Intel Vice President Sriram Viswanathan, who runs the wireless investment program at Intel Capital, said the joint investment is a "pretty dramatic" development because it had been the subject of intense speculation within the industry for months. "This removes a lot of the uncertainty that has been talked about for some time in the media concerning the future of WiMAX in the U.S.," Viswanathan observed.

Timing Is Important

Counting previous investments Intel made in Clearwater in 2004 and 2006, the chipmaker's cash commitment to a revitalized Clearwire represents the biggest gamble among the outside supporters. "We already had a $600 million investment through a prior investment and $20 million before that," Viswanathan explained. "So we have a very substantial position in the company alongside the other partners."

The timing of the deal is important because WiMAX only has a few years to become established as the high-speed mobile broadband technology of choice before the launch of a competing technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE) championed by Qualcomm, Ericsson and other mobile-technology vendors. "We don't expect LTE to be a significant mobile issue in the U.S. until 2011 at the earliest," said Forrester Research Vice President Lisa Pierce.

However, Pierce has a different perspective on WiMAX's potential, placing more emphasis on opportunities beyond the conventional mobile-network arena.

"I have been more interested in WiMAX as a way to help smaller business locations to be able to cut the cord on their T1 access," Pierce explained. "I think that sort of potential has very long legs, but it would take a significant effort...
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T-Mobile said it will continue to roll out the high-speed data network to major metropolitan markets, and by the end of this year it expects to cover those cities where most of its subscribers use data services.

Playing Catch-Up

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile USA chief development officer, said his company's data and messaging services are among the highest in the industry. He added that T-Mobile benefits from the "extensive commercial experience of 3G in our European markets," where the technology is more prevalent.

3G service means faster speeds for using the Web or downloading content. Some T-Mobile handsets can operate on the UMTS portion of its 3G network, and they will automatically connect to the best available network in a given location -- either 3G or the older 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE network.

The T-Mobile 3G network is UMTS/HSDPA, and the company said it will launch its first HSDPA device "in the coming months." Some users of other networks have reported that HSDPA generally provides speeds twice that of UMTS.

Sean Ryan, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, said that T-Mobile USA is "playing catch-up" with the other major carriers in the U.S. who already have 3G to some degree, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Alltel.

Delay Due to U.S. Government

Current Analysis' Avi Greengart noted that the delay was caused, at least in part, by the U.S. government, which "stymied T-Mobile time and time again by holding onto the AWS spectrum" that is being used for the 3G network.

But even with a late start, he noted, the rollout is "an incredibly slow staggered release." Greengart also pointed out that T-Mobile is not announcing any 3G-specific data services,...
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It was a national security letter (NSL) -- a secret government demand for documents permitted by the Patriot Act -- and it demanded that the archive turn over personal information on one user. The FBI asked for the person's name, address and all electronic transactional records.

Kahle, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discussed the matter with EFF lawyers and decided to fight. Instead of providing the requested information, the archive submitted only publicly available documents -- and filed a lawsuit challenging the letter.

Wednesday, the FBI and the archive settled the case. The FBI has withdrawn the NSL and lifted a gag order that prevented Kahle or his lawyers at EFF and the American Civil Liberties Union from speaking about the matter.

Standing Up for Rights

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," Kahle said. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."

Since the passage of the Patriot Act, which sharply reduced limitations on the FBI's use of NSLs, the use of the letters has skyrocketed. The FBI issued close to 200,000 letters between 2003 and 2006, the EFF said. The cyberlaw organization said it has uncovered "multiple" misuses of NSL, including one to North Carolina State University.

"This is a great victory for...
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Dell is offering a choice of VMware ESXi 3.5 or Citrix XenServer Dell Express Edition integrated hypervisors. With either option, Dell said the PowerEdge R805 and R905 are optimal for virtualized environments.

"Virtualization is quickly moving beyond hypervisors and hardware consolidation," said Rick Becker, Dell vice president of software and solutions. "Enterprises are looking for a broad array of servers, storage and services designed specifically for virtualized environments."

Rapid Redeployment

Dell says its virtualization performance is higher and the cost is lower than the HP ProLiant DL580 G5, the IBM System x3850, and the Sun Fire X44501. Dell's competitors could not immediately be reached for comment.

On the storage front, Dell EqualLogic storage arrays offer new SAN-aware integration with VMware Site Recovery Manager for data protection and disaster recovery for virtualized environments. Meanwhile, Dell and Egenera are making virtualization and data-center automation a reality beyond the blade chassis.

