<IT WORLD> Google gains mock warning
By Martin J Young
HUA HIN, Thailand - Google's bid to take over leadership of the social
networking through Google+ may cost more than US$200 million and slow down
second-quarter profits for the search giant, analysts warned - and were soon
put in their place when the company on Thursday posted a 36% rise in net profit
from the same period last year.
Second-quarter profits rose to US$2.5 billion on sales worth $9 billion, Google
shares surged more than 10% on the news before giving up early gains. Chief
executive Larry Page, who replaced Eric Schmidt in April, expressed his
enthusiasm for the response to Google+ and understated that the company "had a
great second quarter".
Company executives updated users on their feedback on the service with promises
of better functionality and tools. One such
tool in high demand has been an address book updater that makes it easier for
users to find their friends and add them to Google+ Circles. Privacy tweaks to
enable people to hide their gender were also on the list of new additions to
the platform.
Scammers have exploited the fledgling social network by distributing fake
surveys and promising invites to the service. The fake invites, distributed via
e-mail, send users to survey websites which ask for personal details or prompt
a file download that will infect the recipient computer. Security company Trend
Micro has warned about the dangers of downloading files, which are not
necessary to setup a Google+ or Facebook account.
Rival network Facebook has been blocking third-party tools that enable users to
export their contacts for use on other platforms, namely Google+.
Internet
The number of websites in China dropped by 41% last year, according to a report
by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The Peoples Republic of Censorship
launched a pornography crackdown in 2009 which is claimed led to the drop in
websites. Around 1.3 million websites were closed down.
The study still insists that there is a high level of freedom of speech in
China. Wu Qiang, an Internet analyst at Tsinghua University, claims otherwise.
"The number of interactive websites, including online forums, has plummeted.
The drop in numbers was effective in controlling speech. Online forums and
bulletin boards are much less active than before." he told the South China
Morning Post.
In recent years, the Chinese government has tightened regulations on starting
and opening websites and has expanded its Internet monitoring workforce, which
now numbers an estimated 30,000 plus. Many websites are routinely blocked such
as the BBC, Asia Times Online's Chinese edition, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The rate at which the bricks are being added to the Great Firewall seems to be
accelerating.
Telecoms
As Apple and Google consume more of the smart-phone market, BlackBerry maker
Research In Motion has been working on a new operating system and seven new
handsets in an effort to claw back some of that lost share.
Shareholders and investors fired some tough questions at company executives
during the annual meeting this week following a drop in market share from
almost 29% to 24.7% in the first two quarters.
Chief executive Jim Balsillie announced that the seven new phones will be
powered by a completely new operating system. They will hit the shelves in the
coming months. No further details or specifications on the units were released
at the time, much to the disappointment of eager investors looking for a
turnaround.
BlackBerry has 67 million subscribers and has logged over a billion downloads
from App World, its online mobile applications store. Apple meanwhile has
surged ahead in the mobile apps race, claiming 15 billion downloads from its
App Store since 2008. Google's Android Market has seen 4.5 billion app
downloads, so it too is way ahead of Research In Motion.
Science
The 12-day mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis that started on July 8 marks the
end of an era of space exploration, with the flight to deliver supplies and
components to the International Space Station the last of the 30-year shuttle
program for NASA.
With the United States caught in tough economic times, and future NASA missions
will need to be very budget conscious if they are to secure approval. Cutbacks
have seen the US astronaut corps dwindle from 128 to 61 in the past 10 years
and an average of 22 Americans heading into space per year will drop to just
three or four.
After the final Atlantis voyage touches down on July 21, US astronauts will be
looking to their former Cold War enemies for their next trip into space.
Russian-made Soyuz space capsules will be the ticket off the planet for US
astronauts needing to visit the International Space Station. Those tickets will
cost US$51 million per seat, rising to $62.7 million in 2014. NASA claims that
the 8.5% increase per year covers general inflation in Russia, which will be
providing the ride. A two-year Russian language and engineering training course
will also be a new requirement for astronauts.
Future American space projects include the construction of a replacement
shuttle by 2015 and a long-haul Mars-bound spacecraft by 2030.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
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