iPhone

You can do a lot with an iPhone these days -- text, take pictures, surf the net, and even make a phone call. And soon, thanks to two Australian entrepreneurs, you will be able use it to open a bottle of beer by way of the "Opena," a hard plastic case that fits over the iPhone and is equipped with a slide-out bottle opener. "Basically, Australians are fairly heavy drinkers, as you may or may not know," said Melbourne-based Chris Peters, an industrial designer who developed the product with Rob Ward, a former toolmaker. "We're always out at friends' houses and so on, and in some cases you may not have your keys on you... So we thought, why don't we attach a bottle opener to an iPhone case? We always have our phones on us." Working from three basic rules -- the case had to be slim, there had to be no chance of the opener scratching the iPhone, and the opener had to work without putting any pressure on the phone -- the two developed a prototype. Testing including running through what a promotional video termed "the worst case scenario" in which a friend has shaken up the beer and it foams over. The case -- and the iPhone -- came through unscathed every time. Aside from a few initial glitches because the first prototypes were too weak, development went smoothly. Start-up funding via an internet site that allows anybody to pitch in, has also gone well, enabling a sales launch within weeks. "The strangest thing that happened was when we were doing the filming for the video and we had a courier drop off a parcel," Peters said. "He gave us some very unusual looks when we had about 20 open beers at seven in the morning." Though some who posted on the pair's Facebook page expressed doubt about the wisdom of putting a phone that close to a foaming beverage, the response was mainly positive. "Finally I can combine my love of drinking and tech," one said.

Welcome BlackBerry PlayBook

The BlackBerry PlayBook, Research In Motion (RIM)'s disappointing challenger to the hugely successful iPad 2, hit store shelves in India on Wednesday, nearly two months after the revamped Apple tablet made its India debut. Customers have the option to buy the PlayBook, which features Wi-Fi support, with 16, 32 or 64 GB of memory and the models are priced between 27,990 rupees and 37,990 rupees. The PlayBook is being distributed nationally through Redington India and Ingram Micro, initially in 1,000 retail stores across eight cities, the company said in a statement. RIM has struggled to win consumer fans since Apple's iPhone and a slew of devices running Google's Android entered the smartphone fray. Reviewers have panned the PlayBook for the absence of inbuilt email and organiser functions -- the gadget needs a BlackBerry to access those. Critics said the company rushed the tablet computer to the market before it was ready. The PlayBook's North American launch in April was in stark contrast to the global frenzy when Apple launched its iPad 2 and consumers lined up overnight to buy the gadget.

Sony Firepower For Android War

SILENT SWEDISH PARTNER

The impetus may come instead from partner Ericsson, which could push Sony to buy it out if their joint venture continues to fade in relevance.
Sony Ericsson finally turned a profit last year, but that may not last, given the odds currently stacked against it.
"I think it (Sony Ericsson) is already fairly irrelevant in the market in terms of volumes and even value market share," said WestLB's Thomas Langer.
However, Ericsson has no urgent need for the 1 billion to 2.5 billion euros some analysts reckon half of Sony Ericsson's equity is worth, based on its revenues of 6.3 billion euros.
Debt would not be an issue, since the venture had net debt of only 5 million euros at the end of March.
Meanwhile, Ericsson's own core business is soaring as telecom operators raise spending to boost capacity in networks choked by smartphone customers.
It has also made joint ventures part of its targets for the 2010-2013 period, possibly signalling no sale is on the cards.
Even if Sony Ericsson does sort out its ownership issues, the going will be tough.
The smartphone market is growing fast, with shipments nearly doubling year on year in the first quarter to 100 million handsets, according to IDC's mobile phone tracker report.
But competition for a larger slice of the pie is fierce, and Sony Ericsson will not only have to battle deep-pocketed, larger rivals like Samsung Electronics , but also nimbler Asian players such as HTC, China's ZTE and Huawei.
Sony Ericsson has 9 percent of the market for smartphones running on Android software, compared with 26 percent for Samsung, according to researcher Strategy Analytics.
Eight analysts polled by Reuters all thought Sony Ericsson would likely miss its target of becoming the biggest seller of Android.

Google Takes Wraps Off Pay-By-Phone System

U.S. shoppers soon will be able to use mobile phones to pay for things at the checkout counter under a system unveiled by Google Inc and other major companies. Google, MasterCard, Citigroup, Sprint and transaction processing company First Data will make the service available this summer in New York and San Francisco, Google said on Thursday. The service, which competes with plans by Visa and other top U.S. banks and mobile phone companies, is similar to how people shop in Asia, where some customers already routinely wield smartphones like credit cards. BEATING ISIS TO THE PUNCH Some large U.S. companies have raced to make the technology a reality since last year. Citigroup MasterCard holders with PayPass-enabled cards will get first crack at Google's service. The Internet giant also plans to sell a virtual prepaid card similar to PayPal's online payment service. If the service is launched this summer as expected, it would beat rival Isis. The venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA has said its service would be launched early next year. Google plans to open the Wallet app to other carriers including Isis. Richard Clemmer, Chief Executive of NXP, Google's mobile wallet chip partner, expects that there will be at least 20 phone models on the market with NFC chips by the end of this year. The number could be as high as 40 around the world. Visa Inc has also tested a pay-by-phone system with several large banks, including Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co. The world's largest credit and debit card processing network has said it plans to make its mobile payments system commercially available this year. For Citigroup, which has a large international operation, the new mobile payments system will help it expand into online and digital banking. The third-largest U.S. bank by assets is trying to gain more business by offering new features for its wealthy, urban, tech-savvy customers. "You're going to see us be very focused on this area over the coming decade," said Paul Galant, Citigroup's head of global enterprise payments.

