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<title>Haaze.com / Rosa / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:17:38 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[On your iPhone and Verizon, and selecting a service provider]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:17:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Many AT&amp;TiPhone subscribers are waiting with bated breath for Verizon Wireless to get the iPhone. But can these subscribers take their old iPhones with them to Verizon In this week's Ask Maggie, I break the bad news to one AT&amp;T subscriber that his wife will not be able to use his old iPhone 3GS on the Verizon network once the iPhone comes to that network. I also offer advice about selecting the best wireless carrier for you, as well as advice for selecting a new 4G wireless broadband operator.Ask Maggie is a weekly advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. If you've got a question, please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put &quot;Ask Maggie&quot; in the subject header.Can take my old iPhone to Verizon Dear Maggie,I am an AT&amp;T customer with an iPhone 3GS. But I'm planning to ditch AT&amp;T as soon as I can. I've heard that Verizon Wireless will be getting the iPhone in early 2011. I figure I'll get whatever new iPhone Verizon offers with the new service, but I want to give my old iPhone 3GS to my wife so she can use it on Verizo, too. Can I do this Also right now I have an unlimited data plan for my iPhone. Would I have to give that up if I switch to VerizonThanks,Isaac Dear Isaac,As you've pointed out, Verizon Wireless is expected to get the iPhone early next year. Neither Apple nor Verizon has confirmed this, but several reputable news sources have cited sources that say a Verizon iPhone will be announced in early 2011.Unfortunately, for you and millions of other existing iPhone customers, the current version of the iPhone will not be compatible with Verizon Wireless's network. AT&amp;T and all the other wireless operators now offering the iPhone are GSM carriers. GSM phones have SIM cards that, in unlocked phones, can be swapped out so that people can use the same phone on different carrier networks that also support GSM. But Verizon's network uses a technology called CDMA, and it does not have a SIM card that allows unlocked phones to be used on other carrier networks.So in your case, your existing iPhone 3GS can only be used on AT&amp;T's network. You could unlock the phone and use it on another GSM carrier's network. T-Mobile USA is also a GSM carrier. And several carriers in Europe are also GSM. But there is another caveat to consider. T-Mobile and AT&amp;T use different radio frequencies for 3G service here in the U.S., so even if you swap the SIM cards, your AT&amp;T iPhone won't get 3G service on T-Mobile's network. Instead, it will only operate on T-Mobile's slower 2G/2.5G network.As for your unlimited data plan, it's difficult to say what kind of plan Verizon Wireless will introduce when it announces its version of the iPhone. Currently, Verizon offers a $30 a month unlimited data plan for all smartphones. It also introduced a $15 a month plan that offers 150MB of data per month. Verizon executives have indicated that data plans might change so that customers are offered more options. But executives have also said they acknowledge that consumers like unlimited plans. So Verizon may decide to keep the unlimited plan, but they might ask new customers to pay more than $30 for it. Meanwhile, AT&amp;T has eliminated its $30 unlimited plan for all new smartphone subscribers. It offers a $25 a month plan that offers 2GB of data for the month. And a plan that costs $15 a month for 200MB of data for the month. If you had an unlimited data plan from AT&amp;T that started before June 2010, then you can keep that plan as long as you like. But if you cancel your AT&amp;T service or change your service to one of the tiered offerings, you cannot go back to the unlimited plan.I hope this helps clarify the situation for you. There is still a lot we don't know about the upcoming Verizon iPhone, so stay tuned.Decisions, decisions: Choosing the right wireless service provider Dear Maggie,My current AT&amp;T cell phone contract is up and I'm looking for a new provider. I recently saw that AT&amp;T ranked at the bottom of Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. U.S. Telecom ranked No. 1. But I don't live anywhere where that service is available. What's the best way to find out who the best carrier is in my areaThanks,Marie Dear Marie,Choosing a cell phone carrier is a big decision. If you are getting a subsidized phone with your new service, you're