Opera Releases Mini 4 Beta and Opera Link

Opera today released Opera Link. Wherever you are, whatever Opera browser you use, or whichever device you use Opera on, you can instantly access your bookmarks, Speed Dial, and personal bar.

Opera Link is supported in Opera 9.5 beta and the newest beta of Opera Mini 4. There is also a Web interface for users of any browser at my.opera.com. The Opera Web browser for PC/Mac/Linux and Opera Mini are available completely free for anyone to use and enjoy.

Opera Link allows users to sync bookmarks between PC and mobile device, and also supports RSS feeds. Another great feature the Opera server offers is that the compression level of pages is carried out well enough to help reduce data charges. This Java-based app can be installed in virtually any mobile.

"The web provides a key platform for mobilising content across a wide range of devices and web browsers remain the primary portal to that content," said Tony Cripps, senior analyst, Ovum. "Tighter functional integration between browsers running on different devices is a natural and important extension that will further benefit the user experience of the web when away from the PC."



"We refuse to believe people should compromise their experience when they access the Web from different devices," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. "With Opera Link, we give them a consistent experience uniquely suited to the way they want to use the Web. But as cool as we think Opera Link is now, we're already hard at work making it even more valuable to our users in the future. Opera Link means convergence without compromise."

Via GSM Arena.

Google Earth's Security Risk Rings True

Barely two years after former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam warned of the security risks posed by Google Earth, reports emerged today of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip using it to launch rocket attacks on Israel.

A failed attack on oil facilities in Yemen in September last year was also reportedly planned with the use of Google Earth, which provides detailed satellite maps of the world, the Daily Telegraph reported, without quoting sources.

The newspaper revealed in January that Iraqi insurgents were using Google Earth to attack British bases in Basra, prompting the company to replace images of military positions in the southern Iraqi province with others taken before the war.

Kalam had warned of the dangers from Google Earth in 2005 when he said its high-resolution images could further compromise the security of some developing countries that were already targets of terrorism.

Google Earth and the Indian government were later reported to have struck an agreement to show "fuzzy, low resolution pictures and distorted building plans" of installations that the government considered sensitive.

However, Google Earth in partnership with Digital Globe, the world's most advanced commercial imaging satellite, has also responded quickly to provide high resolution photographs during unfolding crises such as the fires now raging in California.

Images provided by it are also being used by experts to analyze and gather startling information.

Experts at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said Wednesday that comparisons of Google Earth images of an area in northern Syria before and after an Israeli air attack September 6 show it may have housed a small nuclear reactor under construction.

Images predating the Israeli attack, about which very little is known, showed a large industrial building and a pumping station near the Euphrates river that the ISIS said bore a resemblance to the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea.

But images taken more than six weeks after the attack appear to show that the building has been completely removed and the ground scraped clean, experts said. The reactor was believed to be of a design thought capable of making about one nuclear weapon's worth of plutonium each year.

MySpace, HarperCollins Collaborate on Book

MySpace is getting into the book business. The online social network, an increasingly popular venue for authors, booksellers and publishers, is collaborating with a children's imprint of HarperCollins on an environmental handbook coming out April 22, Earth Day.

"How great it is to launch a partnership with a company with as large an influence as MySpace on such an important topic," Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins, said Wednesday in a statement.

"MySpace has entire online communities, such as the Impact Channel and OurPlanet, dedicated solely to environmental and social causes," Tom Anderson, co-founder and president of MySpace, said in a statement. "The first MySpace book is just one more way we are working to engage the MySpace community in environmental issues and encourage people to take action."

The paperback original, to be called "MySpace/Our Planet: Change is Possible," will be written by freelance journalist Jeca Taudte and include a foreword by Anderson. According to Brenda Bowen, vice president and publisher of the Bowen Press, a HarperCollins imprint, "MySpace/Our Planet" will be about 160 pages and cost about $12.95. A first printing of 200,000 is planned.

The book will feature ideas from MySpace users, who through Nov. 7 can post environmental tips on http://www.myspace.com/ourplanet. Bowen says about 40 such suggestions, their length ranging from a sentence to a paragraph, will be woven throughout the text. MySpace contributors who end up in the book will not be paid, but will be credited by their usernames and geographic locations.

"The main idea we want to get across is that teenagers are not only contributing to this book, but are being provided a blueprint on how to help the environment," Bowen told The Associated Press.

MySpace already has projects with other media, including a collaboration with MTV on dialogues between voters and presidential candidates. Bowen and MySpace's senior vice president for public affairs, Jeff Berman, agree that other book projects are likely.

"We're always talking to potential partners about big ideas and this one with HarperCollins made a lot of sense," Berman says. "We want to be at the forefront of user-generated media, and books are an important part of that."

