Chromebooks are doomed to fail

A month from today, theChromebooks from Samsung and Acer will hit the
street. Google hopes to revolutionize mobile computing and free us from the
shackles of the traditional PC experience, but the Chromebook is going to
fizzle.

Why? Three reasons: culture, functionality, and price.

Culture: The Web has come a long way, and Google is not wrong in suggesting
that everything you want to do can be done on the Web. Well, mostly.

You can use Google Docs (or even Office Web Apps) to replace your
locally-installed productivity software. You can store your files, photos,
music, and more in cloud-based storage options on the Web. You can use
Web-based e-mail. It is pretty much all out there for you.

But, there are some things you can't do strictly on the Web—like play
Portal 2 or Minecraft, and living completely in the cloud takes a
significant culture shift. There is also a huge trust factor with storing
your entire life online, and the small issue of what happens when you can't
get connected to the Internet and your Chromebook is a glorified
paperweight.

Functionality: The Chromebook is functional enough once you get past the
culture shift issues, but it doesn't offer different functionality than you
can already achieve with a laptop. Any netbook or notebook can also use
Google Docs, or Webmail, or the Amazon Cloud Player. In fact, the laptop is
arguably better in this area because you can choose your browser rather than
being limited to Google's Chrome.

The Chromebook is not any lighter or smaller than a standard netbook. It
boots up faster, and has longer battery life than a full notebook, but so do
most netbooks. The difference between the Chromebook and a standard netbook
is that with a netbook you can do everything you can do with a Chromebook,
and you can still do all of things you normally do with a PC.

Price: Essentially, buying a Chromebook is like buying a television that is
only capable of delivering some of the channels, even though there are
televisions available for the same price that can give you all of the
channels. The Chromebooks are going to retail from $350 to $500. Funny thing
about that—at BestBuy.com there are 15 netbooks listed that range from $230
to $530.

Now, if the Chromebook was $100, or even $200, it might be easier to make a
case for the value it provides. But, the Chromebook is basically a
handicapped netbook that costs the same or more than some other netbooks
that have much greater capabilities. netbook that costs the same or more
than some other netbooks that have much greater capabilities.

Japan moves people beyond bigger Fukushima no-go zone

Residents have been moved further away from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant as the no-go zone is extended and repair works are halted.

People left their homes in the two towns of Kawamata and Iitate to spend their first night in evacuation centres.

Japanese engineers have abandoned their latest attempt to stabilise a stricken reactor at the Fukushima plant.

The power plant was badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.

More than 80,000 local residents living within a 20km (12 mile) radius of the plant have been evacuated from their homes. A "stay indoors" policy has been operating in the area 20-30km from the plant.

A wider evacuation zone was decided upon last month as radiation levels were expected to increase, making the move necessary.

The towns are more than 30km (19 miles) from the Fukushima plant, which is continuing to leak radioactive material.

About 5,000 people have been moved into public housing, hotels and other facilities in nearby cities.

Theses first evacuees were reported to be mainly those with small children and pregnant women, who are thought to be more vulnerable.

The Mayor of Kawamata, Michio Furukawa, told the first group of evacuees: ''I know you are worried but we will overcome difficulties together."

More evacuations are expected in the coming days.

New plan needed
Efforts to control the collapse of Fukushima are continuing to face problems.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), had intended to cool reactor 1 by filling the containment chamber with water.

But Tepco said melting fuel rods had created a hole in the chamber, allowing 3,000 tonnes of contaminated water to leak into the basement of the reactor building.

Tepco says it will come up with a new plan to stabilise the reactor by Tuesday.

The earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems to the reactors, fuel rods overheated, and attempts to release pressure in the chambers led to explosions in some of the buildings housing the reactors.

The government and Tepco said it would take until next January to achieve a cold shut-down at the plant.

Last week the government agreed a huge compensation package for those affected by the disaster.

Analysts say the final bill for compensation could top $100bn (£61bn).

In a separate development, the operators of Japan's ageing Hamaoka nuclear plant south-west of Tokyo said all reactors were in a state of cold shutdown.

The plant is located in the Tokai region near a tectonic faultline just 200km from Tokyo, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for its closure in light of the catastrophic events at the Fukushima plant.

Singapore's offshore trade turnover hit US$700b in 2010

Singapore's offshore trade community generated US$700 billion (S$874b) in trade turnover last year, a 50.5% increase over 2009.

This achieved a compound annual growth rate of 25% over the past decade, said International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Monday.

Singapore's economy and job market also gained from the growth of this industry last year.

Total jobs created by offshore trade reached 11,250 - an increase of 18.5% over 2009.