likely signing a two-year contract, so you better make sure it works for you, since you'll have to live with it for at least the next couple of years. You are correct, AT&amp;T did not do well in this year's Consumer Reports' customer satisfaction poll. The group surveyed nearly 59,000 cell phone users in September 2010 and asked them various questions about their overall satisfaction with various cell phone services. AT&amp;T was the only large carrier to do worse this year in the survey than the previous year. Consumer Reports said the company struggled in almost every category. And it ranked last among major wireless carriers in terms of overall customer satisfaction. Consumers Reports offers a good overview of what you can expect from a service provider. But it doesn't tell the whole story.Service quality varies greatly depending on several variables, including where you live and where you plan to use your phone. For example, AT&amp;T may have gotten low marks among consumers nationwide, but the service works great in Delaware where my family lives. In fact, my father reports that he is able to make phone calls from his boat in the Delaware Bay, while my uncle who has a Verizon Wireless cell phone cannot.Even within cities, cellular performance can vary. For example, I own an AT&amp;T iPhone. It works great for me in my apartment, but my friend who lives just a few blocks east of me says that she can't make a phone call on her iPhone in her apartment without it dropping the call at least once. The first thing I tell people when they are considering switching service providers is to ask their friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members about their own experiences. If you ask people who use phones and services in the same places you plan to use your new phone and service, you're more likely to get an accurate view of what your experience might be. To get a basic idea of which carriers offer better coverage and service quality in particular areas, check out CNET's online cell phone service mapping system, enabled by Root Wireless. This tool compares voice and data service among major carriers in various cities around the country. Data for most cities is available in the tool, and Root is still populating its database with information for smaller communities and cities. Users can share information about coverage, which can help improve the accuracy of the database and mapping tool. The graphical interface of the map lets consumers see where gaps in service may be. But remember that coverage and signal strength aren't everything. Network congestion can degrade quality. So it's very important to talk to other cell phone users about their own experiences. And finally, most major cell phone operators offer a 30 day guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the phone or the service you've just purchased, you can cancel that service with no penalty within 30 days of the purchase. So take advantage of those grace periods to put your phone and the service to the test. Can Sprint 4G compete with Verizon 4G Dear Maggie,Is Sprint going to upgrade its 4G speeds to compete with Verizon's 4G network I've been using the Sprint/Clearwire service, and I've sometimes gotten speeds faster than 14Mbps, but I am not able to get those speeds inside my house. I'll stick with Sprint/Clearwire if they plan to upgrade the network to meet Verizon's speeds, but otherwise I'll switch to Verizon. I really want some fast speeds in my home. Please help me. I want to know who to choose. Thanks for all the help!GregDear Greg,Today, Clearwire customers can expect average download speeds of between 3Mbps and 6Mbps with bursts over 10Mbps. Verizon Wireless's new 4G service offers average download speeds between 6Mbps and 12Mbps. Edward Baig of USA Today wrote in his review of the new Verizon 4G service that he was able to get bursts of download speeds up to 23Mbps. So based on speed alone, there's no question that Verizon's service is much faster than the one offered by Sprint and Clearwire. That said, the Sprint/Clearwire 4G service offers unlimited downloads and uploads. Clearwire offers a 4G-only service for $45 a month. Sprint offers a 3G/4G service with unlimited 4G service for $60 a month. (Sprint also offers an unlimited 4G only service for $50 a month.) Verizon charges $50 a month for 5GB of data and $80 a month for a 10GB service. For every 1GB over those limits the company charges $10.  