Windows phones to miss out on new software

NEW YORK (AP) - As it struggles to gain a foothold against the iPhone and Android phones, Microsoft Corp. is planning to issue a dramatic update to its phone software, one that won't be available to current Windows Phones.

The new software, Windows Phone 8, will be available on new phones this fall, Microsoft said Wednesday at a presentation in San Francisco. The software will bring Windows phones closer to PCs and tablets running the company's upcoming Windows 8, which is also scheduled to launch later this year.

With its planned software updates -and the Surface tablet computer it introduced earlier this week- Microsoft is taking dramatic steps to ensure that it plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile market.

But the company is playing catch-up in an arena dominated by Apple and Google. Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 in 2010, making a clean break with its previous phone software, which had become outdated. Nokia Corp., until recently the world's biggest maker of phones, has pledged to use it for all its smartphones, and launched its first Windows Phone in the U.S. earlier this year.

Sales have been anemic, however. IDC estimated that 2.2 percent of the smartphones shipped worldwide in the first quarter of this year ran Microsoft's software, compared to 23 percent for Apple and 59 percent for Android. Still, U.S. wireless carriers support Windows Phone, seeing it as a valuable counterweight to the clout of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and phones running Google Inc.'s Android software.

Windows Phone is making progress in one respect. Hit games 'Words With Friends' and 'Draw Something' will be among the apps available for Windows 8. There are 100,000 applications available for Windows phones today, Microsoft said. That's far less than the number of apps available for iPhones and Android phones.

Windows Phone 8 will accept expansion memory cards, like Android phones do. It will also work on processors with more than one computing 'core,' which are common in high-end smartphones. More cores boost computing power and can cut power consumption.

The new software will also work with near-field communications chips, allowing phones to be used in place of credit cards at some payment terminals. At the conference, Microsoft's head of phone software, Joe Belfiore, demonstrated how NFC can be used to link two phones so their owners can play a Scrabble-like game. Tapping the phones together can engage NFC, and prompt the devices to establish a link over Wi-Fi.

Some recent Android phones come with NFC capabilities, but they're missing from the iPhone.

Windows Phone 8 will share the operating system 'kernel,' or most basic functions, with Windows 8 RT, which will run on tablets and computers. That means manufacturers will have an easier time making hardware that can use either system. Developers will have an easier time moving applications from one platform to the other, Microsoft said.

Changing its phone software at such a basic level means that it will be difficult to install on existing Windows phones.

Struggling BlackBerry maker begins job cuts

TORONTO (AP) - Struggling BlackBerry maker Research In Motion says it has started laying off employees as part of a restructuring plan aimed at saving about $1 billion this year.

RIM said in May that there would be 'significant layoffs' this year. On Wednesday, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said it has 'reduced some positions as part of its program and may continue to do so as the company methodically works through a review of the business.'

RIM declined to provide numbers, but will offer an update when it reports earnings June 28. RIM had about 16,500 employees in early May. The company cut 2,000 jobs last July.

The once iconic BlackBerry company is preparing to launch new software later this year, just as Americans are abandoning BlackBerrys for iPhones and Android phones.



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Samsung, LG bet on new display to revive TV sales

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean TV manufacturers are making billion dollar bets on a new display technology that promises an even thinner screen and imagery of eye-popping clarity. It might prove to be a costly last gasp of innovation from an industry finding it ever harder to excite consumers who've been wowed by smartphones and tablets.

Undeterred by the 3-D TV flop and failure of Internet connected TVs to boost sales, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. are hoping 'OLED' technology will keep them ahead in an intensely competitive business that has caused losses in the TV division of Japan's Sony for the past eight years.

The arrival of flat screen televisions 15 years ago was an advance in TV technology that tantalized consumers nearly as much as color televisions in the late 1960s. The first generation of flat screens now look positively obese next to the most recent ultra thin TVs. Picture quality has also made giant strides.

But for most consumers, such incremental changes matter less and less. Why pay for great picture clarity when good quality will do. And why pay a premium for a TV when smartphones and tablet computers can offer a similar function and much more.

When South Korean Lee Sang-hyun decided to get his first television, his priority was to find a reasonably priced TV with a screen big enough to play games. The 30-year-old office worker had a tight budget after splurging on pricey gadgets: an iPhone, an iPad and a laptop computer.

To slim down, he picked a 42-inch plasma TV without fancy features. He paid 640,000 won ($550) - less than half of the highest-end television of the same size.

Consumers like Lee epitomize the tough challenges facing makers of high-end displays. As TVs no longer enjoy a monopoly over broadcasting moving images, consumers' viewing habits are changing. People are spending less time to watch live TV shows in the living room. Smartphones and tablet computers can stream live shows and videos on demand.

But Samsung and LG are giddy about a technological leap that they are comparing to the invention of the first color TV in the early 1950s. Short for organic light-emitting diode, the wafer-thin OLED TVs boast vivid, saturated colors and deeper contrast than the TV displays now available.

They hope the technology will help them command premium prices in the face of quickly eroding TV profit margins and heightened competition from Chinese makers.

There is at least one catch in the near term though. As Samsung and LG are not yet prepared for mass production, the premium for this new technology will not be just a couple of hundred dollars. It will be several thousands.

Set to hit shelves in selected European, Asian and North American markets in time for the Christmas shopping season, the 55-inch OLED TVs by Samsung and LG will cost at least $9,000. That's more than twice as expensive as the top 55-inch model currently available.

OLED 'is the closest to the display of dreams,' said Lee Kyungshik, vice president of Samsung's TV business.

Samsung's visual display division, which makes TVs and home entertainment systems, accounted for about 17 percent of the company's 45.3 trillion won ($39 billion) of revenue in the first quarter. LG's home electronics division contributed more than 40 percent of its 12.2 trillion won of quarterly revenue.

Samsung and LG have reason to be proud of their latest achievement in display technology. Even though Sony showed off the first OLED TV in 2007 with an 11-inch screen, a bigger display never followed.

'Until the end of next year, only two companies in the world will have a capacity to make (large screen) OLED TVs: Samsung and LG,' said Jang Moon-ik, director of LG's TV business.

The last year was tough for the entire TV industry as the European debt crisis and a slow turnaround in the U.S. economy sapped demand for consumer electronics. The notable exceptions were smartphones and tablet computers.

Sales growth in LCD, or liquid crystal display, TVs slowed and plasma TV sales dropped. In 2011, worldwide annual TV shipments fell for the first time since 2004, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

The feeble global demand hit Sony Corp. especially hard. It lost a record $5.7 billion in 2011. It was the eighth straight year that once-trend-setting Japanese firm lost money in its mainstay TV business.

Samsung and LG weathered the downturn in the TV industry well enough to keep cash to invest in production lines for the new display technology. They think its profitability will not fall as quickly as LCD TVs because the technological gap is wide enough to keep late-coming rivals at bay.

Others disagree.

'The problem with the current business model is that it has a lot of imitators,' said Paul Gray, a director TV Electronics & Europe TV Research at DisplaySearch, in an email.

'The fact that Sony and Panasonic and AU Optronics Corp. are already trying to break into OLED for large screens suggests that future margins will be severely damaged by companies trying to enter the market,' he said.

News reports last month said Sony and Panasonic are in talks to form an alliance for the OLED TV business.

For Samsung and LG, a bigger challenge may not be coming from Japanese, Chinese or Taiwanese rivals but from a shift in viewing habits.

'I just needed a TV to play games and to me the screen quality didn't make a big difference,' said Lee, the office worker. 'I would have cared more about its thinness if I were buying a computer monitor.'

He said he might consider upgrading to a new television for a better screen after one or two years. By then, OLED TVs will be more affordable but less profitable for the makers.

DisplaySearch forecasts the price of a 55-inch OLED TV to decline to around $4,000 by the end of 2013 and to continue falling to about $1,500 by the end of 2015.

That price forecast is good news for consumers. For Samsung and LG, however, it means they will still be grappling with keeping their TV businesses on a sustainable footing.

'There are no single quick fixes,' said DisplaySearch's Gray. 'Success in the TV industry will also depend on understanding what the TV is used for in all the new interactive possibilities.'



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Microsoft tablet risks alienating PC makers

NEW YORK (AP) - With the unveiling of the Surface tablet, Microsoft is heading into unusual territory: competing with its partners, the very same companies that make Windows PCs. But Microsoft has little to lose, since PC manufacturers have so far had very little success with their own tablets.

