askross.org

Chip sales for PC and handsets, however, appear to remain on track. PC and handset unit sales have kept pace with forecasts, with PCs sales expected to grow 10 percent this year and handset sales 12 percent.

Weakness in memory prices weighed on the industry, which would otherwise have posted year-over-year growth of approximately 12 percent, according to the SIA.

Semiconductor sales grew 5.9 percent worldwide in April, a healthy clip given the current sluggish economy, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported Monday.

Much of that growth in PC and handset sales, which are two of the largest drivers of semiconductor sales, is being fueled by overseas sales, according to the SIA.

Chip sales rose to $21.2 billion in April, up from $20.1 billion a year ago and flat with the previous month. The SIA noted April sales were essentially in line with historical industry patterns.

“Unit sales of both DRAMs and NAND flash products were up significantly year-on-year, but price attrition resulted in a 14 percent decline in total sales of memory products,” Scalise stated.

“Despite steep increases in energy costs that have diminished the disposable income of consumers, worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by a healthy 5.9 percent compared to April 2007,” George Scalise, SIA president, said in a statement.

Lefora is free, due to small ads that you’ll find on each page. Bragiel says there will be premium versions of the service later on that will offer even more features and put blog owners in control of advertising in return for a small monthly fee. I’ve set up a quick and dirty version of Lefora hooked up to our Webware RSS feed. Also don’t forget to check out our under-advertised Webware forums, which are a part of the CNET forum network.

Lefora also handles media from third-party services better than anything I’ve seen. You can simply plug in a link for a photo on Flickr, or a video on YouTube, and it will automatically place it in the post. There’s no need to hassle with the embed codes from either service; it’ll just grab the media from the link. Bragiel says you’ll be able to do the same thing with media from other services as Lefora matures. In the meantime it’ll accept any embed you can throw at it–letting you drop in things like Google Spreadsheets, videos from other services, or custom widgets.

Speaking of widgets, Lefora gives you more than a dozen to add to the side of your forum. They’re managed in an identical fashion to WordPress, with administrators manipulating the order and content of each one. Bragiel tells me they’re building it out as a platform, letting developers create their own widgets that will be listed in a directory. He’s hoping they’ll let people create forums that can be custom-tailored to take advantage of some of the content and activity going on in each site, or simply show off the personality of the blog owner.

Lefora gives people a decidedly easier route to get their forums up and running. Blog owners can throw in their RSS feed and have forum topics automatically created for them with each post. Links to chat about it can then be integrated into the blog posts in case people want to take the discussion away from the comments and into the forum.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

Lefora forums can be skinned to match your site, including CSS. They'll also take Web media from all over the place right in forum posts. (click to go to this thread)

The team behind location-based instant-messaging service Meetro is launching a free hosted forum service this morning called Lefora. CEO Paul Bragiel came in to give me a demo of it in action last week and I came away impressed. It’s a wonderfully easy way to set up good-looking forums without a lot of hassle. Bragiel said that the idea came after looking at many of the popular forum tools out there and getting frustrated with “antiquated” systems that involved knowledge of coding languages, or having to host everything on your own dime. Most of all, Bragiel said he and his team wanted to shed the look and feel of forums, which he says have gone largely unchanged since the mid-1990s.

New York magazine, which runs an extensive network of local blogs, is owned by private equity firm Wasserstein & Co., and restaurant listings are a prominent feature on its Web site.

We reported back in May that MenuPages had been acquired, but didn’t have any hints as to a buyer. We speculated that it was possibly Yelp or IAC’s Citysearch. With New York as a buyer, it’s likely that MenuPages will stay locally rooted rather than continuing to expand nationally: there are editions for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Miami region, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., but the buyer is wholly Gotham-centric. There’s no word as to what will happen to the non-New York editions of the site.

No financial details were provided.

Looks like we were right: PaidContent reported Thursday that restaurant and take-out menu listing site MenuPages has been acquired. The buyer, they say, is New York magazine.

Unless a competitor steps up to challenge the pricing and app layout, by the time Quickoffice’s premium applications launch in Q1, Quickoffice will have the market advantage. We haven’t heard much from DataViz, the likeliest contender, about an iPhone play, though with the company fresh off releasing new versions of its flagship viewer, Documents To Go, for Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and BlackBerry, iPhone is their next logical platform to conquer.

The first, called MobileFiles, will let you view e-mail attachments, including Google and Box.net documents from your iPhone, something that iPhones don’t currently allow. Quickoffice is expected to launch MobileFiles as a free, view-only app in November.

