Category Archives: Technology

Technology

Many US schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks (AP)

September 4, 2011 – 12:29 pm

HARTFORD, Conn. – For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, hefting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and flipping electronic pages on a glossy iPad tablet computer. A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional bulky texts. While iPads have rocketed to popularity on many college campuses since Apple Inc. introduced the device in spring 2010, many public secondary schools this fall will move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers. Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day. Nearly two-thirds of them have begun since July, according to Apple. New programs are being announced on a regular basis, too. As recently as Wednesday, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., said that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad. At Burlington High in suburban Boston, principal Patrick Larkin calls the $500 iPads a better long-term investment than textbooks, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available. "I don't want to generalize because I don't want to insult people who are working hard to make those resources," Larkin said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered. The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials." The trend has not been limited to wealthy suburban districts. New York City, Chicago and many other urban districts also are buying large numbers of iPads. The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased. By comparison, Brookfield High in Connecticut estimates it spends at least that much yearly on every student's textbooks, not including graphing calculators, dictionaries and other accessories they can get on the iPads. Educators say the sleek, flat tablet computers offer a variety of benefits. They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages. They're especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking. Some advocates also say the interactive nature of learning on an iPad comes naturally to many of today's students, who've grown up with electronic devices as part of their everyday world. But for all of the excitement surrounding the growth of iPads in public secondary schools, some experts watching the trend warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach. And even with the most modern device in hand, students still need the basics of a solid curriculum and skilled teachers. "There's a saying that the music is not in the piano and, in the same way, the learning is not in the device," said Mark Warschauer, an education and informatics professor at the University of California-Irvine whose specialties include research on the intersection of technology and education. "I don't want to oversell these things or present the idea that these devices are miraculous, but they have some benefits and that's why so many people outside of schools are using them so much," he said. One such iPad devotee is 15-year-old Christian Woods, who starts his sophomore year at Burlington, Mass., High School on a special student support team to help about 1,000 other teens adjust to their new tablets. "I think people will like it. I really don't know anybody in high school that wouldn't want to get an iPad," he said. "We're always using technology at home, then when you're at school it's textbooks, so it's a good way to put all of that together." Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students' use. Many have filtering programs to keep students off websites that have not been pre-approved, and some require the students to turn in the iPads during vacation breaks and at the end of the school year. Others hold the reins a little more loosely. "If we truly consider this a learning device, we don't want to take it away and say, `Leaning stops in the summertime.' " said Larkin, the Burlington principal. And the nation's domestic textbook publishing industry, accounting for $5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum specifically for iPads. At Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for instance, programmers scrambled to create an iPad-specific secondary school program starting almost as soon as Apple unveiled the tablet in spring 2010. The publisher's HMH Fuse algebra program, which became available at the start of the 2010 school year, was among the first and is a top seller to districts. Another algebra program and a geometry offering are coming out now. The HMH Fuse online app is free and gives users an idea of how it works, and the content can be downloaded for $60. By comparison, the publisher's 950-page algebra text on which it was based is almost $73 per copy, and doesn't include the graphing calculators, interactive videos and other features. For a school that would buy 300 of the textbooks for its freshman class, for instance, the savings from using the online version would be almost $4,000. Jay Diskey, executive director of the Association of American Publishers' schools division, said all of the major textbook publishers are moving toward electronic offerings, but at least in the short term, traditional bound textbooks are here to stay. "I think one of the real key questions that will be answered over the next several years is what sort of things work best in print for students and what sort of things work best digitally," Diskey said. "I think we're on the cusp of a whole new area of research and comprehension about what digital learning means." Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

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Technology

Bid to block AT&T deal reflects telecom industry (AP)