With the unveiling of its tablet this week Microsoft Corp. is taking up the competition with Apple Inc. and its iPad by borrowing a page from Apple's playbook. It is keeping both software and hardware development under the same roof.

'If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the compliments from Microsoft poured down like a torrential storm on Apple last night,' said analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets.

Even Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's famously tough-talking CEO sounded downright Zen and Apple-inspired as he introduced the Surface.

'We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects of the experience - hardware and software - are considered and working together,' he said at Monday's launch event in Los Angeles.

That's a new philosophy for Microsoft, a company accustomed to writing the software, charging loads of money for it, and letting others design the hardware. Microsoft has sold hardware before, most notably the Xbox game console, which is essentially a PC. But when it ventured into the game console market, it wasn't directly treading on the toes of the big PC makers who buy Windows from it. (The exception was Sony, which makes both PCs and PlayStation consoles.)

With Surface, Microsoft faces the challenge of selling the soon-to-be-launched Windows 8 to PC makers who want to make tablets, while at the same time selling tablets directly to consumers.

Rick Sherlund, an analyst at Nomura Securities said Microsoft's hardware partners 'are no doubt unhappy' about the prospect of competing with Microsoft's tablets, particularly since Microsoft set a high bar with Surface.

Surface will come in two versions, both with screens measuring 10.1 inches diagonally, slightly larger than the iPad. One model will run on phone-style chips, just like the iPad, and will be sold for a similar price. Another, heavier and more expensive model, will run on Intel chips and be capable of running standard Windows applications.

Ballmer suggested that Microsoft is making hardware so it can kick-start Windows tablets and make sure they're competitive right from the get-go. But the company's long-term goals are unclear. Will Microsoft keep making tablets, or will it declare victory at some point and leave the field to its hardware partners?

One sign of limited long-term commitment to making its own tablets is that Microsoft will be selling the tablets only from its own stores and website. That might leave space for other manufacturers to sell Windows tablets through Best Buy and other electronics stores.

Google Inc. is in a similar position. It makes Android, the software that powers most iPad competitors. But it has also acquired Motorola Mobility, a company that makes Android tablets and phones, so now finds itself competing with hardware partners like Samsung and HTC.

But Google has made clear that it will treat Motorola as a separate, 'arms-length' business, and that it made the acquisition to get hold of Motorola's patents, which will provide legal cover not just for Google, but for other manufacturers who make Android devices.

Microsoft's position is complicated by the possibility that consumers will favor its tablet over other Windows tablets for exactly the reasons Ballmer articulated: it's made by the same company that wrote the software. That puts an end to the old Windows PC support runaround, where PC makers blame Microsoft for product failures, and Microsoft blames the PC makers. If something's wrong with Surface, buyers will know who to call.

Ronan de Renesse, an analyst at Analysys Mason, said Microsoft can afford to alienate PC makers when it comes to tablets, because they've captured such a small share of the market. Samsung Electronics and AsusTek Computer Inc. are the only PC makers who have appreciable market share in tablets, and they only make up 10 percent or so, by his estimate. Other major competitors to the iPad are Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle and Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook.

'Microsoft's move in creating its own tablet is the sign that PC manufacturers have lost the game,' Renesse said. 'The big question is, if Surface becomes as successful as the iPad, will Microsoft choose to stop licensing Windows on tablets?'

Microsoft's partners are mum. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Acer, both of which make PCs and tablets, had no comment on Microsoft's announcement. Samsung did not respond to requests for comment.

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AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima contributed to this report from Los Angeles.



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Microsoft's long and tortured history in tablets

NEW YORK (AP) - For decades, the tablet computer was like a mirage in the technology industry: a great idea, seemingly reachable on the horizon, that disappointed as hopeful companies got closer. Microsoft has experienced this cycle of hope and disappointment many times.

The device unveiled by the Redmond Wash.-based software giant on Monday -the Surface- isn't the first tablet it envisioned. Indeed, the company's engineers have been trying to reshape personal computing for as long as there's been a PC.

The first PCs had keyboards, borrowed from the typewriter. But people quickly started wondering whether pens, which are more comfortable writing tools, wouldn't be a better basis for personal computing.

Several companies worked pen-based computing in the late 1980s, and Microsoft jumped on the trend. By 1991, it released 'Windows for Pen Computing,' an add-on to Windows 3.1 that let the operating system accept input from an active 'pen' (really a stylus). Several devices used Microsoft's software, and are recognizable as the ancestors of today's tablets: They were square, portable slabs with a screen on one side. They weren't designed to respond to finger-touches, however: the reigning paradigm was that of the notepad and pen.

The pen-computing fad mostly passed. While PenWindows tablets got a lot of attention, mainstream computing remained stubbornly keyboard-based.

In 2002, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said these early tablet ventures were 'almost painful to recall,' but not to worry. He had something much better, a device that would fulfill 'a dream that I and others have had for years and years,' he said. It was Windows for XP Tablet PC Edition. This time, hardware makers like Hewlett-Packard Co., Samsung Electronics, Toshiba Corp. and Acer Group played along, producing tablet PCs.

Like the earlier generation, some of these looked like today's tablets, but inside, they were really PCs. Compared to an iPad, they were expensive - at around $1,500 - heavy, and didn't last long on battery power. Buyers paid a lot for the ability to enter things on the screen with a pen.

Another problem was that the pen-based adaptations were skin-deep. Windows remained a thoroughly keyboard-and-mouse-based operating system, and many functions were simply hard to get to with a pen. Third-party applications weren't converted for pen use at all. As a backup, many of these tablets had keyboards, just like laptops.

The tablet PCs found homes in a few business settings, where a PC that could be used while standing, at least for short periods, was welcome. But they remained a niche product, and the number of manufacturers who made tablet PCs steadily shrank.

In parallel with the Tablet PC push, Microsoft prompted partners such as Fujitsu and ViewSonic to create Smart Displays. These were big tablets intended for home use, and each one was linked to a PC through Wi-Fi, making it something of an expensive monitor with short-range portability. This was supposed to be a cheaper alternative to a full-blown tablet, but the devices reached shelves at $1,000 and more in 2003. While a Smart Display was in use, the associated PC could not be used. Very few were sold, and Microsoft cancelled the project the same year.

Microsoft gave tablets another try in 2006, launching 'Project Origami' with some of its partners. The idea was to make really small PCs with screens sensitive not just to pens, but to fingers. This time, fewer companies followed along. One of them was Samsung, which had high hopes for its 'Q1'.

But Microsoft hadn't learned much from its Tablet PC adventure. Windows was still hard to use with anything other than a keyboard. The 'Ultra-Mobile PCs' were still expensive and suffered from very short battery life - the Q1 could surf the Web for about 2 hours. One thing they did get right was weight - the Q1 weighed 1.7 pounds, just a bit more than a first-generation iPad.

In 2008, reports emerged of yet another tablet computer, or rather a 'booklet computer,' being developed by Microsoft. Code-named 'Courier,' it had two screens joined by a hinge, and facing each other. It was designed for pen and finger input. Microsoft cancelled the project in 2010, saying it was just one of many projects it tests to 'foster productivity and creativity.'

One touch-based computer that did see the light of day in 2008 was Microsoft Surface. It was more of a table than a tablet: the computer was a big box that sat on a floor, with a big, horizontal screen on top. It was intended not for home use but for store displays and similar applications. Unusually, Microsoft didn't rely on hardware partners for this product, but made and sold it on its own. Intended as a niche product, it has remained one.

Microsoft has had one notable success in the tablet space - if you apply a broad definition to the term. Its 'Pocket PC' operating system, which is distinct from Windows, ran on phone-sized hand-held 'personal digital assistants' starting around 2000. The devices were powerful compared to Palm's PDAs, the market leaders of their time. The Pocket PCs supported color screens, and could recognize casual handwriting. Compaq made good use of Microsoft's Pocket PC software in its popular iPAQ line. But PDAs were a small market, and when Pocket PC moved over to smartphones and was renamed Windows Mobile, it soon found tough competition in the shape of BlackBerrys and then iPhones.