Indian Web Rules By Google

Holding internet platforms liable for third-party content would lead to self-censorship and reduce the free flow of information, Google Inc said on Wednesday in reaction to India's new rules. "We believe that a free and open Internet is essential for the growth of (the) digital economy and safeguarding freedom of expression," Google said in a statement on Wednesday. "If internet platforms are held liable for third-party content, it would lead to self-censorship and reduce the free flow of information. The regulatory framework should ideally help protect internet platforms and people's abilities to access information." Regulations introduced last month require search engines and websites to get rid of objectionable content including information that is "grossly harmful, harassing ... defamatory ... hateful ... and disparaging." The rules also state the websites will not "knowingly host or publish" objectionable matter and should remove such material within 36 hours of becoming aware that it existed. Seeking to allay concerns the new rules enabled the Indian government to regulate content in a highly subjective manner, India's Department of Information Technology, in a separate statement, said the government had no intention of acquiring regulatory jurisdiction over content under these rules. Referring to concerns the wording used in rules for objectionable content were broad and could be interpreted subjectively, the Department said the terms were in accordance with those used by most internet platforms as part of their existing policies.

Appeal To Apple Over Health Worries In China

Chinese workers at a factory making touch screens on contract for Apple have urged the U.S. company to help address their grievances over a chemical poisoning they said could still harm their health. Wintek, the Taiwanese company that owns the factory in east China's Suzhou industrial park, has said it used hexyl hydride, also called n-hexane, from May 2008 to August 2009, but stopped after discovering it was making workers ill. "This is a killer, a killer that strikes invisibly," said a Chinese-language copy of the letter meant for Apple CEO Steve Jobs that workers showed Reuters. An English version had been sent to Apple. "From when hexyl hydride was used, monthly profits at Apple and Wintek have gone up by tens of millions every month, the accumulated outcome of workers' lives and health," said the letter, signed by five workers claiming to represent employees. Wintek said it had used the chemical, which evaporates faster than alcohol, to speed up production of touch screens for Apple products. It has since gone back to using alcohol. Apple, which announced blockbuster profits in January, has been dogged by criticism of work conditions at its China-based suppliers. Last year, its main China supplier Foxconn was hit by over a dozen apparent worker suicides that critics blamed on harsh factory conditions. The poisonings were mentioned in a recent report from Apple, which sources many of its strong-selling iPhones, iPads and other devices to contract manufacturers in China. That report said 137 workers had been hospitalised because of poisoning but had all recovered, a conclusion also offered by Wintek. Apple declined to comment on the workers' letter and referred a reporter back to its supplier report. But some of the workers at Wintek's sprawling plant in Suzhou said the Taiwanese factory-owner had not given enough compensation to affected workers, had pressured those who took compensation to give up their jobs, and had not offered assurances that workers who may suffer fresh bouts of illness from the poisoning will have medical bills take care of. "I hope Apple can respect our labour and our dignity. I hope they can stand up and apologise to us," said Jia Jingchuan, a 27-year-old production technician for Wintek who said he fell ill from the hexyl hydride, which workers said was used to clean iPhone touch screens. NUMB HANDS, SWOLLEN FEET Wintek spokesman Jay Huang told Reuters that all staff who needed medical treatment because of the n-hexane poisoning had been treated, and that the company has reverted to using alcohol to clean the panels that it manufactures for Apple. "We are unable to cope with the medical costs of treatment in the future," said Guo Ruiqiang, a worker at the Wintek plant, who said he was suffering fresh symptoms he blamed on the poisoning. "We can only stay in the factory and see what happens. We just feel very helpless now," said Guo. He and other workers said the poisoning caused sweaty hands and feet, sudden numbness in hands, swelling and pain in the feet, tiredness and faintness. Daily exposure to hexyl hydrid can cause long-term and possibly irreversible nerve damage, said Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the University of Hong Kong. According to U.S. National Library of Medicine, there have been dozens of documented cases where workers suffered nerve and eye damage from exposure to n-hexane. Workers said they wore protective gear, including masks and goggles, but worked in an enclosed, poorly ventilated space. In its report, Apple said that Wintek had switched to the chemical from alcohol without changing the ventilation system. Jia, the technician, said that after working for a year on the production for Apple touch screens, he felt there was something wrong, but ignored the problems, blaming them on work stress or moodiness. Soon he heard other workers were hospitalised and suspected it had something to do with the chemical hexyl hydride, which managers had said could be safely used. Jia went to a hospital in Suzhou in August 2009, when doctors told him he had nerve damage. Doctors soon found many of his workmates had similar problems and were advised to be hospitalised. He stayed for eight months in hospital. But when he returned to work in October 2010, the symptoms of poisoning reappeared, he said.

Popular Students More Likely To Bully Peers

Popular students are more likely to torment their peers, says a new study. 'Our findings underscore that attaining and maintaining a high social status likely involves some level of antagonistic behaviour,' said Robert Faris, assistant professor of sociology at University of California-Davis, the study co-author. The study also finds that students in the top two percent of the school social hierarchy -- along with those at the bottom -- are the least aggressive, the journal American Sociological Review reports. 'The fact that they both have reduced levels of aggression is true, but it can be attributed to quite different things,' Faris said, according to an university statement. 'The ones at the bottom don't have the social power or as much capacity to be aggressive whereas the ones at the top have all that power, but don't need to use it,' Faris said. The authors define aggression as being physical (hitting, shoving or kicking), verbal (name-calling or threats) or social (spreading rumours or ostracism). Aggression rate was calculated based on the number of classmates a student victimised in the past three months. The research studied 3,722 eighth, ninth and 10th grade students who participated during the 2004-05 school year.