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Courier: First Details of Microsoft’s Secret Tablet – Microsoft courier tablet – Gizmodo

It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we’ve all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft’s astonishing take on the tablet.

‘ Courier is a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the “late prototype” stage of development. It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it—Microsoft’s brightest, like Entertainment & Devices tech chief and user-experience wizard J. Allard, who’s spearheading the project. Currently, Courier appears to be at a stage where Microsoft is developing the user experience and showing design concepts to outside agencies.

Microsoft has a history of collaborating with other firms, especially in the E&D division: Zune and Xbox have both gone through similar design processes. (And plans for the Microsoft Store leaked through a third-party agency were confirmed as genuine prototype layouts and concepts.) This video is branded Pioneer Studios, a Microsoft division within E&D that specializes in this kind of work, working with another agency that’s a long-time Microsoft collaborator on confidential projects.

The Courier user experience presented here is almost the exact opposite of what everyone expects the Apple tablet to be, a kung fu eagle claw to Apple’s tiger style. It’s complex: Two screens, a mashup of a pen-dominated interface with several types of multitouch finger gestures, and multiple graphically complex themes, modes and applications. (Our favorite UI bit? The hinge doubles as a “pocket” to hold items you want move from one page to another.) Microsoft’s tablet heritage is digital ink-oriented, and this interface, while unlike anything we’ve seen before, clearly draws from that, its work with the Surface touch computer and even the Zune HD.

Over the next couple days we’ll be diving much, much deeper into Courier, so stay tuned.

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Microsoft Courier tablet

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Baidu Looking at Acquisitions to Extend Lead in China (Update2) – Bloomberg.com

June 22 (Bloomberg) — Baidu Inc., owner of the most popular search engine in China, is considering acquisitions to extend its lead in the world’s largest market for Internet users, Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Li said.

“People approach us and we get to look at a lot of things,” Li said in a June 19 interview from Baidu’s Beijing headquarters, declining to identify targets. “Internet is at an early stage of its development. It’s dynamic, and we need to stay ahead.”

The company is stepping up efforts in electronic commerce and mobile-Internet services in China, which has more than 300 million Web users. Baidu aims to widen its lead over Google Inc. in the country by boosting online searches for wireless phones, and its electronic-commerce business could develop into a rival for Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.

“If they now start thinking about making acquisitions, it makes very good sense,” said Eric Wen, an analyst at Mainfirst Securities Hong Kong Ltd. who has a neutral rating on Baidu shares. The company is likely to buy Web businesses outside of the search market, he said. Baidu also may seek additional investments in Japan, where it started operations last year, Wen said.

Google, Taobao

Baidu faces rising competition in its main business, with Google forging a partnership with the country’s biggest wireless-phone company, China Mobile Ltd. Alibaba’s Taobao site also is encroaching on the search-engine market.

Taobao, Alibaba’s consumer trading site, offers an ad channel for small businesses in China, potentially forcing advertisers to choose between Baidu and Taobao, according to an April report from Morgan Stanley.

Any acquisitions won’t distract Baidu from focusing on its main search business, Li said.

There is “huge potential” to increase customers at Baidu, which had about 300,000 advertisers as of last year, Li said. The company will focus on offering Internet search services to the 40 million small and medium-sized businesses in China, said Li, who joined Baidu last year from GMAC LLC, the U.S. auto and home lender.

Baidu’s American depositary receipts fell $19.58, or 6.6 percent, to $278.02 today on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have more than doubled this year, outpacing a 32 percent increase by Google, the world’s biggest search engine.

Google Deals

Google, based in Mountain View, California, gained exclusive rights to process Web queries for customers of China Mobile, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the country’s mobile-phone users. Last month, Baidu agreed to provide online search services for China Telecom Corp., which has less than 10 percent as many customers as China Mobile.

Baidu accounted for 62.2 percent of China’s paid-search market last year, an increase from 59.3 percent in 2007, according to research firm Analysys International. Google’s market share grew at a faster pace, to 27.8 percent from 23.4 percent, the Beijing-based company said.

Alibaba, whose biggest shareholder is Yahoo! Inc., will increase investments at Taobao to 5 billion yuan ($731 million) over five years, the Hangzhou, China-based company said in October. Taobao, which doesn’t charge users commissions on merchandise sales, is seeking to boost advertising revenue by allowing vendors to bid for the right to associate their products with keyword searches, Alibaba Chief Financial Officer Joseph Tsai said in February.

In September, Baidu bought an 8.3 percent stake in UiTV, a Chinese provider of Internet television services, for $15 million. Baidu may pursue investments in overseas companies, according to Li.

Baidu’s first-quarter profit rose 24 percent to 181.1 million yuan, beating analysts’ estimates, after the company added paid-search customers.

China had 316 million Web users at the end of March, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in April, citing Xi Guohua, vice minister of industry and information technology. The country overtook the U.S. in Internet users last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

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Baidu Looking at Acquisitions to Extend Lead in China

Twittering, Jiwaiing, Taotaoing – Microblogging in China

“Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.” – Wikipedia

Isn’t Twitter just a big waste of time? This is the question that always kept me from becoming an active user on Twitter despite having had an account for some time. I just couldn’t understand the appeal of reading and writing 140 character long posts that would risk my transformation into a Twitterholic, spending seemingly entire days connected tweeting and reading others tweets. After reading articles like this one and encouragement from other bloggers, I finally became an active user about a month and a half ago (@joelbackaler). It did not take me long to realize the value of microblogging goes way beyond answering the Twitter question, “What are you doing?” Microblogging helps build communities centered around shared interests and keeps groups of followers and those being followed up to date with the most recent happenings in their area of interest. It is so effective that I have even observed there are some outside observers who are so active on Twitter and the China blogosphere that they are just as if not more knowledgeable than some of us here on the ground. It was this train of thought that inspired me to write this post on microblogging in China. Over the course of my research I came across this excellent post from the 56minus1 blog entitled “Chinese microblogging platforms.”