The Dell PAN system aims to deliver rapid provisioning and redeployment in minutes, not weeks, Dell said. The PAN system is built on PowerEdge 1950 and 2950 servers and Dell/EMC storage, with Citrix XenServer. The system is factory integrated to consolidate and virtualize server resources into an entire Processor Area Network to be managed like hard drives in a SAN.

Dell has also expanded its virtualization services to include a simplification workshop, virtualization operational assessment of virtualized environments, a virtualization health check, and ProSupport Remote Advisory Services, among others, through its Dell Global Infrastructure Consulting Services group.

Meeting Challenges

Dell's new solutions and services demonstrate how one company is approaching virtualization challenges, according to Charles King, a...
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Microsoft already has a deal with Ford Motor for its Sync system, which uses voice activation technology to operate cell phones and play digital music.

With Ford and Hyundai as customers, Microsoft's software could potentially be put into more than 8 million vehicles worldwide each year. Its competitors include OnStar, from General Motors; Johnson Controls; and QNX Software Systems, from Harman International. Systems based on Microsoft Automotive are available in Fiat Group vehicles in Europe and South America, as well as in 12 Ford models in North America.

Windows Automotive will first appear in Hyundai vehicles in North America in 2010, said Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft's automotive business unit. Subsequent versions will give drivers voice control over navigation systems and video entertainment, in addition to cell phones and digital music players.

The Hyundai deal suggests that Microsoft may be achieving the critical mass it needs to encourage other companies to create links to its auto software, in much the same way that third parties create software applications to run on Windows-based computers.

With millions of potential users, Global Positioning System navigation device makers like TomTom and Garmin may start developing software for their products specifically for Ford and Hyundai.

"Microsoft is certainly raising their level of involvement and their competitiveness in the automotive industry," said Phil Magney, an analyst at Telematics Research Group. "It makes it one of the top operating systems that automakers must consider in developing their infotainment systems."

The financial terms of the deal were not announced, but Magney noted that revenue from the automotive systems was minuscule compared with other areas of Microsoft's business.

So the goal of becoming the software standard for cars is largely strategic, creating new ways to align...
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It was Google, in the odd dual role as both unwitting matchmaker and self-interested spoiler.

Google's phenomenal rise, after all, prodded Microsoft, the dominant technology company for more than two decades, to court Yahoo. And Google's success also weakened Yahoo enough to give Microsoft the sense that it could buy the company at a good price.

A combined Microsoft-Yahoo would create a powerful competitor, and Google early on indicated that it would fight the merger on antitrust grounds in Washington and Brussels.

But Google played a part in killing the deal, for now at least, by acting more as friend than foe. It offered to let Yahoo use its more sophisticated search advertising technology, which by some estimates would have meant $1 billion more revenue a year for Yahoo. The partnership would also bring Google more revenue.

The prospect of such a partnership emboldened Yahoo's board to demand more money for the company and eventually caused Microsoft to rethink its strategy.

Steven Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, cited the proposed Google partnership as the main reason for not pursuing a hostile bid and instead walking away Saturday.

"Such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo undesirable to us," he wrote Jerry Yang, Yahoo's chief executive, in a letter, and cited five specific reasons Google would be bad for Yahoo.

Yahoo may well pursue the partnerships with Google, its main rival, to bolster its depressed stock price. Yahoo shares dropped 15 percent Monday, to close at $24.37. The two companies refused to comment.

Not surprisingly, analysts are saying the Microsoft-Yahoo saga has one clear winner: Google. And its stock price reflected that thinking Monday. More than $4 billion was added...
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Apple, which since October has been selling a version of the iPhone that works on Europe's ubiquitous but slower GSM networks in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Austria, plans to sell the 3G version in Italy through Vodafone and Telecom Italia, according to the person.

By selling the handset in Italy through two mobile operators, Vodafone and Telecom Italia TIM, Apple is modifying its strategy of selling the device exclusively through a single operator in each country, in exchange for a share of the data revenue that iPhone users pay to their mobile operators.

Vodafone, based in Newbury, England, is the world's largest mobile operator, with 252 million customers. It said Tuesday that it would begin selling the iPhone in the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Portugal in Europe, as well as in India, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, later this year.

In a separate statement Tuesday, Telecom Italia, whose TIM Telecom Italia Mobile wireless network is the Italian market leader, said it would also sell the iPhone in Italy later this year. Apple announced last week that the iPhone, the fastest-selling handset in the United States, would go on sale this year in Canada.