The company that finally cracked the tablet code in 2010 was Apple, not Microsoft. Apple made the iPad a success by scaling up a phone rather than scaling down a PC, which is what Microsoft had been trying to do with the Tablet PC and Origami. Phone chips are cheap and last much longer on batteries, which meant that the iPad was both light, inexpensive and had good battery life. In addition, the iPhone software it used was designed from the ground up for touch input.

Microsoft's strategy now is similar. For the tablet-oriented version of Windows, it's borrowing design features from Windows Phone, its new smartphone system. Most importantly, the software is designed to run on phone-style chips, rather than the PC-style chips that have been the mainstay of Windows since it was created in the 1980s. It remains to be seen whether Microsoft can make its tablet vision a reality, or if it will stay a mirage.



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Microsoft unveils 'Surface' tablet computer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Microsoft has unveiled Surface, a tablet computer to compete with Apple's iPad.

CEO Steve Ballmer announced the new tablet, calling it part of a 'whole new family of devices' the company is developing.

One version of the device, which won't go on sale until sometime in the fall, is 9.3 millimeter thick and works on the Windows RT operating system. It comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and a touch keyboard cover that snaps on using magnets. The device weighs under 1.5 pounds and will cost about as much as other tablet computers.

The size is similar to the latest iPad, which is 9.4 millimeters thick and weighs 1.3 pounds. Microsoft also promised that the Surface's price tag will be similar to the iPad, which sells for $499 to $829, depending on the model.

Microsoft's broadside against the iPad is a dramatic step to ensure that its Windows software plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile computing market.

'They are saying it's a different world now and are trying to put the sexy back into the Microsoft brand,' said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Microsoft is linking the Surface's debut with the release of its much-anticipated Windows 8 operating system, which has been designed with tablets in mind. The company hasn't specified when Windows 8 will hit the market, but most analysts expect the software to come out in September or October.

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, called the device a 'tablet that's a great PC -a PC that's a great tablet.'

A slightly thicker version -still less than 14 millimeters thick and under 2 pounds - will work on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 Pro operating system and cost as much as an Ultrabook, the company said. The pro version comes with a stylus that allows users to make handwritten notes on documents such as PDF files.

Each tablet comes with a keyboard cover that is just 3 millimeters thick. The kickstand for both tablets was just 0.7 millimeters thick, less than the thickness of a credit card.

Although the Surface looks like an elegant device, Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps criticized Microsoft for not using attention focused on Monday's announcement to highlight some of the reasons that it might be a better option than the iPad. For instance, she thinks Microsoft could have shown on its video calling service, Skype, will work on Surface or how people might be able to use its motion-control sensor, Kinect, on the tablet.

'I am excited about this product, but it felt like Microsoft was pulling punches with this announcement,' Epps said. 'Hardware is only part of the dynamic. They need to explain how Microsoft manufacturing this device will change people's experience with a tablet.'

Microsoft also may be limiting the Surface's impact by limiting the initial sales to its own stores and online channels.

The cautious approach may be part of Microsoft's attempt to minimize a possible backlash to an expansion that will thrust it into competition with some of its longtime business partners and customers.

Manufacturing a tablet represents a departure from Microsoft's highly successful strategy in the PC market.

With PCs, Microsoft was content to leave the design and marketing of the hardware to other companies, such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and Acer, that licensed the Windows operating system and other software applications.

The more hands-on approach may upset some.

'Are their partners going to be happy about it? No, but there isn't much they can do about it,' said Gartner's Milanesi.

Epps also believes Microsoft runs the risk of alienating key partners. Microsoft may even be able to build a sleeker device than traditional PC makers because it won't have to pay licensing fees for an operating system.

Microsoft has been making software for tablets since 2002, when it shipped the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Many big PC makers produced tablets that ran the software, but they were never big sellers. The tablets were based on PC technology, and were heavy, with short battery lives.

Microsoft didn't say how long the Surface would last on battery power.

It won't be the first time Microsoft has ventured into hardware, or even its first computer, in the broader sense. The Xbox game console is essentially a PC designed to connect to a TV and play video games.

Microsoft has also made its own music player, the Zune, and a line of phones, the Kin. In both cases, it produced these products after hardware partners had failed to produce competitive products with Microsoft's software.

Both products were failures. The Zune gained favorable reviews when it launched in 2006, but still couldn't hold its own against the iPod, and was discontinued last year. The Kin phones were panned and pulled from shelves within two months of their launch in 2010.

The Xbox, on the other hand, didn't tread on the toes of any Microsoft partners. Launched in 2001, it has made Microsoft a major player in console gaming, alongside Sony and Nintendo. But it was a money-loser for many years, and while it's been profitable more recently, it's only marginally so, especially when compared to Microsoft's lucrative software business.

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AP Technology Writers Michael Liedtke in San Francisco and Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.



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Oracle's 4Q earnings rise 8 pct, top analyst views

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Oracle's latest quarterly earnings climbed 8 percent to top analyst expectations.

The business software maker surprised investors by releasing the results Monday. The fiscal fourth-quarter report had been scheduled to come out Thursday.

Oracle Corp. didn't give a reason for the change of plans.

The company earned $3.45 billion, or 69 cents per share, for the three months ending in May. That compared to income of $3.2 billion, or 62 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for items unrelated to its ongoing business, Oracle says it would have earned 82 cents per share. On that basis, Oracle exceeded the average estimate of 78 cents per share held among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue edged up 1 percent from last year to $10.9 billion.



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'Major' Microsoft announcement

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Microsoft is expected to make a 'major' announcement Monday. Speculation about the Los Angeles media event is that the company plans to unveil either a tablet computer or a system that uses an upcoming version of Windows to help people access TV shows and movies across a range of devices.

A Microsoft-branded tablet wouldn't come as a complete surprise. In April, Microsoft announced a $300 million, 17.6 percent stake in Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book business.

Microsoft Corp.'s next operating system, Windows 8, is designed to run desktop, laptop and tablet computers. PC makers are hoping it offers them a better chance to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPad. Windows 8 is expected to be released in September or October, in time for devices that ship for the holiday season.

'This will be a major Microsoft announcement - you will not want to miss it,' the company said in an email invite to the media on Thursday. A company spokesman declined to comment further.

The event, set to start at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, is being kept under such tight wraps that the company has declined to provide its location until Monday.



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Governments asking Google to remove more content

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - U.S. authorities are leading the charge as governments around the world pepper Google with more demands to remove online content and turn over information about people using its Internet search engine, YouTube video site and other services.

Google Inc. provided a glimpse at the onslaught of government requests in a summary posted on its website late Sunday. The breakdown covers the final six months of last year. It's the fifth time that Google has released a six-month snapshot of government requests since the company engaged in a high-profile battle over online censorship with China's communist leadership in 2010.

The country-by-country capsule illustrates the pressure Google faces as it tries to obey the disparate laws in various countries while trying to uphold its commitment to free expression and protect the sanctity its more than 1 billion users' personal information.

Governments zero in on Google because its services have become staples of our digital-driven lives. Besides running the Internet's most dominant search engine, Google owns the most watched video site in YouTube, operates widely used blogging and email services and distributes Android, the top operating system on mobile phones. During the past year, Google has focused on expanding Plus, a social networking service, that boasts more than 170 million users.

Many of the requests are legitimate attempts to enforce laws governing hot-button issues ranging from personal privacy to hate speech.

But Google says it increasingly fields requests from government agencies trying to use their power to suppress political opinions and other material they don't like.

'It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect - Western democracies not typically associated with censorship,' Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post.

That comment may have been aimed at the U.S., where police prosecutors, courts and other government agencies submitted 187 requests to remove content from July through December last year, more than doubling from 92 requests from January through June.

Only Brazil's government agencies submitted more content removal requests with a total of 194 during the final half of last year. But that figure was down from 224 requests in Brazil during the first half of the year.

Brazil's requests covered a more narrow range of content than the U.S. demands. The submissions from Brazil covered 554 different pieces of content while the U.S. requests sought to censor nearly 6,200 items.

One U.S. request from a local law enforcement agency asked Google to remove 1,400 YouTube videos for alleged harassment. Without identifying the requesting agency or the targeted videos, Google said it rejected the demand.

Google wound up at least partially complying with 42 percent of the content removal requests in the U.S. and 54 percent in the Brazil.

Other governments frequently reaching out to Google included Germany (103 content-removal requests, down 18 percent from the previous six-month period), and India (101 requests, a 49 percent increase).

