IBM & others look towards 45nm node

Everyone knows the common Moore's Law formulation, which dictates that transistor sizes shrink on a regular timetable, but fewer are familiar with what is commonly called Moore's Second Law. Moore's Second Law is variously formulated, but in general it states that the cost of building a chip fabrication facility doubles about every three years. What this means for the semiconductor industry is that it costs progressively more for everyone to keep with manufacturing powerhouse Intel, which last year dropped $3.5 billion on a second 45nm (feature size), 300mm (wafer size) fab in Israel.

This kind of multibillion-dollar sticker shock is why IBM isn't making the jump to 45nm alone. Chartered Semi, Infineon, and Samsung have all joined with IBM to develop process technology at the 45nm node, and the group has just announced their first functional 45nm circuits. These first circuits, which came out of IBM's 300mm East Fishkill fab, were mostly communications circuits, based on standard functional blocks provided by Infineon. The consortium will use these standard circuit blocks to debug and tweak the process, getting it ready for prime time.

Once the kinks are worked out, the consortium plans to begin using the new process for production chips in 2008. This is about the timeframe that Intel expects its second 45nm fab to come online. The consortium will outfit existing 300mm fabs owned by IBM, Chartered, and Samsung with the new 45nm technology.

This kind of collaboration on chip fabrication has been going on for a long time, but it will become more common as feature sizes shrink and fab prices soar. For instance, Chartered Semi's 65nm fab has just started producing processors for AMD, under a deal signed two years ago. IBM has produced chips for a number of companies over the years, like VIA, NVIDIA, and of course Sony. IBM and AMD also collaborated on the aforementioned 65nm SOI process technology that Chartered is using for AMD processors. Ultimately, the semiconductor fabrication game is looking increasingly like a square dance, with a few dancers partnering off in different combinations at different stages. The guy standing over against the wall, coolly surveying the scene, is Intel.

Wi-Fi Alliance to certify 802.11n Draft 2.0 equipment

In an unusual move, the Wi-Fi Alliance will certify the next generation of wireless networking equipment in two waves. The two-step process is designed to give consumers access to the latest technology now with some confidence of interoperability, and to give the IEEE some breathing room to finalize the specifications on its own schedule.

The first phase will be based on draft 2.0 of the standard, to be released this coming March, and certified equipment will have been thoroughly tested to ensure that it works with other certified 802.11n pre-standard gear. The second phase will certify equpment against the full, final version of the IEEE standard, and is expected sometime in the first half of 2008.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, which includes industry heavyweights like Intel, Motorola, Cisco, and Texas Instruments, recognized a need for quick action in response to the heavy demand on faster wireless networking equipment. All of the major networking specialists, including Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link, already have products on store shelves based on draft 1.0 of the 802.11n standard, and millions of units are expected to ship in 2007. The problem with that is interoperability, as some parts of the draft are open to some interpretation, making routers from manufacturer A less than guaranteed to work with access cards from manufacturer B today. Forcing manufacturers to submit to interoperability testing should eliminate that concern.

The two stages of certification will carry clearly different brandings, though no names or images have been chosen yet. Phase one gear will also be clearly marked as not guaranteed to be forward-compatible with phase two, in order to cut down on customer confusion and the nearly inevitable lawsuits that would result from leading us to believe that everything will work perfectly with final stage equipment.

Now, stage two will be backwards-compatible, but there's just no guarantee that missing features in phase one will be available through firmware or driver updates. Chipset makers and networking equipment manufacturers from Atheros and Airgo to Netgear and Dell are supporting the two-stage approach, and Intel plans to support 802.11n in its first phase of certification in its Kedron wireless module for Santa Rosa, the next generation of the Centrino mobile platform. If the IEEE does not produce its next draft by next spring as expected, the Alliance will take it upon itself to pull together the next best thing—a coherent set of de facto standards.

Windows Media DRM cracked

Digital Rights Management has been a hot-button issue for many years. With the current pervasiveness of high-speed Internet access, coupled with increasingly invasive attempts by content companies to strengthen their digital protection, the debate looks to be far from over.

