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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn plans to seek the ouster CEO Jerry Yang of Yahoo, should the Sea of dissident directors win control of Yahoo in the Governing Council, on the basis of a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Icahn is centered his comments on the Elimination of Yahoo in the Board of Directors, of which Ian is one of nine members who are elected for a one-year term, the next annual meeting is held.

Icahn obviously irate over the recently released details of the shareholders lawsuit unsealed Monday, according to the Journal. In the amended lawsuit by two Detroit pension funds, Jan is portrayed as an architect of controversial labour officer program, which will happen if Yahoo undergoes a change in control.

The change in control applies not only buyout, like Microsoft is one of the table before it withdrew its 33 U.S. dollars bid for Yahoo share on May 3, but also a change in control of a majority of Yahoo in the management board, as noted in CNET News.com blog.

"It is no longer secret to me why Microsoft's offer is not super," Icahn said in his interview Journal. "How can Yahoo say they willing to negotiate and sell the company on the one hand, while they are completely sabotaging the process without anyone."

Icahn believes he noted in the lawsuit unsealed shareholders will support his efforts to win a proxy fight to unseat Yahoo on board, especially given their belief that investors will fear Microsoft will not return to the buyout proposal to Jan and current board have passed.




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Keeping up with your friends, social networks have been hard work (enough so that many of us spend hours on it every week). Is it not you want to make a few bucks for your problems?

Meet UrTurn, a new startup that hopes to be able to create a virtual single currency in all major social networks. The site is a root launched a public beta, and it is at this time is made available to Facebook app (MySpace expected shortly). The first 250 TechCrunch readers who sign the code, using ERAS4 here will receive 500 bonus points.

In some respects, UrTurn acts, such as a virtual pyramid scheme - users can get points by inviting their friends (and even more points, if these friends will increase the application). But users can also get points by running the day-to-day activities. They earn less points, but they add up - in the case were to add two friends, the five pictures, and two in the role of Facebook messages on a daily basis a year, you'll have enough points for the iPod Touch.

Users are points UrTurn's virtual warehouse, where they will they be able to buy GIFT CARDS or digital gadgets (we can expect the stock to grow as the site expands). Alternatively, users will be able to make points, that is the market and sell them for money. You are not going to get rich this way, but getting paid to surf the Facebook is certainly an attractive idea. The strategy aims to reduce the gaming of the system, the site requires users to tie their accounts to an active PayPal account

At the moment, UrTurn will examine a number of ways to earn money for their application. In addition, standard advertising, UrTurn is considering placing a tax on each transaction in the market. The site also plans to release the API, which can help them integrate and is a REV-share with other applications so that they can share their points based on the use of third-party applications (site to launch a pilot program five appssavvy apps, next month).

Virtual currency has been a long history of failure - the late 90-Beenz.com unsuccessfully tried to create a global currency that could rival the dollar and the pound (that the company closed its doors in 2001). UrTurn is, therefore, to combat many users are trying to abuse the system, and they may have a hard time monetizing their app, when so little work is required the user's part. That said, the social networks are in need of an effective Micropayment system, and a virtual currency may be the answer. Acebucks, which covered the period from last autumn, is another company that will seek to consolidate its position as the single currency of social networks.

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Microsoft announced Sunday afternoon, he issued another proposal in which Yahoo calls for a transaction with Yahoo, but would not require the acquisition of all assets of Yahoo.

The announcement comes just days after billionaire investor Carl Icahn launched a proxy fight to overthrow Yahoo current board the Internet search pioneer of pre-July 3 Annual general meeting of shareholders.

Icahn, a large Yahoo stakeholders, to put pressure on the research undertaken to restart talks with Microsoft after the software giant withdrew its bid unsolicited $ 33 action on May 3.

While Microsoft has repeatedly said he has "changed" after withdrawing its offer Yahoo, the software giant still faces the question of how it would strengthen its Internet operations to compete with its arch-rival Google. And Yahoo, who told News.com sources, considered the ball to Microsoft in court because he is the one to withdraw from the agreement, to the anger of its main shareholders after these talks have not addressed.

"Microsoft is reviewing and Yahoo raised with a solution that would involve a transaction with Yahoo but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo, Microsoft said in a statement.

"Microsoft does not propose to make a new offer to acquire all of Yahoo at the moment, but reserves the right to review than others depending on the development of relations and discussions that take place May with Yahoo or discussions with the shareholders of Yahoo or Microsoft or other third parties, "the software giant said.