The author (@ajschokora) explains:
“Twitter itself is the choice of China’s more internationally-oriented digerati: (a) because they were early adopters, before the Chinese clones got off the ground, and (b) because there’s little interoperability among all of the different choices, so users tend to join services where there are already conversations they want to follow”

He then provides an introduction to his “top 5” microblogging platforms in China:
Taotao ?? www.taotao.com
Fanfou ?? www.fanfou.com
Jiwai ?? www.jiwai.de
Zuosa ?? www.zousa.com
Douban Broadcast ???? www.douban.com

For those of you interested in keeping an eye on China through Twitter here are just a few people whose tweets I like to follow (definitely many more not listed):

@pdenlinger/@wolfgroupasia/@danharris/@imagethief/

@sagebrennan/@niubi/@christinelu/@raykwong/@elliotng

What do you think are the top reasons to microblog? Do you think one of the Chinese microblogging platforms listed above will become THE China Twitter? Leave a comment and start the conversation…

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Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China’s IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach $51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard’s previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or $52.1 billion.

China’s IT market growth, noted Springboard, has largely been protected by the financial crisis as its export industry, the country’s worst hit sector, is not a key buyer of technology. China’s huge domestic market and its “almost closed financial system” also play a part in helping the country cope with the market conditions, said Bryan Wang, Springboard’s country manager for Greater China.

“Moreover, a strong government investment plan will boost spending in various economic quarters and help the Chinese IT market sustain its place as a shining star in the Asia-Pacific region in 2009,” he added.

Last November, the Chinese government announced a $585.2 billion stimulus package, which includes plans to invest over $290 billion on railway network expansion from 2009 to 2011. This, Springboard noted in its report, highlights the market opportunity for IT products.

IT expenditure in key verticals such as government, education, and telecoms will grow on the back of the government stimulus package, said Wang. According to the report, government-driven infrastructure spending will bolster a large portion of investment in the country in 2009, while IT expenditure relating to 3G wireless networkswill also be a big area of spending for telecom operators in China in 2009. The banking and finance sector’s IT spending will remain firm, but IT planners will exercise more caution in their purchases.

In addition, green IT will be fast-growing in China–the market for green IT products and services is expected to have a five-year compound annual growth rate of 71 percent to reach $447 million in 2011.

“Springboard Research believes the green data centers and related green IT services will become a hot area for these organizations in 2009,” the report noted. “Enterprises will look to rapidly build out investments in green-field data centers, and this will also bring out the concept of virtualization and recycling with existing infrastructure, which is increasingly becoming a critical part of the investment moving forward.”

Players in the business process outsourcing (BPO) market, particularly small and midsize independent software vendors, may be the most affected by the global financial crisis, Springboard said in its report.

Many Chinese BPO companies located in cities including Dalian and Shenzhen, have a majority of their businesses from overseas banking and financial institutions, it explained, adding that these providers’ businesses would be affected in 2009 as a result of “very few” contracts secured in the second half of 2008.

Hong Kong and Taiwan, having been part of the global financial system for decades, would also be more affected by the global slowdown, Springboard added. The impact on Taiwan’s IT expenditure would be more severe, as Hong Kong is expected to gain financial support from mainland China.

According to Springboard, the Chinese government’s plans and policies will lead to a more stable IT market from the second quarter of 2009.

Vivian Yeo of ZDNet Asia reported from Singapore.

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Report: China IT spending remains strong

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 22, 2006 –By implementing MegaMeeting.com’s browser based video and web conferencing services, American Lighting has realized a substantial savings in conducting overseas sales and company meetings, as well as greatly reduced expenses related to quality assurance and diagnosing issues.

American Lighting places high emphasis on developing new products, using trend-setting technology and a new blend of finish and glassware. They provide coast-to-coast warehousing in North America, manufacturing facilities in China and Taiwan, and overseas offices in Hong Kong, ShenZhen, Mexico, and coming soon, Canada.

American Lighting currently uses MegaMeeting.com’s browser based video and web conferencing services in its Training, Marketing, Sales, Accounting and Purchasing departments, as well as for its Administration, Executives and Board of Directors. Johnathan Tom, who works in the E-Commerce, Sales and IT departments, stated, “MegaMeeting helps us by allowing our company to hold meetings with our various offices located in different parts of the world. It saves us travel time and long distance bills to overseas offices.” He went on to say, “This service provides an efficient means for companies to effectively communicate with each other, especially ones who have offices in different countries. Another plus is that the price is per month and we have unlimited minute usage.”

Prior to implementing the MegaMeeting software, American Lighting relied on costly video conferencing which only allowed them to conduct conferences “one-on-one”. MegaMeeting allows up to sixteen individuals to be seen on each computer monitor simultaneously.

The specific features of MegaMeeting that American Lighting implements most often are the video conferencing capabilities that allow meeting attendees to see each other, the ability to share a PowerPoint presentation via the Internet, and screen sharing capabilities.

American Lighting chose MegaMeeting over other web and video conferencing systems because of the less expensive price they received with MegaMeeting and the fact that MegaMeeting provided them with the specific tools that they needed to conduct their business.

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MegaMeeting.com Video Conferencing Helps American Lighting Reduce Overseas Expenses