series quad-core.

The server is designed to run in scientific or mathematical applications and can also be used in the cloud and virtualized computing environments, says Acosta. An outer frame with multiple graphics processors can also be connected to the server for applications such as video rendering.

There is a growing demand from customers for more benefits in servers that consume less power, said Tim Carroll, Director and lead global research computing at Dell. Power plugs are designed buildings, so that customers are looking to consolidate servers to save energy.

Dell is working with suppliers of components to meet these requirements of power and performance. The company is offering low power Samsung memory with the server and the chips from Advanced Micro Devices because those who have more CPU cores more Intel chips, offering up to eight cores. Dell not offering Intel chips on the server for now, says Acosta.

Most customers are also looking to add graphics processors at the side of the CPU to create clusters for some applications, said Acosta. Server with GPUS may use more power, but they can also handle more work, which can reduce the need to pack more servers in a datacenter.

The company is working with clients to set the test benches which can be exploited the CPU and GPU power of parallel processing, Carroll said. Customers can use parallel programming tools, including the Nvidia CUDA or OpenCL Technology Consortium Khronos Group writing applications. However, Nvidia CUDA is a popular option for now, Carroll said.

The C6145 has up to 1 TB of memory. The server is 44.8 cm (17.6 inches) wide and deep, 79 cm (31 inches). It is based on the design of server rack-mount PowerEdge C6105, which was introduced in September and can accommodate up to 48 processor cores in a 2U box.

The server is also compatible with socket, so that customers will be able to connect AMD's upcoming Interlagos microarchitecture to replace the AMD Opteron 6100. Interlagos chips will include up to 16 processor cores and become available in the third quarter of 2011.

An outer frame C410X with PCI Express slots can be connected to the server to add up to 32 processors. The server is equipped with both Novell Suse, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows HPC Server 2008.

Dell also chose Intel because AMD provides flexibility in server prices, said company officials. The C6145 is priced from US $ 18,000 and will become available on 28 February in 20 countries including the USA, Canada, Germany, Great Britain and France.

Dell'India Satyam rebounds, but progress is slow

Indian Outsourcer Satyam Computer Services, which is recovering after a scandal company, said that revenues and net profits grew in the third quarter that ended on 31 December.

The company, which was once the fourth largest outsourcer India, is far from reaching the levels of its competitors, such as the Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro revenues and profits. All three companies reported strong growth in revenues and profits during the quarter ended 31 December, enjoying a revival of the market of outsourcing.

Satyam said Monday that revenues had grown up to 12.8 billion rupees ($ 281 million) by approximately 3 percent compared to the previous quarter, while net income was more than doubled to 590 million rupees from 233 million rupees in the prior quarter. The results are in accordance with the Indian accounting standards.

The company now is stable at the level $ 1 billion to $ 1.1 billion in revenue, and there's more, an exodus of customers said regarding apt and main analyst Sudin, and CEO of Offshore insights, research and consulting firm in Pune, India.

Satyam has also started concentrating on selected markets, but these efforts have not yet translated into strong growth of revenues and profits for the company, although the outsourcing market is bouncing back, he added.

A comparison with the figures for revenue and profits of the company in the same quarter the previous year is not available, because it has been exempted from Company Law Board of India from the publication of financial results for the quarters ended December 31, 2008 to March 31, 2010.

Operating margins of society are still very thin, to less than 4 percent, said regarding apt and. Going from current levels of revenue, the company shows a drop in revenue of around 8% in its fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, he added.

Satyam immersed in a financial crisis in 2009 on an accounting scandal that had been inflated revenues and profits for several years. Now, Satyam plans to merge with another Indian outsourcers, Tech Mahindra, who acquired a 43% stake in Satyam dominant in 2009 as part of a stimulus package for the company. The minority shareholders have asked that the merger shall be postponed until complete recovery of the company, and when equity valuations are reasonable.

The company reported in November last year that it had returned to profit in the quarter that ended on 30 June and 30 September.

The company is still sellata with a lot of contingent liabilities and costs, including a complaint from some 37 companies who say that they want to be reimbursed 12 billion rupees they presumably had advanced Satyam.

The company faces a class action suit in the United States alleging infringement of U.S. federal securities laws. After failed to publish its results according to the U.S. accounting rules within a prescribed time, the company delisted last year by the New York Stock Exchange.

Its profits during the quarter were reduced from 533 million rupees in extraordinary restructuring related costs, forensics and litigation support and erosion in the value of the goods in subsidiaries.

However, these are the risks that were already taken into account before and are not likely to affect the operations of the company or customer trust, said regarding apt and.