Microsoft Deal Values Facebook at $15B

It's hard to determine what's more surprising about Microsoft Corp.'s investment in Facebook Inc. - the appraisal that valued a 3½-year-old Internet hangout at $15 billion or the rare snub of online search leader Google Inc.

The $240 million price Microsoft paid for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook demonstrates just how badly the world's largest software maker wanted to deepen its relationship with a startup that doesn't even have $200 million in annual revenue.

By sealing the deal Wednesday, Microsoft finally trumped Google after losing previous high-stakes bidding battles involving a stake in AOL and ownership of online video sharing pioneer YouTube and Internet ad service DoubleClick Inc.

"This was a muscle-in from Microsoft," Gartner analyst Allen Weiner said. "It would have been a nice-to-have for Google, but it was certainly not essential."

Besides buying a stake in Palo Alto-based Facebook, Microsoft also will sell Internet ads for its Web site outside the United States, broadening a marketing relationship that began last year.

"This is a strong statement of confidence in this partnership and in Facebook," Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, said during a Wednesday conference call with reporters and analysts.

Tim Armstrong, who oversees Google's North American advertising, declined to comment on the Facebook negotiations during a meeting with analysts Wednesday at the company's Mountain View headquarters.

"We have tremendous respect for them," Armstrong said of Facebook.

In 2005, News Corp. paid $580 million for outright ownership of MySpace.com, the only social network larger than Facebook. With its investment, Microsoft established Facebook's current market value at $15 billion less than four years after Mark Zuckerberg started the Web site in his Harvard University dorm room.

Already considered a whiz kid, Zuckerberg, 23, now looks even smarter for rebuffing a $1 billion takeover offer from Yahoo Inc. last year. And Facebook now should have more than enough money to pay for its expansion until it is ready to go public.

Although MySpace remains the largest social network, Facebook has been growing much faster in the past year.

Facebook attracted 30.6 million U.S. visitors during September compared with 68.4 million at MySpace. Microsoft's entry in the social networking arena - "Windows Live Spaces" - attracted 9.8 million U.S. visitors, according to comScore Inc.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is counting on Facebook's popularity to help it sell more online advertising - an area where it badly lags Google.

Microsoft also appears interested in Facebook's success with "widgets" - the interactive capsules that offer applications available on other Web sites. Outside developers have created about 8,000 widgets since Facebook began soliciting the contributions in May.

Johnson said Microsoft plans to work with Facebook in areas besides advertising but declined to elaborate.

YouTube Opens Taiwan Site

Google Inc.'s YouTube said Thursday it has launched a version of the video-sharing site in Taiwan in its latest push to expand in foreign markets.

The site features locally produced content, including that from YouTube's four Taiwan media partners, China Television Co., Sanlih E-Television Co., Lion Travel Service Co. and Taiwan Broadcasting System, YouTube said in a statement.

The interface of the site, www.youtube.com.tw, is in Chinese.

YouTube aims to eventually launch localized sites ''in every country, in every language,'' said YouTube's international manager, Sakina Arsiwala. She declined to give a timetable for future launches.

U.S.-based YouTube launched its first Chinese-language Web site in Hong Kong Wednesday, and recently launched local versions of the site in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the U.K.

YouTube isn't aiming to make an immediate profit from the Taiwan Web site, Arsiwala said.

''The goal is to get more users engaging in the Web site,'' she said.

YouTube will adopt Google's newly developed ''YouTube Video Identification'' technology in its foreign-language Web sites, as well as in its main global site, said Steve Chen, the site's co-founder.

The new technology, launched Monday, is used to identify potentially copyright-infringing video content.

''We need to work with content providers to collect a database (of video clips),'' Chen said.

YouTube is facing several copyright-infringement lawsuits, including a $1 billion action filed by Viacom Inc. alleging YouTube and Google passed on thousands of videos illegally copied from popular TV shows owned by Viacom.

Adobe Targets India's Education Sector

Less than satisfactory response to its products on a standalone basis from domestic educational institutions has prompted Adobe India to draw up new marketing strategies.

As part of this new initiative, the company has announced new site licensing and pricing packages for schools and universities.

For schools the company has a package called K12 (kindergarten to 12th grade). Under this scheme a school can install Adobe's software products – used for visual designing, web development and video production – in 500 of its computers, including the teacher's home computers, for a one-time fee.

According to country sales manager Sandeep Mehrotra, the cost depends on the kind of suite of software packages a school opts for.

For Indian universities the company's package is called Term Site Licence, which is valid for 12 months. The cost includes software upgrades that happen during that period.

