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WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a major bet on WiMax wireless Internet, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire said Wednesday they would combine their networks in a new company with investment from Google, Intel and others.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will deploy a nationwide WiMax network that will “dramatically enhance the speed and manner in which customers access all that the Internet has to offer at home, in the office and on the road,” according to a joint statement.

The new firm will have investments from Internet search giant Google, computer chip maker Intel, cable firms Comcast and Time Warner Cable and service provider Bright House Networks. Those firms have collectively agreed to invest 3.2 billion dollars in the new company.

“The power of the mobile Internet, which offers speed and mobility, home and away, on any device or screen, will fundamentally transform the communications landscape in our country,” said Clearwire chairman Craig McCaw.

“We believe that the new Clearwire will operate one of the fastest and most capable broadband wireless networks ever conceived, giving us the opportunity to return the US to a leadership position in the global wireless industry.”

The new venture is a major bet on WiMax, which allows computers to access the Internet wirelessly with a wider reach than the popular Wi-Fi technology.

WiMax uses a licensed channel of radio spectrum and can transmit, according to its backers, to an area as much as 50 kilometers (30 miles) with a stronger signal than Wi-Fi and access faster than most current devices.

Yankee Group, a research firm. estimates that 58 million people worldwide will use WiMax by 2012.

Upon completion of the deal, Sprint will own the largest stake in the new company with some 51 percent equity ownership.

Clearwire shareholders will own around 27 percent and the new investors, as a group, will be acquiring an estimated 22 percent.

The venture marks a new direction for Sprint Nextel, which has been struggling as a wireless telecom provider and looking at alternatives, and provides Google with more reach into the wireless field, analysts said.

“That means, among other things, that Google could become a mobile carrier (think GPhone) or an Internet service provide although the announcement says it has no current plans to do so,” said Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land.

“It also gets precise location targeting on the network for desktop/laptop and mobile ads.”

Google product manager Larry Alder said in a company blog: “We believe that the new network will provide wireless consumers with real choices for the software applications, content and handsets that they desire. Such freedom will mirror the openness principles underlying the Internet and enable users to get the most out of their wireless broadband experience.”

But Erick Schonfeld of the technology website TechCrunch said: “This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

He added: “Sprint and Clearwire need the deal to try to salvage the billions they've already sunk into their money-losing WiMax networks.

“But putting more cooks into the kitchen with different WiMax aspirations is not going to help. Google wants more wireless broadband alternatives for its planned mobile apps and advertising. Whereas the cable companies want a way to compete against mobile phone operators encroaching on their turf.”

Perceptive Automation on Wednesday announced Indigo 3.0, a new version of their home automation software for Mac OS X. Indigo 3 costs $179.95l; version 2.0 users can upgrade for free. A 30-day trial version is available.

Indigo helps Mac users create and manage home automation systems, controlling lights, appliances, thermostats, lawn sprinklers and other devices. It sports a built-in Web server that lets you control your home remotely over the Internet, as well. You can even use Indigo in conjunction with Salling Clicker and Ovolab Phlink.

Indigo 3.0 supports new Insteon-branded home automation devices such as the Insteon Thermostat Adapter, which allows wireless control of Venstar thermostats. A new link and scene management editor lets you define links and lighting scenes between Insteon modules.

Indigo can upload logic and schedules to an Insteon PowerLinc 2414U interface, which enables you to complete home automation tasks without having the computer running. Other new features include SQLite and PostgreSQL integration, a plug-in architecture for the Web server, better Web server performance, user interface enhancements, and support for other new Insteon hardware modules.

System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.4 or later and compatible Insteon or X10 computer interfaces.

San Francisco - Upcoming versions of the Java platform will be fitted with capabilities such as flexibility, OSGi support, and modularity, Sun Microsystems officials said Tuesday afternoon at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

Roadmaps were detailed for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6 and Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) 7. Java SE serves as a base Java platform, with the Enterprise version adding enterprise-level capabilities.

With Java EE 6, Sun seeks to increase flexibility in implementing the platform.

“For EE 6, the theme is what I like to call rightsizing, which essentially means making the platform the right size for you,” said Roberto Chinnici, Java EE platform lead at Sun.

With version 6, profiles will be created based on specific needs, such as a Web profile focused on Web developers, Chinnici said. The Web profile is not fully defined yet, but will feature technologies that appear in the vast majority of Web applications. Other profiles are expected such as a telecommunications profile that features SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) services.

Profiles can be created by filing a Java Specification Request as part of the Java Community Process, according to Chinnici.

Also planned is a pruning process by which certain parts of the Java platform can be made optional. “The typical candidate is those technologies that have been superseded effectively by new ones,” said Chinnici, citing JAX RPC and Entity Beans as candidates for pruning.