September 3, 2011 – 7:29 pm

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has explained its effort to block AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA by saying it will fight mergers that would reduce competition and hurt consumers. Yet few think the lawsuit the administration filed Wednesday signals a more aggressive stance toward acquisitions in other industries. Rather, experts say, the administration's challenge of AT&T's purchase comes down to this: Telecom is dominated by just a few big companies. Reducing the number of major players could all but kill competition and drive prices up. By contrast, few other major industries are controlled by just a handful of giants. And none relies on access to a limited number of public airwaves. With previous big mergers, the administration has taken a middle-ground approach to antitrust: It's green-lighted deals such as cable company Comcast's acquisition of media giant NBC Universal and Ticketmaster's merger with concert promoter Live Nation. But it also imposed conditions in those deals that are intended to preserve competition. "They're looking even at very big mergers on their merits, and if the merging parties can't satisfy their concerns, the Justice Department will say, `We can't let this go through,'" said Melissa Maxman, an antitrust attorney with the law firm Cozen O'Connor. AT&T says it will fight the court action. But it also plans to meet with Justice lawyers and offer more concessions in hopes of avoiding a court battle, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the talks. President Barack Obama, on the campaign trail, had pledged tougher antitrust policy. And early in his administration, the Justice Department repealed Bush-era guidelines that had discouraged government action against companies with near monopolies. As a result, many had expected bold action from the department — crackdowns on industry-dominating companies and roadblocks to many big mergers. That didn't happen. The lawsuit against AT&T might satisfy some critics who hoped for a much tougher antitrust policy. But it probably doesn't suggest a policy shift. The AT&T proposal was unique, said Benjamin Brown, a former Justice Department antitrust lawyer, now a partner with the law firm Cohen Milstein. "I could very easily have seen this same decision being made under the Bush administration," Brown said. He said there was little evidence for AT&T's claim that regional cellphone carriers can compete with the four national companies: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. If AT&T bought T-Mobile, just three national players would be left. And Sprint could have trouble competing with two bigger behemoths. So it might be acquired, too, further shrinking competition. "Any time you take four major parties and turn it into three, the Justice Department is going to take a close look," Maxman said. Telecom mergers attract more scrutiny in part because it's next to impossible for new competitors to emerge. Companies need permission to transmit data on public airwaves. The licenses are costly and scarce. And the cost of building a new system of cell towers and satellites is enormous. "You can't just pull a bunch of capital together and launch a national cellphone provider, Brown said. The Obama Justice Department has allowed several big mergers to proceed without court action. But it made the companies sell or change parts of their businesses. For instance, in the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, regulators required Ticketmaster to license its software to a competitor. It also forced it to sell a subsidiary that handles tens of millions of tickets a year. In January, when the nation's largest cable-TV company, Comcast, took control of NBC Universal, the government forced Comcast to make the full suite of NBC Universal content available as a single package to online competitors. And Comcast had to do so on terms comparable to those reached with more established rivals such as Dish Network Corp. and DirecTV. The Federal Communications Commission, which can block telecom mergers, joined Justice in making those demands. In April, Google Inc. won government clearance for its $700 million purchase of airline fare tracker ITA Software. The deal gave Google a key role in online travel. But to win Justice Department clearance, Google agreed to license ITA's software to other companies through 2016. And it agreed to continue to invest in research and development of products, which it would also have to license. Those deals are likely templates for future merger reviews by Justice, experts said. "Firms got signals from the earlier deals that were approved that if they were willing to make sufficient (compromises), deals on the borderline might get approved," said Spencer Waller, a professor at Loyola University Chicago's School of Law and director of the school's Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies. That's the lesson AT&T appears to have taken by planning to meet with government lawyers and possibly offer further concessions. The lawsuit against AT&T "shows that each case is treated on its own merits," said Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge, a digital-rights advocacy group that applauded the Justice Department's move. "You don't want them to approve any deal, any more than you want them to approve every deal," Brodsky said. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

Tags antitrust, bush, business, chicago, comcast, consumer, industries, lawsuit, live, obama, school, usa, yahoo | Comment (0)
Technology

WikiLeaks reveals all, media groups criticize move (AP)

