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Issue no. 7, 2005 Published: Mar 04, 2005
Part of Microsoft patent ruling reversed
'No re-draft' for EU patent law
Ultra fast wi-fi nears completion
IBM launches open source offensive
Internet viruses aid flea researchers
Fuel cells for mobiles and laptops a step closer
Charge a battery in just six minutes
Mobile phones get facial recognition
Global digital divide 'narrowing'

Part of Microsoft patent ruling reversed
A US federal appeals court reversed parts of a $521 million patent ruling against Microsoft Wednesday, giving the company another chance to prove that its widely used web browser did not illegally copy a key piece of technology. The complicated case revolves around the computer coding that enables a variety of software applications to work seamlessly with web browsers. Eolas' founder, cellular biologist Michael Doyle, says he invented the technology more than a decade ago and then watched Microsoft capitalise on the breakthrough by including the features in Internet Explorer. In its decision, the appeals court concluded the lower court had erred in its approach to a key issue in the case. Microsoft contends the Eolas patent is invalid because the technology had already been developed and showcased in a May 1993 demonstration by another inventor, Pei-Yuan Wei. The appeals reversal 'gives Microsoft the opportunity to tell the whole story of how this technology was developed,' Microsoft said.
Washington Post / AP Mar 03, 2005	back to top

'No re-draft' for EU patent law
A proposed European law on software patents will not be re-drafted by the European Commission (EC) despite requests by MEPs. The law is proving controversial and has been in limbo for a year. The EC says the Council of Ministers will adopt a draft version that was agreed upon last May but said it would review 'all aspects of the directive'. The directive is intended to offer patent protection to inventions that use software to achieve their effect, in other words, 'computer implemented invention'. If the European Council agrees on the draft directive it will then return for a second reading at the European Parliament. But that will not guarantee that the directive will become law - instead it will probably mean further delays and controversy over the directive. Most EU legislation now needs the approval of both parliament and the Council of Ministers before it becomes law.
BBC News Mar 03, 2005	back to top

Ultra fast wi-fi nears completion
Ultra high speed wi-fi connections moved closer to reality this week when Intel said it would list standards for the technology later this year. Intel is developing ultra-wideband technology (UWB) which would allow fast data transfer but with low power needs. UWB is tipped to be used for wireless transfer of video in the home or office and for use in wireless USB devices which need low power consumption. Intel announced that two UWB groups, WiMedia Alliance and Multi-band OFDM alliance had merged to support the technology. UWB makes it possible to stream huge amounts of data through the air over short distances. One of the more likely uses of UWB is to make it possible to send DVD quality video images wirelessly to TV screens or to let people beam music to media players around their home. UWB could also be used to create Personal Area Networks that let a person's gadgets quickly and easily swap data amongst themselves. The technology works over a range up to 10 metres and uses billions of short radio pulses every second to carry data.
BBC News Mar 04, 2005	back to top

IBM launches open source offensive
IBM has stepped up its open source efforts with the contribution this week of more than 30 projects to SourceForge.net, part of the OSTG Network, to give developers broader access to open source technologies. As a result, more developers can collaborate and build on technologies spanning Java, Linux and wireless, fuelling more innovation to drive next-generation software applications. The projects to be hosted by SourceForge.net, which boasts more than one million registered users and 96,000 projects, include IBM's Jikes software, a fast Java compiler that helps developers speed their development time. IBM will also transfer its Life Science Identifier to the collaborative development site, which helps developers in healthcare build life sciences applications by automatically scanning networks for biologically significant data. IBM is also extending support for developers building web applications using the PHP open source development language.
VNUnet UK Feb 28, 2005	back to top

Internet viruses aid flea researchers
The way viruses spread on the internet is helping ecologists decipher how pests move in the real world. The researchers at the University of Windsor in Ontario, have been using network theory to work out how the Russian spiny water flea will travel through Canada's lakes. According to their theory, the lakes are akin to interconnected nodes in a network, with some open to infection by computer viruses - or, in this case, the spiny water flea. The spread of the water flea by boats and other craft mimics the spread of viruses by e-mail, the theory states, and can help the scientists identify which lakes are likely to become infection hubs from which the flea will spread. The researchers believe two main characteristics of fast-spreading viruses will indicate the likely points of the infection from the tiny waterborne crustacean: Outbound traffic is mostly to uninfected areas and the amount of outgoing traffic is very high. The two characteristics were found in one particular Canadian lake, Lake Muskoka, which served to infect 39 others.
ZDNet / Silicon.com Mar 02, 2005	back to top

Fuel cells for mobiles and laptops a step closer
Millennium Cell and The Dow Chemical Company have teamed up to develop portable fuel cell systems for mobiles, laptops and military applications. Hydrogen-based fuel cells offer the potential for longer run times and greater functionality for laptop computers and mobile phones, the companies said. For military applications, they provide higher energy densities at dramatically lighter weights. The jointly developed systems will be based on Millennium Cell's Hydrogen on Demand technology in conjunction with Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells. Energy systems based on Hydrogen on Demand safely generate hydrogen through the use of sodium borohydride. This chemical compound is non-combustible, high in energy density, easily distributed, and convenient for consumer use, the company said.
VNUnet UK Feb 28, 2005	back to top

Charge a battery in just six minutes
A rechargeable battery that can be fully charged in just 6 minutes, lasts 10 times as long as today's rechargeables and can provide bursts of electricity up to three times more powerful is under development. Altair Technologies of Reno has created a new type of Li-ion cell in which the anode has an exceptionally high surface area. This allows electrons to enter and leave it quickly - making fast recharging possible and providing high currents when needed. Li-ion batteries work by forcing lithium ions from a lithium cobalt oxide cathode to migrate to a carbon anode via an electrolyte solution. Altair's modification is to make the anode surface out of lithium titanate nanocrystals, using chemical tricks to give it a surface area of about 100 square metres per gram, compared with 3 square metres per gram for carbon. Moreover, the more rugged lithium titanate anode should make it possible to recharge the battery as many as 20,000 times, compared to around 400 charging cycles of ordinary Li-ion batteries.
New Scientist Mar 02, 2005	back to top

Mobile phones get facial recognition
Mobile phones could soon be equipped with facial recognition technology, if some biometric sensor software launched by Japanese firm OMRON this week is commercially successful. OMRON's OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor software can compare the face of the user of a PDA, mobile phone or other handheld device with a photo of the user using the device's built-in camera. Checking the authenticity of a person in this way could bring greater security to a device. Many have argued that facial recognition technology still produces too many false positives - when the system grants access to those it should not - but OMRON claims that the software gives the correct result more than 99 per cent of the time.
ZDNet UK Mar 01, 2005	back to top

Global digital divide 'narrowing'
The 'digital divide' between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast, according to a World Bank report. The World Bank questioned a UN campaign to increase usage and access to technology in poorer nations. Half the world's population now has access to a fixed-line telephone, the report said, and 77 per cent to a mobile network. The report's figures surpass a campaign goal by the UN's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that calls for 50 per cent access to telephones by 2015. The UN hopes that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. 'People in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate - far faster than... in the past,' said the report. However, WSIS argues that the digital divide is real and needs to be addressed. Last Tuesday, a meeting of the WSIS in Geneva agreed to the creation of a Digital Solitary Fund to help finance local community-based projects. Voluntary contribution of 1 per cent on contracts obtained by private technology service providers could be made to the fund.
BBC News Feb 25, 2005	back to top