Depending on how much you use the service and how much data you expect to consume each month, the Sprint/Clearwire service may offer a better value even though the speed might not be as fast. It is much faster than most 3G networks, which offer average downloads 600Kbps and 1.9Mbps.For more information about high-speed wireless data services offered by all four major U.S. wireless carriers check out this FAQ published last week. It gives a full description of services by each wireless carrier. And whether the service is considered 4G or 3G is offers a chart that compares the pricing and speed of each service.         Marguerite Reardon     Full Profile E-mail Marguerite Reardon   E-mail Marguerite Reardon If you have a question or comment for Marguerite Reardon, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Boeing halts 787 Dreamliner tests after onboard fire]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=boeing-halts-787-dreamliner-tests-after-onboard-fire</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=boeing-halts-787-dreamliner-tests-after-onboard-fire</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=boeing-halts-787-dreamliner-tests-after-onboard-fire</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Boeing said today that a fire onboard one of its test 787 Dreamliners has caused its test program to be delayed. Seen here, the first 787 takes off on its initial flight on Dec. 15, 2009.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)Boeing today said that it has decided to halt tests of its much-anticipated but beleaguered 787 Dreamliner after an onboard fire during an evaluation flight.The fire took place aboard ZA002, the second test 787, as it approached Laredo, Texas, Boeing said. The plane lost primary electric power but was able to land safely due to deployment of its backup systems, including its Ram Air Turbine. Boeing is investigating the electrical fire and said that early indications are that a power control panel in the plane's aft electronics bay must be replaced. Other repairs may also be required. An investigation of the incident is expected to take several days.Because it is not known what caused the fire, Boeing also suggested that the entire 787 Dreamliner program could be on hold, though it will continue to conduct ground test operations in the interim. &quot;We cannot determine the impact of this event on the overall program schedule until we have worked our way through the [investigation] data,&quot; the company said in a release this afternoon.News of the fire and the test program hiatus hit Boeing hard on Wall Street. The company's shares were down 3.15 percent, or $2.18 today.Of course, this is just the latest in a long string of delays that have stung the promising new airplane. While Boeing has built up tremendous buzz around the plane, which is expected to offer airlines big improvements in fuel efficiency, flight range, and passenger comfort, it has struggled to keep the program on track.The most recent setback, in August, came after Boeing announced that it was re-assessing the availability of an engine it needed for last stages of its flight tests. But there have also been a string of other problems including a machinists strike, supplier shortages, and an issue with the joint between the fuselage and the wing. The latter problem resulted in the 787's first flight, which finally took place last December, being delayed for two years. Until today, Boeing had said it would be delivering its first Dreamliner in the first quarter of 2011. Clearly, that schedule is now threatened.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Our Government Cana4a4t Prevent A Digital 9-11: Entrepreneurs Need To Step&nbsp'In]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=our-government-canrsquot-prevent-a-digital-9-11-entrepreneurs-need-to-stepnbspin</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=our-government-canrsquot-prevent-a-digital-9-11-entrepreneurs-need-to-stepnbspin</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=our-government-canrsquot-prevent-a-digital-9-11-entrepreneurs-need-to-stepnbspin</guid>
<description><![CDATA[At the Security Innovation Network (SINET) Showcase at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., this week, Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, presented a dire assessment of the cyber-security threat facing our nation. He discussed how rogue governments and hackers are quietly infiltrating our computer systems and the disasters that can be perpetuateda4&quot;like those you see on the TV show a4A24a4.a4s Chertoff worries that these risks havena4a4t yet gripped the public imagination' that it may take a a4Adigital 9-11a4 to get businesses, consumers, and governments to fortify their defenses.The most troublesome thing I learned by talking with a whoa4a4s who of our nationa4a4s security community was that our government doesna4a4t believe it has the ability to defend us from