Based on the initial agreement Nokia’s Linux Maemo software platform will merge its expertise with Intel’s Moblin, which is also a Linux open-source software developer, to create a new mobile phone operating system called MeeGo.

Strand Consult chief and owner John Strand said that the both Intel and Nokia have recognized that the only way to beat market leaders Apple, Microsoft, and Google is to introduce the new MeeGo to more devices.

“However, both companies also failed to realize that it is not about just the mere scale or numbers. But it is also about what consumer will like. It like bees, they do not just go for the biggest garden but the most beautiful flowers,” Strand pointed out.

To date, many of the consumers are lending toward the Smartphone markets, which can give them more power and control to what they want to have in their handheld devices. So far, iPhone and Google Android devices, as well as Research in Motion’s Blackberry, have been dominating the market with millions of sales worldwide.

Also, both Intel and Nokia’s release of the new MeeGo may be spoiled by the release of a Microsoft mobile phone platform called Windows Phone 7. Many of the experts and consumers have been anticipating the release of the new phone OS, which could further provider stiffer competition against the MeeGo.

Nokia was able to release its only Maemo-based phone called N900. It is a result of a five-year development program in a bid to boost the company’s Smartphone sales.

To date, Nokia still dominates the mobile phone market but is slowly losing ground to higher end phones.  Meanwhile, Intel hopes to get more of its chips into Smartphones.

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According to the report, Andrey Ternovskiy, a high school student in Moscow, founded Chatroulette, which has drawn the attention of many of the online users since the website generates live webcam feed between to strangers.

Ternovskiy also said in an interview with the newspaper that he had only created the hot website just for “fun,” saying that he and his friends got bored by just talking with each other.

“The website will ramdomly connect me and my friends with people online,” he said.

The high school whiz also said that he wrote the website code all by himself but admitted that it is his relatives that pay for the bandwidth and server host bills.

The buzz over the new website also gutted the attention of Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist working with Union Square Ventures and Flatiron Partners.

In his blog post, the well-know venture capitalist said that he wanted to see Andrey personally and offered the young high school kid to visit New York City.

“I’m still not sure if this is something we should invest in, but I’d sure like to meet this guy. He reminds me of many great young entrepreneurs we’ve worked with and his story sounds so familiar,” Wilson said in his blog.

Despite criticism over the website, which has been tagged as a hotbed for voyeurism and exhibitionism, Wilson said that the disturbing nature of the website is one thing and there is much more that can be done about.

“With over a billion people logging in on the Internet, Chatroulette is something that feels really cool and it offers a quick trip around the whole network by meeting and talking with people,” he said.

To date, the majority of the users of Chatroulette are from the US.

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In Japan alone, at least 95 people complained about the bogus transactions, which were done using their credit cards. Some of the complainants even said that they were being billed by iTunes for thousands of dollars.

Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency said that there has been a notable increase in the number of cases since last year. The agency added that most cases reached to several thousands of dollars.

Sought for comment, Apple Japan officials were not available.

Apple consumers are worried that their main source of music, games, and videos may be subjected to cyberattacks, which is designed to acquire users’ bank and credit card account details to be used in future transactions.

One of the cases cited by the Japanese officials was a woman who had registered her ID and credit card details for several music downloads several years ago. She has not used the cards in the following months and was surprised to learn that she was being charges by the iTunes online store for purchases that she was not aware of.

Meanwhile, the Japanese communications and industry ministers said that they will join the investigation, saying that they will concentrate on how the personal data were stolen and if there are enough security features being implemented by iTunes during transactions.

To date, Japan is considered as the iPhone haven, having sold millions of units in the past months since the newest version was released early last year.

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With the introduction of the new mobile phone software, Microsoft is now putting itself direct against market leaders Apple Inc and Research in Motion, whose mobile phones have dominated the Smartphone category for the past years.

The Windows Phone 7 software will help Microsoft wrest huge market shares from the iPhone and Blackberry devices.

Smartphone market has been growing in an outstanding pace and many analysts see it as the future of communications and Microsoft hopes to smoothen out bumps in the market by giving users another option in Smartphone technology.