Scripting languages will be made first-class citizens on the Java platform as well. Web development will be made easier through annotations across Web APIs. Developers should see a reduced need to edit web.xml descriptors. Third-party libraries will self-register themselves, removing a common source of errors for developers.

Another feature of version 6 is an API for REST-ful (Representational State Transfer ) Web services. “We felt we need a new API entirely focused on them,” Chinnici said.

Enterprise JavaBeans can go inside a Web application via version 6, removing the need for nested packaging.

There is no specific release date yet for Java EE 6, although it has been anticipated for later this year.

Java SE 7, due in summer 2009, features modularity in development and deployment. These capabilities are based on JSR 294, for improved modularity support, and JSR 277, for a Java Module System.

The goal of the Java module system is to bolster the packaging of applications via the JAM format.

Java Development Kit (JDK) 7, which is to be based on Java SE 7, supports OSGi bundles. “We're announcing the availability of a new specification that defines the interoperability between the Java module system for SE 7 and OSGi bundles,” said Danny Coward, chief architect in the client software group at Sun. “What this means is in JDK 7, developers who create applications that use OSGi bundles will be able to run them unmodified on JDK 7.

“The goal here really is to embrace OSGI,” and help developers bring code over to run on JDK 7, Coward said.

The embrace of OSGi as a bundling and deployment model was lauded by analyst Anne Thomas Manes of Burton Group.

“Deployment of systems is really pretty awful in the current version of Java,” Manes said. Using OSGi as a solution to this is a good idea, she stressed.

“I'm wondering why they needed to do the module support and not just go with OSGi support. But as long as the module support fully supports OSGi, that's OK,” Manes said.

As part of Sun's plan to expand language support on the Java Virtual Machine, dependencies on just using one language on the JVM will be removed. Developers will have an easier time writing compilers and languages based on other languages and executing them on the Java platform.

Speakers noted that the planned GlassFish version 3 application server also supports OSGi. It will support dynamic languages such as Ruby and Groovy as well as Java EE 6.

Sprint executive Kevin Packingham, vice president of wireless product management and usability at Sprint Nextel, announced intentions to offer in the United States the Instinct phone, a touch-enabled Java handset.

Another technology touted at JavaOne Tuesday afternoon, the Lightweight UI Toolkit, or LWUIT, features a UI library that allows developers to overcome challenges to building compelling, consistent Java applications for handhelds. Available in an early access mode, it will be offered via open source this summer.

A Sun blog describes LWUIT as a library that sits on top of MIDP 2.0 and implements a peer-less graphics and UI model with a small footprint and moderate performance requirements. It leverages SVG graphics integration and Swing-live MVC (Model View Controller).

LWUIT runs on devices from companies such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

Piracy is running rampant, according to a report from the U.S. government. Not the kind of pirates with eye patches and parrots on their shoulders, but rather the kind that downloads content illegally from the Internet, counterfeits products, and generally hijacks the profits of pharmaceuticals, electronics, software, and other goods. China and Russia were singled out in particular for their weak protections of intellectual property rights (IPR).

The report, known as Special 301, is conducted annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to examine the global state of IPR in accordance with the Special 301 provisions of the Trade Act of 1974. This year, the USTR designated 46 countries in one of three “watch list” categories. China and Russia — which were both given kudos for improved measures against pirates and counterfeiters — made their way to the top of the list, followed by other trading partners, including Argentina, Israel, Pakistan and Thailand.

On the Lists

Belize and Lithuania both were removed from the Watch List thanks to “heightened engagement” with the United States. Other countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, made their way off the dreaded Priority Watch List and on to the less serious Watch List, thanks to improvements made on IPR. (Spain and Greece are new Watch List members as well.) The USTR wields power against friend and foe; even Canada is on the Watch List, cited in part for its “weak border measures [that] continue to be a serious concern for IP owners.”

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which represents a group of seven trade associations concerned with copyright, hailed the report (it had requested that Canada be put on the Watch List) and issued a matrix of estimated trade losses due to copyright piracy. It estimated that China's piracy cost businesses nearly $2.5 billion since 2006, with the Russian Federation trailing slightly at close to $2 billion.

Fighting Back Against Piracy

Other Guards can capture information about the person trying to hack the code, Dager said. For example, an IP address and MAC address of the PC can be derived, zipped into a file, and then sent back to an organization for follow-up. If these Guards don't actually sink pirates, at least they'll harden software targets and make the pirates' job more difficult — and possibly dangerous.

NEW YORK - Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are planning to merge their wireless broadband units to create a new $14.55 billion wireless communications company.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will receive a $3.2 billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. The investment is based on a target price of $20 per Clearwire share and will give the companies a 22 percent stake in the new venture.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint Nextel Corp. will be majority owner with a 51 percent equity stake, while existing Clearwire shareholders will receive about 27 percent interest.