At least four countries - Bolivia, the Czech Republic, Jordan and Ukraine - asked Google to remove content for the first time during the final six months of last year.

Governments also are leaning Google more frequently for information about people suspected of breaking the law or engaging in other mischief.

The U.S. government filed 6,321 requests with Google for user data during the final six months of the year. That was far more than any other country, according to Google, and a 6 percent increase from the previous six months. Google complied with 93 percent of the U.S. requests for user data, encompassing more than 12,200 accounts.

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Online:

http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/

.



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Ahead of the Bell: 'Major' Microsoft announcement

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Microsoft is expected to make a 'major' announcement after the market closes Monday.

Speculation about the Los Angeles media event has ranged from an unveiling of a new tablet computer that uses low-power chips to a new system that will use an upcoming version of Windows to help people access TV shows and movies across a range of devices.

Microsoft announced a $300 million, 17.6 percent stake in Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book business in April, so a tablet-focused update is also expected.

The Windows 8 system is expected to be released in September or October, in time for devices that will ship for the holiday season. Windows 8 is considered to be the biggest change in decades to the widely used operating system from Microsoft Corp. It has been designed so that it can run desktop, laptop and tablet computers, giving PC makers a better chance of competing with Apple Inc.'s iPad.

'This will be a major Microsoft announcement - you will not want to miss it,' the company said in an email invite to the media on Thursday. A company spokesman declined to comment further.

The event, set to start at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, is being kept under such tight wraps that the company has declined to provide its location until Monday.



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Fairfax Media to shed 1,900 jobs over 3 years

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australian multimedia company Fairfax Media Ltd. announced Monday it will shed 1,900 jobs over three years as part of a restructure.

The Sydney-based company will shed almost one fifth of its 10,000 staff, spokesman Brad Hatch said.

The company also said that its The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age broadsheet newspapers will become tabloids and their websites will introduce pay walls from early next year.

Australia's largest newspaper publisher after News Corp. also said it would close two printing facilities in Sydney and Melbourne by June 2014.

Both sites have printing presses with significant surplus capacity which is no longer required, Fairfax said.

'Readers' behaviors have changed and will not change back,' chief executive Greg Hywood said in a statement.

'As a result, we are taking decisive actions to fundamentally change the way we do business,' he added.

Hywood said Fairfax devised the changes after considering the merits of a full range of structural alternatives, including a demerger.

'The package of strategic initiatives is bold, and several are difficult, particularly as they will impact on some of our people,' he said

'However, we believe that they are in the best interests of Fairfax, our shareholders, and ultimately the majority of our people,' he said.

'They are necessary to ensure Fairfax retains its position as a leading independent media company and a key voice in our markets,' he added.

The measures will have a one-off cost of about 248 million Australian dollars ($251 million), and result in annual savings of AU$235 million from June 2014.

Fairfax shares rose more than 4 percent to 63 Australian cents in early trading on the Australian stock market after the announcement.

In New Zealand, the stock market on Monday morning temporarily halted trading in shares of Trade Me, an online auction site that is majority owned by Fairfax, while Fairfax sold down its stake.

Trade Me company secretary Linda Cox said in a statement that Fairfax sold 15 percent of the company to a range of institutional investors at a 3.2 percent discount to the closing price on Friday.

Fairfax raised about AU$160 million from the sale, and retains a 51 percent stake in Trade Me.

Fairfax owns more than 300 newspapers, 50 websites and 15 radio stations in Australia and New Zealand.

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Associated Press writer Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.



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'Madagascar 3' stampedes, 'Rock,' Sandler flop

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Zoo animals remain hot at the box office. Singing stars and Adam Sandler are not.

Ben Stiller and his voice co-stars of 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' held on to the No. 1 spot again with $35.5 million for the animated sequel's second weekend.

Studio estimates Sunday put Ridley Scott's sci-fi adventure 'Prometheus' at No. 2 again with $20.2 million.

'Madagascar 3' and 'Prometheus' held off two underachieving newcomers. The star-studded musical 'Rock of Ages' flopped at No. 3 with $15.1 million.

Sandler's 'That's My Boy' bombed with $13 million, the worst showing for one of his broad comedies since the mid-1990s. 'That's My Boy' came in at No. 5, behind the $13.8 million for 'Snow White & the Huntsman,' a film that's been out for three weekends already.



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Phones gain ability to learn by touching

NEW YORK (AP) - There's a form of extra-sensory perception called psychometry, whose practitioners claim to learn things about objects by touching them. Smartphones set to be released this month by Samsung and Sony will have some of that ability: they'll learn things when you touch them to pre-programmed 'tags.'

For example, you can program a tag with your phone number, and stick it on your business card. When someone taps their phone to the card, the phone would call you. Or you can put a tag on your night stand. Place the phone there, and it goes into 'alarm clock' mode, holding your calls until the morning.

Samsung Electronics Co. announced this week that it will be selling these tags in the form of stickers it calls 'TecTiles' - $15 for 5 of them. They'll work with its new flagship Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, set to launch in a few weeks, and several others already in the market, including the HTC EVO 4G LTE sold by Sprint Nextel.

Sony Corp.'s Xperia Ion, to be released June 24, will come with the ability to read different coin-like plastic tags that read 'Home,' ''Office' and so forth. The tags cost $20 for four, and the phone can be programmed to react differently to each tag. The 'Car' tag can launch a navigation application, for instance. Tapping 'Home' can send a text message to the rest of the family that you're home, and set the ringer volume to maximum.

The big push behind the technology, which is known as Near-Field Communications, comes from companies that see the phone as the wallet of the future. When touched to payment terminals, NFC-equipped phones can act as credit or debit cards.

But turning phones into credit cards is a tall order. Mobile payments already work with a few phones, but broad adoption is being held up while cellphone companies, banks, payment processors and retailers work out who pays for what and who benefits.

This ability to sense things close by is made possible by a new type of communications hardware in phones, complementing long-range cellular radios, medium-range Wi-Fi and short-range Bluetooth.

The latest version of Google Inc.'s Android software, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, comes with the ability to use NFC to communicate from phone to phone. When the backs are tapped together, the owners can trade information like contacts.

Samsung takes this one step further with the Galaxy S III. Tap two phones together, and they set up a connection via Wi-Fi. That means the owners can walk away from each other, and as long as they're in the same room or so, they can transfer photos and even hefty video files between their phones.

There are issues to work out. The Samsung tags can be read by any phone running 'Ice Cream Sandwich,' but that doesn't include the Sony phone. Samsung and HTC phones won't recognize the Sony tags.

Apple Inc., whose iPhones are trendsetters in many ways, hasn't built NFC into them -yet. Its patent filings hint at an interest in NFC, but they've given no clue when the technology might show up in iPhones.

Nick Holland, an analyst with Yankee Group, believes NFC will shine first in non-payment applications, because they're easier to sort out, and the technology has many uses. There have been NFC trials in Sweden, using phones as hotel room keys, he points out. Another compelling use case would be Wi-Fi hotspots. A cafe that wants to limit access to the local hotspot might let patrons tap their phones against a tag instead of having them laboriously enter a password.

'There's been an over-focus on the wallets,' Holland said. 'It's a technology that's not designed purely for payments.'

For advertisers, NFC tags could replace the so-called 'QR' codes - two-dimensional bar codes that need to be photographed with specially downloaded software to be deciphered, so they can send a consumer to the advertiser's website or earn them a coupon for a discount. QR codes work at a distance, unlike NFC tags, but have significant drawbacks.

'Someone described them as 'digital vomit' recently. You can't make them look pretty,' Holland said.

Each NFC tag includes a tiny chip, which explains the relatively high prices Samsung and Sony are charging. Those prices will come down, Holland said, as adoption rises. QR codes, of course, have the advantage of being very cheap, since they can be created on a simple printer.

The big makers of NFC chips are NXP Semiconductors N.V., a Dutch company, and Inside Secure, a French one. But competition is looming, Holland said, from bigger chip companies like Broadcom Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc.

'Basically, anyone who's making chips is looking at NFC as a new area they could move into,' Holland said.



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Facebook seeks to consolidate post-IPO lawsuits

NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook is seeking to consolidate the more than 40 lawsuits it faces following its rocky initial public offering of stock last month.