Based on records, Microsoft acquired only about 8.8 percent of the total market share of the Smartphone software sales in the world. The figure was down from the 13.9 percent in the previous year.

With the new Windows Phone 7, users can now view their social networking accounts on three different screens, which is divided into the most recent, all, and what’s new.

It also allows user to share music, comments, images, and blogs quickly without any technical difficulties in connecting on the Internet.

Also, users will be given different hubs where they can share images, music, and videos.

However, there are no guarantees that Microsoft will offer the new phone software to all Smartphone out in the market today. But the company stressed that they are now working closely with four major carriers in the United States to help disseminate the use of the software to millions of users.

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The trial on same-sex marriage, which will begin next week, can now be viewed by millions of Youtube users around the world as Chief United States District Judge Vaughn Walker gives the “go signal” to have a video documentary of the trial that can be uploaded on the video-sharing website.

It will be recalled that Walker first floated the idea of live broadcasting of the hearing but met protests from various institutions. Instead of a live broadcast, the judge decided instead to record the trial, which will later be uploaded by court employees for delayed broadcast on Youtube.

Walker said that delaying the broadcast of the trial would give the court a strong sense of control over the transmission contrary to live broadcasting being done by various television networks in the US.

The uploading of the trial video on Youtube will be the first federal trial in a Western State, particularly California, which will be aired publicly.

The trial, whether the state will allow gay marriage or not, will also be the pioneering federal trial regarding the “unlawful” discrimination of the gays’ rights that can be viewed by the public on the Internet.

In an interview, Walker said that it is the national importance of the proceedings that has led the governing body of federal courts in the Western US to approve the pilot program.

“This is a great opportunity for people to see how the US judiciary really works and will teach us all great civic lessons,” he added.

But the program is still subjected to the approval of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Several analysts said that it will be just a formality for the Appellate Court to approve the program, saying that the chief judge for the 9th US Circuit Court is the same judge that has announced the pioneering proceedings.

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In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Strickling said on Monday that paving way for the wireless Internet connection will give users more options and hope to lower prices of broadband by injecting new competition into the duopoly of the Internet service market in the US today.

“Finding more radio spectrum for wireless Internet connections is therefore a primary tool for promoting broadband competition,” Strickling said in the letter.

The NTIA chief has included in the letter the inputs of the department while asking the FCC to draft an initial plan for the said program, which could potentially bring a more affordable high-speed Internet connection to millions of Americans.

Strickling also revealed that the plan, in accordance with the 2009 stimulus bill, is due to come out next month.

Based on the acquired documents, the NTIA letter focused heavily on the recently analysis of the US Justice Department, which was filed with the FCC on Monday, over the state of competition among broadband providers.

Strickling said that the analysis, which states that it is still premature to know whether the next-generation wireless Internet access will be able to compete with broadband connection in terms of speed and reliability, which the phone and cable companies boasted.

Earlier, the Justice Department warned that the duopoly in the wire-based networks and the cost of building such structures would mean limited competition giving phone and cable companies to dictate the prices of their services.

The NTIA said the exploration of airwaves would make it more efficient for the FCC and other technology companies to develop new gadgets that would allow users to access the Internet with just the faction of the price being offered by broadband plans.

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In a meeting at a town hall in Shanghai, China, Obama admitted that he has never used the microblogging website personally. However, he said that China, being an emerging economic power, should utilize social networking websites such as Twitter to maximize reach to its people.

“I have never used Twitter or other social networking website,” Obama jokingly said to ward off tension between Chinese officials who have recently restricted the use of the platform.

Obama, on a live broadcast, was in a state visit in China to iron the economic relationship of the two superpowers.

“My thumbs are too clumsy to type or text anything on the phone,” Obama added, pointing to his Blackberry Smartphone.

“I noticed that more and more young people in the US, and in China, are getting very busy with these electronic devices,” the US president said.

Obama then openly said that he is a strong supporter of the use of open Internet and noncencorship of all contents that can be found in the World Wide Web. The statement has a clear indication to the so-called “Great Firewall of China,” which implements a strict control in the contents that can be viewed by online users.

“In my own opinion, the more freely the information flows, the stronger the society becomes,” Obama said in response to an email question regarding the open Internet.

