Business Tech

LAS VEGAS--If you haven't noticed, Toshiba doesn't offer a Netbook for the U.S. market.

Yes, that's right Toshiba--whose name is practically synonymous with laptops--is still undecided about committing to one of the hottest mobile PC markets in the U.S., according to Toshiba officials at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Yes, the Japanese company did launch the NB 100 Netbook in December, but it is not marketed in the U.S., according to a Toshiba representative, speaking at CES.

Toshiba NB 100 Netbook is marketed in Latin America

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

This highlights the Netbook quandary some of the largest mobile computer markers are facing. Throw Sony into the we don't-offer-a-Netbook-either category. This week Sony launched the pricey Vaio Lifestyle PC that it is very careful to bill as the "world's lightest 8-inch notebook." It costs a cool $900--which does tend to disqualify it as Netbook since Netbooks are, by definition, inexpensive (typically under $400 and only occasionally venturing into $600 or $700 territory when, for example, a 3G Wireless Wide Area Network, or WWAN, option is added.)

Listening to a Toshiba representative at CES, the company seems genuinely perplexed by the Netbook category. Where is the real value-add? What if Netbooks begin eating into its notebook line?

On the latter point, Toshiba, like Sony and Apple, may also be worried about getting consumers hooked on low-cost laptops.

(Note: The Toshiba NB 100 is marketed in Latin America, according to the representative.)

This may be nothing but blogosphere blah-blah-blah, but a colleague sent me a note Thursday stating that Juniper Networks' share price fell earlier this week because of a rumor that its customer Google is actually building its own router.

This Google news was attributed to multiple sources including at least one within Cisco Systems, according to a story Monday on SDTimes. CNET News sister site BNET contacted Google about the rumor: "The answer was the now-standard 'It's our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation.'"

OK, so my guess is that this rumor is probably true--with a caveat. Remember that routers are simply purpose-built computers for routing packets. Microsoft had a similar project in the 1990s called Steelhead that used Windows as the routing operating system. My old friend Roy Chua is working with a Silicon Valley company named XORP, which stands for "extensible open source routing platform." Nothing new here.

My guess is that some of the smart guys over at Google are tinkering around with XORP or something similar just as they have for back-end storage. On the other hand, I can't imagine that Google is trying to build a router comparable to the Juniper J or M series systems as these are the latest generation of Juniper routing platforms with thousands of development hours behind them. Juniper isn't a leading provider in this market for nothing.

On the off chance that Google is actually undertaking a project like this, I have a bit of advice to Google shareholders: sell your stock. Google employs some of the smartest computer scientists around, but if this is true, you have to question the company's business focus. What's next? Google building its own powerplants? A Google department of defense? A Google space shuttle?

LAS VEGAS--Some notebooks and an un-Netbook are worth noting on the CES show floor Thursday.

From top to bottom: An Asus concept computer; the just-announced Asus S121 (officially not a Netbook) with an optional 512GB solid-state drive--yes, that's 512 gigabytes; HP's new Pavilion dv2 and dv3 powered by processors from Advanced Micro Devices, including its newest Neo silicon.

Asus was showing its fold/unfold concept at CES

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

The just-announced 12-inch Asus S121 is "not" technically a Netbook but uses an Atom processor and a massive 512GB solid-state drive--the largest yet in any device

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

HP Pavilion dv2 ultraportable (0.9 inches thick) uses AMD's new Neo silicon

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

HP 13-inch Pavilion dv3 uses the AMD Turion processor

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

LAS VEGAS--It was fitting that in a city created as an elaborate fantasy world that a knight would get up on stage and tell us how to save the princess.

Sony's Howard Stringer takes the stage at CES Thursday for a keynote address.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

In this case, the knight is Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony (and Knight Bachelor, a title awarded by the queen of England), and the princess is the consumer electronics industry. And according to Stringer, one of the keys to slaying the monster of the recession is the convergence of networked entertainment and technology.

In his keynote address on the opening day of CES here, besides pushing various Sony products like OLED TVs, Blu-ray players, and PlayStation 3, Stringer outlined a series of principles he says will be necessary to create consumer experiences that, if followed, will sustain the consumer electronics industry. The industry is expected to see negative growth for the first time in seven years.

"I can promise you the consumer electronics industry will ultimately prevail," Stringer told the large crowd gathered in the Venetian Hotel ballroom Thursday. "Because everyone is still innovating."

The principles, or "seven imperatives" are fairly broad: Embrace the convergence of IT, CE, and entertainment. Focus on adding value with customer service. Make products that do more than one thing. Support open technologies. Embrace social networking and user-created content. Make products whose value builds on each other. Go green.

Clearly, it was not only directed outwardly at the rest of the industry, but is intended as a new mission statement for his own company. Some of those goals--open technologies, products that interact with those from other manufacturers--aren't things Sony is known for in the industry. But Stringer said he "intend(s) to make this the total Sony experience."

One of Stringer's "seven imperatives" for sustaining the consumer electronics industry.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

To demonstrate, he brought a parade of celebrities and industry leaders onto the stage to demonstrate Sony's reach into film, music, television, gaming, sports, and, of course, technology, including several new products the company is cooking up in its R&D department.