In a filing with a judicial panel on Friday, Facebook and the banks overseeing its IPO also outlined their case against the lawsuits, which they hope to consolidate in New York. They seek to put part of the blame on the Nasdaq.

Many of the lawsuits center on Facebook's May 9 disclosure that the number of mobile users it has is growing faster than revenue. The lawsuits claim that analysts at the big underwriters then lowered their forecasts and disclosed this with only a handful of clients.

Facebook and the banks say they did nothing illegal or even out of the ordinary.



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Privacy breach discovered in Internet address bids

NEW YORK (AP) - The organization in charge of introducing new Internet addresses to rival '.com' says it briefly suspended access to some documents on its website after it discovered a privacy breach.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers says it had mistakenly published postal addresses of individuals making bids for the names - contact information that was meant to be private. The disclosure was limited to cities and countries in some cases, while full street addresses appeared in others.

The discovery came late Thursday, a day after ICANN revealed nearly 2,000 proposals for new Internet suffixes and posted details on its website.

ICANN restored access to those documents after removing the contact information. It's not clear how long that took. ICANN did not immediately respond to requests for more information.



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Russian Internet CEO launches robotics fund in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) - The co-founder of a large Russian Internet company wants to invest in the types of robotics envisioned in 'The Jetsons' - that 1960s cartoon portraying a family from the future, with flying cars, robot maids and all sorts of push-button inventions.

The robots that Dmitry Grishin is looking for are aimed at the mass market. Beyond vacuum-cleaning devices, this could include robotics technologies used in transportation, entertainment or health care. He compares where the robotics industry is now to where computers were early 1980s, when companies were first bringing PCs to regular people's desktops.

Grishin, the co-founder and chief executive of Mail.ru, believes robotics is ripe for the same sort of revolution, but the industry needs funding. So he is putting up $25 million to start a venture fund that will invest in robotics aimed at daily life.

Grishin Robotics will be based in New York, a city trying to establish itself as a technology hub to rival Silicon Valley. He says he picked New York in part because of its central location, its status as an international financial center and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's support of technology and innovation.

Grishin plans to announce the fund at the invitation-only f.ounders technology conference in New York on Friday. The fund will focus on companies in the early, but not the earliest stages of development. That means companies with products ready to be built and sold to people.

He acknowledges such investments can be risky. After all, the field is new and unproven, and it could take many years to pay off. But he says that 'if you want significant progress, you need people to take the risks.'

Otherwise, he adds, we wouldn't have electric cars, radios or space travel.

Grishin, who studied robotics and complex automation at Moscow's State Technical University, says that over the past few years, much of the investment and innovation in technology has focused on the Internet, on smartphones and software. (Mail.ru owns a small stake in Facebook.)

He hopes that this will change with venture funding for robotics startups.

Malaysia sets 2 new rules for rare earth plant

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's government has imposed two new conditions on a rare earth refinery set up by Australian miner Lynas to assuage public fears of radioactive pollution.

Tan Bun Teet, who heads the 'Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas' coalition, said Friday the group received a letter from the science ministry rejecting its appeal to revoke a license granted to Lynas earlier this year. The letter cited a lack of scientific and technical justification.

Rare earths are 17 minerals used in the manufacture of hybrid cars, weapons, flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, mercury-vapor lights, and camera lenses. China has about a third of the world's rare earth reserves but supplies about 90 percent of what is consumed. It has placed restrictions on exports, sparking causing among manufacturers from Japan to the U.S.

The Malaysian government held a public hearing to review its decision amid protests by residents and civil groups over alleged health and environmental risks posed by potential leaks of radioactive waste. Controversy over the project poses a headache to the government with general elections expected this year.

Tan said the ministry instead told Lynas to submit a plan to immobilize radioactive elements in its waste, and an emergency response plan on dust control.

'The two conditions are flimsy and general in nature. They are not specific enough and will in no way safeguard or appease the fears of residents living in the area,' he told The Associated Press. The group plans to challenge the government decision in court, he said.

The science ministry said in a statement Friday it rejected the coalition's appeal because there was 'no strong justification nor scientific or technical basis' for it.

The ministry said the refinery would only be allowed to operate once Lynas complies with all the requirements, including the two extra conditions.

Lynas officials couldn't be immediately reached for comments.

The Lynas plant in northern Pahang state will be the first rare earth refinery outside of China in years, and is expected to meet nearly a third of world demand for rare earths, excluding China.

Lynas has said its plant, which has state-of-the-art pollution control, was ready to go but the government review has blocked the company from bringing in raw material. The plant will refine ore from Australia.

Officials said the first phase of the plant cost 1.5 billion ringgit ($472 million), while construction of the second phase costing another 1 billion ringgit ($315 million) has started and is expected to double production capacity once completed by next year.

Lynas said output for the first phase has been sold out for the next decade and that the delay was causing losses to its suppliers and customers.

Malaysia's last rare earth refinery - operated by Japan's Mitsubishi group in northern Perak state - was closed in 1992 following protests and claims that it caused birth defects and leukemia among residents. It is one of Asia's largest radioactive waste cleanup sites.

___

Associated Press writer Sean Yoong contributed to this report.



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Q&A on plans to expand the Internet address system

NEW YORK (AP) - Here are some questions and answers regarding plans to expand the Internet address system:

Q. What are domain names?

A. Think of them as shortcuts for navigating the Internet. Just as it's easier to find the Empire State Building at 350 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan rather than through its GPS coordinates, it's easier to type in 'ap.org' rather than remember '165.1.59.220.' Google and other search engines have reduced the need for domain names. But these search engines are essentially catalogs of the Internet, and they depend on the domain name to take you to what you're looking for. Also, domain names aren't used only for websites. The part after the 'at' symbol in email addresses is the domain name.

Q. How many domain names are out there?

A. There are millions of domain names including 'bbc.co.uk' and 'Microsoft.com.' If you're just thinking of the suffix, formally known as the top-level domain name, there are currently 312. The most popular is '.com,' with about 100 million names registered. Anybody willing to pay $10 or less a year can get one. Others are restricted to certain groups, including '.aero' for the aviation industry and '.edu' for U.S. colleges and universities. The bulk of the suffixes are two-letter designations for countries and territories, such as '.fr' for France and '.aq' for Antarctica. Some countries also have suffixes in their native languages, so websites in China can use the Chinese equivalent of China rather than '.cn.'

Q. Is the list static?

A. Suffixes come and go. The European Union gained '.eu,' while Midway Islands and other U.S. minor outlying islands lost '.um.' Following East Timor's independence, '.tp' became '.tl.' A handful of others got added over the years, including '.biz' for businesses and '.xxx' for porn sites. On Thursday, bidding will begin for up to 1,000 more suffixes each year.

Q. Who decides these things?

A. An organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is in charge of domain name policies. The U.S. government, which funded much of the Internet's early development, delegated the task to that group in 1998. ICANN is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in California and has board members from around the world, though the Commerce Department retains limited oversight of the group.

Q. How do I get my own suffix?

A. Begin by submitting an application - and paying a fee of $185,000. You'll need to make a 10-year commitment, during which you're liable for annual fees of at least $25,000. The money will pay for ICANN's costs setting up the system, reviewing applications and making sure parties do what they have promised once the suffix is operational. Some of the money will be set aside for potential lawsuits from unsuccessful applicants and others.

Q. I love Apple. When can I get my own website address ending in Apple?

A. Like many companies, Apple Inc. hasn't said whether it will seek '.Apple.' It's also possible that an apple-growers group or the Beatles' management company, Apple Corps, will make a bid. It will be up to the company or organization winning the bid to decide whether a suffix is open to general use. It's doubtful Apple Inc. would let the public claim '.Apple' names if it gets the suffix, but entrepreneurs will likely propose other suffixes, such as '.web' and '.nyc,' specifically for broader use.



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New Internet suffix bids include '.lol,' 'bank.'

NEW YORK (AP) - If Google has its way, you won't need 'Google.com' to do your searches. You can simply go to '.Google.'

New York City wants Internet addresses ending in '.nyc,' while several companies and groups are looking to create '.doctor,' ''.music' and '.bank.' Google Inc. is also seeking '.YouTube' and '.lol' - the digital shorthand for 'laugh out loud.' Others are looking to attract non-English speakers with suffixes in a variety of languages.

