Technology latest news

The tension between privacy and control reached a high-water mark in the social-networking world last week as Facebook and Google traded barbs about which company is more protective of user privacy.

On Thursday, Facebook fired a shot across the bow when it blocked Google's new Friend Connect service, which allows Web sites to deploy content from social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

Friend Connect “redistributes user information from Facebook to other developers without users' knowledge, which doesn't respect the privacy standards our users have come to expect and is a violation of our terms of service,” Facebook developer Charlie Cheever wrote on a corporate blog.

Zuckerberg Wants To Talk

“Just as we've been forced to do for other applications that redistribute data in a way users might not expect or understand, we've had to suspend Friend Connect's access to Facebook user information until it comes into compliance. We've reached out to Google several times about this issue, and hope to work with them to enable users to share their data exactly when and where they choose,” Cheever wrote.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a more conciliatory tone at a news conference in Tokyo during the weekend. “We want to talk to Google about this and see if there's a way we can make it work,” he said. He reiterated concerns that Google can't be trusted with the data.

“Part of the issue with Google's Friend Connect is that when users grant access to Google's product, Google might share their information with another application, or some part of it, maybe not all of it, without that user knowing,” Zuckerberg said. “And part of what makes our system work is that people know exactly who they are sharing all their information with.”

A New Pirate in the Valley

So this is all about privacy? Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, doesn't think so. “We really think that the broad issue here is 'Do users have control of their data?'” he told Information Week. “And we think that Friend Connect gives users control of their data.”

Facebook's action doesn't protect users; it just stops them from “access(ing) their friends on Friend Connect. We really think this is an issue of user control,” Kraus said.

Friend Connect isn't grabbing user data or violating any trust between Facebook and its users, Kraus said. “Google stores no social graph data from any of the social networks — none,” he said. “What Google stores is just a Friend Connect ID, which is just a number, and whatever security token that the social network gives us back. That's all. We don't store credentials, we don't store profile data.”

“Google lives and dies on protecting users' privacy,” Kraus added. “We believe [Friend Connect] is good for users in terms of control and extremely protective of users' privacy.”

Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, agrees that it is an issue of control, but believes Facebook is justified in maintaining control. “Given it is the eyeballs that actually drive revenue, Facebook doesn't want Google stealing their revenue,” Enderle said. “While Google's attempt was ingenious, particularly given Facebook's own advancements in the area, I think you could argue that it doesn't actually fit under the 'do no evil' tagline they are supposed to be living under. I think we have a new pirate in Silicon Valley.”

DALLAS - Donald J. Carty, who became Dell Inc.’s chief financial officer less than 18 months ago when the computer maker’s accounting was under scrutiny, is stepping down and will be replaced by a longtime General Electric Co. executive.

Brian T. Gladden, chief executive of SABIC Innovative Plastics, formerly called GE Plastics, will join Dell on Tuesday and succeed Carty as CFO on June 13.

The transition comes at a critical juncture for Dell. Company officials believe they have accounting issues under control, but Dell still trails Hewlett-Packard Co. in worldwide shipments of personal computers and is cutting jobs and spending to meet financial targets.

Dell is expanding beyond phone and Internet sales to sell machines through retailers, and it is expanding its reach in emerging markets such as China to recapture the robust growth rates of its earlier years.

Gladden, 43, said he was “excited to be joining Dell at a time of transformation.” He held a series of financial and management jobs at GE and has served as president and CEO of Sabic Innovative Plastics since it was spun off from GE last August.

The company, which makes polymers used by electronics, office equipment, computer and auto manufacturers, is a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or SABIC. The plastics unit moved quickly to name Charlie Crew, general manager of its global-ventures business, to replace Gladden.

Coming from another industry, Gladden is not well-known among analysts who cover Dell, but they expect he will focus on cost-cutting.

Ben Reitzes, an analyst for Lehman Brothers, said he wants Gladden to explain how Dell will achieve its goal of cutting $3 billion in spending and how much of the savings will translate to profit.

Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd had that kind of line-by-line handle on costs after he was hired in 2005, said Reitzes, who also wants Gladden to continue making Dell’s finances easier for investors to understand.

