mirc25.com

Push was part of the initially tragic launch of MobileMe in 2008–a launch so poorly implemented that the word “push” was removed from descriptions of MobileMe until synchronization between computers and mobile devices (i.e.
iPhone and
iPod Touch) would perform at an acceptable level.

Faster syncing with Mac and PC. Changes you make to contacts and calendars on your Mac (Address Book and iCal) or PC (Microsoft Outlook) are now automatically pushed up to the cloud every time you make an update. Likewise, changes you make on me.com, iPhone, or iPod touch are automatically pushed to your Mac or PC. As a result, your contacts and calendars update faster across all your devices. To take advantage of faster syncing, be sure you’re running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 (Mac) or MobileMe Control Panel 1.3 (Windows).

Over the past few months, we have been working hard to make MobileMe the best service it can be. Here is a summary of the improvements and performance enhancements that have recently been completed.

Easy file sharing. iDisk now makes it even easier to share files that are too big to email. Simply select a file in the iDisk web app and click the Share File button to generate an email with a download link. You can also optionally add password protection and set an expiration date for the link. For more details, view this tutorial.

“Dear MobileMe member:

Better web app performance. We have also improved the overall performance of the web apps at me.com including faster start time in Calendar and searching in Contacts. For more details, see this support article.”

In order for all of this to work properly, you must be using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 or the MobileMe PC Control Panel 1.3. The iPhone or iPod Touch must have firmware 2.2 or later.

Read Apple’s letter to MobileMe subscribers below and note the additional information about file-sharing using iDisk, which was previously announced a few weeks ago.

Improved notifications and sync on iPhone. Reliability of new email notifications and syncing of contacts and calendar with MobileMe have both been improved. To get the best MobileMe experience on your iPhone or iPod touch, you should be running iPhone Software 2.2 or later.

Apple distributed an e-mail recently to MobileMe subscribers that detailed some improved features, but the biggest news from that e-mail was the fact that push is back.

Now that push is in business again, syncing with Macs or PCs is faster. Any updates that you make to contacts or calendars on your
Mac in iCal or Addressbook, or on your PC using Microsoft Outlook are automatically and rather quickly pushed to the cloud. Conversely, any updates made to MobileMe data at me.com, or on an iPhone or iPod Touch is pushed back your Mac or PC. Finally, all your contacts and calendars will update across your devices much faster than previously.

Starbucks isn’t giving up on music completely. The chain will continue to offer the free Wi-Fi access to Apple’s online music store, Silicon Alley reported.

UPDATE:
To include Starbucks’ response.

In March, The New York Times reported that each Starbucks store was selling only two CDs a day on average. Starbucks said its music unit was selling more than 4 million CDs a year.

According to Silicon Alley Insider, Starbucks is planning to carry only four CD titles at a time in it’s stores by September.

Seattle-based Starbucks once fancied itself as an entertainment center where people sipped coffee and grooved to the latest tunes. The company’s dreams of branching into music has had a troubled past.

“We’re shifting how music is merchandised in the store,” said Bridget Baker, a Starbucks spokeswoman. “There’s going to be a concentrated selection as we refocus on our core business.”

Remember the Hear Music media bars, the in-store CD burning service Starbucks began offering in 2004? That didn’t go anywhere either.

Turns out what people want from Starbucks is the caffeine jolt and maybe a morning bun. The country’s largest coffee chain is giving up on much of its music offering, including iTunes gift cards.

This is a great example of applying technology where it’s needed. A large percentage of IT budgets are spent on infrastructure monitoring and management. Up-time can be anywhere from just important to mission-critical. The problem for many companies, however, is that the medicine is worse than the disease. Implementing expensive, complex monitoring solutions regularly strains budgets or is simply out of reach, even if necessary.

Previously:
Japan’s Plat’Home launches palm-sized Linux server for extreme heat and cold conditions
Japan’s Plat’Home launching palm-sized Linux server in U.S.

