Tech Giants Vie for Ipad Runner-Up

May 30, 2011, 1:16 AM EDT By Tim Culpan

(Adds comment from ARM president in 11th paragraph.)

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s attempts to loosen Apple Inc.’s grip on the booming tablet- computer market will be put to the test this week as PC makers unveil new models at the Computex trade show in Taipei.

Investors and analysts will be looking to see if Google’s Android operating system can match the popularity of the iPad, while Microsoft may preview its next Windows platform for tablets a year after Apple’s first offering hit store shelves.

“Investors want to know which tablet is better, which has the best price-performance, and when the non-iPad camp is going to get going,” said Angela Hsiang, an analyst at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei. “Previously, people couldn’t actually see the products. At Computex, we’ll be able to touch and use them.”

Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc., which upended the computer market when they showed low-cost netbooks at Computex in 2007 and 2008, will demonstrate new tablets featuring Google’s Android this week. The operator of the world’s most popular search engine and Microsoft will both send executives to the event to meet with reporters and update companies on their plans.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, and ARM Holdings Plc., whose chip designs are used by Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp. to run tablets, will also try to convince manufacturers that their products are the best as the desktop and notebook markets slow.

Tablet Shipments

Global shipments of tablets will climb to 215 million units in 2015 from 17 million last year, Toni Sacconaghi, a New York- based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a May 26 report. Fifteen percent of all tablets will cannibalize the sale of consumer PCs, reducing computer-sales growth by 2 percent annually between 2010 and 2015, Sacconaghi wrote.

Competition from new entrants will cut Apple’s share of the tablet market to 50 percent next year, iSuppli Corp. said on April 21, from almost 100 percent when the Cupertino, California-based company began selling the iPad in June.

Microsoft will preview its operating system designed for tablets this week, using hardware with ARM-based chips, three people with knowledge of the plans said this month. Windows 7, the current version of Microsoft’s computer platform, isn’t compatible with ARM chips, which are used in tablets from Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

Microsoft’s Operating System

Machines using Microsoft’s new operating system will be released next year, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said this month, referring to it as Windows 8. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, later retracted the comments, saying they were a misstatement.

“ARM plus Microsoft will be a big development in the future, and if that’s a success then it’ll be big for the market,” said KGI’s Hsiang. “Windows 8 will also impact the market because many people can’t get used to Android while they’re familiar with Windows.”

ARM, whose technology is used in the iPad and iPhone, expects to grab at least 50 percent of the market for chips used in tablets, notebooks and netbooks by 2015, Tudor Brown, president of the Cambridge, U.K.-based company said today. ARM currently has 10 percent of the market. That will climb to 15 percent by the end of this year, he said.

Google’s early lead in the non-iPad tablet market and strong mobile-phone position has helped it expand its applications store. That success is offset by the company’s relative lack of experience in software development, said Helen Chiang, an analyst at IDC Corp. in Taipei.

“Most vendors still worry about quality and stability,” Chiang said. “At this moment, they choose Google because its cost is lower as the operating system is free, while Windows adds to the price.”

--Editors: Terje Langeland, Young-Sam Cho

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

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Intel to Challenge IPad With 'Ultrabook' PCs

May 31, 2011, 12:49 AM EDT By Ian King

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, is promoting a new type of thinner laptop called an ultrabook, seeking to help the personal-computer industry fend off a challenge from Apple Inc.’s iPad and other tablets.

The new machines will be less than an inch thick, have days of battery life on standby, start up in just seconds and retail for less than $1,000, according to Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney, who will discuss the products at a speech later today. Intel aims to convert 40 percent of consumer laptops to the new category by the end of 2012.

Intel is trying to help the PC industry beat back the iPad, which has attracted consumers seeking a thin, affordable computer. Until now, ultraportable devices from PC makers haven’t sold well because of high prices and chips that didn’t deliver enough performance, Maloney said in an interview.

“We want to find new ways to propel the PC forward,” said Maloney, who is taking on a newly created position as chairman of Intel China. “With what has happened in the tablet space, there is a ‘hurry-up’ to the PC industry.”

While Intel also is developing new chips for tablet computers, the company has struggled to translate its PC dominance into success in that market. Apple’s device runs on mobile-phone chips, rather than Intel processors. Tablets from Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. also rely on non-Intel chips.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, California, expects to have 35 tablets based on its chips on sale by the end of the year. It will demonstrate 10 of them during Maloney’s speech, which happens today at the Computex industry show in Taiwan.

Maloney will be joined on stage by Asustek Computer Inc. Chairman Jonney Shih to demonstrate that company’s UX21 ASUS ultrabook computer. Later generations of ultrabooks will be based on Intel’s new processor design, called Ivy Bridge.

Intel fell 29 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $22.21 on May 27, the most recent trading day. The stock has climbed 5.6 percent this year. U.S. markets were closed May 30 for the Memorial Day holiday.

--Editors: Nick Turner, Stephen West

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Earning a Technology Degree Online

An Overview of Technology Distance Education

One of the more in-demand degrees today is in the field of technology and IT, and the variety of college and university programs on the internet have made it easier to earn a technology degree online. In fact, some the institutions are strictly technology oriented schools. You can be certified, or you can go for a bachelor's, masters, or even a doctorate degree in technology online at a variety of online colleges and universities.

Earning a Technology degree online will help you build a detailed understanding of the functions and processes of code development, computer design, and programming methods. Students enrolled in Technology degree programs online can expect to improve their communication skills, critical thinking, and their technical competency within the workplace through both case analysis studies and hands-on experience.