Clearwire, which will concentrate on rolling out a mobile network based on the emerging WiMAX standard, will also receive an investment from Trilogy Equity Partners, led by U.S. wireless industry veteran John Stanton.

WiMAX promises faster download speeds than the latest networks run by cell-phone operators, and it’s even seen as a potential competitor to fixed-line broadband.

Rivals such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless have eschewed WiMax, opting instead for upgrades to their current wireless broadband networks and a future technology called Long Term Evolution.

Clearwire already provides wireless Internet service in some parts of the country, using a WiMax-like technology. The company had a subscriber base of nearly 400,000 wireless broadband customers at the end of 2007.

The new company is looking for a U.S. network deployment between 120 million and 140 million people by the end of 2010.

Sprint and Clearwire, a startup founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, had already announced their plans to build out networks using WiMAX technology, but had been looking for outside funding.

The new company will be led by Clearwire Chief Executive Benjamin Wolff, with Sprint Chief Technology Officer Barry West serving as president. West also leads Sprint’s XOHM division.

The Kirkland, Wash.-based venture will house workers from Clearwire and Sprint’s XOHM unit and will have research and development and other operations located in Herndon, Va. Its board will consist of 13 members at the start. Sprint will name seven of them, which will include at least one independent director. The investor group will name four members, including one independent. Eagle River, a private investment company controlled by wireless veteran Craig McCaw, will name one member, with the remaining independent member selected by Clearwire’s nominating committee.

McCaw is expected to serve as non-executive chairman. Other anticipated board members include Sprint President and CEO Dan Hesse, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, Time Warner Cable President and CEO Glen Britt and Stanton.

The deal, which has been approved by the boards of all companies involved, is expected to close during the fourth quarter. The company will apply for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker “CLWR.”

Caps on the price of sending an SMS from a mobile phone while abroad came a step closer Wednesday, when the European Commission launched a two-month public consultation into its rules on mobile phone roaming charges.

Mobile phone manufacturers, network operators and consumer groups have been invited to submit comments about the effectiveness of the regulation on roaming charges for voice calls that came into force last year.

As well as seeking general feedback on the impact of the European Union law, the Commission also asked stakeholders whether regulation is necessary for data roaming services and SMS in light of current retail prices and market developments.

The results of the consultation will influence the Commission's decision whether or not to extend the existing roaming law to include data and SMS roaming charges.

A report published by the European Regulators Group in January showed that on average across the E.U., users had to pay €5.24 per megabyte of data and €0.29 for an SMS sent while roaming in the third quarter of 2007. The Commission suspects that this is disproportionately high compared to data and SMS prices when sent from a person's home country.

The existing roaming law requires operators to offer customers a “Eurotariff” for voice calls when roaming in other E.U. member states, and introduced ceilings of €0.49 per minute for making calls and €0.24 per minute for receiving calls. These will decrease to €0.46 and €0.22 respectively on Aug. 30, and to €0.43 and €0.19 on Aug. 30, 2009.

The roaming regulation is limited to voice calls and expires on June 30, 2010 unless the European Parliament and the Council decide, on the basis of a proposal from the European Commission, to extend it beyond this date.

Bournemouth has been picked as the first UK town to get super-fast fibre via the sewers.

It is part of a plan from fibre firm H20 to extend its underground sewer networks from businesses to consumers.

Work will begin on the network within the next six months and more towns will be announced in coming months.

It will bring broadband of up to 100Mbps (megabits per second) to 88,000 homes in the Dorset town and is the largest scheme of its kind in the UK.

Nationwide network

“Many households and broadband customers in the UK have insufficient connectivity bandwidths because they are attached to legacy networks deployed in the 20th century,” commented H20 chief executive Elfed Thomas.

The firm has been offering high-speed fibre via the sewers to businesses and universities around the UK for several years and now plans to extend this to a nationwide network for consumers over the next few years.

UK regulator Ofcom is currently considering how underground ducts built for sewage and other utilities can be utilised in its efforts to make super-fast broadband widely available.

There are concerns that the UK is falling behind other nations. In France, for example, three operators are already providing homes with speeds of between 50 and 100Mbps.

For consumers, super-fast net connections could create a range of new services including on-demand high definition TV, DVD quality film downloads in minutes, online video messaging, CCTV home surveillance and HD gaming.

Environmentally-friendly

BT is installing 100Mbps broadband networks to new homes being built in Kent. But the development of 10,000 homes in Ebbsfleet will not be completely until 2020 and no other new sites have yet been identified by the telco.

Virgin Media is speeding up its cable network and over the course of this year the whole of of its network will be upgraded to 50Mbps.

