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WASHINGTON - IBM Corp.’s ban from all new federal work stems from an $84 million Environmental Protection Agency contract the company lost last year and is protesting.

The EPA last week temporarily banned IBM from receiving any new government contracts while it investigates “potential activities involving a procurement.” IBM said it is also cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which served grand jury subpoenas seeking documents and testimony relating to interactions between agency and IBM employees.

An EPA official confirmed on Tuesday that the suspension is related to a 10-year, $84 million deal awarded Feb. 12, 2007 to CGI Federal, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Canada-based CGI Group Inc. The contract is to modernize the agency’s financial management system.

IBM, which was also vying for the contract, protested the award two months later to the Government Accountability Office, according to information provided by market research firm Federal Sources Inc.

Fed Sources said it learned that the GAO upheld IBM’s protest in October, but then said earlier this month that investigators there had not made a decision yet on IBM’s protest.

A message left at GAO was not immediately returned.

IBM spokesman Fred McNeese referred any details of the case to the EPA, but said the company is cooperating in both investigations. He declined to comment further.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM had federal contracts last year that amounted to at least $1.3 billion, roughly 1 percent of its 2007 revenue.

Under a reciprocal agreement among federal agencies, when one agency issues a ban, the others follow it. The company has 30 days to contest the scope of the suspension, which can continue for up to one year pending the completion of EPA’s investigation.

CHICAGO - Having a defibrillator at home can help a heart attack survivor live through a second crisis, but so can CPR and at a much lower cost. That’s the bottom line from the first test of using these heart-shocking devices in the home.

The devices worked. But so few people in the study were stricken at home, and CPR by spouses in the comparison group was so good, that the 7,000-person study wound up being be too small to prove that a defibrillator can improve survival.

It did for South Carolinian James Kennedy. For three years, his family lugged one to the grocery store, to church and on trips. “Thank God we had it” last August, when his daughter used it to save his life at home, said Kennedy’s wife, Debra.

Others also benefited — seven friends and neighbors of people in the study. They got a lifesaving heart shock, too.

“There’s no downside” to having a home defibrillator, said study leader Dr. Gust Bardy of the Seattle Institute for Cardiac Research.

However, they cost $1,000 or more. And others say health dollars are better spent boosting CPR training. Arguments to expand access to defibrillators “have an emotional quality” not justified by cost and success rates, said Dr. David Callans of the University of Pennsylvania.

He wrote an editorial that the New England Journal of Medicine published on the Internet along with the study. Results also were given Tuesday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

They come a day after the American Heart Association changed guidelines to recommend hands-only CPR — pressing vigorously on a victim’s chest until help arrives.

Cardiac arrest happens when the heart beats chaotically. Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, can shock it back into normal rhythm, and have been successfully used by bystanders in airports, casinos and other public places.

However, three-fourths of the 166,000 cardiac arrests that occur outside hospitals each year happen at home, and only 2 percent of victims survive. One home defibrillator, made by a Seattle-based division of Philips Healthcare, weighs less than four pounds and is sold on the Internet for as little as $1,200.

Researchers tested them in 7,000 people in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand. About half were given a device and a spouse or companion was trained to use it, then told to call emergency medical services. For the others, family members were trained in CPR and told to call EMS.

Over about three years, 450 people died, but only 160 were from cardiac arrest. Of those, only 58 were at home and suffered the attack in front of someone.

Defibrillators were used in 32 cases — all of them appropriately. The overall survival in both groups was comparable and far better than researchers expected.

“We did have some people that simply panicked and didn’t know what to do,” he said.

It happened to Debra Kennedy when her 55-year-old husband James, was stricken in August at their home in North Augusta, S.C. Her 20-year-old daughter, Brittany, took over while her mom called EMS.

“I grabbed the defibrillator, I put the little pads on him and it shocked him. That was really easy. It gives you all the instructions,” the young woman said.

The experience inspired her to return to school to become a nurse.

“I always thought if a patient was flatlined I’d freak out and not know what to do. But after this, I figure, if I can do it on him I can do it on anybody.”

Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said the study “does not invalidate the use of AEDs by any means.” They “absolutely” are a good idea for diabetics, she said. That was the only subgroup in the study that had significantly better survival from the defibrillators, compared to CPR.

Nabel’s federal agency paid most of the study’s cost. Philips and Laerdal Medical, a subsidiary in England, provided defibrillators and CPR training mannequins.

The study showed the devices “delivered the shock that was needed, when it was needed,” said Mike Miller, head of Philips’ defibrillator business.

Whether to buy one is “a personal choice” like having a sprinkler system, a smoke detector or other safety equipment, he said.

The study shows the value of defibrillators and CPR, said Mary Fran Hazinksi, a Vanderbilt University nurse and American Heart Association spokeswoman who has served on emergency care guideline panels. The association has targeted schools for expanding CPR training.

“We think that if we train all high school students, within a few years we will have a whole generation ready, willing and able to respond,” she said.

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On the Net:

American College of Cardiology: http://www.acc.org

Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org/handsonlycpr

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Microsoft said Tuesday it will soon release a version of its Internet Explorer web browser tailored to put surfing the web with mobile telephones on par with using desktop computers.

The announcement comes as Microsoft rivalApple wins accolades for the way the software in its hot iPhones lets people access online services and content on the move.

The iPhone hit the market in June of last year, delivering a device that combines telephone, video, music, and rich Internet access.

Microsoft unveiled Internet Explorer Mobile software to be released by October so mobile telephone manufacturers can make it available in devices by the end of the year.

“People want a single phone that's flexible enough to meet their needs throughout their day, whether it's connecting to work or your everyday life,” said Microsoft president of entertainment and devices division Robbie Bach.

“The innovations we've added to our Windows Mobile software ultimately make it easier to manage your world.”

Microsoft also announced a Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system update designed to make it easier and safer for people to use mobile telephone features.

The move is aimed at competing with offerings such as popular BlackBerry devices made by Canada firm Research In Motion.

Among BlackBerry's attractions is the ability for workers to have email “pushed” to devices from their company's enterprise servers.

“Microsoft is taking the necessary steps to broaden its consumer appeal while also addressing the complex mobile needs of the enterprise,” Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin said in a written release.

San Francisco - Sprint Nextel showed off a new iPhone look-alike from Samsung on Tuesday at the CTIA conference in Las Vegas that the operator says allows much faster data access then the Apple phone.

The Instinct, co-developed by Sprint and Samsung, looks similar to the iPhone, including a touch screen. Unlike the iPhone, however, it includes GPS and runs on Sprint's high-speed EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Revision A network. Sprint's network offers an average data download rate as high as 1.4Mbps. By contrast, EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), which the iPhone operates on via AT&T's network, usually offers less than 200Kbps throughput.

Users of the Instinct will be able to access the Web at high speeds, watch TV, download music, get directions, and access other entertainment services, said Dan Hesse, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel.

The Instinct features a 2.0 megapixel camera and comes with a 2GB microSD storage card. Sprint did not say how much the phone, which should be available in June, will cost.

The phone could be attractive to users of Sprint's new subscription plans, which Hesse said go further than competitors' plans. For $99, Sprint customers can get unlimited voice, text ,and data services. Other operators have recently rolled out similarly priced services that include unlimited voice but not unlimited data.

Sprint also hopes to make more applications available on the new phone by making it easier for developers to build applications for devices that run on Sprint's network, Hesse said. The operator plans to expand its virtual testing services so that developers can better test their new applications, and will update its software development kit to make developing for Sprint easier, he said.

Even while touting Sprint's existing network's broadband capabilities, Hesse also looked to the future. “EV-DO is still not fast enough for true broadband experience,” he said. Sprint is building a WiMax network, already available after a soft launch in Chicago and the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area, to offer the next generation of wireless broadband.

BOSTON - The free Linux operating system handles big tasks like running supercomputers and ATMs. Now Linux has a chance to finally crack Microsoft Corp.’s hold on computing’s most visible domain — mainstream PCs — because of the rise of innovative, inexpensive machines.