Total business spending from offshore trade players reached S$10.5 billion, an increase of 18% over 2009.

This boosted the ancillary services sectors especially freight & logistics, and financial services, with business spending for these two sectors totalling S$4.4 billion and S$750 million respectively.

IE Singapore is the lead government agency driving Singapore's external economy.

Mr Teo Eng Cheong, CEO of IE Singapore, said: "Offshore trade contributes significantly to our economy through business spending and high quality employment. Singapore is the biggest physical commodities trading hub in Asia.

"With global trade flows shifting to Asia, Singapore is well positioned to capture trading activities due to two key reasons. First, we are close to many source and demand markets, and second, we have a sophisticated physical and financial infrastructure for trading."

Sony Corp. restored access to its videogame networks for many users. Now the company needs to fix its reputation.

The Japanese electronics company said Saturday that it began reopening its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment services in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Mideast. Service to Japan and elsewhere in Asia will take longer to restore.

 

Sony's progress was a relief to customers eager to virtually punch, stab and kick one another online in popular new games such as Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.'s "Mortal Kombat."

 

But branding experts agreed that Sony's image has taken a blow.

 

"Sony not only has to take technological steps to fix its security, but it also has to communicate what it has done," said Marc Rudov, a branding consultant based in Silicon Valley. "They need to over-secure the network and over-communicate what they've done."

 

Sony on April 20 shut off access to its PlayStation Network, which serves users of its gaming consoles, after the company discovered that hackers had infiltrated its systems and stolen personal information for more than 100 million user accounts. The company later shut down Sony Online Entertainment, which offers online services to users of personal computers.

 

The data theft, which included names, addresses and possibly credit-card numbers, led to lawsuits, inquiries from U.S. lawmakers and an apology by Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer.

 

Sony was one of the top three perceived electronics brands by U.S. adults for much of the last year?until the news about the security breach surfaced. YouGov PLC, which runs a daily tracking service called BrandIndex, said Sony's reputation dropped below those of gaming rivals Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. since the incident.

 

"We know even the most loyal customers have been frustrated by this process and are anxious to use their Sony products and services again," Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony's game division, said in a written statement Saturday. "We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident and are making consumer data protection a full-time, companywide commitment."

 

Sony, which said it was taken off guard by what it called highly sophisticated criminal attacks, vowed to strengthen its network security, in part by adding firewalls and additional encryption. Sony moved to appease its core gamer audience by offering a month of free access to premium services, among other "welcome back" gifts.

 

Still, many frustrated gamers have threatened to allegiance and purchase Microsoft's Xbox 360 in retaliation.

 

Jesus Contreras, 25 years old, was listing his recently purchased PlayStation 3 on Craigslist over the weekend, seeking to sell the console or trade it for an Xbox. The college student, who attends school in San Jose, Calif., said he missed playing games like Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call Of Duty" for hours with his friends.

 

"I feel that all the stuff I bought from them?games, map packs for 'Call of Duty,' other games that I've downloaded, it doesn't seem like they were doing their fair share," he said.

 

A few trigger-happy gamers wandered into Fuzion Electronics in Los Angeles, saying they were prepared to switch, but only one did, said Michael Tran, a store manager. The family-owned business fixes and resells videogame consoles.

 

Mr. Tran said few users likely ditched their PlayStations because Sony's network is free to use. "If they were paying for it, then there would be more backlash," he said.

 

Sony hasn't provided an estimate of the incident's potential cost, though at least one analyst has put that figure at more than $1 billion. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, put the figure at closer to $200 million, including the cost of lost revenue, the investigation and the company's new security measures.

 

Mr. Pachter said PlayStation 3 owners are unlikely to ditch the console or the online service because of the investment they've made in games that only run on that device. But, he said, "If the system is hacked again, I think Sony will have a problem."

 

Winning new customers is an issue as well. Steve Beck, a technology management consultant at cg42 LLC, said Sony will need to demonstrate?in its games and through advertising?that its security is beefed up. "They need to dial up the advertising and marketing," he said. "Then eventually everyone forgets."

 

Sony's restarted service includes the release of a mandatory software upgrade for all PlayStation 3 videogame consoles. The network's operation will be limited at first, offering Internet-based game play, movie rentals and music services through Sony and restored support for online video streaming through companies such as Netflix Inc. The PlayStation Store, which allows users to purchase games and additional content, is one service that won't be available at the outset.

 

Sony will wait to restart the PlayStation Network in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. One reason is that Japan's industry ministry has asked Tokyo-based Sony for a more detailed explanation on how the online service works and what security measures the company is implementing.