Microsoft noted that there is no guarantee there May come from these discussions.

Microsoft declined to comment beyond what he published in his statement, a spokesman for Microsoft. Yahoo declined to comment at this time, a spokesman for Yahoo.

But according to reports in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has proposed an arrangement in which Microsoft should sell advertisements to be displayed alongside search results Yahoo, in an effort to combat competition from Google.

The timing of Microsoft's proposal is that Yahoo is preparing to announce a transaction with Google, as early as next week, which calls for Yahoo to use Google search ads.

Such a market has weighed heavily on Microsoft, who said when he withdrew his bid to forgo a hostile takeover of Yahoo in the hope that it would not encourage the research on the Internet pioneer to go running into the arms of Google.

A scenario worth keeping an eye on is whether Yahoo is moving forward with its Google partnership. If Yahoo hooks with Google, Microsoft, at this stage, consider May he had nothing to lose by strengthening Icahn's proxy fight by making a new offer to acquire all shares of Yahoo. This transfer would give Icahn's proxy fight real teeth, that investors know that if they vote for the Icahn slate, they would in essence be a vote for merging companies.

To reiterate Microsoft's statement Sunday: "Microsoft does not propose to make a new offer to acquire all of Yahoo at the moment, but reserves the right to review than others depending on the evolution of relations and discussions which took place May with Yahoo! Or discussions with the shareholders of Yahoo. "

Despite these recent developments in the resumption of talks between the companies, Icahn and Microsoft have had no contact, according to people familiar with the talks.

If Microsoft and Yahoo strike a deal to slice and dice the pioneering research on the Internet, Microsoft would most likely be interested in finding Yahoo and advertising of bids, since that is where the Redmond giant has trouble to take the initiative.

In addressing the software giant as regards the declaration of Yahoo and its future plans, Kevin Johnson, Windows and Windows Live-in-chief, said Sunday in a letter to employees:

Whatever the outcome of any further discussion, it is important that we continue to move forward to strengthen our services business online. The fact is that we are not where we want to be in this business and we still have been in this position longer than we would all like. To this end, we will accelerate elements of our basic strategy, and breaking ground in new areas. "

Microsoft research strategy, as outlined earlier by News.com 's Ina Fried, will be unveiled Wednesday during its annual conference on advertising, advance 08. This strategy includes expanding its capabilities in new types of vertical search and improving the overall relevance of search queries. For example, Microsoft will strengthen its stores search tools and improvements to its search algorithms.

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The iPhone scope is expanding. Orange, France Telecom's flagship brand, announced that it will sell Apple phone in other countries in Europe and the Middle East and Africa.

Orange said it will sell the iPhone in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and the African countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Jordan, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Mauritius and Runion.

The agreement expands the list of countries where Apple agreed to operate on a non-exclusive basis. Among the countries announced in this agreement, Orange will be exclusive only in Belgium and Romania.

Many Deals

Earlier this month, Vodafone announced it had signed an agreement to provide iPhone in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey.

Days ago, Swisscom announced that it had obtained the right to sell the iPhone in Switzerland. "The iPhone will be available later this year," a statement on the website simply said. The fact that the company will not sell the phone until later in the year suggests that it will sell even one-to-be-announced version 3G.

The Swiss newspaper Le Matin reported that Swisscom is to treat an iPhone 3G would provide two-way discussions, mobile TV and GPS navigation. The plan also calls for Swisscom to offer "attractive" incentives and a high-end plan to include mobile video and other media services, Le Matin.

Sea Change for Apple

And on Monday, Singapore-based SingTel issued a statement announcing line, he signed an agreement with Apple to sell the phone in Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia.

All these non-trafficking Wednesday marks a change for Apple, which until recently insisted on exclusive agreements with carriers. The iPhone launched with an exclusive deal with AT & T in the USA, followed by similar deals with O2 in the UK, Orange France and Deutsche Telekom in Germany.

The same is true of this eruption, nonexclusives days are numbered for AT & T and other carriers with exclusive offers from the West? No, "said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies. Apple is "locked in a long-term agreement with AT & T in the USA and others in Europe, but in some of these new countries, they clearly scope for doing things differently," said Bajarin.

Redefining the mobile Internet

How the iPhone be received in the developing world? "The iPhone is still a market for smartphone, but it will appeal to some people in any country and those who can afford it," said Bajarin.