Dell will pay Gladden a $700,000 annual base salary and a minimum target bonus of the same amount next March, plus a $2 million signing bonus, 223,000 restricted shares of stock and options on 922,000 shares, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dell spokesman David Frink said Carty, 61, was not pushed out. He said Carty indicated several months ago that he wanted to retire as CFO, and the company hired the executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles, which brought Gladden to Dell’s attention.

“It was time to find a CFO for the longer term,” Frink said.

Carty will remain on Dell’s board.

Carty was CEO and chairman of American Airlines and its parent, AMR Corp., until being ousted in early 2003 during a fight with labor unions over secret pension perks paid to senior executives. He has been a Dell director since 1992, and joined the company as CFO on Jan. 1, 2007.

In a statement, Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said Carty played a key role in re-establishing the transparency and integrity of Dell’s finances.

Carty replaced James M. Schneider as CFO shortly after the company acknowledged that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York launched investigations into accounting issues.

It fell to Carty last year to announce that Dell would restate results from more than four years of results with lower earnings. The company spent tens of millions on an internal probe which found that employees had misled auditors and manipulated results to meet performance targets.

“He did the job that he was brought in to do — things haven’t gotten worse, and maybe they’ve gotten a bit better — but he was always seen as temporary,” said Roger L. Kay, a technology analyst and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

There has been no indication whether the SEC has finished its investigation — an agency spokesman declined to comment — but Kay said he believes Carty and Dell effectively put the issue behind them when the company resumed reporting financial results.

Besides Carty, Dell hired top executives from General Motors Corp., HP and other companies, and founder Michael Dell moved back into the CEO’s role after the departure of Kevin Rollins in January 2007, as it launched a turnaround effort it called Dell 2.0.

Shares of Round Rock, Texas-based Dell fell 11 cents, or 0.5 percent, to end trading at $21.20 Monday.

San Francisco - Backbase on Monday is introducing Enterprise Ajax 4.2 for Java, a version of its AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) framework.for Java developers.

With the framework, these developers can build AJAX-based RIAs leveraging their Java development skills, said Michel Gerin, vice president of marketing at Backbase. Developers can code using JavaServer Faces (JSF), Spring MVC or Struts.

“What [sets] this apart from the other AJAX tools is this one allows the Java developers to work the same way that they usually work,” without having to work in JavaScript or XML, Gerin said.

Enterprise Ajax for Java 4.2 features modules functioning with different development technologies such as Spring or Struts. Data services in the product make it easy to populate AJAX widgets with data from a Java server, Backbase said. This is done through use of the data binding mechanism in the Backbase Client Framework. JSON and XML are supported.

The JSF edition hides complexities of client-side JavaScript development and offers JSF components, the company said. Developers also can mix in XML and HTML. Enterprise Ajax Client widgets are integrated and support is featured for third-party AJAX components such as Google gadgets.

Also offered with Backbase 4.2 is a Community License allowing for free development and deployment on two servers or CPUs per company. To get support for the product, users can purchase annual subscriptions for $2,500 for a two-CPU configuration or use online forums at bdn.backbase.com.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators say eight former executives of AOL Time Warner Inc. fraudulently inflated the company’s online advertising revenues by more than $1 billion between 2000 and 2002.

Four of the executives have agreed to settle the civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a total of roughly $8 million in fines and returning allegedly ill-gotten gains. They are David Colburn, Eric Keller, Jay Rappaport and James MacGuidwin, who was controller of the media company. The other three were in its business affairs unit.

The SEC charges are pending against the other four: John Michael Kelly, former AOL Time Warner chief financial officer; Joseph Ripp, ex-chief financial officer of the AOL division; Steven Rindner, a former senior executive in the business affairs unit, and Mark Wovsaniker, former head of accounting policy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc on Monday unveiled Google Health, a long-anticipated health information service that combines the leading Web company's classic search services with a user's online personal health records.

The password-protected service, which can be found at http://www.google.com/health/, provides a personalized profile for Google users of their basic medical history and gathers relevant information associated with the user's health conditions.