Of course, prognosticators perennially say Linux is on the verge. It gets high marks for security and stability and is widely used behind the scenes in corporate servers, making it a natural candidate to steal desktop thunder from Microsoft’s dominant Windows. And yet Linux PCs still represent less than 2 percent of the market.

This time, though, there’s actually evidence of momentum.

While the best features in the latest Windows release, Vista, require top-notch configurations that can quickly ramp up a PC’s price, one of the hottest segments of the industry involves inexpensive computers.

Laptops under $400 are real possibilities now, and some of the most buzz-worthy use Linux, such as Asustek Computer Inc.’s EeePC and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s $200 “XO” computer for schoolchildren. Linux also is available on slim little “netbooks” being pushed by Intel Corp.

Not only is Linux essentially free to the PC vendor, but the operating system also is better suited than Vista for cheap PCs’ spartan hardware designs. (Windows XP is available on scaled-back PCs like Intel’s Classmate, but it’s unclear what will happen after Microsoft soon stops selling XP to the general public.)

Amazon.com’s top-selling PCs include several Asustek Linux machines. Although Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently stopped a test run of selling Linux PCs in some stores, the company says it will continue to offer them online.

Business computing suppliers are finding open-source desktops especially gaining traction in cost-conscious developing markets. For example, IBM Corp. and Linux vendor Red Hat Inc. recently launched Microsoft-free desktops for Eastern Europe.

One buyer is Aleksandar Spagnut, a director of Moscow-based Rushotel, which needed new desktop PCs for a hotel-building project. Spagnut said his company saved 30 to 35 percent over comparable Windows machines. He added that Linux PCs are now common enough that a snowball effect is emerging, whereby technical support and “drivers” — which essentially tell programs how to interact with hardware — are much easier to find.

“This really makes the difference,” he said.

Linux might benefit from a changing conception of what computers are for. With the rise of Web-based applications that reduce the need for desktop-bound software, more of the action comes through an Internet browser now. The feel of the underlying operating system is less important.

That means Linux consumers can get a lot out of their computers even if they are put off by what many reviewers still cite as Linux’s biggest flaw: its uneven user-friendliness. Some tweaks to Linux machines require higher-than-average computing savvy, although this is less of an issue than in the past.

Perhaps more importantly, if the desktop operating system fades further into the background, PC makers could have greater incentive to save money on it by offering Linux. The price that big PC manufacturers pay Microsoft for Windows varies and is not disclosed, but is believed to commonly exceed $50 per PC.

“I’m a big believer in the inevitable forces of economics — they’re like glaciers,” said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical Ltd., which this month is releasing a new version of Ubuntu, a leading version of Linux that can run PCs. “Glaciers carve out terrain. It takes time.”

Linux on the desktop doesn’t have to take off like crazy to really start to matter. Of the 981 million PCs in existence worldwide last year, 1.7 percent ran Linux, according to Gartner Inc. That sounds paltry. But Apple’s Mac operating system accounted for just 2.5 percent, and Apple is considered a significant, influential alternative to Windows.

“Every point is billions of dollars to Microsoft,” says Jim Zemlin, head of The Linux Foundation, a consortium devoted to advancing Linux. His group is meeting with top PC makers next week in Austin, Texas, in hopes of accelerating their efforts to sell Linux machines.

The top PC makers have so far treaded carefully. Dell Inc.’s Web site sells Ubuntu computers in a separate section for open-source PCs, out of direct comparison with Windows machines. Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said the placement reflects the fact that Linux is still not a mainstream consumer product.

Linux is partly hampered by its greatest asset: its widely dispersed nature.

Linux is a core set of code called a kernel; developers build different layers of software on top of it to serve different computing purposes. (Open-source providers make money by charging for add-on services, such as technical support or security upgrades.)

As a result, Linux comes in many flavors, known as distributions, fracturing the push Linux might otherwise make. In fact, some programs written for one distribution don’t work in another.

“We haven’t figured out to how to federate the marketing of the technology as well as we’ve figured out how to develop the technology,” Zemlin acknowledged.

