Dina Pule is feeling the love, and she’s not happy about it. South Africa’s communication minister says she has been the target of a 10-month “smear campaign” by the Sunday Times, which included a proposal of “love” from a friend of a reporter for the Johannesburg paper. On Monday, Pule said the real reason for the Times’ stories is an attempt to influence a TV set-box tender contract worth billions of rand.

South Africa aims to bring digital television to more than 11 million homes by 2016. That means consumers will need to buy a set-top box to receive digital signals instead of today’s analog broadcasts.

“The stakes are very high and some unscrupulous individuals are so desperate to secure the set-top-box tender,” Pule said in Johannesburg. “They are willing to do anything, including using journalists to smear the minister. Shockingly, they found a willing partner in the Sunday Times.”

The newspaper yesterday reported that Pule had helped friends of her boyfriend win appointments to the boards of companies with state ownership.

Pule, who isn’t suing the newspaper, responded with her own claims of unethical behaviour, by Sunday Times reporter Mzilikazi Wa Afrika. She said the reporter offered to halt negative coverage in exchange for information on President Jacob Zuma at a meeting in a hotel in Johannesburg’s Sandton neighborhood. The newspaper’s report wilfully misled, manipulated facts, and distorted information, Pule said.

“The Sunday Times takes exception to Communications Minister Dina Pule’s unusual press conference today in which she accused this newspaper of running a deliberate smear campaign against her, orchestrated by unnamed handlers on behalf of unnamed people,” the newspaper said in a statement on its website. “If the minister has evidence that these businessmen were somehow attempting to influence the Sunday Times, please can she name them and their interests in an open forum.”

The government plans to subsidise 70 percent of the digital decoder’s cost for 5 million TV-owning households. In December, a South African court found that Pule had overstepped her power in deciding who would be allowed to provide the subsidized set-top boxes.

She didn’t name the company she thought was behind the newspaper’s allegations. But she said they had come from businessmen with close links to the Sunday Times who want to participate in the set-top box tender.

She also said an associate of Wa Afrika made a more intimate approach while she was having her hair done at a Pretoria salon.

“He personally made the proposal to talk to Wa Afrika about the story,” she said, and “went as far as to propose love to me.”

Original post is In South African Digital TV Shift, Claims of Love Offers and Graft by Tech Blog.

A rather standard how-to YouTube clip is causing a stir in Russia after becoming the focus of a dispute between the government and the video site.

The three-minute clip, which provides instructions for applying scary Halloween makeup, was banned at the end of 2012 by Russian authorities claiming it encouraged suicide or infliction of bodily harm. YouTube, owned by Google, is now suing the government to keep the video online.

Why is YouTube — which has more than 72 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute – bothering to fight the government over this seemingly insignificant clip? It’s the principle. Internet censorship may start from small things.

The dispute is a result of a new law that allows Russia to block online content it deems harmful to children, such as child pornography or content promoting drug use or suicide. Facebook and Twitter have already complied with requests to delete content.

While the Internet companies and authorities often agree on what content should and shouldn’t be allowed, that isn’t always the case. Russian free-speech advocates have expressed concerns that the government will use its censorship powers to go beyond what the new law intended.

Original post is Why YouTube Is Fighting Russia Over a Halloween Video by Tech Blog.

Large-screen smartphones — often called phablets — have been getting a lot of attention lately. But so far, the devices make up only a tiny portion of the global mobile market, according to a new study.

Flurry, a mobile analytics company, found that of the 200 most popular device models used worldwide in February, 2 percent had screens of 5 inches to 6.9 inches, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note. The vast majority of mobile users — 69 percent — opted for models with 3.5-inch to 4.9-inch screens, such as Apple’s iPhone, the company said.

Does that mean phablets, which blur the lines between phones and tablets, are a fad?

“This kind of category is in its infancy, and we are seeing success in Samsung,” Teri Daley, vice president of public relations for Samsung Telecommunications America, said in an interview. “Our sales numbers give us confidence in the category.”

Original post is Are Phablets a Fad? Flurry Report Looks at Screen Size by Tech Blog.

Lazaridis had served as co-CEO until January 2012, when he and Jim Balsillie were replaced by Thorsten Heins — following years of losing ground to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices.