But what many consumers in the USA and other countries not yet May, is that the iPhone is more than a phone. "The great thing is its impact on all countries in how it affects how they view mobile computing," said Bajarin. "In the past, mobile computing means laptops. With the iPhone provide PC-like functionality in the power of a handheld, it is set to redefine what the mobile Internet will be in the World."

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco in June is where it is widely CEO is expected that Steve Jobs will unveil a 3G iPhone. Luigi Licciardi, CEO of Telecom Italia Mobile, apparently confirmed these rumours earlier this week when he told Electronics Weekly, "We will be selling iPhone with a capacity of 3G next month."

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We introduced Spotplex in February 2007 as a potential Digg killer that served up popular stories by monitoring how many people read them. Somewhere along the way, it also turned into an Alexa-like analytics service. Unfortunately, neither market worked out for them and they’ve been forced to shut their doors.

The Digg-style service used JavaScript that was embedded on participating pages to track how often posts were read, and top-read posts were featured on Spotplex’s homepage. The service set itself apart from Digg by requiring no intervention on the reader’s part to promote a page. On the other hand, Spotplex only recorded hits on blogs that had embedded the Javascript snippets, which severely restricted its sources of content.

Spotplex’s JavaScript embeds were also used to offer an analytics service that was designed to contend with sites like Alexa and Compete. While the addition of this service marked a shift to a very different market, both of Spotplex’s services leveraged the same backend.

CEO Doyon Kim says that the company’s ultimate failure was due to a lack of adequate funding. The company underestimated the resources that were required to build and maintain its service, and it neglected to seek venture funding after its $450,000 seed round. This is surprising given Kim’s experience in the industry: he co-founded DialPad, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2005.




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Twitter is certainly usable via SMS on a mobile device, but typing messages on a phone is cumbersome. A service that converts voice to text and then posts it to Twitter could be a niche hit.

A number of services have launched to allow users to record messages and link to the recording from Twitter (see Twitsay, Twittergram). And services like Jott and Spinvox are providing tools that allow voice to text conversion for Twitter, Facebook, Pownce and other social networks. But nothing I’ve seen so far is as simple to use as TwitterFone, a new service by serial Irish entrepreneur Pat Phelan.

The service launched moments ago into private beta. To use it you need to verify your phone number and Twitter account, and TwitterFone will then give you a local phone number to call to leave messages (they support the U.S., UK and Ireland now, adding more). Then, any message you send will be transcribed, and posted to Twitter along with a link to the recording (here’s a test message I left). If the message is longer than 140 characters, just the first part is transcribed, but the entire recording is still available. There is a time limit of 15 seconds on the recording.

The service is partially automated via voice recognition software, and flagged words go to a human for translation. For now the service supports English only; Japanese support is promised in 8 weeks or so.

One problem/slightly humorous aspect of the service is that there is no going back once you start recording. In this test message I started coughing and just hung up. The coughing was dutifully transcribed and posted. A simple option at the end of a call to delete the message is needed.

The service is free for now, they may add premium features over time. We have a handful of beta accounts to give out now. Tell us why you think you need it in the comments below - the most compelling get an account.

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Dell on Friday said it has stopped shipment of two Vostro laptop models in Europe after discovering a faulty keyboard design with a few keys out of place.

A Dell customer in the U.K., who ordered the Vostro 1310, noticed that the bottom row of letters on the keyboard was shifted to the right. That's because the left Shift key is oversized and a new key, \, is placed between the Shift and Z keys, moving the entire row so that it doesn't comply with a traditional keyboard layout.

"This is not a US/UK layout issue, just a general monumental flaw," wrote the U.K. customer in an online post, deliberately retaining spelling errors in other parts of his message to highlight the design problem.

A limited number of Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops with the wrong keyboard layout were shipped in Europe in the middle of April, said Jennifer Davis, a Dell spokeswoman. The company has suspended further shipments of the laptop models until the problem is fixed, she said.

Dell will replace the keyboards for customers who have received the laptops with faulty keyboards, Davis said.

"Customers will be given a choice to receive the keyboard kit or have a tech [representative] come on-site," Davis said. The new keyboard is easy to install, Davis said.

The laptops haven't shipped in other parts of the world, so other regions aren't affected by the glitch, Davis said

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Dell on Friday said it has stopped shipment of two Vostro laptop models in Europe after discovering a faulty keyboard design with a few keys out of place.