Some 2,000 proposals have been submitted as part of the largest expansion of the Internet address system since its creation in the 1980s. These suffixes would rival '.com' and about 300 others now in use. Companies would be able to create separate websites and separate addresses for each of their products and brands, for instance, even as they keep their existing '.com' name. One day, you might go to 'comedy.YouTube' rather than 'YouTube.com/comedy.'

The organization behind the expansion, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will announce a full list and other details in London on Wednesday.

It'll take at least a year or two, however, for the first of these new suffixes to win approval and appear in use.

Some of them never will if they are found to violate trademarks or are deemed offensive. Others will be delayed as competing bidders quarrel for easy-to-remember words such as '.web.' When multiple applications seek the same suffix, ICANN will encourage parties to work out an agreement. ICANN will hold an auction if the competing bidders fail to reach a compromise.

The expansion, already several years in the works, had been delayed by more than a month this spring because of technical glitches with the application system.

From a technical standpoint, the names let Internet-connected computers know where to send email and locate websites. But they've come to mean much more. Amazon.com Inc., for instance, has built its brand around the domain name.

Alex Stamos, whose Artemis Internet company is bidding for '.secure,' said the expansion will 'create much more specific neighborhoods with specific focus and goals.'

Stamos envisions '.secure' as a neighborhood for banks, medical professionals, payroll providers and others needing to establish consumer trust. Websites that adopt '.secure' instead of '.com' in their names would go through additional screening and be required to follow certain security practices such as encryption of all Web traffic.

The suffixes are restricted to the richest companies and groups, who paid $185,000 per proposal. If approved, each suffix would cost at least $25,000 a year to maintain, with a 10-year commitment required. By comparison, a personal address with a common suffix such as '.com' usually costs less than $10 a year.

ICANN has received at least $350 million in applications fees, which will pay for the organization's costs setting up the system, reviewing applications and making sure parties do what they have promised once the suffix is operational. Some of the money will be set aside to cover potential lawsuits from unsuccessful applicants and others.

Despite the startup costs, suffixes could potentially generate millions of dollars a year for winning bidders. For instance, a startup company called ICM Registry now receives some $60 a year for every '.xxx' registered, including money from colleges and universities that have been buying names such as 'KUgirls.xxx' to make sure others can't. That startup now wants '.sex,' ''.porn' and '.adult.'

Stamos said he expects to charge thousands of dollars for a '.secure' name. The idea is to attract just those businesses that need the higher level of security.

Not all bidders will be looking to sell names under their suffixes, though. Google, for instance, may decide to keep '.Google' for its own sites, though it indicated it might open '.YouTube' for brands to create video channels. Google declined comment on specifics beyond a recent blog post.

Skeptics worry that an expansion will mean more addresses available to scams that use similar-sounding names such as 'Amazom' rather than 'Amazon' to trick people into giving passwords and credit card information. Others worry that new suffixes could create additional platforms for hate groups or lead to addresses ending in obscenities. ICANN spent years crafting guidelines meant to curtail nefarious activities, but critics say there aren't enough safeguards in place. Critics include a coalition of business groups worried about protecting their brands in newly created names.

There's also a question of how useful the new names will be, at least among English speakers. Alternatives to '.com' introduced over the past decade have had mixed success. These days, Internet users often find websites not by typing in the address but by using a search engine. And with mobile devices getting more popular, people are using apps to bypass Web browsers entirely.

The demand for new suffixes appears greater outside the U.S. That's because many of the '.com' names had been grabbed by Americans who got on the Internet first. In addition, suffixes had been largely limited to the 26 letters of the English alphabet until now.

'I don't think any of these will be the next dot-com,' said Bhavin Turakhia, founder and CEO of Directi Group, a Dubai company that is seeking '.click,' ''.baby,' ''.insurance' and 28 others. 'Dot-com had too much of a legacy to be outdone in a short period of time. But it has potential to be a very strong alternative and over time capture reasonable market share.'

ICANN has already allowed two major expansions of the addressing system. In 2000, it approved seven new domains, including '.info' and '.biz.' It began accepting new bids again in 2004. It added seven from that round, including '.xxx' last year. It also cleared others on an ad hoc basis, including '.eu' for the European Union and '.ps' for the Palestinian territories.

Under the new system, the application process will be streamlined and allow for up to 1,000 new suffixes a year.



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New Apple mobile software gets maps, Siri updates

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Most of Apple's mobile devices will get a new operating system this fall, including a different mapping service and a built-in bond with Facebook.

The company says its iOS 6 software will sport more than 200 new features, though some won't be available on all devices. It will be a free upgrade for iPhones released since 2009, as well as last year's and this year's iPad models. It will also work with newer iPod Touch devices.

Without providing a specific date, Apple said the updated software will be released this fall. Apple typically upgrades its mobile software around the same time it starts selling a new iPhone. Last year, it happened in October to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. A preview version of the new iOS was made available to application developers starting Monday.

Here are some highlights of iOS 6:

- Maps.

Apple's mobile devices will have a mapping program, built in-house.

In the past, Apple has given prominent billing to Google Inc.'s mapping app. But the two companies have increasingly become rivals as people buy more devices running Google's Android operating system. Google also has been keeping some features, including turn-by-turn directions spoken aloud, exclusive to Android.

Apple's new Maps application will have a voice navigation feature. It will have real-time traffic data and offer alternative routes as traffic conditions change.

It will also include 'flyover' three-dimensional images taken by helicopters hired by the company to fly over major cities. Google said last week that it has been dispatching its own planes to produce similar 3D images that will soon be available on its mapping service.

Apple's map program will be integrated with its Siri virtual assistant so that you can ask for directions and pose other questions.

- Facebook.

The new software promises better integration with Facebook. The idea is you enter your password just once, and you can post to Facebook from a variety of apps. You can also post about websites directly from Apple's Safari browser.

Facebook will be integrated with Apple's online app store so that you can declare that you 'like' specific apps there, as well as songs and movies in iTunes.

Events in Facebook's calendar and birthdays of Facebook friends will also appear on your phone's calendar.

- Siri.

IOS 6 will have enhancements to Siri, which interprets voice commands and talks back to the user. It is also coming to the iPad for the first time.

Since Siri was introduced in October with the iPhone 4S, Siri has been 'studying up and learning a lot more,' says Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president for iPhone software. Siri's sharpened intellect will be especially apparent when the voice assistant is fielding questions about movies, restaurants and other things, according to Forstall.

He demonstrated that by having Siri tell whether LeBron James or Kobe Bryant is the taller basketball player. Siri replies, 'LeBron James appears to be slightly taller' as the cards of both players are displayed on an iPhone screen.

Apple says it is partnering with Yelp Inc. so that Siri can include ratings and prices of restaurants when you ask her about places to eat. The company is also partnering with OpenTable Inc. to make reservations.

Siri will now be available in more languages and more countries.

Apple also says it's working with car manufacturers to let you use a button on the steering wheel to talk to Siri, allowing you to keep your hands on the road. Apple says General Motors Co., BMW AG and Daimler AG's Mercedes are among the automakers that have promised to offer Siri integration in the next 12 months.

- Calls

Don't want to be disturbed?

Apple's new software will give you more options for preventing messages and text notifications from disturbing you at night, for instance.

You can control how and when you get back to people. If you can't call someone back right away, you can set a reminder to call that person back later or have a text message sent directly to the caller.

There's a 'call when you leave' feature that reminds you to call back when you are leaving a building or office. The phone can detect when you are leaving.

- Passbook

Apple's new Passbook feature will be a central place to keep your boarding passes, tickets and gift cards.

When you get to a Starbucks, for instance, the device will bring up your gift card if you have one and if you have the location feature turned on. Likewise, when you get to a movie theater or baseball stadium, the ticket will pop up. Passbook will also alert you to gate changes and flight delays once you have a boarding pass stored.

Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin suspects Passbook will be the foundation for a digital commerce hub that Apple is trying to implant on its mobile devices starting with the next iPhone. 'This looks like a harbinger of a digital wallet that could handle a variety of transactions,' Golvin said.



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Apple kicks Google Maps off iPhone, adds Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Apple is kicking an important Google application off its iPhone and buddying up with Facebook rather than Google's social network, as it distances itself from a bitter rival in the phone arena.

Google's Maps application has resided on the iPhone since Apple launched the very first version of the phone in 2007. It's one of the core apps on the phone, and can't be deleted by the user.

