John Blau

IDG News Service

Blau is a reporter for the IDG News Service.

john_blau@idg.com

Recent articles by Blau

Gartner: Notebooks drive European PC shipments in Q2
Aug. 06, 2007
PC shipments in Western Europe increased 9.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the year-earlier period, fueled by strong consumer demand, particularly for notebook computers, according to market research ...

Nokia posts big Q2 profit on one-time gain
Aug. 02, 2007
Second-quarter net profit soared at Nokia thanks to a large one-time gain from the company's new telecommunications equipment manufacturing venture with Siemens.

Raketu to add mobility to web-based VOIP
Jun. 15, 2007
Raketu Communications Inc. will add two new mobile phone features to its integrated communications, entertainment and social networking service in a move to attract consumers on the go.

Talking paper seeks cheap printing to be viable
Jun. 07, 2007
Someday consumers may find themselves listening to paper to learn more about products, receive instructions or heed warnings. That's the hope of Swedish researchers studying ways to print loudspeakers and keyboards on ...

Google, Salesforce.com to announce deal on Tuesday
May. 31, 2007
Google and Salesforce.com will announce a partnership on Tuesday, a source close to the company in Europe said Thursday.

Nokia counters with patent lawsuit against Qualcomm
May. 24, 2007
Nokia and Qualcomm have entered a new round in their high-stakes fight over patent royalties, with the Finnish handset maker landing its first counter-punch.

SAP fills gaps with two Nordic acquisitions
May. 14, 2007
In line with its acquisition strategy to fill technology gaps, SAP has purchased two privately-held Scandinavian software companies.

Vodafone launches consumer-targeted Palm smartphone
Sep. 12, 2007
As part of a strategy to generate greater revenue from mobile data services, Vodafone Group has collaborated with Palm to launch a smartphone modeled after the Treo 750v but at a fraction of the price and with a newly ...

Details emerge of new Palm smart phone
Sep. 11, 2007
Details of Palm Inc.'s new smart phone are emerging ahead of the product's launch on Wednesday.

Vodafone's new handset lineup to include iPhone rival
Sep. 10, 2007
Vodafone Group plans to launch several phones for holiday shoppers in Europe, including a high-end, touch-screen rival to Apple's iPhone.

Microsoft, Siemens VDO team on car navigation, entertainment
Sep. 07, 2007
Microsoft's in-car technology is getting a boost via a deal with a large supplier of automotive electronics. Germany's Siemens VDO Automotive AG has agreed to collaborate with it on a next-generation communication and ...

Oracle buys Bridgestream for employee role mapping
Sep. 05, 2007
Oracle has acquired Bridgestream Inc., a maker of software that helps companies map employee responsibilities, Oracle said Wednesday.

Debate rages over German government spyware plan
Sep. 05, 2007
When it comes to who can and who can't be a hacker, the German government appears to want its cake and eat it, too.

German looks to protect IT systems with security plan
Sep. 05, 2007
The German government has agreed to implement a sweeping set of security measures aimed at protecting critical IT infrastructure in the country.

IFA: Philips plans rival to TiVo personal video recorder
Sep. 04, 2007
Dutch consumer electronics manufacturer Koninklijke Philips Electronics is developing a personalized video recorder application that learns users' viewing tastes, and that could compete with TiVo.

IFA - HD DVD vendors drop prices
Aug. 31, 2007
Vendors supporting HD DVD are cutting prices to boost their products, which are vying with Blu-ray disc technology to replace current DVD movie discs.

IFA - Hitachi brings Blu-ray Disc camcorder to Europe
Aug. 31, 2007
Hitachi Ltd. will launch its digital video camcorder based on Blu-ray Disc in Europe in October, the company announced Friday at the IFA international consumer electronics show in Berlin.

IFA - Acer, China Huala Group join Blu-ray Disc camp
Aug. 30, 2007
Supporters of the Blu-ray Disc format came to Berlin armed with key announcements to underscore their commitment to the next-generation movie disc.

IFA - Deutsche Telekom offers IPTV specials
Aug. 29, 2007
Deutsche Telekom AG is lowering prices and giving away live soccer coverage to a limited number of first-come, first-serve customers to generate demand for its new Internet TV service, executives said Wednesday in ...

IFA - Battle over high-def formats comes to Berlin
Aug. 28, 2007
Visitors to the IFA consumer electronics show, which opens Friday in Berlin, will have ringside seats to the war over high-definition disc formats raging between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.

German gov't PCs hacked, China offers to investigate
Aug. 27, 2007
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao described reports of Chinese hackers breaking into German computers as a matter of "grave concern" and said Monday that his country will cooperate with Germany to resolve the matter.

EU hopes to push mobile TV with the help of satellites
Aug. 24, 2007
A European Commission plan to simplify the licensing of Europe-wide mobile satellite services could boost the nascent market for broadcast TV services over handheld devices.

Paying Skype users get a week's free service
Aug. 23, 2007
Skype is offering a week of free service to paying customers who may have been affected by the two-day outage of its Internet telephony service last week.

Apple signs iPhone deals for Europe, report says
Aug. 22, 2007
Apple has signed its first deals with mobile phone operators to offer its iPhone in three of Europe's largest markets, ending a period of intense negotiations, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Lots of questions as Europe readies for the iPhone
Aug. 22, 2007
Although few details are known about the anticipated launch of the iPhone in Europe, analysts agree that Apple Inc. could be forced to pursue a different distribution strategy than it has in the U.S. and may even tweak ...