A Dell customer in the U.K., who ordered the Vostro 1310, noticed that the bottom row of letters on the keyboard was shifted to the right. That's because the left Shift key is oversized and a new key, \, is placed between the Shift and Z keys, moving the entire row so that it doesn't comply with a traditional keyboard layout.

"This is not a US/UK layout issue, just a general monumental flaw," wrote the U.K. customer in an online post, deliberately retaining spelling errors in other parts of his message to highlight the design problem.

A limited number of Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops with the wrong keyboard layout were shipped in Europe in the middle of April, said Jennifer Davis, a Dell spokeswoman. The company has suspended further shipments of the laptop models until the problem is fixed, she said.

Dell will replace the keyboards for customers who have received the laptops with faulty keyboards, Davis said.

"Customers will be given a choice to receive the keyboard kit or have a tech [representative] come on-site," Davis said. The new keyboard is easy to install, Davis said.

The laptops haven't shipped in other parts of the world, so other regions aren't affected by the glitch, Davis said.

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It is billed as the "one and only Tablet Mac." But the cleverly designed Modbook I've been testing is not from Apple. The portable, slate-style computer is engineered by an El Segundo, Calif., start-up called Axiotron.

Apple, at least for now, seems to be looking the other way.

Is Apple going soft? One of the reasons often given for Apple's success is that the company closely guards its own hardware and software. Apple CEO Steve Jobs pulled the plug on the Macintosh "clone" business several years ago.

Third-party computer makers are not permitted to load Mac OS X software on their machines, though not always for lack of trying. South Florida upstart Psystar recently started peddling a $400 desktop it says can run OS X Leopard.

It turns out Modbook is actually an Apple computer after all. Axiotron took an off-the-shelf MacBook notebook, deep-sixed the keyboard and display and slapped on its own converter kit. The result is a modified machine that, in lieu of a mouse and keyboard, lets you draw or write with a special pen.

This isn't exactly a mainstream computer, especially without that keyboard. Modbooks are expensive, too - systems start at $2,279, nearly a $1,200 premium compared with a basic MacBook. And they are available only in the USA through an online Mac dealer called Other World Computing.

For much of this decade, Microsoft has been the one - via its Windows-based Tablet PCs - trying to convince the public that the pen is sometimes mightier than the keyboard.

But Tablet PCs (generally not cheap and manufactured by most of the usual hardware suspects) haven't exactly made a smash. Research firm IDC says only about 3.2 million tablet computers shipped worldwide in 2007, representing less than 3% of all portable computers shipped. IDC expects just over 7% by 2011.

So Axiotron's German-born co-founder and CEO, Andreas Haas, a former Apple employee, figures Apple has been reluctant to pour its own resources into a Mac tablet.

In building Modbook - because he wanted a Mac tablet - Haas insists he's playing "within the rules." Axiotron has said Modbook was "authorized" by Apple through the obscure Proprietary Solution Provider program, a point hammered home in Axiotron's promotional materials.

Although Apple won't comment directly, Axiotron does not appear to have its complete blessing. There's no Apple warranty for Modbook. You must get it serviced (under its own one-year warranty) through an Axiotron authorized dealer, not in Apple Stores.

A closer look at Modbook

The dramatic makeover that turns a MacBook into a Modbook eliminates the keyboard and MacBook screen. Post-surgery, the screen is replaced by an LCD digitizer display and pen from a company called Wacom, which also makes external devices that add tablet capabilities to regular Apple machines.

It's nicely designed, and the scratch-resistant machine has the look and feel of an Apple pedigree. My test unit actually arrived in a regular MacBook box.

Here's how a MacBook becomes a Modbook:

•Design. Axiotron makes it almost sound simple. You take a MacBook, jettison the display panel, track-pad and keyboard, and swap in Axiotron's conversion kit, featuring a digitized LCD screen that lets you draw and write with the special Wacom pen.

It all looks seamless. Axiotron says it didn't solder, hack or tamper with the MacBook's innards. Components plug into existing connectors and screw holes.

The result: You have access to regular MacBook ports on the left side - including two USBs, FireWire, ethernet and so-called MagSafe power connector. And you can still use the integrated CD/DVD burner on the right, though without a keyboard, you'll have to tap a screen icon with the Wacom pen to eject a disk. Wi-Fi behaved normally.