The UK has 360,000 miles of sewers and offers a far cheaper and environmentally-friendly way of deploying fibre than by digging up the roads.

Bournemouth councillor Nick King is pleased the town has been selected.

“Bournemouth really needs to embrace the many advantages that being a fibre city will bring and I am sure it will bring massive rewards to all homes and businesses that sign up,” he said.

H20 has already installed its high speed network to council offices, the Bournemouth International Centre and Pavilion Theatre.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O) scored more than $500 million in global sales of criminal action game “Grand Theft Auto 4″ in its first week, marking what it said on Wednesday is one of the most lucrative entertainment events in history.

The interactive software publisher, which is facing a takeover offer from rival Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O), said it sold about 3.6 million units globally at its debut on April 29, and some 6 million units in total in the week.

Retail chains such as GameStop Corp (GME.N) and Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) took advance orders for weeks of GTA 4, which has been lavished with near-universal accolades.

The first-week sales of Grand Theft Auto, a game hailed as a brutal and satirical masterpiece equal to films like “The Godfather,” beat the $400 million scored by last year's “Halo 3″ from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

“Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date,” said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, in a statement.

Made by Take-Two's Rockstar studio, the game casts players as an Eastern European immigrant who runs drugs, shoots cops and beats up prostitutes after falling in with a crime syndicate — stuff that has drawn fire from family groups and politicians.

Take-Two shares closed on Tuesday at $26.35 on Nasdaq, higher than EA's offer price of $25.74 per share. Take-Two management has rejected EA's offer as too low and has suggested that it might start discussions once the game was launched.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

NEW YORK - Sprint (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) are forming a new company to build a nationwide “WiMax” wireless network, with the goal of offering advanced wireless Internet services to millions beginning next year, people with direct knowledge of the situation say.

Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) also are major investors. Under terms of the $3.2 billion collaboration, Sprint and Clearwire will form a separate, publicly traded company - called Clearwire - to oversee the nationwide buildout. Sources declined to be identified because the deal has yet to be formally announced. That could happen as early as Wednesday.

WiMax is akin to Wi-Fi in that it offers speedy surfing. But WiMax covers a much larger area. Sprint and its partners plan to blanket the USA with WiMax, turning the core of North America into one, big hot spot.

WiMax is one of several technologies vying to be the next way to connect to the Internet on the go. A WiMax transmitter, typically located on a cellphone tower, can provide a relatively fast Internet connection over more than a square mile.

Sprint and Clearwire will contribute WiMax spectrum, the others cash. Comcast will contribute $1.05 billion; Intel, $1 billion; Time Warner Cable, $550 million; Google, $500 million. Two other investors, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners, will contribute $100 million and $10 million, respectively, these same people said.

The advent of a nationwide WiMax network is sure to rattle the status quo in the U.S. wireless industry, now dominated by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. According to people with direct knowledge of the plans, “open access” - meaning you can use any compatible device - will be a bedrock of the new network. Likewise, all Web applications - from e-mail to video streaming and gaming - also will be supported.

As envisioned by the companies, WiMax construction will be fast. By 2010, the group hopes to have WiMax services available to about half the U.S. population.

For Sprint, which has struggled with customer losses, the deal underscores its commitment to WiMax. CEO Dan Hesse spearheaded the effort for this industrywide collaboration.

WiMax raises the game of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Neither has had a credible wireless strategy. Under the terms of the deal, they will buy WiMax services wholesale from Sprint.

Intel, the No. 1 chipmaker, is a big backer of WiMax. It previously invested $600 million in Clearwire. Google is pushing hard into wireless via its new wireless operating system, Android.

Contributing: Michelle Kessler in San Francisco

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O) and Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) said on Wednesday they would combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new $14.5 billion communications company.

The two companies also said Intel Corp (INTC.O), Google Inc (GOOG.O), Comcast Corp (CMSCA.O), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) and Bright House Networks have collectively agreed to invest $3.2 billion in Clearwire.

The investment, larger than had previously been reported, is based on a target price of $20 per share of Clearwire's common stock, the companies said, adding that industry veteran John Stanton would also invest directly in the new company.

Sprint will own about 51 percent of the new company. The existing Clearwire shareholders will own about 27 percent and the new strategic investors, as a group, will get about 22 percent.

WiMax, an emerging technology that could make wireless Internet ubiquitous, is expected to blanket entire cities with Web access for mobile devices at speeds up to five times faster than traditional wireless networks, but it is a largely unproven technology.

Shares in regular and after-hours trading on Tuesday rose 10 percent for Sprint and as much as 23 percent for Clearwire after sources said the long-awaited deal may be announced imminently.

(Reporting by Christopher Kaufman, editing by Mark Porter)