the rapidly evolving threats. Yes, the National Security Agency and some branches of government have brilliant computer scientists working for them and can defend their own systems' but the rest of us are our own. The Government simply cana4a4t innovate fast enough to keep pace with the pervasive threats and dynamics of the internet or Silicon Valleya4a4s rapidly changing technologies. Indeed, as George Hoyem, a partner at the CIA-backed venture fund In-Q-Tel, noted, there has been a 571 percent growth in malware since 2006' today, 60 percent of all websites are infected.The experts agreed that we need private industry to step in and help solve the worlda4a4s cyber-security problems. a4sBut we cana4a4t count on the big companiesa4&quot;they cana4a4t innovate as fast as startups can.a4s So our entrepreneurs need to lead the charge. And many are doing just that. a4sRobert Ackerman, managing director at Allegiance Capital, said that in 1981 more than 70 percent of research and development in security technology was done by companies with 25,000 employees or more, and less than 5 percent was done by companies with fewer than 1000 employees. Today, the large companies perform 38% of the R&amp;amp'D, and companies with fewer than 1000 employees do about 25%.But herea4a4s the big obstacle: when it comes to Governmenta4&quot;which is one of the biggest markets for security technologies, the deck is stacked against the entrepreneur. Nearly all big government contracts go to large contractors. These contracts run not in the millions of dollars, but in billions. a4sAnd we dona4a4t get billions of dollars of valuea4&quot;if wea4a4re lucky, we get some clunky old systems that entrepreneurs could have delivered much better versions of in a fraction of the time and a tiny fraction of the cost. Because these contracts are so big, they require many levels of approvala4&quot;usually by Congress. It typically takes 3-4 years for government to award these.a4s Companies have to go through a grueling a4Acertificationa4 process to get approved to bid, and it costs millions of dollars to prepare proposals and to lobby government officials and political leaders. Startups cana4a4t wait this long or afford the cost of bidding.The chasm between government and entrepreneur couldna4a4t be wider. All of the government officials I talked to were open to change and seemed eager to embrace new technologies' yet they had no idea where to start or how to get around their own bureaucracy.Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., are located three thousand miles apart in space and light years apart in concept. Technology managers in government dona4a4t know where to find the entrepreneurs who are ready and able to build innovative solutions.a4s And when they do come across them, they dona4a4t have mechanisms to fund, support, or purchase technology from startups. So government managers are forced to deal only with the big contractorsa4&quot;who have a greater incentive to add staff (and so increase billing) than to cut costs through innovation. Not only are we wasting billions of dollars, but our nationa4a4s defense industrial base is neglecting the vast majority of innovation from early stage and emerging growth companies.What should the government do to remove the obstacles There were some great ideas discussed, by people like Curtis Carlson, CEO of SRI International' Dean DeBiase, of Reboot Partners' Asheem Chandna of Greylock Partners' and SINETa4a4s founder Robert Rodriguez:1.a4sa4sa4sa4sa4s Overhaul the acquisition and procurement process to level the playing field for small companies: it must be made easier for startups to bid for government contracts and the selection criteria balanced to weigh equally the risk of technology obsolescence with the risk of a startupa4a4s failing. Procurement times should be reduced to months rather than years' some projects should be done in smaller steps so that the big guys arena4a4t the only ones qualified to complete them.2.a4sa4sa4sa4sa4s Increase awareness between technology buyers, builders, investors, and researchers. The SINET event was billed as the first of its kind. In Silicon Valley, such networking eventsa4&quot;between entrepreneurs, investors, buyers, and academicsa4&quot;take place at least every week. Why not bring government technologists to Silicon Valley and other tech centers on a frequent basis They will understand what is happening in the tech world, and entrepreneurs will get the chance to learn what problems need to be solved and to meet the people they can sell their solutions to.3.a4sa4sa4sa4sa4s Provide tax incentives for security innovationsa4&quot;R&amp;amp'D tax breaks, similar to the high-efficiency-energy