Now, a new application has been released that will strip Windows Media 10 and 11 files of their DRM. In the online music world, the overwhelming market share winner is Apple's iTunes Music Store, whose protection has been bypassed several times already. Microsoft's Windows Media has been a perpetual also-ran, but it has too received attention from the hackers. In 2001, the version that came with Windows Media Player 7 was defeated by a hacker going by the pseudonym "Beale Screamer." Microsoft then updated their protection, and for years have been touting its invulnerability to hackers. However, this too has now come to an end.

The program, entitled FairUse4WM (Fair Use for Windows Media) requires that the user already owns media files that have been purchased from one of the many Windows Media online stores that exist today. It does not attempt to find encryption keys by brute force, as some other software (most notably DeCSS) has done in the past. Instead, it finds the encryption keys (at least one active key is necessary for the program to work) that have been installed on your computer by Media Player itself. Once these keys have been found, FairUse4WM modifies the .WMA files to remove all traces of encryption on them. The "converted" files can then be played on any player that supports the WMA format, regardless of whether or not it supports WMA DRM—in testing the application, we loaded the converted files on a Macintosh using Flip4Mac. The program does not appear to work with encrypted WMV (Windows Media Video) files.

That the WMA format would be cracked is not that much of a surprise—most DRM formats eventually are. However, in this case, the potential for misuse and lost revenue for WMA stores looms large. Unlike Apple, which has stuck to its 99 cents per song purchasing scheme, many online Windows Media stores have been promoting a subscription model, where the consumer pays a monthly access fee to download as many songs as they wish. Under this model, if the user stops paying the monthly fee their license keys are revoked and they can no longer listen to any of their songs. If the songs have been converted by FairUse4WM, however, they will still be able to be played on any platform.

Microsoft has made no comment so far on the issue, but look for an update to Windows Media Player to try and "patch" the issue, and possibly lawsuits against the creators of FairUse4WM.

Microsoft's Zurprise!

When the Zune was first confirmed by Microsoft, critics had questions. What did Microsoft know about manufacturing a portable music player? How would the company avoid alienating its own hardware partners, many of whom make their own PlaysForSure devices? Now that the answers are trickling out, the whole scheme makes more sense.

According to an FCC filing made public yesterday, the Zune won't be made by Microsoft at all, but by Toshiba. Toshiba's filing for model no. 1089 shows that the company already has working prototypes of the device, which will come in white, black, and brown. The filings are complete with photos that show the Zune being tested for electromagnetic interference, so if you've ever wanted to see the inside of Toshiba's Anechoic Chamber No. 1, this is your chance.

The filing confirms most of Zune's key features. It will come with a 30GB hard drive, a three-inch LCD, an FM tuner, and 802.11b/g for wireless connectivity. It will play music, store pictures, and show video, and it can be hooked up to a TV set for a better picture. This is all pretty standard stuff, but one of Zune's distinctive features will be its support for WiFi. Users can send "promotional copies" of songs, albums, and playlists to other nearby users. It sounds simple enough to use, but the filing does not define "promotional copies" (earlier referred to as controlled sharing by music execs)—we expect these to be time-limited in some way.

The other WiFi feature is "DJ mode," in which Zuners can stream music to four other nearby devices. The streaming can be limited to friends or left open to the world, in which case anyone with a player can listen in to your current tunes (this will generate an on-screen notification that you have a listener).

Apple, Creative settle patent lawsuits

Apple and Creative have announced a settlement to their legal dispute over the iPod's user interface. In September 2005, Creative accused Apple of patent infringement just a day after making public its patent for the Creative Zen digital audio player's user interface. The UI described in Creative's patent application, filed in January 2001, looks very similar to that of the iPod. Negotiations—if any—went nowhere, and Creative filed a patent infringement lawsuit in May.

The makers of the iconic iPod will pay Creative $100 million for a license to use the patent. In exchange, Creative will begin marketing iPod accessories under the "Made for iPod" label later this year. Apple will be able to recover an undisclosed portion of its license fee if Creative successfully licenses the patent to other companies.

In the press release, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that Creative was "fortunate" to have received the patent, but noted that the settlement "resolves all of [Apple's] differences with Creative, including the five lawsuits currently pending between the companies, and removes the uncertainty and distraction of prolonged litigation."

