Cyber sex: Did you know this?

Internet has changed everything around us, including sex and sexual behaviour. By adding the prefix cyber to it, Internet has given a new connotation and meaning to the activity.

Having largely blossomed in Internet chat rooms, the word cyber sex today evokes a strong dislike in some, fantasy in others, and is a nuisance to many others. Some call it fun, others term it cheating, but the fact of the matter is it still remains among the top online activities for surfers.

DoCoMo, KTF to sell Google phone next year: report (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc and South Korean partner KTF Co will jointly develop a smartphone using Google Inc software for launch next year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile phone operator, is part of a global alliance to develop phones based on Google's Android platform and has been eyeing a launch in 2009.

DoCoMo owns 10 percent of KTF and the two companies have been jointly procuring handsets to cut costs.

Smartphones, which combine the capabilities of personal computers and mobile phones, have been gaining popularity in Japan, in part led by the July introduction of Apple Inc's iPhone.

DoCoMo aims to introduce the Google phone at a price about 20 percent lower than existing smartphones, as it will save costs on software development using the Android software, the report said. Google is offering the software for free.

The new phone would be the first Google phone to be sold by Japanese and South Korean carriers.

A DoCoMo spokesman said the company had not yet decided to launch an Android-based phone next year.

Japan's second-ranked wireless carrier KDDI Corp is also in the Open Handset Alliance that includes Intel Corp, eBay, LG, Motorola, Qualcomm and Samsung.

T-Mobile has already rolled out an Android-based phone called G1, made by Taiwan's HTC Corp, featuring a tough-sensitive screen, a computer-like keyboard, and Wi-Fi connections.

DoCoMo shares were up 1.5 percent at 160,400 yen as of 0107 GMT, while KTF shares were down 0.9 percent at 27,700 won. Japan's Nikkei average was down 1.1 percent.

iPhone sex: Google application baffled by British accents (AFP)

UK-A new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, a newspaper report and users said Wednesday.

The free application, which allows iPhone owners to use the Google search engine with their voice, mistook the word "iPhone" variously for "sex," "Einstein" and "kitchen sink," said the Daily Telegraph.

Comments left by users on the application's website seemed to confirm the problem. "Awesome job google. only problem is every time I say the word 'fish' it registers as 'sex'," wrote one, identified as Kevin.

A video demonstration of the Google Mobile App on the online giant's website shows an American engineer successfully asking for pictures of the Golden Gate as well as cinema timetables and temperature conversions.

The website also includes a link to a video showing people with Irish, British and Chinese accents asking for relatively complicated searches, with apparent success.

But British iPhone owners had less luck when speaking the word "iPhone" into the application -- a Scottish user was offered a porn website after it mistook his search for "sex," the Telegraph reported.

A user from Surrey, south of London, had his request mistaken for "myspace" and "Einstein" was another option offered for "iPhone" spoken with a Kent accent, it said.

The only British accent which correctly understood the request was for a user from Yorkshire, northern England, although he was also offered "bonfire."

A Welsh accent gave the suggestions "gorillas" and "kitchen sink."

"I've got a traditional Kentish accent and the thing kept on spitting back ridiculous things," said Roger Ellinson, 26, from Maidstone in Kent, southeastern England.

"I asked it to find my nearest pizza take away and it came back with something about volcanoes," he added.

"I asked it to find my nearest pub and it gave me a link to some kind of weird dating website," said Ellinson. "I'll have to try to put on my best American accent to get it to work."

On its website, Google points out that the new voice search system "is currently available only in U.S. English."

One British user, Edward Parsons, says on the site's comments board: "This is fantastic, except for the North American accent bias.

"It actually works pretty well, but I have to disguise my (North London) accent with a terrible folksy Texan tourist voice to get results. I can see this is going to be the source of much amusement and confusion."

HP to extend holidays to cut costs

SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard Co has notified employees that it will extend its planned one-week holiday shutdown by an additional week as a cost-cutting measure, it said.

The majority of employees will be paid during their time off, the company said.

"Shutting down during a period when many employees traditionally take vacation helps company achieve operational savings and allows employees to enjoy more time with their family," a spokeswoman said.

The global financial crisis and slowing economy have roiled the prospects for PC makers, which are scrambling to rein in costs.

Many analysts now predict that PC shipments will fall in 2009. Some analysts have said HP was better insulated than some of its competitors from the impact of the economic downturn, because of its recurring revenue streams from services and software and limited exposure to the PC market.

The company said in September it would lay off 24,600 employees following its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.

Earlier this month HP rival Dell Inc asked employees to consider taking up to five days of unpaid vacation as it works to cut costs.

Silicon Valley was hit with a slew of layoff announcements last week from big names such as Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials Inc.

Shares of Palo Alto, California-based HP closed down $1.12, or 3.7 per cent, at $29.34 on the New York Stock Exchange.

What went wrong with Yahoo!

Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo has announced his decision to step down from his position as chief executive officer as soon as a replacement has been appointed.

Yang's departure comes after less than 18 months at the helm. Over the past few months, Yang drew intense criticism from shareholders for failing to agree an acquisition by Microsoft early this year.

Since then, Yahoo's fortunes have continued to deteriorate. A planned search deal with Google, its best hope of getting a quick boost, fell apart after regulators objected, and the company's shares have slumped as its core display advertising market has deteriorated.