But Lazaridis reiterated that he’s leaving on his own terms. He made the decision to pass the reins to new management, Lazaridis said today in an interview. In fact, after he opted to step down last year, the board urged him to reconsider the move, he said.

“In January 2012, when I went to RIM’s board and asked that they implement my succession plan and promote Thorsten as CEO, I was asked to reconsider my decision to give up the CEO post,” he said.

After Lazaridis gave up the CEO job, he pledged to help his successor roll out the new BlackBerry 10 platform and its flagship Z10 smartphone.

“With the launch of BB10 and the Z10 around the world, I believe I’ve fulfilled my commitment to the board,” he said.

Lazaridis will leave BlackBerry in May to devote himself full-time to research into physics and quantum computing. He’s also bankrolled a $100 million fund to help commercialize quantum technologies.

The 52-year-old said he has had a long run at BlackBerry and is looking forward to the change.

“I’ve been there for more than 29 years, it’s quite a career,” he said. “It’s now time to move on to my next venture.”

Original post is BlackBerry’s Lazaridis Says Board Wanted Him to Stay CEO by Tech Blog.

Britain’s best-selling daily, The Sun, is putting up a paywall later this year. That means fans of the tabloid — known for topless “Page 3″ girls and headlines like “Harry The Nazi” (when Prince Harry wore a Nazi outfit to a costume party) and “George Michael Shunts Trucker in Rear” (about a car accident involving the musician) — will have to pay up to read it online.

News International Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Mike Darcey announced the move last night over drinks at Rupert Murdoch’s London headquarters. Darcey, a former gymnast who can still turn backflips, came from pay-TV operator BSkyB. He said television offers lessons for print on convincing consumers to pay for a medium they’re used to getting for free.

“It’s not rocket science but it can be done,” said the New Zealander, who also oversees Murdoch’s other U.K. paper, The Times of London. Darcey credited “strongly differentiated content” for the success of BSkyB (40 percent owned by Murdoch) against free broadcasters like the BBC.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph also announced plans for a paywall yesterday, taking a similar approach to the Financial Times and New York Times, which require subscriptions only after readers have viewed a certain number of articles in any given month. The Times of London has a strict paywall, blocking all viewing without a subscription.

Darcey declined to give specifics on how the paywall will be implemented. The Sun had an average daily circulation of 2.28 million last month, while the online version gets 30 million users a month.

Original post is Eclipsing the Sun: Murdoch’s British Tabloid to Erect Paywall by Tech Blog.

Courtesy HTC Corporation

The new HTC One will be the first to feature the HTC UltraPixel Camera.

It was supposed to be the feature that makes HTC outshine Samsung Electronics and Apple. Instead, the complications of producing a camera with what the company calls UltraPixels has forced HTC to delay the roll-out of its HTC One smartphone.

The UltraPixel Camera is so new, so special, so unique, that it’s so, so, so difficult to make, HTC Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho told reporters in Taipei yesterday. “It can’t ramp up so quickly,” he said of the camera sensor specially designed and produced for the Taiwanese company.

Well, it could — but then there’d be a trade-off on quality, he continued, taking a gentle dig at Apple’s problems with some pre-scratched iPhone 5 units.

The HTC One, unveiled in February, was originally supposed to begin shipping in early March. Now, it’s set to arrive on shelves this week in just three markets, the U.K., Germany and Taiwan, before hitting the big time across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific next month. As recently as a week ago, HTC execs were holding onto the tale that because they were working with suppliers to boost output, the product would launch on time this month.

The cornerstone of the device is this UltraPixel Camera, which HTC says has larger pixels and an aperture that lets in 44 percent more light than the iPhone 5. That means it’ll take better pictures in low-light conditions.

Unfortunately for HTC, producing such a sensor can be ultra difficult.

For Ho, who is tasked with rebuilding a battered brand, the choice to delay was the lesser of two evils: start shipping and risk having some faulty units tarnish the product’s reputation; or delay shipments and face a possible miss on quarterly guidance, a likely decline in credibility, and an assured loss of lead time over Samsung’s Galaxy S4.

Of course, that may not have been the marketing exec’s choice to make, though he speaks as if it was. After all, Ho has only been in the job for less than three months.