Along with Creative's patent infringement suit was a complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission by the company, which sought to block the importation of iPods. Apple responded with its own patent infringement countersuit, alleging Creative violated three of its patents.

Before Apple launched the iPod, it attempted to license Creative's IP and tried to convince Creative to develop the iPod together. Creative turned Apple down, and several years later is standing near the bottom of the digital audio player market like everybody else, looking up at Apple and the iPod. Given Apple's solid bankroll, a $100 million payment to make this particular problem go away is a good move. Apple faced a long and costly court fight with the possibility of massive damages if it was found to have infringed. For Creative, it will give its bottom line a modest boost, while giving it a door into the burgeoning iPod accessories market.

Wipro Sets Up Wi-Fi Pre-Certification Center

Indian outsourcer Wipro announced Tuesday that it has been selected by the Wi-Fi Alliance to set up a pre-certification test lab that will help vendors of Wi-Fi devices prepare for final certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The test lab set up in Bangalore by Wipro is the third Wi-Fi pre-certification lab worldwide authorized by the Wi-Fi Alliance, Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, told reporters in Bangalore. The other two labs are in Taiwan and in the United States, he added.

Pre-certification testing allows Wi-Fi Alliance member companies to test Wi-Fi devices and troubleshoot problems before entering the formal process of getting the device Wi-Fi certified.

The Wi-Fi Alliance in Austin, Texas, is a global, nonprofit industry association with more than 250 member companies. Its main activity is testing and certification of products for compliance with Wi-Fi specifications to enable interoperability of Wi-Fi devices. The Alliance currently has 10 independent test labs worldwide that are authorized to offer final Wi-Fi certification for products.

Future specifications being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance include Wi-Fi Protected Setup, which will ease setup of encryption and security on home networks. That will be released later this year, but finalization of the specification for 802.11n, a faster and longer-range version of 802.11, has been delayed. A number of vendors are already shipping 802.11n devices based on a draft of the standard, raising questions about interoperability.

Microsoft backs Firefox on MSDN Wiki

In a concession to the open source software paradigm, Microsoft has added support for the Mozilla Firefox browser to its MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) Wiki, company officials are reporting this week.

Currently in a beta phase, the Wiki enables customers to contribute to Microsoft's developer documentation. It had been optimized only for Microsoft's own Internet Explorer browser, which disappointed some users.

"First, those who were initially dismayed by the lack of Firefox support should be happy to find that MSDN Wiki now supports Firefox for browsing and editing," said Microsoft's Rob Caron, a content architect for Visual Studio 2005 Team System, in his blog.

"We always planned to support Firefox on MSDN Wiki," said Jaye Roxe, Microsoft lead product manager for Visual Studio, in an e-mail statement forwarded by a Microsoft representative. "Due to resource and time constraints, Microsoft initially optimized for the browser that our logs indicated is most commonly used on our sites. However, in the long run, we wanted to ensure that our content was available to the widest scope of Web users. Since the initial release, we’ve been working hard to expand options for contributing to MSDN Wiki by adding support for Firefox."

Microsoft has not yet set a date for availability of the general-release version of MSDN Wiki. In another new enhancement to the Wiki, Microsoft is enabling subscriptions to RSS feeds on a per-contributor basis, in which subscribers are notified of contributions from specific persons.

SanDisk Targets iPod

SanDisk, a Milpitas, Calif.-based producer of flash memory, plans to announce on Monday a set of music-player upgrades, price cuts and a new MP3 player, dubbed the Sansa e280, with a price that’s comparable to Apple Computer’s uber-popular iPod nano and with twice the storage capacity, The Wall Street Journal reports.

SanDisk plans to unveil its $249.99, 8GB Sansa e280—which can store roughly 2,000 songs—and it also said it would cut the prices of its other music players by almost 30 percent, according to the Journal.

SanDisk is attempting to generate some positive buzz around its MP3 players, which are currently number two in the digital music player space behind Apple’s golden child, and draw attention to its products before the important upcoming holiday sales rush.

The flash maker also said it would soon undercut Apple by offering a music player that sells for less than $100, the Journal reports.