Modbook's top shell is crafted from a magnesium alloy and protected by metal plating. All this adds some heft. It weighs about 5.5 pounds; MacBooks weigh 5.

Some Windows Tablets are convertible models. They twist and/or fold (sometimes awkwardly) to turn a conventional notebook into a pen-based slate, and vice versa.

Modbook is all slab, all the time - a major disadvantage to anyone who needs to pound away at a traditional keyboard. And you can't alter the screen orientation from portrait to landscape, as you can with Tablet PCs; Modbook is always in landscape.

There is an onscreen virtual keyboard that is a barely adequate replacement for the physical keyboard. Using the Wacom pen, I tapped out my home network password and various Web addresses. Anything more is a hassle.

Of course, you can connect a keyboard and mouse, via USB or wirelessly with Bluetooth. But conventional computing isn't what Modbook is all about.

Basic system configurations remain the same as whichever MacBook has been modified - mine had a 2.2-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM and a 120-GB hard drive. The 13.3-inch widescreen display is the same size as well; it wasn't the brightest outdoors. One minor adjustment: The integrated iSight video camera on Modbook has been mounted so it tilts slightly downward, to better frame your mug.

The underlying software, including OS X Leopard, is essentially unchanged. Axiotron does add a driver for the pen interface.

•Putting it to work. My initial instinct was to press my fingers against the display as if it were a touch-screen. It's not. Modbook works only with the supplied pen. But that means you can rest your hands on the screen while drawing. The pressure-sensitive pen has two programmable side buttons and a digital eraser. It doesn't require a battery.

I'm no artist, but I had fun scribbling away in Corel Painter X. The system is compatible with Apple's Inkwell handwriting-recognition technology, a remnant from its long-ago ill-fated Newton PDA. Handwriting recognition is built into Leopard, but you'd need a third-party device (from the likes of Wacom) to convert your jottings into text.

I had so-so results testing handwriting recognition on Modbook inside a program called InkBook. "Mary had a little lamb" became "Mary had a liHK lans" It might have had more to do with my lousy penmanship.

The machine has GPS, which I used with Google Earth to locate nearby pizza joints. But there aren't a lot of practical uses for the technology. You can easily turn GPS off to spare the battery, which seems to deliver three hours or so.

Modbook is a fine, if pricey, tool for artsy types who need to draw on screen without adding excess hardware. It's just not a mainstream computer.


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Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (BU) has announced the release of Messenger for Mac 7, its instant messaging client. Version 7 is a free download, available from the Mac BU's website.

Messenger 7 lets users communicate with buddies on the Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger services, but not those with .Mac accounts or those on the popular AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service. Messenger 7 adds a number of new features for personal users, including searching through contacts by name or e-mail address, the ability to assign nicknames to your friends, and support for OS X's Bonjour.

However, most of Messenger 7's improvements come in the realm of corporate communications. For those users in an organization running Exchange server and Microsoft Communicator, the biggest addition to the program is support for video and audio chats, including multi-party conference calls. Such functionality is not yet available for personal users, but the Mac BU is continuing to work with the Windows Live team to implement it.

In addition, corporate users can now find contacts via their organization's Global Address List (GAL) and display a personal status message, including a "Do Not Disturb" status. The program also features improved online status integration with Office Communicator 2007.

Messenger 7 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later and a Windows Live ID for personal accounts, or a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 account for corporate accounts.


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Asustek Computer on Wednesday forecast it will nearly double shipments of the popular Eee PC low-cost laptop in the second quarter, compared to the first.

Eee PC shipments will rise to between 1.2 million to 1.3 million units in the three months ending June 30, Asustek said in presentation materials for its first quarter investors' conference. The company shipped 700,000 Eee PCs in the first quarter.

The company also expects to continue releasing new Eee PC models aimed at different user groups

The original Eee PCs went on sale for prices as low as NT$7000 (US$230) for a stripped down version running a Linux OS late last year. The newest version, the Eee PC 900, has a larger 8.9-inch screen and other improvements, and launched in Taiwan earlier this month for NT$15,988. The original Eee PC 701 sports a 7-inch screen. Both devices weigh less than a kilogram.

New versions of the Eee PC could sport more functions and better specifications, including larger screen sizes, executives have said. The company hopes to capitalize on the popularity of the device.

Shipments of the Eee PC have ramped up so fast that they could challenge the company's other laptop PC products. Asustek predicts it will sell between 1.3 million and 1.4 million notebook PCs during the second quarter, up from 1.3 million in the first quarter.