First up was actor Tom Hanks, star of a new Sony movie (Angles & Demons) who singlehandedly stole the show, mocking the scripted lines Sony had written for him detailing how much he loved the company's products. "They write the lies, I tell the truth," Hanks joked to loud laughs from the audience.

Hanks provided much of the entertainment at the morning's event with similar off-the-cuff jabs at Sony. It was welcome, as most of Sony's most interesting announcements actually occurred the previous afternoon at its annual pre-CES press conference.

But Stringer did reserve a couple of nifty products to announce, like its new Wi-Fi-enabled Cybershot digital camera, which allows users to upload pictures directly to the Web. Stringer said there would be a lot more where this came from. The company's goal is that by 2011, 90 percent of its product categories will connect wirelessly to the Internet and to each other.

Tom Hanks, next to Stringer, stole the show.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

He also showed some concept products his engineers are working on, like the Wi-Fi clock radio. Partnering with Chumby, the maker of the too-cute-for-its-own-good hackable Wi-Fi gadget, Sony is working on a more elegant take on the idea, but keeping Chumby's open platform for which anyone can develop a widget.

Sony's been pushing Blu-ray for home video for a while, but it's also moving to promote 3D for movie theaters. Stringer brought out Pixar's John Lasseter and DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg to try to hype the two entertainment formats. There are three competing 3D technologies right now, and it appears based on the demonstration Thursday that Sony is partnering with RealD.

But the march of famous personalities didn't stop there: Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, baseball hall of famer Reggie Jackson--Sony is providing all the tech in the new Yankee Stadium--Oprah health guru Dr. Mehmet Oz, and finally Sony Ericsson-sponsored Usher, who sang one song to close the speech.

Sony's hurting right now, and many of the tasks Stringer laid out would call for Sony to change some of its most ingrained policies. It remains to be seen if these "imperatives" will still be an imperative after the world economy eventually recovers.

Thousands of businesses were left without access to their applications Tuesday after Salesforce.com's servers suffered a service disruption.

The problem affected all of the software-as-a-service vendor's data centers for at least 40 minutes.

According to a Salesforce.com status page, the problem occurred at 12:40 p.m. PST Tuesday when a core network device failed, stopping all data from being processed in Japan, Europe, and North America.

When the system failed to trigger a failover to redundant systems, Salesforce.com staff had to carry out a manual recovery.

Most of the services were restored in about 40 minutes, according to Salesforce.com, and all services were back online about two and a half hours later.

"While we are confident the root cause has been addressed by the work-around," the company said, "the Salesforce.com technology team will continue to work with hardware vendors to fully detail the root cause and identify if further patching or fixes will be needed."

Freeform Dynamics senior analyst Tony Lock said that "having a service interruption like this one is certainly noticeable when you have a vendor like Salesforce.com that has been delivering pretty good service over the course of the last five or six years."

Lock added that as long as software-as-a-service vendors continue to deliver good service levels and availability, the occasional interruption is acceptable since "nobody expects IT to be perfect."

"It will not have a major impact on organizations' plans for the adoption of software as a service. I think that software as a service will continue to grow as it has been doing over the course of the last few years," he said.

Tim Ferguson of Silicon.com reported from London.

Dell announced Thursday that it is closing its manufacturing operation in Limerick, Ireland, and shifting production to its Polish plant and to third-party contractors.

Assembling a desktop PC at Dell's Limerick plant.

(Credit: Dell)

The move will result in the loss of 1,900 jobs in a facility that employs 3,000 people.

Employees and unions in Ireland have long been expecting the decision, which is part of a $3 billion restructuring that Dell announced last year. In September the company said it wanted to shed 24,600 jobs around the world.

Dell said in a statement that the first Limerick employees would leave the company in April and the whole process of switching production will be completed by January 2010. Workers will receive a competitive severance package and career outplacement assistance from the company, the company added.

The PC maker has had a facility in Ireland for 18 years, where it has become a major force in manufacturing and the largest employer in the Limerick area. Commenting on the move Sean Corkery, vice president of operations, Dell Europe Middle East and Africa said: "This is a difficult decision, but the right one for Dell to become even more competitive, and deliver greater value to customers in the region."

According to Dell, the company's remaining employees in Ireland "will continue to co-ordinate EMEA manufacturing, logistics and supply-chain activities across a range of functions including product development, engineering, procurement and logistics." Dell will keep its Global Innovation Solutions Center and European Command Center in Limerick.

In late December, the company reorganized its management structure as it reacts to changing customer requirements. In March 2008, Dell closed a home state plant in Austin, Texas, as part of its plans to cut at least 8,800 jobs.

Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.

With the overall economy slumping, the tech industry is taking its fair share of hits. We'll keep updating the chart below as news of company changes comes in. See our complete coverage of how the tech sector is faring here: Tracking the tech downturn.

Know of a layoff not listed here? Let us know on this form or e-mail us.

See also: The spreadsheet of sunshine: Who's hiring.

Chinese PC maker Lenovo confirmed Thursday that it is carrying out a restructuring, which involves the company letting go of 2,500 employees--about 11 percent of its workforce.