Though most firms that have come up against Apple in the digital music player space have failed to present any significant competition to the Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics and computer giant in the past, SanDisk is Apple’s closest competitor in the United States, according to the Journal.

SanDisk has an edge over many competitors in the digital media player market, as it uses its own flash-memory chips and is therefore able to offer its products at lower prices than rivals, the Journal reports.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to the Journal’s inquiry regarding SanDisk’s planned announcement.

Firefox 2.0 delayed until late October

Those of us looking forward to Firefox 2.0 will have to wait a bit longer, as the release date has slipped to October 24 from the original September 26 release date, according to Mozilla's calendar. Beta 2 has also been delayed, with its debut pushed back a week or so to August 23.

Version 2.0 of the popular open source web browser will contain a handful of new features, including an integrated spell checker. There is also an antiphishing tool, similar to those found in Opera 9 and betas of Internet Explorer 7, that warns users when they are entering a potentially malicious website. It also sports improvements to tabbed browsing, better search engine management, and other new search-related features.

Unfortunately for Firefox fans, some other items didn't make the cut for version 2.0, but should hopefully be included in future releases. Those include a new bookmark and history system that had appeared in an alpha build. Both were axed due to concerns that developers would not be able to complete them in time for the release of 2.0.

With a handful of bugs still being worked on, including the in-browser spell check, tab overflow handling, and preferences, moving back the release another month makes sense. It's better to wait a few weeks or so if it means shipping a higher-quality product. This is especially true for Firefox, which has seen its popularity grow as it has steadily eroded market share from Internet Explorer.

Sun to release Java Micro Edition source code

Sun officially announced yesterday plans to release the source code of its Java Micro Edition (J2ME) implementation before the end of the year. Designed for deployment on embedded devices like PDAs and cell phones, J2ME provides an assortment of APIs for developing small-screen applications.

Sun has been crawling towards open source Java at a glacial pace, and is now on the verge of releasing some of the most critical components. Although Java has lost the desktop to .NET and is gradually losing ground on the server to alternatives like Python and Ruby, it remains a force to be reckoned with in the mobile market, particularly on cell phones, where it is widely used for games and applications. J2ME provides numerous benefits in an embedded environment, particularly with regards to portability, and market statistics indicate that it is used on over 94 million devices.

Releasing the source code of J2ME is advantageous for Sun as well as the open source community and J2ME application developers, because the availability of source code will make it easier for developers and phone manufacturers to extend and specialize the development platform for use with new devices.

Sun also announced the creation of a new community web site for open source Java products. Although the J2ME source will be available within a few months, the rest of the Java platform won't be opened until next year. Sun is supposedly still engaged in a code ownership audit in order to determine which components can be released. Some components, like the proprietary font rastarizer used by Java, cannot be released. Sun executive Laurie Tolsen explains that the proprietary components may be replaced with open source components at some time in the future. At this point, Sun has still not revealed which license it will use for the source code, but it will probably be Sun's own CDDL license, which is used for Solaris.

The creation of the Java community website and the imminent release of J2ME are very promising new developments, and it could be a sign that Sun is ready to live up to its claims of commitment to open source ideals. The real test will be the license. Ideally, Sun should pursue a dual-licensing strategy with the GPL and CDDL in order to maximize interest in the source code.

IBM expands beyond Linux

IBM Corp. is expanding its open-source strategy beyond Linux by targeting eight new technology areas where it will focus open-source attention going forward.

On Tuesday at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, IBM said it would look to new open-source business opportunities for client-side middleware, development tools, Web application servers, data servers, systems management, hardware, grid computing and IBM Research and consulting projects.

IBM was one of the first hardware companies to support Linux as a mainstream hardware OS, and the company said it hopes to take on similar leadership in these other areas.

IBM's development tools open-source strategy will leverage the Eclipse development platform, a project the company started several years ago before it was spun off as an independent entity. The Apache Derby and its own free IBM DB2 Express-C databases will be the foundation for its open-source data server work, the company said.

Other open-source projects that will be key to IBM's expanded strategy include Eclipse's Rich Client Platform for hosting cross-platform applications; the Apache Software Foundation's Geronimo open-source Java application server project; the Aperi open-source storage project; Power.org and Blade.org hardware projects; and the Open Grid Services Architecture and Globus Alliance for grid computing.