tax breaks for consumers.4.a4sa4sa4sa4sa4s Provide seed funding for startups. One of the reasons for which Silicon Valley has so many Web 2.0-type startups, is that successful entrepreneurs, who have made their fortunes, are playing the role of Angel and VC. They provide funding and mentorship. Why not provide government technology managers with the ability to fund and mentor the startups that they believe can solve critical problemsOne more great idea (not from SINET, but reported by Rob Pegoraro, of The Washington Post) is from Internet pioneer Vint Cerf. Vint advocates the creation of a &amp;''cyber fire department&amp;''a4&quot;a recognized, trusted, public entity that companies can call upon when they need help. This would function as Sandia National Laboratories did in battling the Conficker worm.Bottom line: until changes begin to occur on a national scale, U.S. cyber-security will remain a global backwater in the continually innovating domain that is cyberspace.Editora4a4s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa and find his research at www.wadhwa.com.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Congrats Amazon, Your Pedophile Book Hits The Top 100 List And Over 2,500 People Join&nbsp'Boycott]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=congrats-amazon-your-pedophile-book-hits-the-top-100-list-and-over-2500-people-joinnbspboycott</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=congrats-amazon-your-pedophile-book-hits-the-top-100-list-and-over-2500-people-joinnbspboycott</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=congrats-amazon-your-pedophile-book-hits-the-top-100-list-and-over-2500-people-joinnbspboycott</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Joining Aesop&amp;'s Fables and the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People this evening on Amazon&amp;'s Top 100 Bestsellers list is a very unlikely contender, The Pedophile&amp;'s Guide to Love and Pleasure.Earlier today both Mike and MG used their TechCrunch power to rail against the fact that the pedophile guide is on Amazon at all (Devin has a different take). These efforts have had quite an unintended effect, namely a 101,000% sales boost for the book.In testament to how fast something goes from zero to meme these days, the unlikely Kindle best seller has gone from 158,221 to a coveted 96 spot on Amazon&amp;'s Top 100 list.The book has also gone from 50 reviews to 1,525 reviews, most along the lines of &amp;''This is absolutely disgusting and needs to be removed immediately. I will not be buying a single item from your store until it is removed.&amp;'' A newly minted Facebook Protest Fan Page currently has over 2,500a4s&amp;''Likes.&amp;'' Middle America is about to find out about this thing and it&amp;'s not going to be pretty.Amazon has responded to our original post, emphasizing that they will not be taking the book down.&amp;''Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts' we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.a4a4AAmazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable.&amp;''Following this censorship logic, Amazon should be keep the book up on the Bestsellers List as well as long as the numbers say it belongs there. Something tells me this isn&amp;'t going to happen. We are minutes away from this hitting mainstream coverage and once the Red States get involved there&amp;'s no turning back.Which brings me to the paradox of media &amp;8212' We first posted on this because some of us weren&amp;'t cool with the fact that a book that made it easier for pedophiles to commit their crimes was so easily accessible via Amazon. Our post drew awareness to how sketchy this was but also attracted thousands of Internet looky loos who thought it might be funny to buy the book. Amazon is now playing a game of chicken with the entire Internet (I wouldn&amp;'t be surprised if 4Chan is involved).Whether Amazon eventually removes the book or not, guess who makes money when you ironically buy The Pedophile&amp;'s Guide to Love and Pleasure Mr. Phillip R Greaves, a guy who wrote an entire book with the endgoal of &amp;''liter sentences&amp;'' for pedophiles. Amazon, please take this book down.CrunchBase InformationAmazonAmazon KindleInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The Newsweek Daily Beast Will Make A Monstrous&nbsp'Combination]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-newsweek-daily-beast-will-make-a-monstrousnbspcombination</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-newsweek-daily-beast-will-make-a-monstrousnbspcombination</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-newsweek-daily-beast-will-make-a-monstrousnbspcombination</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After a series of on-again, off-again talks, Newsweek is merging with The Daily Beast, the IAC-owned online news site run by Tina Brown.  