So, where did Yahoo actually go wrong?

But many of its firsts have not panned out -- Yahoo was early among major companies to seize on the social network trend popularised by MySpace and Facebook, in which Web users share messages, photos and videos with select friends. But it remained too wedded to a decade-old idea of being a one-stop Web portal to embrace the new wave.

Promised changes, from new Web search advertising technology to do battle with rival Google Inc to the hiring of Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as CEO, have failed to yield any promising changes.

Web addiction a 'clinical disorder'

BEIJING: China could become the first country to classify internet addiction as a clinical disorder amid growing concern over compulsive web use
by millions of Chinese, state media said on Monday.

The health ministry is likely to adopt a new manual on Internet addiction next year drawn up by Chinese psychologists that recognises it as a condition similar to compulsive gambling or alcohol addiction, the China Daily reported.

It cited psychologists involved in drafting the diagnostic manual.

China has the world’s largest online population at 253 million people, according to official figures, and is growing rapidly as computer use rises along with income levels.

But that has also fed growing concerns over compulsive internet use.

A top Chinese legislator said in August that about 10% of China’s web users under the age of 18, or four million people, were addicted to the internet, mainly to “unhealthy” online games, state media said at the time.

Recent research by internet media company InterActiveCorp showed that 42% of Chinese youngsters polled felt “addicted” to the web, compared to 18% in the US. China has tried various measures to regulate the booming online gaming market and curb Web use by teens.

In 2006, it ordered all Chinese internet game manufacturers to install technology in their games that demands players reveal their real name and identification number.

Apple, IBM spat over exec turns ugly

SAN FRANCISCO: US District Court judge in New York ordered a newly hired Apple Inc executive to stop work immediately because he might be violat
ing an agreement with his former employer, IBM.

Federal District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains ordered that Mark Papermaster "immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc until further order of this court."

Apple announced on Tuesday that Papermaster would lead the engineering teams making Apple's highly successful iPods and iPhones and that he would report directly to Chief Executive Steve Jobs. On Friday it said he would cease work for now.

"We will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles," a spokesman said.

Karas said Papermaster could submit any objections to his order by Tuesday and he set another hearing for November 18.

Papermaster had worked for IBM for 25 years. IBM said in a court filing that, before Papermaster left, he agreed to avoid working for any competitor for a year.

Papermaster's lawyers argued that forcing him "to 'sit out' of the electronics industry for a year would be incredibly damaging to his career."

They said that Apple was an "once-in-a-lifetime 'dream job'" and that Papermaster would be unable to return to IBM, given the litigation.

Papermaster also argued that there were significant differences between the two companies because IBM makes big machines for big business and Apple makes little devices for consumers.

IBM disagreed.

"Electronic devices large and small are powered by the same type of intelligence, the microprocessor," IBM argued.

Dell stalls music player launch

Dell has decided not to launch its ambitious digital music player tied to online entertainment software before the holidays, the Wall
Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Dell could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters. Earlier this year, Dell was testing prototypes of a mini MP3 player based on entertainment software called Zing, for an expected fall release, the WSJ said citing people familiar with the matter.

Dell's foray would have put it into an Apple-led market that has defied assaults.

The WSJ cited a source as saying Dell had finally decided to hold off on the music player indefinitely but to proceed with the Zing software. Zing software organises downloaded music and movies on PCs.

Dell's first foray into the music market in 2003 was a huge disappointment. It withdrew from the music-player market after its DJ Ditty player failed to make major inroads.

Internet startups to get MS aid

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft has launched a programme to help fledgling Internet companies by giving them free access to software, tech support and
introductions to its business partners around the world.

BizSpark is intended to "accelerate the success of entrepreneurs and early-stage startups" using, of course, Microsoft technology, according to the Redmond, Washington-based software colossus.

"Microsoft BizSpark is an exciting way for us to help provide business startups with the development tools, advice and exposure they need," said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

"We look forward to working with organisations and development agencies around the globe to foster entrepreneurship and help new companies succeed."

To be eligible for the programme, companies must be privately owned; less than three years old, and have annual revenues of no more than a million dollars.

Startups must be "nominated" by BizSpark Network Partners including economic development agencies, venture capitalists, business incubators, and groups such as global nonprofit The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).

"We think Microsoft BizSpark addresses a fundamental challenge startups face: access to current, full-featured tools and technologies that help turn ideas into a thriving business," said TiE chief executive Suren Dutia.

"We are excited to be part of this new effort to propagate entrepreneurship globally, cultivating the future generation of highly successful entrepreneurs."

Consumer Reports' Top Products of 2008

During the past year, Consumer Reports' testers have rated literally thousands of products, some of which earned a near-perfect score and others which performed extremely poorly. Here is a sampling of our 100 standouts in electronics, cars, appliances, and dozens of other categories. To see Consumer Reports' full list of Top 100 products, subscribe to ConsumerReports.org.

Laptop computer
Apple MacBook Air
The lightest, thinnest notebook around, just 3 pounds and less than an inch thick. It has excellent ergonomics and a 13.3-inch display, plus a 4.5-hour battery life. It's shy on features, but hey, it's super skinny. See more on laptops from ConsumerReports.org.
Apple MacBook Air 1.6 GHz Laptop Computer
$1,379.95 - $1,644.00