Here at the CTIA Wireless conference in San Francisco, Quickoffice, historically a mobile documents viewer for Nokia phones, is showing off demos for four new
iPhone and
iPod Touch apps aimed at Apple’s contingent of MobileMe users.

Following that, Quickoffice plans to release three more applications for reading and editing spreadsheets, Microsoft Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations, respectively. Called Quicksheet, Quickpoint, and Quickword, the three editors will likely go for $10 apiece. On the performance end, Quicksheet and Quickword clearly displayed MobileMe attachments as multipage files and allowed users two ways to edit by tapping the screen. $30 seems like a hefty surcharge for the privilege of editing and saving all three document types back to the MobileMe account from the iPhone, especially when the viewing documents alone will be free. Not all users will need all three editors, but those who do should receive a markdown for purchasing the entire suite.

We’ll try later to get more clarity about how all of this is supposed to shake out.

(Credit:
Dan Farber/CNET News.com)

Marc Andreessen

The rumors have been floating around for a while, and now Mike Arrington is reporting that Marc Andreessen is going to join Facebook’s board of directors. (Kara Swisher had the original news break back in May.)

Best known as the founder of Netscape, Andreessen these days is involved with Ning, which supplies a platform for “white label” social networks that you can brand as your own.

If the move indeed goes down, Facebook will pick up a plugged-in entrepreneur who can share war stories about the successes and mistakes that defined Netscape’s relatively brief moment in the sun before Microsoft got serious about competing. The good news for Mark Zuckerberg is that Facebook doesn’t (yet) face a rival on that scale.

There were three deals over $100 million in the quarter, including three solar investments: solar thermal power plant makers eSolar and BrightSource, as well as SunEdison, which does financing and installation of large solar arrays.

The big numbers lie in the nature of energy-related investments.

That’s a 41 percent increase from the first quarter of this year and an 83 percent jump compared to the second quarter last year.

Ernst & Young on Monday published a report based on data from Dow Jones VentureOne which shows that clean-tech venture investing shot up to $961.7 million in the second quarter.

Clean tech, or
green tech, is one of the most active–or some argue overheated–areas in venture investing, which was down 8 percent overall, according to the study.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones VentureOne study notes the growing presence of large corporations among the venture capitalists and start-ups.

An interesting data point from the numbers is that later-stage deals accounted for 39 percent of the transactions. That means there were fewer seed fundings, a sign that start-ups are beginning to move closer to commercialization.

An incumbent fuel company can invest in a biofuels start-up, for example, to get access to the technology and diversify its fuels mix. In another example, utility Duke Energy purchased a wind power developer.

Buoyed by long-term trends, venture investing in clean-tech companies hit a record last quarter as the participation of corporate giants began to make a more pronounced impact.

“In a challenging market, investment in the clean-tech sector remains strong because these companies provide cross-sector solutions to economic and environmental challenges,” Joseph Muscat, Americas Director of Cleantech and Venture Capital, Ernst & Young, said a statement.

The report notes that companies like Shell, Chevron, Danisco, Genencor, and DuPont have committed large sums of money to clean tech as part of their corporate strategies or to hedge against rising energy prices.

“Strategic investments,” where a large corporation partners with a smaller firm, are becoming more common.

Energy efficiency was another strong category at $188 million in the second quarter. Companies that do efficiency products like LED lighting and smart grids tend to be less capital-intensive than biofuels, which was down 44 percent from the previous quarter, the study’s authors said.

Come back to CNET News.com at 2 p.m. PDT (although we sincerely hope you never leave) for a live blog of Apple’s second-quarter earnings conference call.

The key things to look out for are
Mac shipments,
iPhone momentum, and Apple’s forecast for the next quarter, which tends to dictate how the investment community responds to the earnings reports. Reporters are not allowed to ask questions during the calls, only the financial analysts are granted that privilege, which usually means you have to sit through a couple of minutes of “great quarter, guys.”

The numbers themselves will probably come out around 1:15 p.m., and we’ll get something up quickly after they are released.

Another problem is that the 3D virtual world space is getting crowded fast. Last week at the TechCrunch50 conference we saw the launch of Hangout.net which looks a little more visually impressive and includes things like VoIP chat and a really neat physics engine that lets you throw things around with some level of realism. There’s also the Home service coming to Playstation 3 owners in the next few months, alongside the other myriad online choices like Doppelganger, Kaneva, and There.com which also partially compete with gaming heavyweights like Second Life and World of Warcraft.

ExitReality is the latest virtual world to come onto the scene and is launching out of private beta tonight. Its big bold feature is the capability to turn any site you’re on into its own 3D world with interactive elements created from content found on the page. This includes photos, videos, and music files.