One feature includes a link to help users find doctors by location or specialization. The “virtual pillbox” notifies patients when they need to take medications and possible drug interactions between different drugs. Users can also import medical records if they are available in digital form.

The service includes links to major U.S. pharmacy chains, doctors, and hospitals. Partners include Walgreen Co, Longs Drugs Stores Corp, CVS Caremark Group, AllScripts, Quest Diagnostics and the Cleveland Clinic.

Officials at the Mountain View, California-based company announced the long-anticipated service during a news conference to discuss developments in the company's core search business.

“If anyone can demystify what health is, and make it fun … Google can,” said Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer for the Cleveland Clinic, during the news conference at Google headquarters.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard in New York and Amanda Beck in San Francisco; Editing by Brian Moss)

NEW YORK - Google Inc. is now offering the general public electronic access to their medical records and other health-related information.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web search leader announced the public launch of Google Health during a Webcast on Monday. It lets users import records from a variety of care providers and pharmacies.

Google tested the service by storing medical records for a few thousand patient volunteers at the not-for-profit Cleveland Clinic.

“It’s a really exciting day for us. We’re really happy to be able to offer this service to all our users,” Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the health project, said in the Webcast.

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp., which is under federal investigation for blocking some file-sharing traffic, is investing in a startup that delivers high-definition video using file-sharing techniques.

Seattle-based GridNetworks on Monday said that Comcast would make an unspecified investment in the company and collaborate on developing so-called peer-to-peer file-sharing techniques that are “friendly” to Internet service providers.

Comcast, the country’s second largest Internet service provider, hampers some file-sharing traffic by its subscribers in an attempt to keep the traffic from slowing down Web surfing by other subscribers. Complaints by consumer groups and legal scholars that the company is discriminating against particular software have led to an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission.

Comcast has said that it will stop targeting specific types of traffic by the end of the year. It has also reached out to file-sharing companies to try to develop mutually acceptable techniques.

Tony Werner, Comcast’s chief technology officer, said Monday that Comcast is “working hard” with technology companies and the Internet Engineering Task Force to improve the efficiency of peer-to-peer file sharing.

File-sharing applications like BitTorrent are frequently used to spread pirated movies and music. But GridNetworks and a dozen other startups are instead developing the technology as a way to deliver legal files, like rented high-definition movies, cheaply over the Internet.

In October, GridNetworks raised $9.5 million in capital, with Cisco Systems Inc. as one of the investors.

The Comcast deal was announced at the Cable Show in New Orleans, hosted by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

___

On the Net:

http://www.gridnetworks.com

http://www.comcast.net

Staying fit by playing a video game. That dream of humankind, possibly second only to losing weight by eating, is the object of Nintendo's U.S. launch Monday of the Wii Fit exercise game.

Nintendo said its new product “combines fun and fitness in ways that will have people getting up off their couches,” maybe even “breaking a sweat.”

Yoga, Aerobics, Strength Training, Balance

With a suggested retail price of about $90, Wii Fit includes a balance board accessory and software. The board connects wirelessly to a Wii console, and it senses weight as well as shifts in movement and balance. More than 40 activities offer challenges in yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance.

The Wii Fit begins the exercise program by measuring an adult user's BMI, or Body Mass Index. This is a common measurement of body fat based on height and weight.

The board can also be used as a platform for twirling a virtual hula hoop, “shredding” on a virtual snowboard, doing leg extensions, or undertaking a down-facing dog yoga pose. As a user progresses and as proficiency increases, his or her Wii caricature, which every user can create, reflects fitness levels.

If you slack off during an exercise routine, virtual trainers can talk you through different exercises and make suggestions for improvement. Users' progress can be tracked via scores.

'Interactive Release Party'

Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, said the new product “will get you moving whether you've been playing video games for years or this is your first time.” To help with its launch in the U.S., Nintendo was to have “an interactive release party” in the southwest corner of New York City's Central Park, with celebrity trainer Ashley Borden on hand to have attendees “get on board.”