According to the person, who declined to be identified because of a confidentiality agreement, Apple wants to start selling the 3G version of the iPhone in Europe before August, the time when most Europeans go on vacation and would presumably have a greater need for the device's advanced Internet browser function.

An Apple spokesman in London, Alan Hely,...
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Now, many are digesting a hard reality: Running a wireless company isn't as easy as it seemed.

Many resellers of cell phone service -- which lease the networks of national carriers -- are closing, going bankrupt or struggling.

"Most of these people came in with a gold rush mentality," says Roger Entner, senior vice president of IAG Research. "Let me show up, and millions will flock my way."

The latest casualty is Sonopia, which helped clubs and organizations set up their own mobile services. The company is shutting down, says Greg Beltzer, a spokesman for Sevin Rosen Funds, a Sonopia investor.

Earlier this year, Hispanic-focused Movida Communications and high-end boutique Voce filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While Voce shut down, Movida was quickly snapped up by Paul Greene, CEO of gear provider APC Wireless.

In the past 18 months, ESPN Mobile, Disney Mobile and youth-targeted Amp'd Mobile have all flamed out. All told, about 10 wireless resellers have closed shop, leaving about 55, says consultant Alex Besen of the Besen Group.

Others are struggling. Even Virgin Mobile, the No.2 reseller, said Monday that first-quarter earnings fell 75 percent vs. a year ago. That followed a $14.7 million fourth-quarter loss. The company largely blames the sluggish economy.

Resellers, also known as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), are being tripped up by:

*Fresh competition from the major carriers. With U.S. cell phone penetration reaching 84%, the big carriers are targeting the faster-growing youth and lower-income prepaid markets that had been the province of MVNOs such as Virgin, say Entner and Yankee Group analyst Chris Collins.

*Failure to offer a distinctive service. ESPN, Amp'd Mobile and Helio coveted the same...
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Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan's chief technology officer, told us that there were other surprises from the discovery of the Malaysian-based "crimeserver" that was being used as a command-and-control center for the Trojans installed on infected PCs around the world.

"Quite often we see end-user online banking information being logged, but on this server we found a lot of business-related data, such as e-mail communications, patient medical histories, and even screenshots of Outlook," he said. This compromised information could lead to a host of problems for an organization, from violations of federal regulations about patient privacy to the loss of critical business information.

Crimeware as a Service

Ben-Itzhak said the crimeserver was left totally open so that data could be accessed by anyone. The Finjan report about the attack surmised that crimeware is evolving with a new and alarming customer-service focus.

"Crimeware has reached a new level of sophistication. After the birth of sophisticated crimeware toolkits, closely followed by Crimeware-as-a-Service (CaaS), we now see the availability of user data as a 'customer' service by granting open access to the crimeware server with the harvested data."

Finjan researchers noted that the Malaysian server had changed hosting locations a number of times between late last year and the time the crimeserver was discovered, "likely to prevent it from being closed down...
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The answer is taking on greater importance as more outraged Yahoo shareholders threaten to sue the company's board -- or try to replace the 10 directors -- for the way they responded to Microsoft's sweetened offer.

With shareholders up in arms, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has been trying to raise doubts about the legitimacy of Microsoft's last bid of $33 a share by pointing out that it wasn't submitted in writing.

There is even a theory circulating that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer dangled the new offer before his Yahoo counterpart, Jerry Yang, fully knowing that it would be spurned and open a window for him to flee a deal that was starting to look like a potential albatross.

Yahoo shares fell 37 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $25.35 as trading opened Monday, while Microsoft shares rose 6 cents to $29.76.

In Tokyo, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the company isn't pursuing other deals. He said the company put "a lot of effort" in the talks with Yahoo and has decided the two should pursue "independent paths."

Since the talks unraveled, The Associated Press contacted people familiar with the deal to piece together how the final days of negotiations unfolded. These people asked not to be identified because the talks were confidential.

While they differed on some details, the people agreed Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft didn't spell out the $47.5 billion offer in writing. Instead, it was orally presented by both Ballmer and Brad Smith, the software maker's general counsel.

In contrast, Microsoft's initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, was sent to Yahoo's board in a Jan. 31 letter that contained specific financing terms.

Although raising a takeover bid orally isn't ideal, it's acceptable when two sides like Microsoft...
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