With the changes, the company is targeting to save $300 million annually, according to a Singapore-based company spokesperson.

The announcement comes after a report surfaced earlier this week, saying that the PC maker would lay off 200 employees in its Beijing-based headquarters, including around 10 senior management staff. In response to queries from ZDNet Asia, Lenovo had dismissed the report as rumors.

At its U.S. Web site, Lenovo said the job cuts will be made globally during the first quarter of 2009. The axe will fall not only on management and executive positions, but also "in support and staff functions such as finance, human resources, and marketing."

Under the restructuring, Lenovo is consolidating its Greater China and Asia-Pacific operations--previously run as separate business units--and Russia into one. The new Asia-Pacific and Russia (APR) unit will be headed by Chen Shaopeng, who up until now was senior vice president and president for Greater China. Japan, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) are separate from this new unit.

Among those affected by the move is David Miller, Lenovo's senior vice president and president for Asia-Pacific. The Singapore-based company spokesperson said Miller would remain with Lenovo for a "transition period" but declined to give a more specific time frame.

According to the spokesperson, cost reductions will occur in "nearly every business unit," and headquarter functions as well as duplicate functions in the new APR unit will be eliminated. "Quite a few of the Asia-Pacific functions housed in Singapore will now be housed in Beijing," she noted in a phone interview.

Lenovo's reorganization has planted three of the four BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, or emerging markets, in one single region while leaving out more mature markets such as Japan and ANZ, an analyst noted in a phone interview with ZDNet Asia Thursday.

"They've got the 'RIC' countries now," said Bryan Ma, IDC's director for personal systems research in the Asia-Pacific region. "Clearly they're looking toward this region as a big growth market."

Apart from streamlining, which is "good" in the current economic environment, the changes will "hopefully help to make the company a bit faster in addressing opportunities in the market," said Ma. One of the long-time concerns about Lenovo, he explained, has been that it seems "a bit slow" to respond to some market trends, especially in the consumer space.

Whether Lenovo's actions will bear fruit, may not be known until next year as 2009 will be challenging and "economically tough for any PC vendor", Ma added.

Vivian Yeo of ZDNet Asia reported from Singapore.

LAS VEGAS--Before making the new inexpensive mini camcorder it unveiled at CES Wednesday, Sony tried to purchase the category leader, Pure Digital.

Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow on Wednesday told CNET News that the vastly popular Flip Video camera made by Pure Digital came onto Sony's radar almost two years ago. Glasgow said he knew he wanted Sony to have a product in the category and talked to San Francisco-based Pure Digital about a possible acquisition six months ago.

Without saying how much Pure Digital was asking, Glasgow said it was much more than Sony wanted to pay. The two companies discussed several possible business scenarios, but none worked out.

And even before that, though the U.S. division of Sony really wanted an inexpensive mini camcorder for the U.S. market, the company's Japanese engineers didn't really see the utility of the product category.

Since neither scenario worked out, Sony, a leader in higher-end camera equipment, finally came out its own version of Pure Digital's Flip Mino camera, which uploads video directly to the Web via a USB port.

The Webbie does 1080p MPEG-4 video and shoots in 5 megapixels. The camera will be available in March for about $170.

The XO laptop.

(Credit: OLPC)

The One Laptop Per Child project announced Wednesday that it is slashing its workforce by 50 percent, reducing salaries for the remaining staff, and restructuring its operations.

Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the group that aims to provide low-cost laptops to children in developing countries, announced the cuts in a company blog post:

Like many other nonprofits that are facing tough economic times, One Laptop per Child must downsize in order to keep costs in line with fewer financial resources. Today we are reducing our team by approximately 50% and there will be salary reductions for the remaining 32 people. While we are saddened by this development, we remain firmly committed to our mission of getting laptops to children in developing countries. We thank team members who are departing for their contributions to this important mission.

Restructuring brings with it pain for some of our friends and colleagues who are being let go. These are people who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of a noble cause, and to say that we are exceeding grateful for the time, the ideas, the energy and the commitment they have given OLPC does not -- cannot -- adequately express our admiration or our gratitude. The fact that there are 500,000 children around the world who have laptops is testament to their extraordinary work and is already a key part of OLPC's legacy.

Negroponte wrote that the company will focus on development of its second-generation device, but will hand-off development of the Sugar operating system to the open source community.

The project recently revived its two-for-one deal on its low-cost laptop. Amazon.com was tapped to handle its Give One, Get One program, launched initially in 2007. Through the program, anyone can pay for two XO laptops; one is shipped to the buyer, and the other is sent to a school kid in a developing nation.

The device comes loaded with both Windows XP and the Linux-based Sugar operating system created for the XO. The inclusion of XP stemmed from concerns that developing nations that wouldn't buy the laptops for its classrooms without the world's dominant OS on it.

However, the Cambridge, Mass.-based group has faced its share of challenges in the three years since it was formed. Its XO laptops initially cost $188 each instead of the anticipated $100, some countries are scaling back their deployment plans. Intel, which was briefly part of the project, quit in January 2008, claiming OLPC was pressuring it not to compete with its own laptops.