September 3, 2011 – 3:04 am

LONDON – WikiLeaks disclosed its entire archive of U.S. State Department cables Friday, much if not all of it uncensored — a move that drew stinging condemnation from major newspapers which in the past collaborated with the anti-secrecy group's efforts to expose corruption and double-dealing. Many media outlets, including The Associated Press, previously had access to all or part of the uncensored tome. But WikiLeaks' decision to post the 251,287 cables on its website makes potentially sensitive diplomatic sources available to anyone, anywhere at the stroke of a key. American officials have warned that the disclosures could jeopardize vulnerable people such as opposition figures or human rights campaigners. A joint statement published on the Guardian's website said that the British publication and its international counterparts — The New York Times, France's Le Monde, Germany's Der Spiegel and Spain's El Pais — "deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted State Department cables, which may put sources at risk." Previously, international media outlets — and WikiLeaks itself — had redacted the names of potentially vulnerable sources, although the standard has varied and some experts warned that even people whose names had been kept out of the cables were still at risk. But now many, and possibly even all, of the cables posted to the WikiLeaks website carried unredacted names. There's a debate over what kind of an impact that will have. In an interview with the AP earlier this week, former U.S. State Department official P.J. Crowley warned that the new release could be used to intimidate activists in authoritarian countries. Crowley said "any autocratic security service worth its salt" probably already would have the complete unredacted archive of cables, but that the fresh releases mean that any intelligence agency that did not "will have it in short order." WikiLeaks staff members have not returned repeated requests for comment sent in the past two days. But in a series of messages on Twitter, the group suggested that it had no choice but to publish the archive because copies of the document were already circulating online following a security breach. WikiLeaks has blamed the Guardian for the blunder, pointing out that a sensitive password used to decrypt the files was published in a book put out by David Leigh, one of the paper's investigative reporters and a collaborator-turned-critic of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. But the Guardian, Leigh and others have rejected the claim. Although the password was in fact published in Leigh's book about seven months ago, Guardian journalists have suggested that the real problem was that WikiLeaks posted the encrypted file to the Web by accident and that Assange never bothered to change the password needed to unlock it. In their statement, the Guardian's international partners lined up to slam the 40-year-old former computer hacker. "We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data — indeed, we are united in condemning it," the statement read. It added: "The decision to publish by Julian Assange was his, and his alone." The media organizations' rejection is a further blow to WikiLeaks, whose site is under financial embargo and whose leader remains under virtual house arrest in an English country mansion pending extradition proceedings to Sweden on unrelated sexual assault allegations. It's also a sign of the borderless online whistleblower's increasing estrangement from traditional media outlets. Assange and his supporters have long feuded with the Guardian and The New York Times, and in a recent statement the group noted that other Western media organizations had "slowed their rate of publishing" stories derived from the cables. As a result, the anti-secrecy site said it would increasingly turn to "crowdsourcing" — that is, relying on Internet users to sift through its leaked documents and flag important material. It's a relatively new tactic for the group, which has in the past relied on mainstream partners to organize and promote its spectacular leaks of classified information — including hundreds of thousands of U.S. intelligence documents detailing the course of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks says the process is working, pointing to one document flagged by Twitter users who've already begun perusing the newly released files. The cable, filed in 2006, carries an explosive allegation that U.S. forces entered a house during a 2006 raid in Iraq, handcuffed 10 members of the same family and executed them. Although the U.N. letter in which the allegation was made was five years old, its publication put new pressure on the already strained negotiations over keeping U.S. forces in Iraq. Iraq's government said Friday that it is investigating, and some officials said the document is reason enough for the country to force the American military to leave instead of signing a deal allowing troops to stay beyond a year-end departure deadline. "Crowdsourcing has proved to be a success," WikiLeaks said. But amid the controversy over the unredacted cables, some supporters are keeping their distance. The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said Thursday that it had temporarily suspended its WikiLeaks "mirror site." Such sites act as carbon-copies of their originals, relieving pressure due to heavy traffic and preserving data in case of attack. In a statement, Reporters said it had "neither the technical, human or financial resources to check each cable" for information that could harm innocent people and thus "has to play safe." ___ Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report. ___ Raphael G. Satter can be reached at: http://twitter.com/razhael Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

Tags america, british, complete, country, document, france, group, guardian, internet, paris, password, past, spain, sweden, unredacted | Comment (0)
Technology

Netflix stock falls as talks on Starz deal unravel (AP)