More details on hardware specs and software features are here

Plat’Home, a Linux company from Japan that specializes in combining eco-friendly, small, tough hardware with their own version of Linux, is announcing another in their series of MicroServers. Kanshi BlockS Pro, made to monitor servers and various network applications, is now available in North America.

Hardware
KANSHI BlockS offers compact, fan-less, hard-disk-less design for high reliability. Roughly the size of a coffee cup (4.5” x 3.2” x 1.5”), it can fit virtually wherever needed — on a rack, next to a wall socket, or inside bigger appliances. Even without a fan, it can withstand temperatures of up to 104? Fahrenheit, great for offices without climate-controlled server rooms.

(Credit: Plat'Home)

Plat’Home’s Kanshi BlockS is an “it just works” alternative based on open-source software and interesting Japanese hardware. Plat’Home claims that their devices “can be installed in minutes.” And because of their small size, offices without server rooms–or server rooms that are overcrowded–can easily use them. Tomoyasu Suzuki, Plat’Home President, is quoted as saying, “Customers always comment on how they love the option of placing it virtually anywhere. For companies, departments, or remote offices tight on space, it’s a great fit.”

Software
On the software side, there’s as much flexibility as you would expect with Linux. Alive monitoring by ping, port monitoring, network monitoring with SNMP, graphical stats with Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG), and lots more. Up to 255 devices, “regardless of manufacturer,” can be monitored.

Plat'Home Kanshi Blocks Pro

10:53 a.m. PDT: Yang takes the stage, sticking to his optimistic script of Yahoo’s opportunity.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

Another chart presented by Yang on emerging markets.

“The Internet is the only industry that’s growing in advertising revenue. We believe there’s significant growth in the next three years, it’s global, and it’s a business Yahoo is very well positioned to be in.”

SAN JOSE, Calif.–The Yahoo shareholders meeting here has commenced and adjourned. And CEO Jerry Yang and his board did end up getting an earful about the company’s share price and its handling of Microsoft’s attempted acquisition.

11:33 a.m. PDT: The fireworks begin. Eric Jackson, of Ironfire Capital, who represents a group with more than 3.2 million shares asks Bostock to step down. (Note: I initially reported this as a call for the whole board to step down, but it turned out to be a bit unclear.) Last year only 34 to 36 percent voted to keep Bostock as chairman, he said.

11:53 a.m. PDT: A plea from a fantasy sports fan who owns Yahoo stock: “If you’re trying to target men between ages of 15 and 35, it seems you have a competitive advantage over anyone else,” so invest more. The audience chuckles.

11:43 a.m. PDT: Bostock said this year’s vote “is probably more relevant” than last year’s, and he prefers to see 34 percent against as 66 percent for.

He also thinks Bostock should just clam up already about the Microhoo saga. “You’ve got a situation where it sounds like the girlfriend in a breakup now trying to convince the world she was the initiator, not the victim,” he said. Microsoft looks like the “strong, silent type,” and Yahoo looks “weak.”

“We’re still very much in a growth business,” he said, with 1.2 people on the Internet in 2007 growing to an estimated 1.5 billion in 2010.

11:05 a.m. PDT: Yahoo wants to bridge the divide between search and display. “Google is strong in search, AOL is strong in display, but there are really no companies that have the strength and scale in both,” Decker said.

“I think you’re overpaid in compensation, I think you overplayed your hand with Microsoft, and I think you’ve overstayed your welcome after last year’s vote,” he said.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

11 a.m. PDT: Yang doesn’t exactly say good riddance to the managers who left the company in the last few weeks, but he does say this about the company’s reorganization: “We have put in place some of our best talent running these product groups.”

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock speaks to shareholders.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast) 10:25 a.m. PDT:: John Harrington, CEO of Harrington Investments, in describing the human rights proposal he’s backing, adds a little barb about the three Icahn board members soon to arrive. “I do hope Mr. Yang enjoys himself (with) the new board members. I call them the gang of three, because you all deserve one another,” he said.

10:04 a.m. PDT: Bostock welcomes the crowd. “We are now under way.” He introduces the board and thanks them for a lot of work during the recent turmoil generated by Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Yahoo and other events. In the last six months, “We have had more than 30 meetings.”

