By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) – Investing in a high-speed Internet network would open up a new global trade route for Britain, boosting economic recovery and creating thousands of jobs, the opposition Conservative party said on Thursday.
The party, ahead in the polls weeks before a general election, plans to stimulate 29 billion pounds ($43.27 billion) of private investment in the broadband network by opening up access to infrastructure currently dominated by BT and providing loans to encourage firms to improve high-speed broadband in rural areas.
“For Britain the Internet presents an opportunity that it doesn’t present for any other country in Europe,” said Conservative culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt. “We are one of the best countries in the world at the creation of digital content … the Internet effectively opens up a new global trade route.”
He added: “If we want to be a hub for the digital and creative industries … we have to say don’t bet against the need for higher speeds on the Internet because there will be lots and lots of applications that demand that.”
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LONDON (Reuters) – British cable operator Virgin Media is testing a new technology to deliver ultrafast broadband over telegraph poles which could allow it to extend its reach to another 1 million homes.
Virgin, which is looking to cement its advantage in delivering faster broadband over slower copper-based rivals, said it was launching a trial in a Berkshire village to deliver 50 Mb broadband along with its television service.
Virgin Media has already announced plans to extend its fiber optic network by 500,000 new homes. It currently passes 12.6 million homes with an underground network and said it had identified more than 1 million homes in parts of Britain which could benefit from deployment over telegraph poles.
“This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services,” Chief Executive Neil Berkett said.
Virgin said the government was considering a change in planning guidelines which would be needed to enable large scale overhead deployment.
It believes the combination of overhead poles and underground ducts could enable Virgin to roll-out next-generation digital services to rural communities, a key demand by the government.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Paul Sandle)
HELSINKI (Reuters) – Opera Software unveiled on Thursday a version of its Mini mobile browser for use on cellphones running on Google’s Android software.
Opera Mini is the world’s most widely used browser on cellphones, ahead of Apple’s iPhone browser, as Opera benefits from its wide offering across all key platforms, according to web statistics firm Statcounter.
Google’s Android, introduced only in late 2008, won 4-5 percent of the smartphone market last year, and several top handset vendors like LG Electronics and Motorola are increasingly focusing on using it.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki)
Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Jack Tretton watches video from the new Gran Turismo 5 game for the PS3, at the Sony E3 2009 media briefing in Los Angeles in this June 2, 2009 fo;e [jptp. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Blatant disregard for oncoming traffic and speed limits will get you into serious trouble on the road, but drivers seeking similar thrills can indulge in a fleet of new racing video games due out soon.
Sony Computer Entertainment’s (Sony) “Gran Turismo 5″ from Polyphony Digital, Activision Blizzard’s “Blur” and Disney Interactive Studios’ “Split/Second” are heading to stores from game-makers around the globe, boosting a genre that inevitably has players coming back for more.
John Taylor, videogame analyst, Arcadia Research, said that in 2004 racing games accounted for approximately 9 percent of U.S. videogame sales, a figure which has now more than doubled.
He said the racing genre still has strong franchises such as Nintendo’s “Mario Kart Wii,” Microsoft’s “FORZA Motorsport” and Sony’s “Gran Turismo,” with this year’s offerings set to add to a niche that, according to analyst Anita Frazier, netted sales worth $548 million in 2009.
“Today, more than 20 percent of U.S. gamers play action or sports racing games with the demographics skewing to younger males,” said Michael Cai, vice president of research at media and technology research firm Interpret.
Liverpool-based game studio Bizarre Creations has made the jump to action racing with “Blur.” The studio’s last racing franchise, Microsoft’s “Project Gotham Racing,” has sold over 7 million copies on Xbox 360, including 2.9 million units in the United States, according to The NPD Group.
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By Gabriel Madway
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Sony Corp has unveiled its new motion-controlled video game system, pitching it to both casual and hard-core gamers alike, as the company looks to ride one of the hottest trends in gaming.
The new system will help Sony keep pace with rivals Nintendo Co Ltd, which pioneered gesture-based gaming, and Microsoft Corp, which is launching its system later this year.
Sony’s new PlayStation “Move” controller is used with its Eye gaming webcam, translating users’ motions into actions within games on the PlaySation 3 (PS3) console.
Move, which resembles a TV remote with a colorful ball stuck on the end, will be available as part of a package this fall for less than $100, Sony said at a media event on Wednesday.
The company said 36 third-party developers and publishers are supporting the Move platform. In fiscal 2010, Sony will release more than 20 games that are dedicated to or supported by the system.
Nintendo’s Wii kicked off the craze for motion-controlled gaming, making the console and active games such as “Wii Fit” and “Wii Sports Resort” into huge hits with casual gamers.
Microsoft has already unveiled the Natal body-gesturing gaming system for its Xbox 360 console, which the company plans to have in stores for the holidays.
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Signage for Motorola is displayed outside their office building in Tempe, Arizona October 29, 2009. REUTERS/Joshua Lott
Motorola said the partnership with Microsoft means that a Bing bookmark and search widget will be loaded on cell phones, starting in the coming weeks with phones in China.