The new joint venture will take the ungainly name of the Newsweek Daily Beast Company.  Last August, the Washington Post Company sold Newsweek for $1, plus the assumption of $40 million in debt, to stereo tycoon Sydney Harman.  Now Barry Diller is getting his hands on Newsweek and mashing it together with his high-profile media play, the Daily Beast.  It sounds as though the two publications will remain separate for now, with Tina Brown becoming the editor in chief of Newsweek as well.  That makes sense. Who wants to read the Daily Beast in print  It is like the TMZ of news.Combining the two news brands would be a disaster.  Just look at what each publication stands for. Newsweek is a storied publication whose tag line is, &amp;''What Matters Most.&amp;''  The Daily Beast&amp;'s, meanwhile, is. &amp;''Read This Skip That.&amp;''  Some of the headlines on the Daily Beast right now are: &amp;''Mel Forced To Pay Oksana 60K In Child Support,&amp;'' &amp;''Inside The Mind Of  A Monster,&amp;'' and a photo slide show of &amp;''Controversial Poses: Naked, Pregnant, And Gorgeous.&amp;''  Newsweek&amp;'s headlines are more along the lines of &amp;''In Iraq, a Government At Last.&amp;''The plan seems to be to combine the newsrooms and the ad sales, but keep the properties independent.  The magazine will be a place for longer narratives and investigative pieces.  The web will be for breaking news.  Brown writes:And for Newsweek, The Daily Beast is a thriving frontline of breaking news and commentary that will raise the profile of the magazinea4a4s bylines and quicken the pace of a great magazinea4a4s revival.Newsweek is a valuable brand, and Brown is capable editor who once ran the New Yorker.  But why make a bet on a dying, debt-laden print magazines now  And online it might make more economic sense to combine the two sites and gain broader reach.  Comscore estimates that the Daily Beast is pulling in 2.9 million unique visitors a month, while Newsweek.com is attracting 5.4 million.  But those are two very different audiences looking for different things.Also, that name, the Newsweek Daily Beast. It just hurts my eyes.  CrunchBase InformationNewsweekIACInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford Focus to zoom into 20 first-launch cities in 2011]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-focus-to-zoom-into-20-first-launch-cities-in-2011</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-focus-to-zoom-into-20-first-launch-cities-in-2011</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-focus-to-zoom-into-20-first-launch-cities-in-2011</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In a move that shows how difficult it is to produce and sell electric cars, even for the giants of the auto industry, Ford announced today that 20 U.S. cities will be the first to get the all-electric Focus, which will hit dealerships in late 2011.It also shows how key utilities will be in advancing the electric-car cause. The launch cities were chosen based on commuting patterns, hybrid purchase trends, local government support for electrification and utility-company collaboration. The last factor sheds light on the slew of partnerships with utilities Ford recently announced. The auto maker recently wrapped up a 14-city tour of the Focus Electric that announced consumer-education partnerships with utilities along the way.One of the partnerships Ford announced (and VentureBeat covered) was with Dallas utility Oncor. Sure enough, Dallas is one of the cities on the initial launch list. The rest arein a broad swatch of large to medium-sized markets: The first markets selected Atlanta, Portland (where Ford is teaming up with utility Portland General Electric), Austin, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Tucson, Raleigh, Durham, N.C., Richmond, Va., Seattle, and Washington, D.C.&amp;''There is a great deal of excitement for the Focus Electric across America and Ford wants to build on this enthusiasm by making our first all-electric passenger vehicle available in as many pilot markets as possible,&amp;'' said Mark Fields, the company&amp;'s president of the Americas, in a statement. &amp;''As the country continues to build up its electric vehicle infrastructure and demand for the Focus Electric grows, Ford will continue to evaluate additional markets and consider making this vehicle available in more cities across the country.