(Credit:
ExitReality)

This is a more developed ExitReality page that includes many user created elements. The stock page that's generated on text sites is far less flashy.

(Credit:
ExitReality )

To that end, the entire Exit Reality platform is tied to two important things: a social and ad network. Users can have their own Exit Reality specific profiles that come with them from site to site, and there’s a built-in directory and search tool used to browse some of the best creations. The advertising side is a little more vanilla, with contextual ads that layer on top of your site’s content. There are also special branded 3D elements such as a Carl’s Jr. moving bull which was shown off to me in reference to a 2-year-old TV advertisement, which can be found when visiting the Carl’s Jr. site in Exit Reality.

This is what you'll find on most sites–a flat surface with a bunch of media strewn about.

The one thing that’s really going to keep people coming back is something different, be it the people there or the available activities once you’re on a site. Whether the open-source creation tools (which I think are one of the strong points) are enough to make that happen is anyone’s guess.

Ultimately my only beef with Exit Reality’s approach is that it’s not offering a whole lot more than something like Me.dium when it comes to the social side of browsing. Me.dium doesn’t try to re-think what site creators have come up with and makes the discovery process no different from the experience everyone else on the Web is having. Exit Reality seems to be focused on the 3D attraction, which is certainly not a bad thing, but the experience you get coming to a default version of a site is just not up to snuff with the handful places that have been meticulously created to be immersive. It’s a classic chicken and egg problem, with users bound to get bored of it unless there are plenty of interesting places to visit.

The service requires a small system plug-in that currently runs only on PCs. I was told no
Mac version is planned, but may come into the picture if there’s enough of a demand. Once the plug-in is installed, you just need to click a button in your browser and it will take you to the 3D version of that site. The tool will automatically scan any page you’re on and make a “default” world where bits and pieces of content are pulled together and organized within a giant room. Site creators can put together their own creations, complete with a developer toolbox that lets people create some Second Life-esq environments using open-source 3D modeling standards.

In a demo earlier this month co-founder and CTO Danny Stefanic walked me through something that looked like the Ewok village from Star Wars. Unfortunately Webware.com did not look as lush, although my byline has never been bigger. Stefanic says site owners can put together their own worlds that would become destinations, or companions to their existing sites, and offer yet another place to monetize their content.

In addition, Internet providers are required by another federal law to report child pornography sightings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is in turn charged with forwarding that report to the appropriate police agency.

Replied Smith: “I think a number of us may well follow up on that suggestion.”

April 20, 2006: Attorney General Gonzales says data retention “must be addressed.”

After Gonzales’ departure, the Bush administration has been less vocal on lobbying for data retention legislation. During Wednesday’s hearing, however, Mueller called for new laws at least three times.

May 26, 2006: Gonzales and FBI Director Mueller meet with Internet and telecommunications companies.

ISP snooping time line

April 28, 2006: Rep. DeGette proposes data retention amendment.

Their suggestions for mandatory data retention revive a push for potentially sweeping federal laws–which civil libertarians oppose–that flagged last year after the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the idea’s most prominent proponent.

An aide to Rep. Smith said in response to questions from News.com that the congressman was offering no details and would not be commenting at this point.

Based on the statements at Wednesday’s hearing and previous calls for new laws in this area, the scope of a mandatory data retention law remains fuzzy. It could mean forcing companies to store data for two years about what Internet addresses are assigned to which customers (Comcast said in 2006 that it would be retaining those records for six months).

May 16, 2006: Rep. Sensenbrenner drafts data retention legislation, but backs away from it two days later.

(Credit:
Anne Broache/News.com)

At the moment, Internet service providers typically discard any log file that’s no longer required for business reasons such as network monitoring, fraud prevention or billing disputes. Companies do, however, alter that general rule when contacted by police performing an investigation–a practice called data preservation.

“Records retention by ISPs would be tremendously helpful in giving us a historic basis to make a case on a number of child pornographers who use the Internet to push their pornography” or lure children, Mueller said.

“From the perspective of an investigator, having that backlog of records would be tremendously important if someone comes up on your screen now,” Mueller said. “If those records are only kept 15 days or 30 days, you may lose the information you may need to bring that person to justice.”

Also lending their support for data retention were Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., who said that Internet chat rooms were crammed with sexual predators, and Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the senior Republican on the House Judiciary committee and a previous data retention enthusiast. Rep. John Conyers, the senior Democrat and chairman, added that any proposed data retention legislation submitted by the FBI “would be most welcome.”