The company's Eee PC shipment target for this year is 5 million units.

Asustek's Eee PC is a low-cost laptop originally designed for people in developing nations, particularly kids. The device, which can access the Internet wirelessly through built-in Wi-Fi or an add-on HSDPA card has gained popularity for its efficient design and low price.

The device will likely face a lot more competition in the future. Several companies, including Acer, Micro-Star International, Elitegroup Computer Systems and Giga-byte Technology have all revealed plans to market a low-cost laptop similar to the Eee PC.



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Fennec, the mobile version of the Firefox browser, will simplify and enhance Web browsing on cell phones and usher in an era of intense developer innovation, the chairman of the Mozilla Foundation and of Mozillla Corp. said Thursday.

Access to data, sites and applications on the Internet shouldn't be limited by the type of device being used, and Fennec will make that possible, said Mitchell Baker during a keynote speech at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

"The key to the Internet should be the same. The core is information: What can I get to and what can I do with it?" she said.

While technical constraints affect mobile browsing, psychological constraints affect the experience on the PC, caused by usage habits formed over decades, Baker said.

She'd rather have technical barriers to overcome than psychological ones, so she's hopeful for what Fennec can accomplish.

"Because it's a new area, mental constraints of what we can do... are much less," she said. "Mental constraints are often the hardest to get past."

Fennec will provide a totally open development platform, making Firefox the platform that is most likely to lead to the vision of full access to the Web via mobile devices, she said.

While Fennec is still at a very early stage, Baker encouraged developers in the audience to join the effort, which will generate the type of intense innovation that has been seen in the Web 2.0 space, she said.

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TOKYO - Nintendo does not plan to cut prices of its popular Wii gaming console or DS handheld game system anytime soon, the company's president said Friday.

While prices for hardware is usually reduced over time, that could leave gamers who bought early feeling ripped off, Satoru Iwata said a day after the company reported record annual profits.

"I don't think that model is correct," Iwata said, despite signs that sales of the DS may be tapering off.

The Wii retails for about $250 in the U.S. and 25,000 yen in Japan, unchanged since its launch in November 2006. In contrast, Sony has slashed the price of its 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 twice so far to boost demand.

Nintendo Co. expects to sell 28.0 million DS units this year through March 2009, down from 30.3 million last year.

Iwata said that while sales in Japan have slowed, the DS maintains strong momentum in the United States and Europe, with considerable room for growth. The DS Lite sells for 16,800 yen in Japan and $129.99 in the U.S.

Nintendo's main focus is to keep gamers playing by continually offering new software, services and accessories. He hinted that there were new projects in the pipeline, but did not elaborate.

"Our biggest fear is for people who have bought the DS to shut it away in a closet," Iwata said. "We want people to use it in their everyday lives."

Still, the falloff in DS sales is a main reason why the company tempered its growth expectations this year after a nearly 48 percent surge in net profit last fiscal year to $2.5 billion and a 73 percent gain in global revenue to $16.2 billion.

"The speed last year was beyond our expectations," Iwata said.

For this fiscal year, Nintendo projects a 26.3 percent rise in net profit and just a 7.6 percent increase in sales. It pegs a modest 8.8 percent climb in operating profit.

Like all Japanese exporters, Nintendo is wrestling with a stronger yen that threatens to erode the value of overseas sales, which accounted for 81 percent of total revenue last year.

Nintendo's main driver of growth this year, then, looks to be the Wii — a runaway hit that has outsold Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 since its release in November 2006.

With easy-to-play games and motion-detecting controllers, the Wii has done well by attracting new and casual gamers, including women and senior citizens.

Consumers around the world have snapped up nearly 24.5 million of the consoles so far, and Nintendo says it expects to sell 25 million units this year, even with a gloomy outlook for the global economy.

"Historically, the video game business hasn't been influenced by economic swings," Iwata said, adding that in tight economic times, people often opt to stay home and play video games rather go out and spend money.

Nintendo will release several new games this spring, including a racing game called the Mario Kart Wii. The Wii Fit exercise game, which has sold well in Japan, will also make its debut soon in the U.S. and Europe.

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The delayed PlayStation Home community online service for the PlayStation 3 console is to be delayed again, Sony Computer Entertainment said Tuesday.