&amp;''The Focus Electric is Ford&amp;'s first all-electric car &amp;8212' which I test-drove &amp;8212' and the company says it&amp;'s targeting a driving range of 100 miles on a single charge, which put it about on par with the Nissan Leaf. Nissan also took the graduated-launch approach with the Leaf, which will launch with just 200 cars in five states starting this December (one of them is Tennessee, home to Nissan&amp;'s U.S. headquarters, which is not on the Focus&amp;'s first-look list). But Nissan is reportedly suffering delays in the Leaf launch, according to Green Car Reports, and may see even fewer cars delivered in the initial launch phase.Almost all electric-car makers are employing a gradual rollout strategy, including Nissan and the seemingly troubled startup Coda. Given that GE just boosted electric vehicle sales big-time with a record-busting plan to order 25,000 of them by 2015, it&amp;'ll be interesting if Ford targets fleet sales in a big way since they&amp;'re key in electric carmakers&amp;' efforts to get more sales and speed adoption.Almost half of GE&amp;'s order will go to GM, starting with the 2011 Chevy Volt (also launching this December, alongside the Leaf.)For is also planning to deliver more electrified vehicles in Europe and North American, including the Transit Connect, a small electric commercial van, a plug-in hybrid and two &amp;''next-generation lithium-ion battery hybrids.&amp;''Next Story: Motorola&amp;'s Motopad tablet may be the first Android 3.0 device Previous Story: Former Digg CEO Jay Adelson finds himself at SimpleGeoPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Coda sedan, electric cars, Focus, Focus Electric, Ford Focus, Ford Focus Electric, Leaf, VoltCompanies: Coda, ford, GE, GM, Nissan, OncorPeople: Mark Fields          Tags: Coda sedan, electric cars, Focus, Focus Electric, Ford Focus, Ford Focus Electric, Leaf, VoltCompanies: Coda, ford, GE, GM, Nissan, OncorPeople: Mark FieldsIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The Walls Of Jericho Have Fallen: Amazon Now Giving Authors Bookscan Numbers For&nbsp'Free]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-walls-of-jericho-have-fallen-amazon-now-giving-authors-bookscan-numbers-fornbspfree</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-walls-of-jericho-have-fallen-amazon-now-giving-authors-bookscan-numbers-fornbspfree</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-walls-of-jericho-have-fallen-amazon-now-giving-authors-bookscan-numbers-fornbspfree</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hear that That&amp;'s the sound of thousands of authors&amp;' hearts stopping mid-keystroke as they open up their Bookscan numbers and keel over dead of disappointment. Amazon just added Nielsen Bookscan numbers to their Author Central pages, the pages authors use to add content to the Kindle/Amazon book store and, more important, track their book sales on Amazon. Nielsen offers geographical breakdowns of sales for the past few weeks. In my case, above, I haven&amp;'t sold a book since Bush was president so I have no data. However, folks who are just releasing books right now can see how many and where their books were sold, with the obvious caveat being that these statistics are often woefully inaccurate. These woefully inaccurate stats are extremely expensive, as well, costing multiple thousands per year for access, depending on the package selected. That said, agents and the industry treats this data like pure extruded gold mixed with ketamine so what Amazon has done is fairly impressive. Basically, this puts a modicum of power in the hands on the authors. &amp;''You had to beg your agent or editor to provide you the sales figures and you can imagine how effective that was. So authors generally had no data whatsoever on how their books were selling,&amp;'' said one author I spoke to. &amp;''I used to call BookScan and tell them I was working on pieces for publication and they wouldn&amp;'t even give me the sales data. They&amp;'re more responsive to traditional, big-time media, but still, it&amp;'s tough to get the figures.&amp;''What does this mean for authors Well, it shows authors how few &amp;8211' or how many &amp;8211' copies they&amp;'re selling. That&amp;'s a huge deal. Second, it lifts the veil on the secretive world of publishing and book distribution. It also shows how few books really sell through the physical distribution chain any more and proves how much of a gamble the book business really is. Regardless, it&amp;'s a step in the right direction in terms of transparency &amp;8211' until, of course, Nielsen releases Bookscan Plus or something equally expensive.