According to Mehrotra, the company will initially target schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and other high-profile private schools, totaling about 100,000 institutions.

He said the company will conduct promotional events and contact the schools directly as part of its marketing strategy. Schools having fewer than 500 computers can buy the company's products on individual basis and not as a suite available under the new scheme.

Denon Releases iPod Dock

Denon has released a high-end iPod Dock (if there's something of that sort!) called Denon Smart S-52. This device not only plays your iTunes but has other stuff as well, such as a DAB/FM radio, a CD/MP3/WMA player, an iPod dock, USB connectivity and wireless network streaming. It's priced at £500, and is currently available in the UK. Read the full story here.

Panasonic Introduces New Blu-ray Player

Panasonic has announced the introduction of the DMP-BD30, the next generation High Definition 1080p Blu-ray disc player.The DMP-BD30 is the first Blu-ray player to be introduced with Final Standard Profile, which adds many new and enhanced features to the Blu-ray arena.

Also unique to the DMP-BD30 is the inclusion of an SD Memory Card slot for playback of High Definition content recorded in the AVCHD format, which allows the viewing of digital still images recorded to an SD Memory Card.

"Panasonic's commitment to excellence in entertainment and technology is evident in the establishment of Panasonic Hollywood Labs, where a great deal of research went into the development of Blu-ray," said Gene Kelsey, Vice President, Panasonic Entertainment Group.

"PHL has become one of the major centers for the authoring of Blu-ray titles and works closely with studio engineers in developing High Definition compression technologies," he added.

The Final Standard Profile is an advanced function added to the Blu-ray standard, which opens the door to new functions such as Picture-in-Picture and Audio Mixing.

With an SRP of $499.95, the DMP-BD30 also features a myriad of technology advances, including Deep Color Compatibility, and HDMI 1.3B, that bumps the step gradation from 8-bit 256 all the way up to 12-bit, 4,096 step gradation.

The DMP-BD30 also provides 1080/24p playback. This eliminates the need to utilize 3.2 pull down, a process to convert 24-fps images to 60-fps, resulting in a smoother picture.

LG to Launch Ultra High Contrast Panels

LG is planning to add a new range of panels to its lineup – the 'G' range, with an ultra-high contrast level rating of 30,000:1. The panels were displayed at the FPD in Japan (where else?) The move seems to be a challenge to Pioneer, the reigning champion of black levels.

"Special image processing technology doubles the standard 50Hz refresh rate to 100Hz, eliminating annoying motion blur or flicker. These panels will deliver the clearest picture with the least noise to viewers in PAL markets across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa," said Christopher Kim, VP and Head, PDP Module Marketing Team, LG Electronics.

The panels will be available in 32", 42", and 50" HD models, as well as 50" and 60" full HD models. All these HD models as well as the 50" full HD model come with single-scan technology. Special considerations are given to ergonomics – for instance, eyestrain is reduced by altering contrast and brightness according to the viewing environment.

All the panels feature a 100Hz refresh rate. The G Platform panels will be available in LG's plasma TV lineup later this year.

HD Bollywood Discs Are Here

HD content is here in India, and it's neither Blu-ray nor HD-DVD. A third HD format? That's right, now you have HD-VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) as well! Go to the end of this article for technical specs.

New Medium Enterprises (NME) unveiled HD-VMD Bollywood film titles in India at the Times AV Revolution Expo at Bombay Exhibition Center. NME is the first to introduce HD content in India with its HD-VMD Player, along with HD-VMD discs in Hindi, Tamil, English and gradually in other regional languages.

With film distributor Eros already signed up as an international partner, NME is forging a number of other key content and electronic relationships. It also counts film content distributors AP International, Ultra and Eagle as partners for South Indian and Hollywood content, and are in talks with four other major distributors to be announced later this month.

Despite the proliferation of HD LCD and plasma displays, many consumers, including those in Asia, have little or no access to High Definition content. Forecasts say it would be some time before HD becomes a true global offering. By introducing HD-VMD, NME promises to revolutionize the home entertainment market in Asia with the first HD red laser format available to consumers.

This first-generation HD-VMD Player offers true High Definition in 1080p; it's also backwards-compatible and capable of playing existing DVD formats. NME will offer players and titles at a price considerably lower than its larger competitors, making it the most accessible HD format yet.

Recent demos at worldwide events like Cannes Film Festival, CEDIA in the US, IFA in Germany and CeBIT have seen a number of major manufacturing brands excited about licensing the VMD technology.

HD-VMD technology is based on a high-capacity red laser optical disc designed by NME, who have developed the world's first commercially produced multilayer disc by mastering the process to increase the number of layers for information storage, with typical storage capacities of 5GB per layer.