The Obama administration is one of the most prolific users of the microblogging website. In fact, the US president has his own Twitter feed, which can be viewed by members to see what is his next events, speeches, and meetings.

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The Federal Data Protection of Switzerland on Friday issued a statement, saying that they will file a lawsuit before the federal court to force the Internet giant to make several changes to its Google View application, which is aimed to map and photograph every inch of the globe.

FDP Commissioner Hanspeter Thuer, in a statement, said that they want Google to blur all the car plates, façade, and recognizable objects that would violate the right of a person to privacy.

The commission also wants Google to remove photos of areas that are enclosed such as private walled gardens and streets that was registered as private sanctuary.

Likewise, Thuer said that Google should announce, in its website, at least a week in advance before it conducts a photographing or mapping activities in particular cities and towns.

But Google officials said that the move by the FDP was outrageous, saying that they will have to depend themselves in court.

Based on records, the Google Street View is aimed to let users have a panoramic street-level view of the more than 120 cities and towns around the world.

It was not the first time that countries opposed the application. Just recently, European cities and Japan has asked the Internet giant to explain their action and why they photographed their areas without their consent.

“This could potentially expose embarrassing facts about our lives and the private things that we do. Not to mention the safety of our neighborhood from elements that would inflict further disgrace to us and our town,” a concerned citizen from Europe said.

Google was able to take pictures of an entire town using a camera fixed on top of vehicles, which also captured different objects and activities inside fences, walls, and houses.

This now raises the question on whether the Street View only provides a regular passersby view or a voyeuristic eye site to every houses along the street.

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The new iButton application, according to Virgin, has over 98 percent success rate in helping people to overcome their fear in flying. The App was designed to make people comfortable in situations that they fear most like unfamiliar aircraft rides, airplane noises, and dysfunctional airplane rides.

“Millions of people around the world will benefit from our very first iPhone application. Because of the new technology, we are now able to push for our program, “Flying without fear,” and help people live their lives better,” Virgin Atlantic President Richard Branson said in a statement.

“The new App is specially designed for people who have phobia in flying. It can help travel to ease down and to enable them to prepare more for their flight with us,” he added.

The application works by allowing users to work on with their mental condition by resolving issues regarding their flights and even increase the users’ mental performance during the entire duration of the air travel, Branson said.

Mental Workout, the company that has helped Virgin Atlantic with the creation of the program, said that one third of all adults in the world are scared of flying. But with the use of the new technology, they were able to create a system that would eliminate all fears in flying.

The program, according to the company, can be viewed by users through a video-based instruction that includes flight sequence, preparations during flight, and relaxation exercises for people who are flying Virgin Airlines.

People who fear flying can browse different videos that would show them the proper way of breathing that would help them calm down in case of emergencies while in the air.

People will also be educated about the entire operations of the airlines and other safety precautions they should do in case of turbulent times. Frequently asked questions can also be seen depending on the preference of the users.

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According to the group, staring in the second half of next year, new gadget designs like digital single lens reflex and digital cameras, mobile phones, music players, and other handheld device can now share files with each other without having to connect to a designated wireless network first.

Wi-Fi Alliance Marketing Director Kelly Davis-Felner said that they are now readying final preparations for the said launching, saying that they have been discussing the possibility of having electronic manufacturers to include the technology in their new designs.

According to Felner, the technology will give users easier access to photos, music, and documents without having to look or browse the source gadget.

“For example, if you want to look inside those long-trapped photos inside your cameras. All you need to do is switch on the Wi-Fi Direct capabilities of your gadgets.In a camera, for example, you can directly view pictures in for digital photo frames, TV, or even directly print it without opening so many gadgets at once,” she added.

Wi-Fi direct, in theory, acts like the Bluetooth technology, which gives gadgets access to each other. But Wi-Fi Direct developers stressed that Bluetooth has less power for bulk file-transfers and has a much shorter range.

And it has tremendously slow transfer speed making it more difficult for users rather than make their lives easier.

In order for them to address the problem, the people behind Bluetooth have earlier announced its planned merger with Wi-Fi to make even bigger innovations in the said technology.

With the launching of Wi-Fi Direct, users will now be able to send videos and other files that usually eat up huge bandwidth around one location.

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