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Consolidation comes to kids casual game sites as SecretBuilders buys Dizzywood&'s assets (exclusive)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=consolidation-comes-to-kids-casual-game-sites-as-secretbuilders-buys-dizzywoodrsquos-assets-exclusive</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=consolidation-comes-to-kids-casual-game-sites-as-secretbuilders-buys-dizzywoodrsquos-assets-exclusive</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=consolidation-comes-to-kids-casual-game-sites-as-secretbuilders-buys-dizzywoodrsquos-assets-exclusive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Kids casual game site SecretBuilders is announcing today that it has acquired the assets of rival kids virtual world Dizzywood for an undisclosed price.Both sites will remain operational but SecretBuilders will try to migrate as many of Dizzywood&amp;'s 1.5 million registered users as it can to SecretBuilders, which targets kids ages five to 14. It&amp;'s one more example that shows virtual worlds aren&amp;'t as hot as they used to be and there are plenty of winners and losers in this market. In the past year, virtual worlds such as Metaplace, Vivaty, Lively by Google, There.com and others have shut down. Gaia Online and Linden Lab have laid off staffers.The kids market became particularly heated in 2007 after Disney bought Club Penguin for more than $350 million (with full earnout, the price would have been $700 million, but the site didn&amp;'t hit its targets). By January, 2009, more than 200 kids virtual worlds had been started. The most successful virtual worlds that targeted kids were Poptropica, WebKinz, Runescape, Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters.San Mateo, Calif.-based SecretBuilders is also one of the survivors. Started in 2007, the company has more than 1 million unique monthly players and it has nearly 2 million registered users, said Umair Khan, chief executive. The user base is now growing by about 500,000 per quarter, even though the company doesn&amp;'t spend money on advertising. Part of the success is that SecretBuilders has repositioned itself, focusing more on kids casual games and less on building out a full virtual world. SecretBuilders has 12 sections where kids can learn about art and literature as they play dozens of mini games. Khan says the goal is to be &amp;''engaging and enriching.&amp;'' The educational part has enabled SecretBuilders to be used in more than 1,500 schools.But Khan said his company wants to expand to new platforms. For instance, SecretBuilders is available on the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet computer now. And it will become available on other platforms such as Facebook in the coming months. With the addition of Dizzywood, SecretBuilders will have more kindred users.&amp;''In the future, we want to be on all the platforms that people consider to be electronic babysitting devices,&amp;'' said Khan, noting that parents often give kids their phones to distract them.Khan said the company&amp;'s metrics are looking good. The maximum number of concurrent users &amp;8212' or those playing at the same time &amp;8212' is now three times what it was just four months ago and the number of people logging in daily is double what it used to be.Dizzywood was started in 2008 by Scott Arpajian and it raised $1 million from Charles River Ventures and Shelby Bonnie. Although the virtual world craze isn&amp;'t as huge as it used to be, Khan is encouraged that more kids are going online at an earlier age. On Facebook, there are also a lot of young kids who play games with their parents. And the number of kids using mobile phones is starting to grow. That means that casual games aimed at kids will be a growing market, Khan said.Khan is targeting kids with some proven features such as dress-up and personalization, home decoration, socialization, adventures and quests, and fun games. The company has 24 employees. Secret Builders has raised $4 million to date from The Entrepreneurs&amp;' Fund, Launch Capital, Scott Hassan (co-founder  eGroups, founding team member of Google), Michael Tanne (former CEO of  Adforce), David Jeske (former Director of Applications, Google), Sheila  Marcelo (CEO of Care.com), John Welch (CEO of MakingFun),  Sohaib Abbasi (CEO of Informatica), and Ken Morse (co-founder of 3COM).Next Story: Book review: a4ATribal Leadershipa4 Previous Story: Learning from Groupon, OpenFeint launches group deals for mobile game buyersPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: virtual worldsCompanies: Dizzywood, SecretBuildersPeople: Scott Arpajian, Umair Khan          Tags: virtual worldsCompanies: Dizzywood, SecretBuildersPeople: Scott Arpajian, Umair KhanDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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