“You did walk away from a deal that would have added $10 at least to the value of the stock today,” he said. That deal is dead now, “so let’s focus on the future.”

Yang said he did recuse himself from the discussion, and Yahoo got a good price in part because Yahoo Japan is taking over a lot of the costs of the group, he said.

Bostock wraps it up: “With that I’d like to declare this meeting over.”

Also, in outside developments relevant to the meeting, TechCrunch reports that Time Warner has blocked Yahoo’s plans to add former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller to the board as one of three Carl Icahn-backed directors.

Michael Schaefer questions the board on corporate governance issues.

Jorgensen tries currying favor with the audience: “Maximizing shareholder value is the No. 1 goal of management and the No. 1 goal of the board.”

9:59 a.m. PDT: Just before the meeting is set to begin, the Fairmont Hotel ballroom is more empty than full. Perhaps Yahoo planned this when investor and board-member-to-be Carl Icahn was still waging his proxy war and the company expected a a bigger crowd.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

10:56 a.m. PDT: Now here’s the standard speech on Yahoo’s two-part strategy: offer Internet users good starting points and be a must-buy site for Internet advertisers. “There’s no other company on the Internet that has the audience and consumer franchise we have (and) the leadership we have in display advertising, and we are a major player in search, second only to Google,” Yang said.

But fails.

11:21 a.m. PDT: Rosy picture part four: CFO Blake Jorgensen is talking about company finances. In the worst economic conditions in more than 10 years, Yahoo’s revenue and operating cash flow have been increasing, he said.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

10:49 a.m. PDT: Bostock sounds like he wants a little sympathy for the board and management. “It is a hell of a burden to deal with these kinds of offers in an effective and thorough way,” and during that time the company met first- and second-quarter financial targets and stuck to its full-year guidance, he said.

11:18 a.m. PDT: Just about every technology company these days loves the mobile market, but it’s a royal pain to deal with given the variety of handsets, networks, and other technical and business obstacles. Decker is bullish overall: “Eight hundred million users potentially now can access our mobile services. Ultimately, mobile we think will be the leading starting point on the Web, based on how the world is evolving outside the U.S.”

A chart presented by Jorgensen

A chart presented to shareholders by Jerry Yang.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

He also gripes about Yahoo selling Overture Japan to Yahoo Japan for $13 million, on which Yang is a board member. Did Yang recuse himself from the discussions? The price Yahoo sold the asset for “seems far below market value considering Yahoo paid 3 to 5 times market value for RightMedia, Zimbra, BlueLithium and others.”

10:38 a.m. PDT: The Yahoo board has been working on righting the company since 2007, Bostock said, discussing a strategic plan in January. “We agreed at that point that 2008 would be an investment year,” he said. “At every step in that process, the No. 1 priority was to maximize shareholder value.”

Bostock’s tone softens as he discusses Icahn’s arrival. “The board looks forward to that. Carl is a good guy, despite some of the things written about him. He’ll be a very productive member.”

11:13 a.m. PDT: Decker touts Buzz and boasts that it’s displaced Digg as the top way to find content across the entire Internet. Buzz feeds content to Yahoo’s Web site in an attempt to help advertisers, users, and publishers. “With the home page, we are opening it up so we’re surfacing the very best of the Web. Ultimately, advertisers will pay for that attention,” Decker said.

I blogged live from the meeting. We heard presentations from Yang, Chairman Roy Bostock, President Sue Decker, and CFO Blake Jorgensen, and then questions from shareholders. Here is a record of the live blog.

Regarding the comment about overplaying Yahoo’s hand against Microsoft, Bostock said, “That’s a mischaracterization, misunderstanding, and misconception of what happened.”

11:37 a.m. PDT: Uh-oh: there are nine more questioners lined up and we aren’t done yet with part three of question one.