Ho’s confession that the HTC One will be delayed was coupled with another admission: that it can’t afford to waste its marketing budget on a less-than-perfect device and risk complaints from customers. Last quarter, HTC fell within a whisker of recording its first operating loss ever. That’s forcing HTC to keep a tight rein on spending in the face of huge marketing campaigns by Samsung and Apple.

Ho, with few guns in his arsenal, is keeping his powder dry until the time comes to launch an assault. Were it to fire up its marketing engine without a solid product to drive, HTC’s operating numbers could easily fall into the red — and that would be more than a headache.

Original post is HTC’s UltraPixel Cameras Are Becoming an Ultra Headache by Tech Blog.

Careful viewers of Indian soap opera “Pavitra Rishta” might think that husband and wife Manav and Archana are fans of Tilda, a brand of packaged rice. There it is, after all, on the shelf. Anyone watching the show being filmed, though, won’t necessarily come to the same conclusion, because on the set there’s no Tilda. Instead, the package of rice is digitally added to scenes in the drama from broadcaster Zee TV.

Zee’s owner, Indian billionaire Subhash Chandra, likes the idea so much that he’s investing 3 million pounds ($4.6 million) in MirriAd, the London company that sells the digital product placement technology. Earlier backers will kick in another 600,000 pounds.

Zee, one of Asia’s largest media businesses, with theme parks, online gaming and telecoms operations, aims to use digital product placement across India and elsewhere in Asia.

MirriAd says its technology helps advertisers reach more eyeballs since TV viewing drops off by an average 25 percent during breaks and audiences find banner ads and pop-up messages annoying. The startup has built an impressive client list, both among advertisers and media companies. For pet owners concerned with doggie dental care, Pedigree DentaStix were featured in a “dogumentary” on Sky1. To lure thirsty Brits, MirriAd placed the PGTips tea brand on contestants’ mugs in Channel 4′s “Deal or No Deal.” An ad for Disney Pixar’s Scottish fantasy film “Brave” found its way into a TV promotion for Scotland.

Original post is Coming to a Screen Near You: Virtual Product Placement by Tech Blog.

Photograph by Thomas Lee/Bloomberg

“Terry” Gou Tai-Ming, chairman and president of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd., speaks in his office building at the Foxconn City complex in Shenzhen, China, in 2010.

For years, the world has had trouble wrapping its head around that behemoth known to us all as Foxconn.

Not helping matters has been the fact that Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group is actually a name given to a collection of companies, and not a legal entity in itself.

The flagship of Terry Gou’s empire is Hon Hai Precision, from which flows more than 200 holding companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and divisions. (I am not kidding, Hon Hai owns or controls at least 230 companies!)

A few of those, such as Innolux and Pan-International, have either been spun off for public listing or were acquired by the group and rarely get confused with the mothership.

No less than 40, however, carry the name Foxconn (according to Hon Hai’s annual report). Among them is Foxconn Technology Co., best known as a maker of metal casings for iPhones (but not an iPhone assembler), and Foxconn International Holdings.

Foxconn International was once a darling of the Hong Kong stock market where it listed in 2005. As the chief supplier of phones for Nokia, Research in Motion and Motorola, its stock climbed seven-fold within 18 months.

Then came Apple. And Samsung. And ZTE. And Huawei. And, well, you know the story. Foxconn International’s (declining) fortunes have mirrored that of its big customers. Foxconn didn’t get the gig to make the iPhone (though its engineers were borrowed by Hon Hai, which makes the device, to work on aspects of the project).

This little factoid seems to have escaped hoards of analysts, reporters, investors and regulators who’ve mistaken the two and labeled Foxconn International a maker of iPhones.

Says Foxconn International in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange:

There have been confusions and enquiries from time to time made by certain governmental and/or regulatory authorities as well as the media and financial analysts worldwide when they have mixed the Company up with the Foxconn Technology Group, or the other member(s) of the Foxconn Technology Group, with reference to “Foxconn” or “富士康” (The Chinese characters for “Foxconn”)

So now they’re changing their name to FIH Mobile Limited.

The proposal needs approval at a shareholders meeting. But not to worry, Foxconn International’s largest shareholder? Hon Hai Precision (via a holding company, of course).