The move follows shortly after Motorola struck a similar deal to let consumers in China use Baidu Inc, among others, as the default Web search instead of Google on Android based phones.
The partnerships come against a backdrop of Google’s dispute with China over censorship, which, if it leads to Google withdrawing from the country, could cause big headaches for Motorola.
That’s because Motorola is banking on its ties to Google’s Android and its sales in China to help in a big turnaround effort. Having search alternatives on the Android phones should lessen Motorola’s dependence on Google, in China or elsewhere, analysts have said.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Carol Bishopric)
A man watches a 3D movie at the Panasonic booth during the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada January 7, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
NEW YORK (Reuters) – While James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi epic “Avatar” took the box office by storm instantly, the road to success will be much longer for Best Buy Co Inc, which is making a big bet on 3D televisions this year.
The top U.S. electronics retailer unveiled a line of 3D TVs made by Japan’s Panasonic in New York City on Wednesday, as it joins a host of companies hoping to cash in on the new technology.
While many expect 3D TVs to draw curious shoppers to Best Buy stores, helped by blockbuster 3D films like “Avatar” and the new “Alice in Wonderland,” they do not see the higher-priced products acting as a big sales catalyst or a quick-fix for weak margins in 2010.
“3D TV is a nice to have. Certainly not a must-have. To me, it is kind of like a cherry on a sundae,” BB&T Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba said.
“I don’t necessarily think that 3D TV is going to move the needle a ton for Best Buy in 2010,” he said.
Barclays analyst Michael Lasser estimated the margin on a 3D TV to be “meaningfully higher” than what Best Buy earns on an HDTV of a comparable size, but added demand for the products was uncertain at the moment.
“I don’t think 3D TV will be decisive for margins,” Goldman Sachs’ Matthew Fassler said, adding, “It is not reasonable to expect consumers to pay a premium for technology without sufficient associated content.”
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An Amazon employee receives merchandise at the Phoenix Fulfilment Center in Goodyear, Arizona, November 16, 2009. REUTERS/Rick Scuteri
“Individual Canadian booksellers have traditionally played a key role in ensuring the promotion of Canadian authors and Canadian culture,” Stephen Page, president of the Canadian Booksellers’ Association, said in an angry statement that calls on the government to block the plan.
“These are values that no American dot.com retailer could ever purport to understand or promote.”
Seattle-based Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, already sells books, electronics, music and consumer goods through the Canadian website http://www.amazon.ca.
It was not available to comment on Wednesday, but it’s not clear how much would change under the distribution center plan. The retailer has said the center would allow it to pass along huge savings to its Canadian customers.
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By Gabriel Madway
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – OnLive is set to launch its “cloud-based” video game service in June, as the closely watched start-up looks to challenge home console heavyweights with the promise of on-demand gaming.
OnLive will roll out to PC and Mac users in the United States on June 17, charging customers $14.95 a month for instant access to games from publishers including Electronic Arts Inc, Ubisoft Entertainment SA and THQ Inc.
Users will pay to rent or buy titles through OnLive, but game prices were not announced. A packaged new release generally costs around $60.
A screengrab courtesy of OnLive, a new videogame company aiming to challenge the big three console makers by providing a cloud-based gaming system promising on-demand access to games and no lag time. REUTERS/Handout
OnLive Chief Executive Steve Perlman said the service was going to be “disruptive” to the game industry in general and to home console makers Nintendo Co Ltd, Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp in particular.
He said OnLive will help publishers by combating software piracy, reducing sales of used titles and improving margins, which are lower on packaged software than they are for titles distributed digitally.
“You’re able to deliver games directly from the publisher now to the consumer,” Perlman said at the Game Developers Conference on Wednesday. “People have no patience; they want something now.”
“OnLive will deliver games run from the so-called “cloud,” meaning they are stored remotely on servers, rather than locally on a PC or a console. It promises lag-free access to games that can be played on nearly any personal computer or television.
OnLive was under stealth development for seven years, and was formally introduced a year ago to much fanfare. Although some question whether the technology will work as promised, if it does, analysts said the service could indeed pose a challenge to console makers.
OnLive has data centers around the U.S. filled with servers to handle user demand. Perlman declined to say when the service might roll out to other markets such as Europe.
Perlman is well-known in Silicon Valley. He helped launch WebTV, which Microsoft bought in 1997.
OnLive’s financial backers include AT&T Inc Media Holdings Inc, Lauder Partners, Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros, Autodesk Inc and Maverick Capital.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent
HELSINKI (Reuters) – IBM has started a two-year research program that aims to make cellphones easier to use for groups including the elderly and the illiterate.
As growth in developed markets such as Europe, Japan and United States has stalled, the wireless industry is looking especially toward the elderly who have so far thought they could do without a cellphone, or who can’t use the one they have.
IBM said on Wednesday software developed in the program, which also involves the National Institute of Design of India and Tokyo University, will be made available on an open source basis, and other materials developed will also be made publicly available for governments and businesses.
Telecom industry watchers said the IBM program addressed a genuine need.
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