11:03 a.m. PDT: Decker is up now, explaining advertising 101: there are search ads next to search results, and display ads that run everywhere else. Yahoo is trying to make it easier for advertisers to deal with both varieties, which are bought, placed, paid for, and evaluated with very different methods.

Yahoo President Sue Decker takes the stage.

John Harrington describes the human rights proposal he’s backing.

Yang and Bostock don't appear to be enjoying the grilling.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

11:15 a.m. PDT: Decker plugs for SearchMonkey, which lets publishers spotlight search results with richer data. Yahoo enabled SearchMonkey features for LinkedIn, Yelp, and Yahoo Local earlier Friday.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

A 15-minute question-and-answer period gets underway.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

10:45 a.m. PDT: Some emotion is creeping into Bostock’s voice: he’s sounding a little defensive already as he describes the Microsoft acquisition attempt’s history: “At no point did the board or management in any way, despite rumors and speculation, ever resist Microsoft’s proposal,” Bostock said. “There was never any doubt…that the board was open to a deal with Microsoft and for search only if it made sense, but ultimately, there was never a compelling offer put on the table.”

One more question sneaks onto the agenda by popular demand. Why is there only one woman on the board? And why aren’t Yahoo employees represented on the board?

There’s no real response, so it’s now officially over.

It’s pretty rare for these sorts of proposals to make much headway, though.

10:11 a.m. PDT: The voting mechanics are under way. This part would have been more exciting if Icahn had still been trying to take over the Yahoo board. His settlement with Yahoo means that he will get a seat on the board by Monday, replacing Robert Kotick, and then he and the other Yahoo board members will choose two new board members from Icahn’s list of candidates. In other words, Icahn will have influence over the board, but not control.

10:35 a.m. PDT:: The corporate presentations are beginning. Bostock tries to frame the talks the way the company wants them framed: “There’s been a great deal of misunderstanding.”

11:25 a.m. PDT: We’re headed into the question-and-answer period. It’s only going to be 15 minutes long, so likely some folks won’t get their turn at the microphone.

12:15 p.m. PDT: One shareholder added, “I’m a little disappointed one third of directors didn’t show up.” Bostock presents various reasons involving schedules and a medical emergency.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News via Yahoo Webcast)

CFO Blake Jorgensen goes before stockholders.

10:22 a.m. PDT: We’re hearing various shareholder proposals: a pay-for-performance initiative from the United Carpenters Pension Fund and an effort to stop political censorship. “We proposed Yahoo formally adopt a code of conduct in which the company would agree not to engage in proactive censorship,” the representative of New York City’s pension fund said. Also: a request from a board committee on human rights.

Click here for full coverage of Yahoo’s shareholders meeting

CEO Jerry Yang takes the podium.

12:01 p.m. PDT: Meanwhile, outside the meeting, we’ve just learned that Microsoft released a statement criticizing Yahoo’s depiction of negotiations. “Yahoo is attempting to rewrite history yet again with statements that are not supported by the facts,” Microsoft said.

A question is asked from the shareholder floor.

Microsoft’s decision not to pare its efforts more significantly–and cut more jobs–clearly disappointed some analysts who were anticipating the software maker to make deeper cuts.

However, the software maker has struggled to attain profitability in its entertainment unit, its cell phone software unit remains small, and its online efforts continue to lose significant money.

“They look at that as a huge opportunity that they missed and they don’t want to leave it to one company–Google,” Rosoff said.

But should they be so pleased?

Ballmer who often cites the server unit as an example of what can come from such investment, though that effort was closer to Microsoft’s core business than some of its more recent pushes.

Microsoft itself acknowledged on the call that it does not have the leading position in several of its emerging businesses. The company makes the bulk of its money from Windows and Office. It also has a server software business that is profitable and fast-growing.

Krans said he doesn’t expect any big product changes, even online where Microsoft loses money.

Technology Business Research analyst Allan Krans said that it’s just not in Microsoft’s nature to give up on a big bet.

Note: Rosoff is a contributor to the CNET blog network.

The company apparently isn’t cutting any entire products as part of the new cost cuts either, though it did say it would try to better prioritize its investments.