In a press statement, Scott Handy, vice president of Linux and open source at IBM, characterized the company's new commitment to supporting open-source software across these technology areas as "bold and aggressive." He said the company plans to permanently transform its business by supporting open-source software across many areas of software and hardware development.

In addition to these eight areas of focus, IBM also on Tuesday introduced several other initiatives to advance its open-source strategy. The company said it would integrate its Cell BE processor -- which extends IBM's 64-bit POWER chip architecture -- into the Linux kernel.

IBM also is working with Red Hat Inc. to provide a more secure version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. In addition, IBM engineers are developing open-source virtualization software focusing on the areas of systems management, security and POWER architecture, the company said.

Apple eyes the enterprise at WWDC

Apple’s WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC) is no Mac pep rally. It’s a gathering of geeks ready for a deep dive into a pool of technologies. But WWDC also has a tradition of new product intros, and last week was no exception, with two major hardware offerings and a tantalizing look at Mac OS X 10.5, code-named Leopard.

Steve Jobs’ keynote highlighted two new 64-bit Intel Xeon-based systems, Xserve and Mac Pro. Both are based on Intel’s just-released Core Microarchitecture Xeon and are offered at price points well below the PowerPC-based systems they replace.

The pair’s baseline models share some breathtaking specs: two dual-core Xeon 5100 Series CPUs with 4MB of shared Level 2 cache; dual 1.33GHz front-side buses; 1GB of 667MHz, ECC DDR2 memory; two Gigabit Ethernet ports; one 300Gbps SATA hard drive; and PCI Express expansion slots. The key differences: The standard-issue Xserve comes with 2GHz CPUs, three FireWire ports, and two USB 2.0 ports; the standard Mac Pro has 2.66GHz CPUs, a 256MB NVidia GeForce 7300 GT graphics card, and a 16x SuperDrive DVD burner.

Xserve’s new Internet Protocol Management Interface 2.0-compliant coprocessor responds to administrators even when Xserve is powered down or the OS fails to boot. A rack server, Xserve is scheduled to ship in October, with initial deliveries bundling OS X 10.4 with an unlimited client license. The standard retail price will be $2,999, competitive for an Intel-based rack server -- plus, Apple’s server software costs $999, a bargain compared with commercial Linux and Windows Server.

Much of the forthcoming Leopard OS remains secret, but Apple did offer intriguing details. Leopard, a 64-bit operating system, will permit the blending of 32-bit and 64-bit code at the executable, object code, and device driver levels. By contrast, Microsoft’s 64-bit Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server both require 64-bit drivers.

Another Leopard standout is Time Machine, a smart approach to file system snapshots for rapid file recovery that sports a visually stunning and extraordinarily functional UI. Other enhancements include an improved iChat, a new API for animated 3-D graphics, and a natural text-to-speech feature. And admins will appreciate the new Server Assistant, which will allow them to deploy Leopard servers as easily as desktops.

Clearly, Apple has been busy. It’s hard to believe that Leopard will ship next spring, but Apple aims to ruin Vista’s chances of early traction. During the keynote, an Apple exec cleverly demonstrated how much Vista has borrowed from the current OS X. The message is clear: By the time Vista and Longhorn Server catch OS X 10.4, Apple will have pushed the goalposts all the way out to the parking lot.

802.11n pushed further into the future

Despite the fact that Draft 1.0 of the 802.11n standard drew an unusually large number of comments, some manufacturers have already begun shipping so-called "draft-compliant" gear. It looks as though that deluge of comments will lead to a delay in the second draft of the specification, with a vote for Draft 2.0 not coming until January 2007.

802.11n is the next step up from 802.11g, offering wireless data transmission speeds of up to 600Mbps. The promise of such speeds has been enough for manufacturers and consumers alike to jump on the 802.11n bandwagon. However, as we pointed out in May, those investing in next-gen wireless might not get the return they are hoping for.

One issue is that the draft-compliant equipment may not be upgradeable up to the final spec, once one has been ratified. While Dell hopes that the 802.11n minicards it is now selling will be able to handle the finalized version of the technology via a firmware upgrade, there are no guarantees. Most - if not all - companies realize that; Linksys says that while they are confident that their products adhere "to the key and mandatory features required" in Draft 1.0, they cannot guarantee their upgradability.

