Belt tightening for HP employees
Financial results for the world’s largest technology company were disappointing. HP posted net revenue of $28.8 billion for its first fiscal quarter that ended on Jan. 31, up one percent from a year earlier and up four percent when adjusted for the effects of currency. Revenue grew 11 percent in the Americas to $12.4 billion. Revenue declined 3 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 11 percent in Asia Pacific to $12.0 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. Revenue from outside of the United States in the first quarter accounted for 65 percent of total revenue, with revenue in the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China declining 22 percent over the prior-year period while accounting for 7 percent of total HP revenue.
HP registered declines in all its business units except Services. Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue declined 19 percent, with unit shipments down 4 percent. Notebook revenue for the quarter was down 13 percent, while Desktop revenue declined 25 percent. Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) revenue declined 19 percent. Supplies revenue was down 7 percent, while Commercial hardware revenue and Consumer hardware revenue declined 34 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Printer unit shipments decreased 33 percent, with Consumer printer hardware units down 31 percent and Commercial printer hardware units down 39 percent. Services revenue increased 116 percent due primarily to the EDS acquisition. Revenue in Technology Services was flat.
HP estimates that second quarter FY09 revenue will decline approximately two to three percent from the prior-year period and that full year FY09 revenue will decline approximately two to five percent from the prior-year period.
The company immediately announced wage cuts globally, which go into effect May 1, plus a reduction in some benefits and pension contributions. Also, staff can no longer buy HP shares at a discount. No further job cuts were announced. In September 2008, HP already cut 24,700 positions.
INQ ÅeBest Mobile Handset'
At the 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, INQ Mobile won the GSMA’s award for “Best Mobile Handset or Device” for its INQ Social Mobile. This award is given to a device with the combination of design, technical excellence and functionality that comes together to position a product at the top of its market. The INQ Social Mobile won the award over four other shortlisted contenders including the Nokia E71, T-Mobile G1, RIM BlackBerry Storm and LG KS360.
INQ Mobile, a new Hutchison Whampoa company, is creating a category of consumer devices that put social networking, e-mail and instant messaging at the heart of innovative mass-market mobiles. The company launched the INQ Social Mobile in October of 2008 and it became known as the world’s first Facebook phone. More than 20 million Facebook users currently access the site through their mobile devices. This number has quadrupled over the last year and is expected to grow.
The INQ Social Mobile is an HSDPA handset that provides one-click access to fully integrated applications including Facebook, Skype and Windows Messenger. Intuitive navigation is offered by the switcher key and menu carousel, along with instant information provided by the home screen widgets and the integrated phonebook. The INQ has a 3.2MP camera that allows for photos to be directly uploaded to Facebook, while preloaded modem drivers mean the handset can double as a plug and play dongle.
Keep my info secret
According to a survey about online privacy conducted by Burst Media, the vast majority (80.1 percent) of Web surfers indicated concerns about the privacy of their personal information such as age, gender, income and Web surfing habits. Concerns about privacy is prevalent among all age segments, and increased with the respondent’s age from 67.3 percent among respondents 18-24 years to 85.7 percent of respondents 55 years and older.
The survey was administered to over 4,000 Web users with the purpose of better understanding how privacy impacts a Web user’s Internet experience, as well as its impact on advertisers. The survey found that most Web users believe websites are tracking their behavior online. Three out of five (62.5 percent) respondents indicated it is likely that a website they visit collects information on how they navigate and interact with it. Also of note was the revelation that personal privacy is not something people are willing to give up for more relevant advertising. Based strictly on the description “advertisements more relevant to interest,” only one-in-five (23.2 percent) respondents would not mind if non-personally identifiable information was collected if ads were better targeted. Read the full report at www.burstmedia.com/research/current.asp.
Warrants for police GPS surveillance
A diverse group of US civil liberties and religious organizations, including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), have weighed in on the question of whether police need a warrant in order to conduct surveillance of personal vehicles by secretly attaching global positioning satellite (GPS) transmitters. The case, which is scheduled to be heard in March in New York’s highest court, has profound implications for the privacy rights of individuals and organizations.
Low-cost GPS transmitters can be secretly attached to a vehicle and pinpoint the vehicle’s location on public or private property, within a few feet or yards, to virtually any computer with an Internet connection. Data from the devices can be permanently stored and subjected to pattern analysis, revealing not just a person’s whereabouts, but his habits, associations, who his friends are, where he shops, banks and prays.
In the case People v. Weaver, the court will be considering whether a police officer, in his own discretion, may undertake GPS surveillance of individuals without any judicial oversight at all. The court has held that there is no obligation to obtain a warrant prior to undertaking such monitoring. In this situation, members of the public have no way of knowing if their movements are subject to electronic surveillance from which there is no legal protection.
The civil liberties alliance filed an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief arguing such unfettered surveillance is unconstitutional and ill-advised as a matter of public policy. They urge the court to condition GPS monitoring upon judicial issuance of a warrant.
“By its nature, GPS is a valuable tool because it permits long-term, sustained surveillance. But its potential for abuse is staggering. To allow this kind of personal data collection without judicial oversight is an Orwellian nightmare. The minimal time required to obtain a warrant based on probable cause restores balance and cannot credibly be said to impede legitimate law enforcement objectives,” explained lead counsel Susan J. Walsh, one of the authors of the brief.
Read the full brief at: www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/GPSAmicusBrief/$FILE/gps.pdf.
Wii-style TV controller preferred
According to a recent Strategy Analytics survey, TV viewers have identified point and click controllers, such as Nintendo’s Wii Remote, as the best type of control device for the next generation of TV-based media browsers. The Digital Home Observatory report, “Consumer Imperatives for Digital TV Media Browsers,” found that PC-style keyboards ran a close second in popularity, followed by traditional TV remote controls which use either on-screen keyboards or alphanumeric keypads. Voice control, often promoted as the future of man-machine interface, was considered the least appropriate option by those surveyed.
“Nintendo’s success with the Wii games console is clearly having an impact on other aspects of digital home user experience,” said David Mercer, VP, Digital Consumer Practice. “Its motion-sensitive, point-and-click controllers have clearly struck a chord with consumers — not just in video games, but for other big-screen entertainment applications, as well. By contrast, promoters of voice control technologies face a major challenge to persuade users of their advantages.”