“That’s their modus operandi and it looks like they are going to keep expanding,” Rosoff said.

As for the scale of the job cuts, it was less than some analysts had been projecting and far less than those seen at other big-name firms. The Seattle Times’ Brier Dudley summed it up well.

One of the biggest bets that shows no sign of slowing down is Microsoft’s online effort, particularly in search.

“Losses represent less than 10 percent of operating profit for 2008, which Microsoft sees as the price of admission to what could become a substantial market,” he said.

“Search and
Zune are two examples of Microsoft going against extremely well-entrenched leaders in Google and Apple, failing to make any significant headway, and still refusing to give up,” Krans said. “IBM is on the opposite end of the spectrum, deciding to exit both the PC and printing business once it became clear that HP would be the market leader. ”

However, Directions on Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff said he wasn’t at all surprised that Microsoft didn’t take an ax to more products. The longtime Microsoft watcher said that, as long as Ballmer is CEO, Microsoft is unlikely to pull back from any of its investments in areas such as search, mobile phones, or entertainment.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Although Microsoft is cutting jobs, the software maker apparently isn’t axing any major products as part of its cost-cutting moves.

Up to this point, Microosft experienced large success in nearly all of its endeavors, Krans said in an e-mail interview. That has provided Microsoft with both the cash it has needed for new businesses, as well as incentive to keep trying.

“Today’s cuts aren’t a radical transformation of Microsoft,” he wrote. “It’s a little inpatient liposuction, so the company will fit into the smaller pants it has to wear for a while.”

On a conference call with analysts Thursday, though, CEO Steve Ballmer defended the company’s decision to stick by all of its businesses, even as it looks to cut up to 5,000 jobs.

“I like our portfolio,” Ballmer said on the conference call. “The board likes our portfolio,” he said, before moving on to the next question.

Thus far, Microsoft has announced plans to cut only one product, its Windows Live OneCare security service. Even that one will be replaced by a new, free product code-named Morro.

Rosoff said that even accepting that premise, he sees some areas to cut. One example he cited was all of the Web content Microsoft creates for MSN.

“I think some of their MSN assets, though profitable today, are not a good fit, long term,” Rosoff said. “To have a network of content sites just doesn’t seem like a core Microsoft businesses today.”

Microsoft is training the officers how to use technologies that can help them fight cybercrime as well as help them investigate traditional crime with an online component. Nearly 400 people from more than 80 agencies in 35 countries are attending.

Tim Cranton (right), Director of the Internet Safety Enforcement Team at Microsoft, demonstrates new forensic tool COFEE for Jean-Michel Louboutin, executive director of police services, Interpol, at the Law Enforcement Technology 2008 conference. COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) provides investigators with a means to easily and quickly extract ‘live’ data from a suspect’s computer at the point of seizure, before turning it off.

This is the second such event Microsoft has held; the first was in 2006. Microsoft has trained more than 6,000 officers from more than 110 countries and does regular training with state officials and organizations like the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Kornblum says.

Officials also will be trained on a relatively new computer online forensic evidence extractor, with the acronym of COFEE, that was developed by a former Hong Kong cop who now works for Microsoft. COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), designed for use during police raids, is a USB thumb drive that captures evidence on a computer that could be lost when the computer is shut off, according to Kornblum.

For instance, attendees will learn how to pull evidence off PDAs running Windows CE and how to gather evidence from Microsoft’s online services and products like Hotmail and Windows, says Aaron Kornblum, a senior attorney for Microsoft’s Internet Safety Enforcement Team.

Microsoft also operates a law enforcement portal where officials can get free technical support.

Hundreds of officials from agencies around the world including the FBI, Interpol, state attorneys general, city and county police, and the Air Force are attending a three-day technology training session at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., campus beginning on Monday.

With all the phishing attacks, identity theft, and botnets out on the Internet, police can use all the help they can get.