San Francisco - Shane Macaulay's attempt to sell a hacked laptop complete with Windows Vista attack code did not last long.

eBay pulled the listing within hours of its appearance Monday, saying that it could have harmed users. “You can't sell anything that would do harm,” said a spokeswoman for eBay's public relations agency.

The company removed the listing between 11 p.m. Monday and 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Pacific Time, after eBay employees noticed the post. “It was the wording of the listing that caught the attention of the trust and safety experts who monitor the site,” the spokeswoman said.

Macaulay won last week's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver. He had offered the laptop he broke into for sale, claiming that his exploit code could probably still be extracted from the machine.

“This laptop is a good case study for any forensics group/company/individual that wants to prove how cool they are, and a live example, not canned of what a typical incident responce sitchiation [sic] would look like,” his listing stated.

Although the laptop was listed on eBay just before April 1, a traditional day of Internet pranks, Macaulay insisted it was legitimate.

Macaulay, a researcher with the Security Objectives consultancy, was one of two hackers to claim laptops and cash prizes for penetrating systems during last week's contest. Organizers offered Vista, Mac OS and Linux-based laptops for the taking, along with prizes that varied from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the difficulty of the exploit. By Friday, however, only the Linux laptop remained unbreached.

Though the laptop he hacked runs Vista, Macaulay claimed that his Adobe Flash Player exploit will affect 90 percent of computers worldwide. He won a $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of 3Com's TippingPoint division, and the Fujitsu U810 laptop he had hacked into for his work.

Had Macaulay been able to sell his laptop before Adobe patched the issue, he would have violated his contract with TippingPoint, said Terri Forslof, the company's manager of security response. “We would have disqualified him from the program,” she said.

The laptop had not been hit with any other attack code during the course of the contest, she added. “He was the only person who tried,” she said.

San Francisco - Open source will start to dominate software infrastructure for providers of SaaS (Software as a Service) within three years. For them it's almost a no-brainer, according to Gartner analyst Yefim Natis.

“They will use it as much as possible,” said Natis, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

Lower cost and better flexibility, compared to what's available from closed source, or proprietary software, are key factors for the growing popularity of open source in this segment of the market.

In order to compete with on-premise vendors, SaaS

LAS VEGAS - Sprint Nextel Corp.’s new ultrafast cellular data network is getting some support from Nokia Corp., which said Tuesday it is going to launch a Web-browsing “tablet” for the WiMax network as it goes live this summer.

The Web tablet, which features a 4.1-inch touch screen and a slide-out keyboard, is likely to join a tiny laptop from ASUSTek Computer as the first gadgets that can use the network, in addition to laptop cards and desktop modems.

Finland-based Nokia previously announced its intention to make a WiMax tablet, but provided specifics for the first time on Tuesday. The tablet will be a modified version of Nokia’s N810 model, with a slight bulge on the back for the WiMax antenna. Nokia President Mark Louison said the price would be similar to the N810, which sells for $439 on Nokia’s Web site.

Contrary to usual practices in the U.S. wireless industry, Nokia will be selling the devices, rather than the carrier. Activation for Sprint’s network will happen in much the same way people buy access to commercial Wi-Fi hotspots. If WiMax becomes available in the area, the tablet will notify the owner that it has picked up a signal.

Connecting to the network will take the user to a Sprint Web page where a credit card number can be entered. Access prices have not been announced for the network, which Sprint will be marketing under the Xohm brand.

Nokia is involved in Xohm in another way: Its joint venture with Siemens AG is one of the suppliers of network hardware.

WiMax will enable downloads of 2 to 4 megabits per second, peaking at speeds of up to 10 mbps, according to Nokia. By comparison, current third-generation broadband networks peak out at 1.4 mbps, though speeds are increasing.

In January, Asus announced that a model of its small portable computer, the eeePC, will come with a built-in WiMax chip. It also plans to make regular laptops with the chips later in the year. Intel Corp. is a major backer of the technology, making it likely that chips will show up in laptops from other manufacturers as well.