September 2, 2011 – 9:04 am

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix's negotiations to keep a key piece of its Internet video library have collapsed, dealing a major blow to the largest U.S. video subscription service as it raises the prices for most of its 25 million customers. The setback triggered a nearly 9 percent drop in Netflix Inc.'s stock price. Starz Entertainment delivered the bad news Thursday in a terse statement announcing that it won't renew a contract that allows Netflix to show a lineup of recently released movies and TV shows over high-speed Internet connections. That means Starz content will be removed from Netflix's streaming service starting in March. Starz' library includes movies from Walt Disney Co.'s assorted studios and, until recently, Sony Corp. The talks fell apart after the two sides disagreed over the value of the Starz content and how it should be sold to Netflix subscribers, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The people asked not to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. The content from Starz' cable TV channel played an instrumental role in increasing usage of Netflix's Internet service and helped Netflix add nearly 17 million subscribers since the deal was signed in October 2008. That growth probably wouldn't have happened without the boost that the Starz deal gave to Netflix streaming, said Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible. "What created (Netflix's success in streaming) is frankly, initially getting Starz, getting that content, which got you more subscribers, which allowed you to buy more content," Wible said. "The virtuous cycle that has made Netflix what it is could work against it. If you lose content, you lose subscribers; ... it could be a downward spiral from here." Netflix had been expected to work out a new contract with Starz, although at a much higher price than the estimated $30 million a year that it had been paying under the current agreement. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged earlier this year that the company might have to pay as much as $250 million a year to retain the Starz rights when the current contract expires in February. But those hopes were dashed, if not blown up completely, with Thursday's bombshell dropped by Starz CEO Chris Albrecht. The timing of the announcement was seen a way to kick Netflix in the shins at a particularly vulnerable time. It came on the first day of a new Netflix pricing system that will hit U.S. subscribers with price increase of as much as 60 percent if they want to continue to get DVD rentals through the mail along with unlimited streaming of Internet video. The new pricing system has incensed a large group of Netflix subscribers who have threatened to cancel their accounts, a backlash that could intensify if it looks like Netflix's streaming library is becoming less attractive. Albrecht said Starz had decided against a renewal "to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content." The contract renewal talks broke down when Netflix refused to meet demands that could have driven up the annual licensing rights to $300 million or more, according to one person familiar with the negotiations. A major sticking point arose when Starz insisted its content be corralled on a higher-price tier, another person said. Instead of making their content available to any Netflix subscriber paying just $8 per month, Starz executives wanted viewership limited to people paying at least $16 per month for a package that bundles DVD rentals with Internet video. That stipulation was seen as a way to preserve Starz' relationship with cable and satellite TV distributors, who include Starz in channel packages that cost far more than the $8 monthly fee for Netflix streaming. Albrecht said Starz, part of Liberty Media Corp., is in an "excellent position" to make more money from other sources besides Netflix. Netflix tried to downplay the possible loss of the Starz relationship. The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., said it would spend the $250 million that Hastings had earmarked for the Starz renewal to buy audience-pleasing content from other distributors. Hastings has left no doubt that he intends to invest heavily in Netflix's Internet video library because he wants more subscribers to use that option. That would allow Netflix to cut postage and other costs to mail DVD rentals to its customers. As it is, Starz has become less important to Netflix as the service expanded its streaming rights. In June, Sony also stopped allowing its movies, which include "Easy A" and "Grown Ups," to part of Starz streaming in June. Those factors have reduced Starz's share of Netflix streaming viewership in the U.S. to 8 percent, according to Netflix. The rising cost for Internet streaming rights is one of the reasons that Netflix raised its prices for people who want to rent DVDs through the mail and stream video. The changes don't affect customers who subscribe to the streaming-only plan. Starz's decision to end the talks with Netflix underscores the escalating tensions with pay-TV services that view Netflix's popularity as a competitive threat. Time Warner Inc.'s HBO has consistently refused to license its shows for Netflix streaming, and Showtime recently has declined to make some of its top series, including "Dexter" and "Californication" available to the service. Morningstar analyst Michael Corty said he thinks Netflix can salvage the Starz deal, given there is still six months before the current contract expires. To do that, Netflix will likely have to pay even more than it intended because Starz appears to have more negotiating leverage, Corty said. Although Albrecht's statement made it sound as if there is little chance of a new deal, Netflix left the door open. "We have tremendous respect for the Starz creative team, and we look forward to someday licensing some of their original or licensed content," Netflix said in a statement. The falling out with Starz added to the worries of Netflix investors already fretting about the higher prices driving away subscribers. Netflix's stock plunged $19.97 to $213.30 in extended trading Thursday, after the announcement by Starz. ___ Nakashima reported from Los Angeles. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