(Credit:
Microsoft)

Other authorities of the director include reviewing the plans and policies of other agencies relevant to the information infrastructure, as well as physically inspecting facilities. The National Security Agency’s director would work with the NCSC’s director on developing plans to evaluate the government’s information infrastructure.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in March announced the appointment of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rod Beckström as the NCSC director. Beckström reports directly to Chertoff, though Under Secretary Robert Jamison is responsible for the DHS’ overall cybersecurity efforts, which along with the NCSC includes the U.S. Computer and Emergency Readiness Team and its intrusion detection system, called Einstein.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday introduced its DHS authorization bill (PDF) for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, which calls for the director of the National Cyber Security Center to be appointed by and, in some circumstances, to report directly to the president.

The bill gives the director authority to access any information from government agencies and relevant private sector entities–including law enforcement information, intelligence information, and terrorism information–he deems relevant to the security of the federal information infrastructure. The director would also be responsible for giving guidance over budgets to each agency that operates a federal computer system; he would evaluate those budgets and turn in his evaluations to Congress.

The Senate in its authorization bill provides guidelines for the recently created center, about which the DHS has been slow to provide details to Congress. Critics of the DHS’ operations have called for the White House to assume responsibility of cybersecurity. The transfer of power will be one of the recommendations made by the Center for Strategic International Studies’ Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency in its report to be issued in November.

The bill authorizes $30 million for the NCSC for fiscal year 2009.

The bill officially establishes the NCSC within the DHS, as well its director, a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee. It calls for the director to report to the president directly about strategies and performance metrics for the security of the federal information infrastructure, as well as about inter-agency plans for responding to incidents relating to that infrastructure. The director would report to the DHS secretary on all other NCSC missions.

A new authorization bill would give the White House more oversight of the Homeland Security Department’s much-beleaguered cybersecurity efforts.

Click here for full coverage of the Intel Developer Forum.

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

The smartphone-targeted Moorestown processor–due in 2009-2010–is centered on a highly integrated part called Lincroft, which Intel said has now reached the “first silicon” stage. Langwell is a supporting chip that will handle I/O, or input-output.

The Aigo is one example of many similar mobile Internet device designs (such as the Compal JAX 10) that have sliding keyboards.

The Atom processor is being embedded in industrial devices that often require fanless operation.

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

Intel UrbanMax in laptop configuration

The Xeon 7400, previously codenamed Dunnington, will be the last of the “Penryn” class of processors that Intel will ship, Gelsinger said at IDF. Sun Microsystems, HP, and Dell are slated to ship servers with this chip.

Intel introduced the Media Processor CE 3100 for consumer electronic devices

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

The often-ignored Tukwila (Itanium) processor will go quad-core later this year. Intel bills it as the world’s first 2 billion transistor processor. Tukwila is designed to provide highly scalable and reliable performance for mission-critical enterprise server solutions. The chip will put 4 processor cores on the same die (like the “Nehalem” i7 processor) and pack in a whopping 30MB of cache memory.

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

The tiny Fujitsu U2020 has a 5.6-inch screen and uses an Atom processor

The “Nehalem” Core i7 will use DDR3 memory and QuickPath interconnect technology, both expected to improve performance. The i7 is slated to ship in the fourth quarter.

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

Intel Chairman Barrett brought out Carnegie Mellon University’s Johnny Chung Lee, who demonstrated how cheap, off-the-shelf technology–in this case a makeshift whiteboard–can go a long way. “To be interesting today, technology has to be the fastest, the best, the brightest, the lightest, but here you can see if you sacrifice a little bit of capability and performance for dramatic savings in cost, you can have a pretty dramatic impact,” Chung said.

Intel's David Perlmutter (blue shirt) holds a quad-core HP laptop as he listens to Keith LeFebvre, vice president and general manager for business notebooks, HP PSG Americas

The Core i7 desktop processor will be the first of the "Nehalem" family of chips to launch

The Fujitsu U2020 uses a 5.6-inch screen and packs 60 GB storage and 1GB of memory. It comes with
Windows Vista.

Update with Dunnington and Core i7 photos, text.