Sprint is in talks with Intel, Google Inc. and cable operators Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks for an infusion of capital to help build the network. Clearwire Corp., which already operates a pre-WiMax network in smaller cities across the country, would collaborate in building the network.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - AT&T Inc (T.N) sees location services such as driving directions as its strongest growth area in mobile data services and aims to have millions of customers in less than two years, an executive said on Tuesday.

“I think location is probably the big growth opportunity,” Rob Hyatt, AT&T's director for advanced services, said in an interview with Reuters at CTIA, the annual U.S. wireless show.

Earlier in the day, AT&T, the biggest U.S. mobile network operator, announced a driving directions service based on Global Positioning System location technology and running on the Z9 phone from Motorola Inc (MOT.N).

Hyatt said that while it would take time for the service to expand to AT&T's entire portfolio of phones, the service could have “millions of customers” in less than two years.

AT&T, which also offers music downloads and other data services, had previously offered navigation only on business phones such as Research in Motion Ltd's (RIM.TO) BlackBerry.

Hyatt would not say whether the service would be available on the iPhone from Apple Inc (AAPL.O).

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

LAS VEGAS–Black and silver are out; pink, green, and rainbow hues are in for many of the latest handsets on display at the CTIA Wireless 2008 trade show, which opens its three-day run today.

Apple and its red-hot iPhone may be no-shows, but the rest of the cell phone universe is well represented. And while we anticipate seeing some iPhone knock-offs before the show closes (Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is expected to announce Samsung's touch-screen Instinct at his keynote this morning), early announcements suggest that many vendors are seeking design inspiration from the fashion world in the form of bright colors.

Motorola, for example, announced a lime-green version of the EVDO- and GPS-equipped Q9 c Windows Smartphone, to be offered by Alltel and U.S. Cellular in early summer (Sprint already has the Q9 c in basic black). Verizon Wireless announced that it will also offer the Q9 c, for $250 before rebates; it will be the first Windows Mobile smartphone to feature the company's VZ Navigator navigation service.

Sony Ericsson announced shiny pink, purple, and black versions on its new HSDPA clamshell, the Z950a, which boasts a cool-looking subsurface OLED external screen to display caller ID and other info that appears to float on the case. It's due from AT&T Wireless in the next few weeks for $150 (an additional $100 mail-in rebate will further lower the price).

Virgin Mobile announced a slew of color phones for its prepaid service, including green and pale-blue versions of the Kyocera Marbl, to be sold at Wal-Mart; plus the LG Aloha clamshell in pink and a red Cyclops, both to be available exclusively at Target.

Even headset vendors are getting into the act. Plantronics' new high-performance Discovery 925 Bluetooth headset is scheduled to appear in pink and gold editions in May, joining the black version that's available now. The $150 headset comes with its own lipstick-sized leather charging case, which has an internal rechargeable battery you can juice up along with the headset, then use later to recharge it when no power outlet is available.

Less Colorful Announcements

Not all handset news is about color. Several companies announced new carriers for their hottest models.

Research in Motion announced an EVDO-enabled version of the popular BlackBerry Curve 8330 with Verizon Wireless on Monday; and today Sprint said it too would be offering the eagerly awaited 8330.

RIM and T-Mobile have also said that T-Mobile will give consumers a crack at the slick new Pearl 8120, which AT&T Wireless began selling to its corporate customers exclusively last month.

Motorola announced a new skinny AT&T Wireless slider phone, the Moto Z9, that will support the carrier's super-fast HSDPA data network. Due in stores by mid-April for $250, the Z9 also boasts assisted GPS, which gets help establishing a fix from the carrier's network to achieve faster performance. The Z9 is also the first Motorola handset to support AT&T Wireless' Video Share service, which lets two customers view real-time videos of each other on their handsets. Other Motorola handset announcements deal with expanding the availability of its GPS-enabled Q9 c Windows Mobile handsets for EVDO networks. Sprint is already carrying it; Verizon Wireless will have one. Both the Q9 c and the BlackBerry 8330 will support Verizon's latest VZ Navigator navigation software/service.