The company added 764 staff in quarter taking the total of 28,832 at the end of the quarter. The company had 217 customers at the end of the quarter.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and General technology breaking news from India to the IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @ Johnribeiro. E-mail address of John john_ribeiro@idg.com

AMD on track to ship Bulldozer Server chips in Q3

Upcoming Opteron processors for Advanced Micro Devices ' server based on Bulldozer architecture will become new available during the third quarter, the company said Monday.

The new microprocessors include code-named Interlagos chips with up to 16 CPU cores and Valencia code-named microprocessors with up to eight cores, an AMD spokesman said in an e-mail.

The chip will launch as AMD seeks to reverse its fortunes in the server market. AMD has lost market share from Intel and new products will replace existing Opteron chip with up to 12 cores that were built around an aging architecture. AMD held a market share of 6.5% compared to the share of 93.5% of Intel during the second quarter of last year, according to IDC.

The Bulldozer chip manufacturing will start in the second quarter, AMD said. The chips will be made using the new 32-nanometer manufacturing process, compared with the 45 nm process used for chip Opteron that exist. July AMD cited ramp and performance problems with the 32 nm process, which led the company to delay the delivery of its first 32 nm chips, code-named Llano, a few months. Llano chips are targeted to consumer PCs and are due to start shipping in the first half of this year.

Bulldozer processors will be up to 50% faster and have more throughput of memory more chips current server, AMD said. The new architecture supports multiple components as units between CPU core, which helps the chip to execute more operations per clock cycle consuming less energy floating-point.

The chips also Sockets-Bulldozers are compatible with the existing chip Opteron 6100, which should make it easier for customers to update the server.

AMD also strengthened its current Monday offered by chip announcing three 12 quad-core Opteron 6100 executed between 1.8 GHz and 2.5 GHz. The Opteron 6166 he runs to 1.8 GHz, 65 Watts of power draws and price is US $ 873. Opteron 6180 IF runs at 2.5 GHz and draws 105 Watts of power and price is $ 1,514.

The company has also launched two new eight quad-core Opteron 6100. The Opteron 6132 he runs at 2.2 GHz and is priced at $ 591, while the $ 989 that Opteron 6140 runs at 2.6 GHz.

Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer will send the server with the new processors, AMD said. Dell PowerEdge Monday announced the C6145, an eight-socket server that can host 96 CPU cores.

Adobe launches the form and

Adobe has launched a service for conducting online surveys that the company says that should facilitate the process of their creation and analysis of their results.

"Handling forms and survey is traditionally a very long process times, often involving," said Mark Grilli, Director product marketing at Adobe. "You must use a mechanism for retrieving information and another to do the analysis. We have an end-to-end solution would give knowledge workers which tools they need to get their jobs. "

The hosted service, called Adobe FormsCentral, enables organizations to develop a custom survey form that will be accessible from the Internet. Adobe has tried to make the service easy enough to use so that the task of conducting surveys can be done without IT staff intervention, Crickets, he said.

With FormsCentral, the user creates a form online at the Adobe site, or through a set of templates or designing a form from scratch. The form is based on HTML, making them accessible from any Web browser on any platform. Forms can be customized for each participant, with custom name and a message. Adobe provides a Web address for the finished form, which can then be sent to potential participants.

The service also will compile the results into a spreadsheet, which can be parsed or embedded in another Web page. A dashboard shows a summary of the results. Administration tools are accessible from a Web browser using Adobe Flash.

With this offering, Adobe is entering a market is highly competitive and mature, as FormsCentral will compete against similar services offered by Web survey, SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang, FormStack. However, the company is confident that this service will be valid regardless of the competitors.

"We have a unique approach to analysis. Many other solutions to abdicate analysis for an internal tool, "said Crickets.

Instead of downloading the data from the survey resulting in a spreadsheet, a user can search, sort and filter the response data directly into the Adobe service. Multiple participants are permitted to analyze data at the same time, bringing a collaborative service feeling. The service also allows multiple participants to collaborate in the design of the module as well.

FormsCentral is not Adobe's first foray into the world of digital and electronic forms. PDF of the company, of course, be used as a digital form that allows the user to enter information into data fields. And LiveCycle suite of workflow tools company offers a feature set of analysis and design-electronic form.

As a hosted offering Internet-based, however, FormsCentral is suitable for measuring one set most geographically participants that they are easily accessible with the LiveCycle enterprise-focused.

The service will be offered initially only in English, even if the company plans to offer other languages in the near future.

Prices for the service, available Monday, comes in three levels. A free trial includes the ability to post a form and receive up to 50 responses. The subscription service, "Basic", for US $ 14.99 per month, includes the ability to post five shapes and allows up to 500 responses to the form. The "Plus" service, for $ 199, allows unlimited forms with 5,000 responses to your form.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and General technology breaking news for the IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @ Joab_Jackson. E-mail address of Joab is Joab_Jackson@idg.com