(Credit:
Intel)

An Intel official demonstrating the device said that “UrbanMax is an innovation platform from Intel. This is a product-ready concept.” UrbanMax uses “Montevina” Centrino 2 small form-factor (SSF) silicon. SSF chip packaging is used in the MacBook Air and results in lower voltage and smaller size than typical Intel low-power mobile processors.

The IdeaPad S series netbook comes with a 10.2-inch XGA screen, an Atom N270 processor (1.60GHz/533MHz front side bus/512KB cache memory), 512MB of memory, a 5400RPM 80GB hard disk drive, Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless, and Windows XP Home Edition.

Intel's Tukwila chip (a.k.a Itanium) is overlooked these days because lower-end server chips are adequate for many corporate customers

The "Dunnington" Xeon 7400 series is a six-core processor that will ship in September

Aigo P8880 also packs an Atom processor

Intel UrbanMax concept design has a 10-inch screen and uses special low-power Centrino 2 processors

The latest and greatest silicon and derivative products is what the Intel Developer Forum is all about. Moorestown, Tolapai, and Canmore are just a few of the chips detailed at IDF this week, while UrbanMax, new netbooks, and the first laptops based on the quad-core mobile processor were among showcased products.

Intel also officially rolled out its first mobile quad-core processor, the QX9300 (2.53GHz). Hewlett-Packard’s EliteBook 8730w can be configured with the new processor.

Lenovo IdeaPad S series netbook

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Intel)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

The headliner of this year's IDF was the Nehalem processor and Intel had a lot to say about a power-saving technology inside Nehalem called Turbo Mode, which is based on Intel’s Power Gates Silicon Technology

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

(Credit:
Brooke Crothers)

This configuration is priced at $429 and will be available in the next few weeks, according to a Lenovo official at IDF.

It is interesting to note that major PC makers have adopted Intel concept designs in the past. Last year, Intel offered a ultra-thin laptop concept design that was eventually adopted by HP for its Voodoo Envy 133 notebook.

Intel Tolapai system-on-a-chip motherboard

The CE 3100 has been developed for Internet-connected consumer electronics (CE) products such as optical media players, connected CE devices, advanced cable set top boxes, and digital TVs. The media processor (previously codenamed “Canmore”) combines features for high-definition video support, home-theater quality audio and advanced 3-D graphics, all based on Intel’s ubiquitous IA x86 architecture. Intel expects to begin shipments of this product next month.

An Atom processor-based fanless tablet PC from Nexcom

Intel's 2009-2010 Moorestown processor consists of two chips called Lincroft and Langwell

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett delivers the IDF keynote. Barrett criticized America’s K-12 educational system and said great technology still can’t take the place of great teachers.

One of the more novel devices demonstrated was the 10-inch Intel UrbanMax a computer that can switch between a laptop and tablet. This by itself isn’t groundbreaking because tablet PCs from Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba already do this. The novelty is the size and design: it is smaller than an ultraportable–like the Toshiba Portege–yet is designed like an oversize mobile Internet device such as Compal JAX 10. When configured as a tablet, the keyboard is hidden but can morph into a laptop by sliding out the keyboard, which tilts the screen.

The Intel Tolapai system-on-a-chip (SOC) accelerates encryption and decryption of data and the handling of algorithms needed for firewalling.

Intel’s Nehalem processor was a focal point of IDF because it’s a new microarchitecture and because it’s coming soon: the fourth quarter. One of Nehalem’s features that Intel detailed was Turbo Mode, which is essentially a switch that turns off unused processor cores and then uses the remaining active cores more efficiently. Intel Senior VP Pat Gelsinger said that NASA is “anticipating delivery of thousands of Nehalems” for climate modeling and space exploration.

We are expanding our beta testing, so you may be seeing the new site when you come to any of the CNET sites (News, Reviews, Downloads, CNET TV).

It’s a work in progress–if you land on the new pages, give us some feedback (fill out the brief feedback form linked at the top of the pages).

As I wrote in a post in June, we are updating our look and feel after nearly 13 years of variations on neon yellow and green.