The service was first announced in July last year and promised to provide users with the ability to create their own avatars and participate in a real-time virtual world, something like a cross between the Mii avatars on Nintendo's Wii and the Second Life community. At the time Sony said it would be available globally in the "fall" of 2007 but that was delayed until "spring" 2008 at the Tokyo Game Show.

Now Sony says it will allow more users to join a closed beta test but doesn't plan to open up the service until the "fall" of this year, and then only as an open beta test.

"We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," said Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, in a statement.

There are no details on when PlayStation Home might launch as a full service.


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This week The Economist offers a typically thoughtful essay on what wireless technology, like Wi-Fi and cell phones, has done for us. Not from a computing standpoint, mind you, but from a social one. Has wireless tech turned us into a nation of neo-nomads, wanderers who work and play wherever they happen to find a signal? It certainly looks that way...

The Starbucks of the world are regularly crowded with MacBook-toting hipsters who use the cafes as their unofficial offices, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the need for even a laptop and a coffee shop is on the decline, as users turn to the ever-increasing capabilities of smart phones like the BlackBerry and the iPhone to get their work done from just about anywhere.

But getting your work done from anywhere is old news: Now scientists in multiple fields are looking at how these technologies are changing family dynamics (they may actually bring relatives closer), relationships (the jury's out), and even architecture (as buildings now have to be designed with wireless signals in mind).

There's virtually no aspect of society that isn't feeling some impact from mobile tech: Even linguists are LOLing about what it's done to their field. And this one about knocked me off the couch: In Japan, five of the ten bestselling novels in 2007 were written on cell phones.

It's a long read, but an interesting one that will make you reconsider what you think you know about wireless technology.

How has mobile tech impacted your life? Sound off in the comments.


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The Apple Mac runs Windows Vista better than a PC, according to a shootout conducted by Popular Mechanics magazine.

The publication tested two all-in-one desktops and notebooks, one Mac and one PC in each category, using a panel of testers ranging from experts to the I-just-want-it-to-work type of consumer. The results were published in the magazine's May issue.

The testers assembled the machines right out of the box and then rated their experiences in performing everyday tasks, such as Web surfing, document creation, uploading photos, downloading Adobe Acrobat files and playing music and movies. The magazine created its own suite of tests to measure the speeds in which the machines handled these tasks.

While there were some differences, the Gateway desktop and Asus notebook were evenly matched with their Mac counterparts -- an iMac and MacBook, respectively.

"In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple's computers were the winners," the magazine said.

Surprisingly to the magazine, Apple's user interface for its OS X Leopard didn't outshine Vista among the testers, who liked the look and feel of both operating systems, but showed a slight preference toward OS X. The real differences were in the speed trials, where Leopard "trounced" Vista in important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times.

"We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple's platform-switching Boot Camp software -- and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did," the magazine said. "Simply put, Vista proved to be a more sluggish operating system than Leopard."

Another surprise was the price of the systems. While the Apple Mac is often seen as more expensive than the PC, Popular Mechanics found that the Asus M51sr cost the same as the MacBook, and the Gateway One cost $300 more than an iMac.

"That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway's, purchase a copy of Vista to boot -- and still save $100," the magazine said.


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Nintendo sold more high-end video game consoles in the U.S. in the month of March than Sony and Microsoft combined, according to data released Friday by market researcher NPD Group.

Nintendo sold 721,000 Wii consoles in March, according to NPD. Microsoft sold 262,000 Xbox 360 units while Sony sold 257,000 PlayStation 3 systems.

Nintendo Wii sales were sparked by the recent launch of the hit game Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- a Wii exclusive. NPD said the game sold 2.7 million copies in March, making it the month's top selling title by far.

Two Xbox 360 titles, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Army Of Two, were the second and third top sellers, but neither cracked the one million sales mark.

Wii Play, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII rounded out the top five games sold in March.

Nintendo also dominated the portable system market. It sold 698,000 Nintendo DS units. Sony's PlayStation Portable counted sales of 297,000.

Sony also sold 216,000 PlayStation 2 systems in March, according to NPD.

Nintendo's dominance of the console market may be spurring copycat efforts in its rivals.

MTV News earlier this month reported that Microsoft is developing a Wii-style remote that would allow Xbox 360 users to physically interact with their games by waving around the controller. That sort of interactivity has proven to be a highly popular feature of Nintendo's Wii system, currently the only platform that supports such virtual play.

MTV also posted a sketch of a rough mock up of the device on its Web site.

Microsoft has declined to comment on the report.


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