In Japan, more than two million customers have gotten on board with the Wii Fit so far. Nintendo also notes that the Wii is the first video-game system ever included in the President's Challenge, part of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with industry research firm JupiterResearch, pointed out that, from its launch, the Wii console has been promoted as something “more than a video game” and many users have seen its motion-based games as a form of exercise. The Wii's remote control senses motion and has been the central feature of the Wii's different approach to gaming.

Given this background for the console, Gartenberg predicted that the Wii Fit “is going to be a hit” in the U.S. He noted that there have been previous, not-very-successful efforts to sell gaming-based exercise, such as with Sony's EyeToy, but it and others were “maybe a bit ahead of their time.”

The latest service pack for Windows XP continues to cause problems for users. According to an online user forum, the latest glitch in Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) causes problems with the remote desktop access feature of Windows Home Server.

On the We Got Served U.K.-based Windows user forum, Windows XP users running Windows Home Server, Microsoft's home storage and local networking server, report that SP3 is cutting off their access to the server from their PCs. The remote desktop access feature would ask users to add their home server's Web site address in order to access it even after they already had, users reported.

According to a user on Microsoft's Windows Home Server forum, the problem arose because Windows XP SP3 by default disables Terminal Services Active X control as part of its security model. The user, ColinWH, posted a fix for the problem that outlines how to enable the Terminal Services ActiveX control in Internet Explorer.

The Windows Home Server problem is not the first that users– or Microsoft– have had with the latest XP service pack. Scheduled for release on April 29, Windows XP SP3 was held up for a week by Microsoft because of incompatibilities between the service pack and one of Microsoft's own applications, retail chain management software called Microsoft Dynamics RMS. The problem even affected the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 set of updates.

Then, after the service pack's release on May 6, users reported that XP SP3 put some AMD-based PCs into endless reboots. Eventually, the problem was identified as affecting certain Hewlett-Packard PCs, and Microsoft posted information for fixing it on the Web.

Microsoft could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

On-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendor Workday announced an update to its software Monday as it rides a wave of publicity from a recent high-profile customer win.

Payroll is a major new component of Workday 4.0. To date the company, which was formed by PeopleSoft founder Dave Duffield, has focused on human capital management (HCM)– otherwise known as human resources– as well as financials and procurement. A company spokesman described the payroll capability as key to landing bigger customers.

“I think as we get into these larger enterprise deals, those are the places where payroll is tightly coupled with HCM… We'll continue to link to [payroll providers such as] ADP or Ceridian, but this does open up new opportunities in larger enterprises,” said Andrew McCarthy, communications director.

McKee Foods is serving as a pilot customer for the payroll function, which will be generally available later this year. Initially, Workday will support processes for U.S. payroll, with Canada and Europe to follow. The company claims its underlying payroll framework and calculation engine mean it won't have to rewrite the entire stack from scratch for new regions.

Workday made the right move by developing the capability, according to one observer. “Definitely, payroll is a must,” said China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group.

“Clearly, they've learned from the past on the internationalization front,” she added. “Where PeopleSoft, like its peers, to be fair, ran into some trouble was in not doing enough on the internationalization of its software when going global.”

Workday is also integrating its software with third-party products. A link to Salesforce CRM will enable users to automatically activate and deactivate users from the Salesforce system as they are hired and leave the company.

While customers would require a separate license for those third-party applications, Workday will support the integration, spokesmen said.

The software updates arrive as Workday is enjoying a wave of buzz. News broke last week that it had scored a major deal with manufacturer Flextronics, which has 200,000 employees, and that Salesforce is now using its HCM module.

Observers say the Flextronics win– beyond a major boon for Workday– serves as a general validation that the software as a service (SaaS) model can work in the largest enterprises.

“Workday is on the forefront,” said Ray Wang, an analyst with Forrester Research. “Their win against Oracle and SAP proves that SaaS can scale in the big leagues.”

But as Workday begins servicing such sizable accounts, there are lingering questions about the cost efficiency of the on-demand model. ERP juggernaut SAP has drawn back its rollout plans for Business ByDesign, its hosted ERP offering for the midmarket, saying it needs to fine-tune it to ensure a satisfactory profit.

Workday's product has a smaller footprint, which will help it avoid such growing pains, spokespeople asserted.