Newsflash
NewSat to supply comms for US troops
Satellite telecommunications provider NewSat has secured four contracts with the US military to provide communication services to troops in southern Afghanistan.
The company said in a statement released today that the four contracts are worth between $1.4 million and $2.4 million for NewSat.
November was a big month for the company, with NewSat chief financial officer Adam Shapiro also saying that the company had secured $600,000 in contracts with resources companies Gorgon and Liquefied Natural Gas.
“During the current financial year, the business has won over 100 new contracts totalling to over $5 million,” Shapiro said in a statement.
Shapiro said that some of the other contracts won this financial year were with Amstar Communications, the Australian Defence Force, Barrick Gold and Nixon Communications.
Source: http://www.zdnet.com.au/newsat-to-supply-comms-for-us-troops-339307710.htm
Cablevision launches iPad app to watch TV at home
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Cablevision Systems Corp is launching an app for customers using its Optimum package to watch television on their iPads at home, the company said on Saturday.
The service, available at no extra charge, will allow the cable operator’s more than 3 million customers to watch some 300 channels, search programing by genre and enable customers to record programs.
The system uses Cablevision’s digital cable television network to deliver programing to the iPad, so customers do not need to have Internet access on their devices to use the app.
“This application allows the iPad to function as a television, delivering the full richness and diversity of our cable television service to a display device in the home,” Tom Rutledge, Cablevision chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The move by New York-based Cablevision comes weeks after Time Warner Cable launched its own iPad app in mid-March.
The Time Warner version allows users to watch live programing from 32 networks so long as they are at home using their Wi-Fi network.
But Time Warner’s app sparked controversy.
A few days ago, after getting several “cease and desist” notices, the No. 2 U.S. cable company said it would no longer carry networks owned by News Corp’s Fox, Viacom and Discovery Communications.
The media companies believe the cable company needs to pay for new licenses in order for customers to use the iPad app.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110402/tc_nm/us_cablevision_ipad
Co-founder Page returning to Google helm
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google co-founder Larry Page on Monday takes back the reins of the Internet powerhouse that he and Sergey Brin created as Stanford University students some 13 years ago.
Page is expected to bring an entrepreneurial spirit and a computer engineer’s intensity to the chief executive position being ceded by Eric Schmidt, who helped turn Google into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
“I get the impression that Larry Page is going to be more hands-on,” technology analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies told AFP.
“Especially with mobile,” he said. “Mobile is key to Google’s future.”
Bajarin said he believes Page was behind recent moves to make it easier for developers to design hip, fun, or functional applications for smartphones and tablet computers powered by Google-backed Android software.
Google makes Android available for free to device makers to use and modify as it seeks to compete in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet arena with Apple, maker of the iPad and iPhone.
“When Larry is in charge of the total strategy, he has to be able to look at it in terms of devices that are going to connect to the Internet,” Bajarin said. “Everything is pointing to mobile being the dominant platform.”
Brin, who along with Page and Schmidt has led the “triumvirate” at the helm of the Internet search titan, is going to be responsible for strategic projects and new products in the new management structure.
Schmidt, 55, a former chief executive of Novell, is to remain with Google as executive chairman, focusing on deals, partnerships, customers and government outreach.
Schmidt replaced Page as chief executive in August 2001 to provide “parental supervision” at the company the college pals launched just three years earlier. In recent years, Page has headed Google’s product development while helping with day-to-day operations. Read the rest of this entry »
Google revamps to fight cheaters
GOOGLE, long considered the gold standard of internet search, is changing the secret formula it uses to rank web pages as it struggles to combat websites that have been able to game its system.
The internet giant, which handles nearly two-thirds of the world’s web searches, has been under fire recently over the quality of its results. Google said it changed its mathematical formula yesterday in order to better weed out “low-quality” sites that offer users little value. Some such sites offer just enough content to appear in search results and lure users to pages loaded with advertisements.
Google generates billions of dollars from advertising linked to its search engine, whose influence as a front door to the world’s online content and commerce continues to grow by the year. Google’s power over the fortunes of so many other companies has made it a target of competitor complaints. It has also faced government investigations, including scrutiny by regulators in the US and Europe.
Tags: NASA officials say they are not concerned about space shuttle Discovery, despite it being hit by debris at launch
NASA officials maintain they are not concerned about space shuttle Discovery, despite video showing it being hit by chunks of debris this morning.
Discovery launched this morning at around 7.30am (Queensland time) on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station, delivering parts, equipment and the first humanoid robot to be taken to the station, which will act as its first permanent resident.
The last few moments before launch were fraught with anxiety as NASA engineers raced to fix a glitch that temporarily paralysed some ground computers, but it wasn’t enough to delay the mission further.
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