But on Monday, Apple executives said Google Maps will be replaced by an Apple-developed app in iOS 6, the new operating system for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. It's set to be released late this year.

Apple and Google are locked in a fight over the attention of hundreds of millions of phone users, and the advertising opportunities that come with owning a mapping application.

Smartphones from companies like Samsung and Google's own Motorola division are the chief alternatives to the iPhone, and Apple has been suing those manufacturers in court, accusing them of ripping off the iPhone's ground-breaking features.

Apple also said it's building Facebook into iOS 6, snubbing the Google Plus social network. Users will be able to update their Facebook status by talking to their phones, and 'like' movies and apps in Apple's iTunes store, Apple executive Scott Forstall said.

The announcements were part of the keynote presentation that kicked off Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple presented new features in both phone and Mac software, plus updated laptops. But investors were mildly disappointed, as they expected more substantive news, like a hint of Apple's ambition to get into making TVs. Analysts had speculated that Apple would at least update the software on the Apple TV, a small box that connects a TV set to iTunes for movie downloads, as a prelude to perhaps launching a fully integrated TV set.

Apple shares closed down $9.15, or 1.6 percent, at $571.17.

Apple updates its iOS software every year, to coincide with the launch of a new iPhone.

Among other updates in iOS 6, Apple's voice-command application Siri will add a host of new languages, including Spanish, Korean and Mandarin Chinese, Forstall said. 'She' will also be able to launch applications and movies, and will run on iPads for the first time.

Apple also said the new version of its Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, will go on sale next month for $20. The update brings features from Apple's phone and tablet software, like the iMessage texting application, to the Mac.

Microsoft Corp., Apple's competitor when it comes to computer software, is also making Windows more like its phone software, with the release of Windows 8 later this year. A key difference is that Microsoft is betting that PCs will have touch screens, while Apple is betting they won't.

Mountain Lion will also bring dictation to Macs. Users will be able to input text by talking to the computer, in any program. This is already a feature of Microsoft Corp.'s competing Windows software.

On the hardware side, Apple showed off a laptop with a super-high resolution 'Retina' display, setting a new standard for screen sharpness.

The new MacBook Pro will have a 15-inch screen and four times the resolution of previous models, Apple executive Phil Schiller said.

Apple already uses 'Retina' displays - with individual pixels too small to be distinguished by the naked eye - in its latest iPhones and iPads.

On the phones and tablets, the Retina display is a standard feature. On the MacBook, it's an expensive upgrade. The new MacBook will cost $2199 and up, $400 more than the non-Retina MacBook with the same-sized screen.

The new MacBook borrows features from the ultra-slim MacBook Air. It's only slightly thicker, and like the Air, lacks a DVD drive. Instead of a spinning hard drive, it uses flash memory for storage. In the most radical departure from the last decades of PC design, it lacks an Ethernet port. Those who don't want to use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet will have to buy an adapter that goes into the MacBook's 'Thunderbolt' port.

Apple's other MacBooks are being updated with the latest processors from Intel Corp. Apple will still sell a more traditional 15-inch MacBook Pro, with a standard display.

___

Peter Svensson contributed from New York.



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APPLE LIVE: Map app, Facebook integration at Apple

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - New iPhone and Mac software and updated Mac computers were among the highlights Monday at Apple Inc.'s annual conference for software developers. The updates include Apple's own mapping service, better integration with social networks and an improved virtual assistant in Siri.

The Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco runs through Friday. Here's what's coming out of the show on Monday. All times are PDT.

___

11:54 a.m.

CEO Tim Cook ends the presentation by touting the company's ability to deliver on hardware, software and services.

___

11:51 a.m.

Apple says its mobile devices will get a new operating system, iOS 6, this fall. It will support iPhones released since 2009, as well as last year's and this year's iPad models. It will also work with newer iPod Touch devices.

The update will be free, though some features won't be available on all devices. The iOS 6 software will sport more than 200 new features.

___

11:47 a.m.

Apple's mobile devices will have a mapping program built in-house.

In the past, Apple has given prominent billing to Google Inc.'s mapping app. But the two companies have increasingly become rivals as people buy more devices running Google's Android operating system.

Apple's map program will be integrated with Siri so that you can ask questions.

It will also include 'flyover' images taken by helicopters hired by the company to fly over major cities. Google said last week it's sending its own planes to produce similar images. Apple showed images of the Sydney Opera House and the Transamerica building in San Francisco as part of its demo.

___

11:35 a.m.

Don't want to be disturbed?

Apple's new software for iPhones gives you more options for preventing messages and text notifications from disturbing you at night, for instance.

You can control how and when you get back to people. If you can't call someone back right away, you can set a reminder to call that person back later or have a text message sent directly to the caller.

There's a 'call when you leave' feature that reminds you to call back when you are leaving a building and office. The phone can detect when you are leaving.

___

11:31 a.m.

Apple's iOS 6 software will have better integration with Facebook. The idea is you enter your password just once, and you can post to Facebook from a variety of apps. You can also post about websites directly from Apple's Safari browser.

Facebook will be integrated with Apple's online app store so that you can declare you 'like' specific apps there, as well as songs and movies in iTunes.

Events in Facebook's calendar and birthdays of Facebook friends will also appear on your phone's calendar.

___

11:26 a.m.

Apple says iOS 6 will have enhancements to Siri, a virtual assistant that interprets voice commands and talks back to the user.

Since Siri was introduced in October with the iPhone 4S, Siri has been 'studying up and learning a lot more,' says Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president for iPhone software.

He demonstrated that by having Siri tell whether LeBron James or Kobe Bryant is the taller basketball player. Siri replies, 'LeBron James appears to be slightly taller' as the cards of both players are displayed on the screen.

Apple says it is partnering with Yelp so that Siri can include ratings and prices of restaurants when you ask Siri for places to eat. The company is also partnering with OpenTable to make reservations.

Siri has also learned more about movies.

Siri will now be available in more languages and more countries. It is also coming to the iPad for the first time.

___

11:10 a.m.

The new operating system for Apple's Mac computers promises better integration with social networks.

Apple says the upcoming Mac OS X 10.8 'Mountain Lion' operating system has built-in features to facilitate sharing on Twitter and Flickr. For instance, you'll get notifications directly from Twitter when you get a direct message or a mention on Twitter.

There's also a 'Power Nap' feature that keeps your Mac up to date even while it's in power-saving 'sleep' mode. It will get your emails, back up your files and download software updates automatically.

Mountain Lion will be available next month and will cost $19.99 - $10 cheaper than what the current system, Lion, costs.

Those buying the MacBook models announced Monday will get the upgrade for free when it's available. Those models will ship with the Lion version initially.

___

10:52 a.m.

The new Mountain Lion system narrows the gap between the PC and phone software packages, making Mac personal computers work more like iPhones.

There's little surprise. Apple already demonstrated most of the features of Mountain Lion in February and said it will go on sale late this summer. Developers are already able to download a version of the software.

Among the features:

- A new Messages app, copied from Apple's mobile operating system, will replace iChat.

- Mountain Lion will be integrated with iCloud, the new Internet storage service designed for the mobile devices.

- The software will bring dictation to Mac computers, essentially allowing you to type as you talk.

___

10:45 a.m.

Apple announces a next-generation MacBook Pro model that is less than an inch thick while closed - about as thin as the MacBook Air. It will have a sharper display, akin to what the iPhone and the iPad now have.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, calls it 'the most amazing computer we have ever made.'

The 'next-generation' model will have a 15.4-inch diagonal display. It will have processors from Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. and promises up to 7 hours of battery life.

The other models announced earlier Monday are largely updates to current models with more memory and better processors. The older models won't sport the sharper 'Retina Display' feature of Apple's newer devices.

The 'next-generation' model will be 0.71 inch thick, compared with 0.95 inches for the updated models. The weight of the new model is 4.46 pounds.

The new model will start at $2,199 and will start shipping Monday.

___

10:17 a.m.

Schiller appears on stage to discuss changes to the company's lineup of MacBook laptop computers.

He begins with an update to the ultra-thin MacBook Air and says the devices will have new Intel Corp. processors that sport up to 60 percent faster graphics and up to 512 gigabytes of flash storage memory. MacBook Airs do not have hard drives.

Prices for the version with an 11-inch diagonal screen will range from $999 to $1,099.