In a series of events first reported by CNET News.com, Bush administration officials have lobbied to force Internet providers to keep track of what Americans are doing online:

December 2005: European Parliament votes for data retention of up to two years.

WASHINGTON–The FBI and multiple members of Congress said on Wednesday that Internet service providers must be legally required to keep records of their users’ activities for later review by police.

Or it could be far more intrusive. It could mean keeping track of e-mail and instant-messaging correspondence and what Web pages users visit. Some Democratic politicians have called for data retention laws to extend to domain name registries and Web hosting companies and even social-networking sites. During private meetings with industry officials, FBI and Justice Department representatives have said it would be desirable to force search engines to keep logs–a proposal that could gain additional law enforcement support, but raise additional privacy concerns and potentially conflict with European laws.

News.com’s Anne Broache reported from Washington, D.C.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House of Representatives committee that Internet service providers should be required to keep records of users’ activities for two years.

Multiple proposals to mandate data retention have surfaced in the U.S. Congress. One, backed by Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said that any Internet service that “enables users to access content” must indefinitely retain records that would permit police to identify each user. Another came from Wisconsin Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, a close ally of President Bush, and a third was written by Rep. Smith, who endorsed the idea again on Wednesday.

June 2005: Justice Department officials quietly propose data retention rules.

April 14, 2006: Data retention proposals surface in Colorado and the U.S. Congress.

February 6, 2007: Rep. Smith introduces bill that would give the Justice Department broad authority to write data retention rules.

Because Internet addresses remain a relatively scarce commodity, ISPs tend to allocate them to customers from a pool based on whether a computer is in use at the time. (Two standard techniques used are the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet.)

Kate Dean, director of the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association, which counts as members AT&T, AOL, Comcast, and Verizon, said in an e-mail message:

Without specifics, it’s hard to know what Director Mueller is looking for from industry. The idea of data retention is complex, and Congress will need to examine many issues including which providers would be covered by a retention regime, for what period of time would those organizations be required to keep the data, does the policy idea fit with the today’s and tomorrow’s technologies, and what are the effects on the consumer–what are the potential risks to subscriber privacy and security? US ISPA members have been at the forefront of child protection initiatives with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement, so we welcome a continued dialogue.

FBI director Robert Mueller calls for new federal data retention laws forcing Internet companies to keep records of what their customers are doing, but without providing details. Several politicians endorsed the idea during a hearing on Tuesday.

A 1996 federal law called the Electronic Communication Transactional Records Act regulates data preservation. It requires Internet providers to retain any “record” in their possession for 90 days “upon the request of a governmental entity.”

As attorney general until last summer, Gonzales rarely passed up an opportunity to call for data retention. In April 2006, he said Internet providers must retain records for a “reasonable amount of time” and the issue “must be addressed.” In September 2006, he added: “This is a national problem that requires federal legislation.”

Yahoo will be asking its shareholders to re-elect its current board of nine directors, while Icahn is challenging the board with his own slate of dissident directors.

Once Yahoo and Icahn file their definitive proxies with the SEC and distribute them to investors, they’ll hit the road, meeting with investors to make their best pitch for voting for their respective slate of directors.

If Icahn is successful with his proxy fight and he wins a majority of the board seats, it could trigger Yahoo’s controversial employee severance plans, which may potentially cost the Internet search pioneer as much as $2.13 billion in payouts, according to documents in a shareholders lawsuit against Yahoo.

Updated at 8:09 p.m. PDT with more information on the proxy contest.

Investors in the coming weeks will be deluged with competing proxy cards from Yahoo and Icahn, asking shareholders to disregard each other’s material, along with some likely barbs tossed over the fence.

Icahn, at the time he filed his preliminary proxy, said he felt the current Yahoo board acted “irrationally” when it did not accept Microsoft’s sweetened buyout bid of $33 a share. Microsoft later withdrew its buyout bid and Icahn filed his proxy slate days later.

The shareholders are asking a Delaware Chancery Court to invalidate the severance plans, but no date has been set for a court hearing.

Yahoo, in the following week, announced it would delay its July 3 shareholders meeting to late July, in an effort to give the Securities and Exchange Commission time to review its preliminary proxy materials. The company also announced that one of its directors, Edward Kozel, would resign, in preparation of moving his family to Europe.

Some of the later has already begun, with Icahn calling for the ouster of Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The shareholders meeting will be held at 10 a.m. PDT at The Fairmont hotel in San Jose, Calif.

Yahoo announced Tuesday it will hold its annual shareholders meeting on August 1, setting the stage for a contentious proxy battle with billionaire shareholder Carl Icahn.