Original post is Foxconn Doesn’t Want to Be Confused With Foxconn, So It’s Changing Its Name by Tech Blog.

Well, yeah. But not just any old light bulb. A whiz-bang, low-energy, cool-to-the-touch, lives-practically-forever $10 light bulb.

Courtesy Cree

The Cree bulb’s biggest visible difference is a thick collar around the base that functions as a heat sink.

It’s from Cree, a big name in commercial and industrial lighting that uses light-emitting diodes, or LEDs — the same things that glow so comfortingly in many of our computers, smartphones and TVs. Now the company is rolling into Home Depot stores  in the U.S., Canada and Mexico with its first major foray into the consumer market. The bulbs are designed to replace 40- and 60-watt incandescent bulbs — to say nothing of those twisty compact fluorescents — in your lamps and fixtures.

The first thing you notice about the Cree bulbs is that they actually look like bulbs. That isn’t an accident, says Chuck Swoboda, the company’s chief executive officer, who points out that the traditional form factor has been deeply embedded in consumer consciousness and popular culture for generations. The Cree bulb’s biggest visible difference is a thick collar around the base that functions as a heat sink.

The second thing you’ll notice is that, unlike some compact fluorescents, the light is very comparable to what you’re used to. I replaced the bulb in the lamp on my nightstand with one of Cree’s warm-white 60-watt equivalents ($12.97), and couldn’t tell the difference. And unlike a conventional bulb, it stays cool enough to touch even when it’s been on.

The 60-watt-equivalent  bulb uses only 9.5 watts; Cree says the savings in energy costs means it will pay for itself within a year. A model that replaces 40 watts costs $9.97; there’s also a 60-watt daylight-color bulb for $13.97.

The bulb comes with a 10-year warranty, but may last much longer. The company says it’s good for 25,000 hours, or 25 times the typical lifespan of an incandescent bulb; if used on average for three hours a day, that’s — hang on a minute while I do the math — almost 23 years. (By way of comparison, a compact fluorescent may last for 10,000 hours, or nine years.)

While the consumer market is hardly insignificant — the company figures there are 5.6 billion bulbs in North American residential use, most of them incandescent — 80 percent of the market is in the commercial-industrial sector. Swoboda has an interesting theory: that gaining consumer acceptance for LED lighting will lead to greater penetration among companies too.

At first, it seems counter-intuitive. On the other hand, it’s worked that way for smartphones and tablets, with people demanding to use the same tools in the workplace they’ve enjoyed in their personal lives.

And if he’s right, it will bring a whole new meaning to the term “BYOB.”

Follow Rich Jaroslovsky on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RichJaro 

Original post is Cree’s Bright Idea for Home Lighting: Rich Jaroslovsky by Tech Blog.

Photograph by Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Few women, such as Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, make it to the top spots at technology companies. But when they do, Dice found the pay on average was equal to men with similar experience.

The technology world is still run by men. They have more than 80 percent of the software developer jobs, according to the U.S.  Bureau of Labor Statistics. And they hold most of the leadership positions.

But there’s good news for the Marissa Mayers of the world. The rare woman who does manage to hack her way to a top technology job is paid the same on average as a man in that position, as long as they have the same experience, according to a report by Dice, which tracks corporate compensation. That’s been true since at least 2007, Dice found as part of historical research for Bloomberg.com.

The study, which examined information-technology jobs in various industries, found that while there’s equality for men and women in comparable positions, women tend to end up in less lucrative jobs. Women in those jobs make an average salary of $87,527, while men make $95,929, according to Dice. If only there were more ladies leading teams.

“It’s obviously very encouraging that women in the same position are making the same amount, but why do they end up in different positions?” Shelley Correll, a Stanford University professor who specializes in gender research, said in an interview.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer and “Lean In” author who is on a whirlwind media tour to promote her book about female business leadership, has said the gap is a result of a combination of factors. Many women leave the workforce before they have to, decide not to take on larger projects, or lack the confidence in their qualifications to apply for promotions, according to Sandberg. So she’s been advocating for women to be more assertive at the office.

Besides equal pay for men and women in the same jobs, there is another commonality between the genders: Dice found that nearly half of all male and female business professionals were not satisfied with how much money they made.

Original post is A Bright Spot in Tech’s Gender Gap by Tech Blog.