The other problem comes from having a mishmash of vendors supporting an early draft of the spec: their gear doesn't play nicely together. Some cards may not be compatible with base stations from a different manufacturer. Even more troubling is that equipment from different vendors can step on one another's toes. Rolf De Vegt of Airgo Networks, which sells draft 802.11n chipsets, acknowledges this, saying that "the initial crop of products have 'bad neighbor' characteristics in early tests."

It is hoped that the IEEE task force dealing with the 802.11n spec will be able to approve a second draft of the specification early next year. Even if that happens, we are not likely to see final ratification of 802.11n until early 2008.

Speeds of 600Mbps over WiFi sounds promising, but there is still a lot of work to be done. For now, it's best to resist the temptation to live on the bleeding edge and wait until the IEEE decides what the final spec should look like.

Skype Goes Mobile With iSkoot

Skype will help market an application that will put its contact list and VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) and instant messaging services on high-end mobile phones.

The program, called iSkoot, will allow users to have the same Skype features on a mobile phone as on a PC, said Jacob Guedalia, chief executive officer of iSkoot of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Skype and iSkoot will market the application to mobile operators, who could eventually offer service packages that include iSkoot, Guedalia said. ISkoot would share in that revenue, he said. Handset manufacturers will also be courted to preload iSkoot on devices.

Skype's phone book has become an integral part of some users' lives, Guedalia said. The application allows the "ability to continue to interact with a group of people that you used to have to be sitting in front of a PC to have access to," he said.

The iSkoot interface allows users to see who on their contact list is currently online, and to check their SkypeOut account balance. The user can change their status, such as to "away," which will then be visible to others logged in to Skype at their PCs. The contact list can be refreshed, a feature enabled through the user's data plan, according to iSkoot.

When the software makes a call to a name in the Skype contact list, it first dials a regular voice call to an iSkoot gateway server. The server then transfers the call to Skype's VoIP system. Callers pay for the call to the server from their cellular calling plan. The remaining portion of the call is either free, if it's to a PC, or charged at Skype's SkypeOut rates if to a regular telephone.

For now, the gateway is available in the U.S., and will be available later this month in Europe and Asia, Guedalia said. The company is offering free use of the gateway network for a limited time; eventually, they will charge a flat rate for access, he said.

Sony Unveils Wi-Fi Personal Communicator

Sony Electronics has unveiled a wireless-enabled device aimed primarily at people who like to send text messages and make free calls over the Internet.

The new Mylo personal communicator, designed to operate on 802.11b wireless networks, will be priced at $350 and be available in September at Sony's retail stores and online shop at www.sonystyle.com.

Mylo, which stands for "my life online", will compete with a range of hybrid communication devices, including phones with cellular and Wi-Fi capabilities and a number of messaging and entertainment features.

The device features a 2.4 inch color LCD with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for quick thumb typing. It comes with embedded with instant messaging applications from several companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Skype.

An Internet browser is also embedded, with Web mail service available through Google and Yahoo. Also included is VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software from Skype.

Mylo is equipped with 1G byte of flash memory to store music, photos and video clips, and contains a directory listing more than 20,000 hotspots in the U.S.

Solar WiFi to shine in developing countries

Green WiFi, a nonprofit organization founded by two Sun Microsystems employees, has big plans for solar-powered WiFi. The organization hopes to bring Internet access to schools in developing countries by building wireless network grids with battery-powered routers connected to solar panels mounted on rooftops.

Funded by MIT's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, Green WiFi has begun development on the initial prototype nodes. The OLPC project pursues the ambitious goal of bringing $100 laptops to students in developing countries. High-profile critics have derided the OLPC project and argued that the value of the system is considerably diminished without access to broadband Internet. Green WiFi solar wireless technology could potentially resolve that issue by bringing free Internet connectivity to regions with poor infrastructure.