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Technology

AT&T gearing up for rare antitrust fight with DOJ (AP)

September 1, 2011 – 4:20 pm

SAN FRANCISCO – The Justice Department's rejection of AT&T's proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA will test new federal guidelines on challenging mergers and the companies' resolve in forming the nation's largest wireless carrier. A courtroom battle is likely and could wring out information that the companies would prefer to keep private. Still, AT&T Inc. has a big incentive to fight: If the deal is called off, the company has to pay a $3 billion breakup fee and surrender some of its unused spectrum for wireless communications. AT&T is promising to fight the Justice Department's decision. The department filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the $39 billion deal, saying it would reduce competition and lead to price increases for customers. If AT&T follows through on that, it could produce the biggest antitrust showdown since business software maker Oracle Corp. squared off with the federal government seven years ago. That dispute, triggered by the government's decision to block Oracle's proposed purchase of rival PeopleSoft Inc., exposed several well-kept corporate secrets and required Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to testify before a packed courtroom. In the end, Oracle pulled off something few companies have done in the past 30 years: It persuaded a federal judge that the Justice Department didn't have grounds to block its PeopleSoft deal. Oracle closed its $11.1 billion takeover four months after getting the favorable court ruling. Usually, not even the most powerful companies bother to fight government regulators in an antitrust dispute. Google Inc., for example, backed off in 2008 when the Justice Department threatened to sue to block a proposed Internet search partnership with Yahoo Inc. Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, pulled out of a deal to buy Intuit Corp. in 1995 after the Justice Department objected. The Justice Department filed 138 antitrust cases in federal courts from 1999 to 2008 and lost just four of them, according to the latest breakdown from the agency. One reason that the Justice Department has such a good track record is because it rarely challenges a deal unless it's very confident it can win, said Joseph Bauer, a University of Notre Dame law professor and antitrust expert. Knowing AT&T would probably go to court, the Justice Department may have wanted to signal that it intends to get tougher on corporate marriages between rivals in markets with few other competitors. A union between AT&T and T-Mobile USA would leave Verizon and Sprint as the only other major cellphone carriers in the U.S. T-Mobile, a subsidiary of German telecom company Deutsche Telekom AG, is currently the No. 4 wireless carrier, while AT&T is second. Combined, AT&T would be the largest. In a sign of its confidence, the Justice Department decided to strike down the deal even though it could have taken about three more months to study the pros and cons. The timing stunned AT&T, which said it didn't get any advance warning. "It was an aggressive and impressive move by the DOJ to take the battle right at AT&T," said Daniel Wall, a San Francisco attorney who represented Oracle in its 2004 fight to win the right to buy PeopleSoft. "It sent a statement that the DOJ intends to fight this one all the way to the finish line." Wall said AT&T may have a tougher time proving its case than Oracle did against the Justice Department. In the PeopleSoft deal, Wall said, antitrust enforcers seemed to be manipulating the definition of the business software market. "This time, it looks to me that they have a pretty solid market definition," Wall said. "They don't appear to be playing games." University of Iowa law professor Herbert Hovenkamp said the Justice Department is being guided by a set of new guidelines, issued late last year, which make it clearer when mergers should be challenged on antitrust grounds. "I don't think they are overreaching here," Hovenkamp said. "If there is a broader message here, it's that the government intends to enforce these new guidelines." Besides being forced to divulge potentially damaging information, AT&T will face other risks if it doesn't settle with the Justice Department. Going to trial will take months, or even years, leaving the company in a legal limbo that could depress its stock price and cause customers and key employees to defect. There's another risk to going to trial: as they try to prove their case, antitrust lawyers sometimes obtain confidential e-mails that contain embarrassing snippets and present other evidence that can make companies look bad. Those are some of the reasons why AT&T mayl try to reach some kind of settlement with the government. If AT&T persists, antitrust experts said that it's better off going up against the Justice Department than the Federal Trade Commission, which also handles antitrust reviews. That's mainly because lawsuits with the Justice Department are contested in federal courts. By contrast, the threshold for the FTC to block deals is generally lower, and the ensuing legal skirmishes occur in administrative law proceedings that drag on longer. "The merging parties usually have a better shot when they are going up against the DOJ than the FTC," said D. Daniel Sokol, a University of Florida professor specializing in antitrust law. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

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