Federal regulators have said it would be too expensive for them to create a list themselves, arguing that “the government must engage in an extensive legal analysis to determine whether the gambling Web site is used, at least in part, to place, receive or otherwise knowingly transmit unlawful bets or wagers” and that due process safeguards “would result in considerable added costs.”

At the very least, Williams said, the U.S. government should provide a list of names of Internet gambling businesses that can be identified and blocked–something that regulators are unwilling to do. (One model that’s been suggested is the Treasury Department’s list of “specially designated” people and organizations subject to economic sanctions.)

Given that financial institutions process nearly 100 billion payments a year, according to Federal Reserve data, and given that other governments won’t necessarily be cooperating, identifying which payments are gambling-related is no trivial task.

Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the full House Financial Services Committee, used the chance to talk up his bill that would effectively legalize–but closely regulate, including with criminal background checks and financial disclosure–the online gambling industry. (Here’s our audio interview with him last year.”)

“Consumers will be placed at risk of having lawful transactions blocked,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., chairman of the House monetary policy and technology subcommittee. “It is easy to see how these regulations, if implemented in their current form, could wreak havoc on electronic commerce in the U.S.”

Adding to the complexity is that horse racing was explicitly exempted from monitoring in the 2006 bill, although it’s unclear whether betting itself is legal. The Justice Department thinks it can be prosecuted under the the Wire Communications Act, but the Fifth Circuit has indicated that the statute doesn’t apply to a game of chance.

Frank was one of the few people to raise that point on Wednesday, telling the financial representatives on the panel that there was “a conflict between the obligation imposed on you by the act…and the privacy expectations of your customers.”

Online betting is perfectly legal and government-regulated in many areas of the world: PokerStars is licensed by the U.K.’s Island of Man; Bodog Entertainment is a betting company headquartered in Antigua; so is the World Sports Exchange. Other European Union nations also license Net-gambling firms.

The criticism came at a congressional hearing on Wednesday devoted to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, enacted in 2006 by a Republican Congress after pressure from social conservatives. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department published draft regulations last fall–which financial institutions say will disrupt perfectly legal transactions unless dramatic changes are made before the rules take effect.

Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded Republican presidential candidate, criticizes Net-gambling restrictions on Wednesday, saying ‘people should make their own decisions.’

Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded Republican candidate for president, said that could lead to more Internet regulation: “Though I do not endorse gambling per se, people should make their own decisions. It’s a personal choice. I’ve always been concerned about this type of regulation and legislation–it’s likely to open the door (to control and regulation) of the Internet itself.”

Another unusual aspect is that the draft regulations from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department require “monitoring of Web sites” related to gambling–based on the premise that credit card companies and banks can identify if their payment systems are being used.

In the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve’s 52-page draft regulations, the word “identify” appears 61 times and “monitor” appears 18 times. “Privacy” appears not once.

“There is a risk that financial institutions would misclassify a payment as illegal and thus be exposed to liability,” said Williams, from the Financial Services Roundtable. “We also believe that ‘monitoring of websites’…is inappropriate to include in a financial institution’s monitoring activity.”

(Credit:
U.S. House of Representatives)

No consensus
The difficulty with the law’s approach is that, while banks cooperate internationally to identify terrorist-related funds and drug-related money laundering, there’s zero consensus on Internet gambling transactions.

The 2006 law forces banks and other financial intermediaries to police money flows that could be related to Internet gambling. It never received a formal up or down vote in the entire Congress; instead, Republican congressional leaders simply glued it on to an unrelated port security bill that was approved nearly unanimously.

Banks, credit card companies, and some Democratic members of Congress are predicting that forthcoming restrictions on Internet gambling will ensnare innocent customers and threaten the viability of e-commerce.

The U.S. government’s “decision not to fully define unlawful Internet gambling places our members in a very difficult position,” said Leigh Williams on behalf of the Financial Services Roundtable, which counts Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other banks as members. “They cannot know if a transaction is restricted unless they have in hand specifics of the transaction that in almost all instances they will not have.”