The MacBook Pro, which do have hard drives and are thicker, will also get the new Intel chip. Prices for the 13-inch model will be $1,199 to $1,499, while a 15-inch model will be $1,799 or $2,199, depending on the amount of storage.

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models will start shipping Monday.

___

10:09 a.m.

A video shown on stage shows an app that helps blind people explore the world. After the video ends, Cook thanks the developer community for building the variety of apps for Apple devices.

___

10:05 a.m.

Cook boasts of more than 650,000 apps in its mobile store, including 225,000 optimized for the iPad tablet computer. The number of apps made by third parties, which extend the functionality of mobile devices, is one area where Apple has an advantage over Android, BlackBerry and other systems.

___

10 a.m.

The conference opens with greetings from the virtual assistant Siri. A few minutes later, Cook walks on stage to standing ovation and announces, 'We have a great week planned for you and some really cool stuff to show.'



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Facebook's growth rate is slowing: WSJ

NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook's growth appears to be slowing, particularly in the U.S., according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Unique U.S. visitors to the wildly popular social media site rose 5 percent in April to 158 million, according to data attributed to comScore. ComScore did not return a request for confirmation.

That's the slowest growth rate since comScore started tracking data in 2008.

Users spent more than six hours a month on the site in April, up 16 percent from the prior year. Still, that's a slower growth rate than the 23 percent increase in 2011, according to comScore data cited in the report.

Facebook went public May 18 in a widely anticipated market debut. But the stock price has slid since then, disappointing investors.



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No elegant technical fixes for distracted driving

NEW YORK (AP) - When does a smartphone make you dumb?

When you're driving.

Dialing or texting on a phone is a proven distraction when you're behind the wheel. And as 'smart' as today's phones are, they can't compensate for human folly. Phone makers and software developers are making a valiant effort to create elegant technical solutions, but, try as they might, they've yet to solve the problem of distracted driving.

A new survey, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, exposes just how severe the problem is -especially among young drivers. In the survey, about 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors acknowledged they did the same thing.

Thirty-nine states ban texting behind the wheel for all age groups, and an additional five states outlaw it for novice teen drivers. Even so, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said distracted driving is 'a national epidemic'.

The industry doesn't have a surefire cure. There's a bevy of phone applications (or apps) that silence a phone when they detect that the device is moving at car speed. Although they carry names like 'SecuraFone' these solutions all have limitations that prevent them from being widely adopted.

One big shortcoming is that they can't tell drivers from passengers. Most of the apps assume any phone that's travelling at more than 10 miles per hour belongs to a driver. Of course, that phone might belong to someone in the back seat, or on a bus or train. That means these apps come with easy override buttons -which could also be used by a driver. The app isn't 'smart' enough to know the difference.

On the plus side, these apps are 'generally reliable,' said Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

They're also a lot cheaper than they were when they debuted two or three years ago. At the time, app developers figuring that safety was priceless, charged around $40 for their products, plus recurring fees of around $4 per month. Now, Sprint Nextel Corp. gives away its Drive First app and charges $2 per month for the service.

ZoomSafer and CellControl are two companies that offer slightly more sophisticated solutions: apps that make sure you're in your car before putting the phone in 'driver mode.' The phone listens for a wireless signal, either from the car's built-in electronic system or from a proprietary device that plugs into the engine-diagnostics port. The phone is wirelessly linked to the car, so people who don't usually drive the vehicle can ride as passengers without having their phones go silent. Using these apps, a driver who leaves his car behind and rides the bus won't have his phone silenced.

These apps are more difficult to set up, and more expensive. Cellcontrol charges $130 for the device that emits the wireless signal. Rader sees these as possible solutions for employers who manage fleets of vehicles and need to make sure drivers comply with the law. They may also offer some relief for parents of teenagers.

But these apps share a shortcoming with the simpler, motion-sensing ones: none of them work with Apple Inc.'s iPhone, the single most popular phone in the country.

The iPhone doesn't let apps run 'in the background' -that is, while the user does other things. That means the safe-driving apps are usually limited to BlackBerrys or those running Google Inc.'s Android software.

One startup company has devised a novel way of encouraging safe driving, even on iPhones. Its idea is to use an economic incentive: it records users' behavior and pays them when they leave the phone alone until the end of the trip.

The app appears to have become a victim of its own success. SafeCellApp started out in 2010 by paying $1 per 100 miles, with a maximum payout of $250 per person per year. But last year, it changed that to $1 per 1000 miles, paying at most $20 per year. The app costs $12, plus a subscription fee of $12 per year. Most reviewers in Apple's App Store, however, rate it a one-star rating out of five.

The National Transportation Safety Board hasn't weighed in on any apps. Its recommendation is a human solution: Just don't use your phone at all while driving, even if you're using a hands-free device.

The Transportation Department is also betting on human, rather than technological solutions. It's awarding $2.4 million to Delaware and California for pilot projects to combine more police enforcement with publicity campaigns against distracted driving. Similar pilot projects in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., are successfully reducing distracted driving, Transportation Secretary LaHood said last week.

Technology may yet bail us out of the problem of distracted driving - not by making us less distracted, but by taking care of the driving.

This summer, the government is launching a yearlong test involving nearly 3,000 specially-equipped cars, trucks and buses in Ann Arbor, Mich. These vehicles sense each other wirelessly, and warn drivers about impending collisions, often before the other vehicle is in sight.

In an even more extreme example, cars may someday soon drive themselves. As part of a pilot project, Google Inc. has equipped cars with sophisticated 360-degree sensors and computers that never get distracted or tired. Its cars have logged more than 140,000 miles on public streets with only occasional human intervention through the brake or wheel. Driverless cars are now legal in Nevada, though the law still requires a person in the driver's seat.

'If you are really going to look to the future, you are going to have to ask yourself: Is Google right? Should we have driverless cars?' said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety, a consumer group. 'The computer driven car with a GPS system is going to make less mistakes than a human being. The question is, is society ready for it?'

___

Associated Press writer Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.



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Apple expected to show fresh software, new Macs

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to show off new iPhone software, updated Mac computers and provide more details on future releases of Mac software when he kicks off the company's annual conference for software developers on Monday.

The announcement of new software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch has been confirmed by banners that appeared at the Moscone conference center in San Francisco on Friday, reading 'iOS 6.' It's not much of a surprise. Apple has used its Worldwide Developers Conference as an opportunity to announce new iPhone software for the past few years.

What's not known is what new features will come with iOS 6, or when it will be released to consumers. Usually, the new software becomes available for download around the time a new iPhone model appears. Apple-watchers expect the next version of the iPhone, the iPhone 5, to appear this fall, about a year after the launch of the 4S model.

In 2010, Apple demonstrated the new iPhone 4 at the WWDC, but analysts don't expect the company to show off a phone model this year.

With the launch of iOS 5 last year, Apple added many features already found in competing smartphone software. It also added the 'Siri' virtual assistant feature, which interprets voice commands and talks back to the user.

This year, there are fewer 'catch up' features to add, so Apple watchers expect more modest improvements. Some speculate that Facebook could become more tightly integrated, in much the same way that Apple baked Twitter functions into its software last year. That could make it easier to post Facebook status updates from within Apple's apps.

On the Mac software side, there are fewer unknowns. Apple already demonstrated most of the features of OS X 10.8 'Mountain Lion' in February and said it will go on sale late this summer. Developers are already able to download a version of the software. It narrows the gap between the PC and phone software packages, making Mac personal computers work more like iPhones.

Microsoft Corp., Apple's chief competitor in PC software, is on a parallel course. It's set to release Windows 8 later this year, bringing the look and user interface of Windows Phone to PCs.

Cook is also expected to announce new Mac models. Intel Corp. has just updated its processor line with faster, less power-hungry chips, and most of Apple's Mac lines haven't had a major update in a year.

The biggest mystery surrounds Apple's ambitions in television-making. Late company founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he wanted to remake the TV. Apple does sell an 'Apple TV,' but it's small box that connects to a TV to display movies from iTunes. There's much speculation that Apple plans to make a full-blown TV set, integrated with iTunes.

Few company watchers expect Apple to reveal such a set at WWDC, but there's broad speculation that it could make a minor step toward Jobs' goal by releasing updated software for the Apple TV, expanding on its relatively limited functions.



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