Each of the $200 WiFi nodes includes a specialized control mechanism that manages power consumption and can exercise "elegant degredation" to decrease the extent of coverage and reduce accessibility when the battery lacks energy. For instance, when weather conditions are such that the WiFi nodes have limited energy, the nodes could automatically limit access so that connectivity is available only to teachers and students. Green WiFi co-founder Marc Pomerleau comments, "What we bring to the table is an intelligent charge-controller. We put the router on a diet."

Built with a 10-watt Shell ST10 solar panel and a Netgear WGT634U router, Green WiFi's first prototype fared surprisingly well in early tests, providing continuous network access through 28 days of rain. The inexpensive WiFi nodes can be deployed about a kilometer apart, which means that they could potentially provide much-needed last mile coverage to rural areas with limited infrastructure and accessibility.

Although Green WiFi's power modulation technology is very innovative, solar-powered WiFi isn't a new concept. Last year, a company called Lumin helped deploy solar-powered access points in a Boulder, Colarado. Although Lumin's solar WiFi nodes don't use an energy modulation system like the Green WiFi nodes, Lumin's nodes work because the company's highly-sophisticated solar panels are capable of charging in almost any weather conditions and can even draw a charge from moonlight. Specialized solar WiFi access points are also commercially available from IR Data Corporation, and a number of other vendors. Wind-powered WiFi is also appears promising, and is being actively developed by inventor Paul Garrin.

The efficacy of energy-efficient wireless has been proven in numerous testing environments, and Green WiFi hopes that its full-scale pilot project, a mesh network for three schools in Northern India, will further validate the technology.

Yahoo launches customized search for web sites

In the ongoing battle for search engine supremacy, the major players like Google, MSN and Yahoo are always trying to one-up each other. For their latest salvo, Yahoo has introduced a quick and easy Search Builder Tool that allows web site owners to easily add a customized Yahoo search engine to their own site, at no cost to the owner.

The customization process is very simple, and takes only four steps.

The first step is to decide what sites the search engine box will look at. By default, the first is the global Yahoo index, but you can change this default to be restricted within a site of your own choosing. A third option, News, searches only the Yahoo News stories.

Secondly, you decide on the appearance of the search engine box. You can choose between a narrow 300 pixel box, a wider 600 pixel one, or a custom size. You can also add the option of showing the most popular searches below the search box. The background, border, and most popular colors can be changed, but the basic appearance (including the "Powered by Yahoo! Search" graphic that appears overlaid on top of the search engine box) cannot be changed.

Finally, you can add banner text and a logo (up to 400 by 40 pixels) that will appear at the top of the results page generated by the Yahoo Search tool. Once this is done, Yahoo generates 44 lines of HTML code that you can copy and paste into any web page on your site. The search tool can be encoded in any one of 37 languages, and when you log back into the Search Builder Tool page, Yahoo will generate statistics based on the searches generated from users at your site.

This is a handy little tool for web site owners who don't want to pay the cost of a full Google Search Appliance, but still would like to present a personalized search tool for their own web site. Yahoo is hoping that if enough people start using the service it will drive additional traffic and advertising revenue to their own search engine, as well as providing some handy advertising for Yahoo itself.

New Google Feature Flags Dangerous Sites for Users

Google has begun alerting users whenever they click on a search result that may take them to a dangerous Web site.

The new feature, which had been spotted earlier this week, goes live officially Friday, according to an announcement from The Stop Badware Coalition, which is collaborating with Google on this effort.

When users attempt to click over to a Web site considered to be potentially dangerous, Google shows users an alert page that informs them of the possible risk and gives them the option to click back to the results page or continue on to the questionable Web site.

The flagged Web sites have been reported as dangerous to The Stop Badware Coalition. Google will progressively replace the generic alert page with pages containing specific reports about the Web sites. The Stop Badware Coalition will provide these individual reports as well.

The Stop Badware Coalition is a nonprofit organization led by Harvard University and the University of Oxford and backed by Google, Lenovo Group, and Sun Microsystems.

This new Google feature attempts to address a real problem: Search engines routinely display links to Web sites that download spyware and adware to visitors' PCs, exploit security vulnerabilities and attempt to scam users and include them in spam lists.

In the U.S., people land on malicious Web sites about 285 million times per month by clicking on search results from the five major search engines, according to a recent study conducted by McAfee's SiteAdvisor unit.