HD VMD's affordability, adherence to current manufacturing processes and speed to market have been embraced by rights holders, electronics distributors and replicators alike.

NME is the only company to have HD Bollywood content. HD-VMD has the support of many leading independent film studios and distributors around the world, and is currently growing its HD library. It boasts a large number of blockbuster films. Check out the list of VMD titles here.

Vijay Shanker, CEO of NME India, said, "Leading television brands in India have started selling HD LCD TVs in a big way with massive advertising campaigns. The launch of HD-VMD Players and movies are perfectly timed to complement the consumers' quest for a total High Definition home theater system."

"This is the first true HD player for India," he added. "It's a significant event as the film industry's movie makers and distributors are all taking a keen interest by including HD in all their future home video distribution plans."

What You Should Know About HD-VMD

HD-VMD is NME's proprietary high definition disc format based on established red laser technology and developers of multilayer disc solution. NME's patented 2p process method succeeded in solving the technological problems which limited DVDs to two information layers.

HD-VMD's seamless and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for High Definition products are based on the existing DVD production and industrial infrastructure. HD-VMD prices and costs are very close to DVDs and bring a quality that rivals both Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

HD-VMD is a true HD format that comes with 1920 x 1080i/p resolution, up to 40 Mbps bitrate playback and DVD upscaling, which together allow users to watch their existing DVD collection and achieve premium picture quality through their HD TV monitors.

The HD-VMD player is suitable for playback on all HD-capable display devices and supports existing optical disc formats. The players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility.

HD-VMD is currently being adopted by content providers and distributors in more than a dozen regions worldwide, including Australia, Brazil, Central Europe, China, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Japan, Scandinavia, Middle East, Russia and the United States.

This week will also see the launch of an HD-VMD Bundle Box including five HD titles, available at a RRP of Rs 11,500 through Indian retailers and e-commerce sites. I demoed some of the stuff and found it very good. Expect a review of the player soon.

Samsung Unveils 'Soda-Lime' LCD Panel

Samsung Electronics is really going all out with innovative ideas. The company is displaying a 19-inch LCD monitor panel (called Soda-Lime) at the ongoing FPD International 2007 trade show in Yokohama, Japan. It features a resolution of 1,280×1,024 (SXGA)

Instead of using ordinary TFT LCD glass substrate, Samsung has adapted ordinary window glass that contains sodium to produce the panel. The company claims that the sodium will not affect the light passing through, thus making it a great option as a building block.

Why? because it's cheap! The Soda-Lime panel is produced at the company's fifth-generation (5G) plant. The panel features a brightness of 300 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and NTSC of 72%.

It will hit the markets 'soon', according to Samsung.

LG to Introduce Smallest Plasma TV

The party has been gatecrashed. LCD panels, which were snug and safe in their medium-sized domain of 32 inches, will now face competition at last. LG has announced its 32PC5RV – a 32-inch model that will debut in Europe in November.

However, unlike rival LCD TVs, LG says that motion blur is not an issue as the screen has a response time of just 0.001 ms. A 16:9 aspect ratio is also maintained.

"Even though producing this smaller plasma TV was challenging both technologically and cost-wise, we were able to keep costs low and quality high by simplifying the manufacturing process," said Jong Seok Park, vice president and head of PDP TV Division. "We trimmed costs further by reducing packaging to the point where we can ship two of these TVs in the same space it used to take to ship just one."

The price will range from $1,000 to $1,100. The LG 32PC5RV is expected to be launched in 27 nations worldwide by November, which includes countries in Central/South and North America, Europe, the CIS region, North and Southwest Asia and the Middle East.

Samsung to Release Thinnest LCD Panel

Thin is in, and while Samsung may have been the last to realize it, the company's done it in style. At one of the world’s largest trade shows dedicated to flat panel displays in Yokohama, Japan, Samsung will on Wednesday introduce a 40 inch (101.6 cm) diagonal Full-HD LCD TV panel only 10 mm thick.

This new display, which is expected to usher in the next wave of large-screen TVs, has the same profile as 10-20 inch LCDs designed for desktop monitors. Its bezel has been reduced from a conventional 30 mm to 14.6 mm. The panel, using an LED backlight, reproduces 92 percent of the NTSC standard for color saturation and features a low power consumption of 90 watts or less.

For notebook PCs, Samsung will unveil premium LCD panels with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Available in 16 inch (40.6 cm) and 18.4 inch (46.7 cm) screen sizes, these new panels will allow notebook users to optimally view high definition movies, digital TV and next-generation gaming, all of which were designed for a 16:9 aspect ratio.

In addition, Samsung is expected to showcase its new 15.4” (39.1 cm) LCD with an active, white-LED backlight. Prices will be set post release