Career Possibilities

New career opportunities in computer-related sciences and information technology are opening up all the time in the job market, not just in the US, but internationally as well. Just as there is a broad array of career paths in computers and technology to select from, there are just as many certificate and degree programs offered online. Whether you're endeavouring to start a new career or just further your current career, there are numerous accredited Technology degrees available online.

The following list (though far from complete) reflects a small sample of the career technology areas:

Applications Programming
Communications
Computer Design
Computer Hardware
Computer Manufacturing
Computer Programming
Data Mining
Data Storage
Database Administration
Database Systems
E-Commerce
Game Design
Information Architecture
Information Management
Information Systems
Networks
Network Security
Operating Systems
Software Design
Systems Analysis
Telecommunications
Web Development

Top-Rated Technology Distance Education Programs

The wide array of computer science and information technology degree programs available online today is literally staggering. The following is a list of the six most sought after programs in the Technology distance education arena:

Online Degrees in Graphics and Multimedia:

game design
graphics and multimedia

Online Degrees in Information Systems Operation and Management:

information assurance
information systems
information systems security
information technology
technical management
vendor certifications

Online Degrees in Networking:

computer networking
network administration
network security
telecommunications

Online Degrees in Programming and Software Development:

computer and software engineering
computer programming
computer science

Online Degrees in Training and Support:

technical writing

Online Degrees in Web Design and Internet:

internet technologies
web design
web development

Reasons for Technology Distance Education Popularity

Certificate and degree programs in the field of technology are among some of the most popular offered online today for three key reasons:

Online classrooms offered in technology distance education are ideal because they offer interactive media in a computer-based curriculum

Best-practices, standards, and technology platforms oftentimes change quickly and technology distance education materials have been designed to be updated continually in order to enable the student to stay ahead of the learning curve

Career opportunities and technology specializations are continually expanding their focus and accredited colleges and universities now offer the most comprehensive array of certificate and degree programs available

Getting passed over for a promotion is a thing of the past. Find out how your career can skyrocket with an accredited distance education degree Plus more free information on how to avoid bogus online schools and where to get money for college

Intesa’s IMI, F2i to Buy Metroweb in 436-Million-Euro Deal

May 31, 2011, 4:55 AM EDT By Chiara Remondini

(Updates with Fastweb interest in fourth paragraph.)

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s IMI Investimenti unit and infrastructure fund F2i SpA agreed to buy Metroweb SpA from A2A SpA and Stirling Square Capital Partners in a deal valuing the owner of Milan’s largest fiber-optic network at 436 million euros ($628 million).

Metroweb, whose network is the biggest in the northern Italian city and the surrounding region of Lombardy, has more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) of cables and covers an area with more than 2.7 million people. Stirling Square, a London- based private equity firm, bought 76.5 percent of the company in 2006 from A2A, Milan’s municipal utility, which retained the remaining 23.5 percent.

“The valuation of the company is generous and indicates it’s a profitable business,” said Emanuele Vizzini, chief investment officer of Investitori SGR in Milan. “Strategic infrastructures are becoming increasingly attractive.”

The deal is based on an enterprise value for Metroweb of more than 10 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, A2A said in a statement today. Fastweb SpA, controlled by Swisscom AG, has expressed an interest in purchasing a minority stake in Metroweb after Intesa and F2i complete the acquisition in June, F2i and Intesa said in a joint statement. A spokeswoman for Milan-based Fastweb confirmed the contents of the statement.

A group comprising Vodafone Group Plc, Clessidra Sgr SpA and Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, as well as Antin Infrastructure Partners SAS and a unit of Axa Private Equity also put in bids, people familiar with the deal said May 3.

Capital Gain

A2A, which sold its stake for 53 million euros, will realize a capital gain of about 38 million euros, according to the statement. Following the closing of the deal, Metroweb will draft a new industrial plan to expand in other metropolitan areas, with a focus on northern Italy.

A2A will hold a convertible bond loan issued by Metroweb that, if exercised, will correspond to a stake of about 25 percent in the company. A2A and Intesa said that five lenders including Mediobanca SpA and Societe Generale SA will provide financing for the deal.

Metroweb, led by Chief Executive Officer Alberto Trondoli, is an independent open-network access provider that offers its infrastructure to third parties including Telecom Italia SpA, FastWeb SpA, Vodafone and Wind.

Lazard Ltd. advised Stirling Square and A2A on the sale.

--Editors: Jerrold Colten, Simon Thiel

To contact the reporters on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

London, Portland Tap Efficiency to Beat UN to Climate Fix

May 31, 2011, 5:32 AM EDT By Alex Morales

(Adds quote from London Mayor’s adviser in 22nd paragraph.)

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Cities from Los Angeles to Johannesburg are changing street lights, insulating buildings and promoting cycling to slash carbon emissions as envoys at United Nations talks bicker about binding greenhouse-gas goals.

“While national governments continue their excruciatingly frustrating dialog on climate change, we in the cities are acting,” Portland Mayor Sam Adams said in an interview. “It’s sheer common sense. Becoming more efficient with your city’s energy needs means you’re also more economically secure.”

Wracked with budget deficits and economies recovering from recession, municipal leaders are looking for cheap ways to curb energy consumption and help governments meet pollution targets. General Electric Co. and Siemens AG, which make power generation equipment, and energy management tool-makers Johnson Controls Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. are winning contracts from cities to work on efficiency projects.

Global annual spending of $300 billion to $1 trillion on efficiency could slash energy use a third by 2050, according to the UN Environment Program. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week are spearheading a gathering in Sao Paulo of the C40 group of mayors to address topics from tree-planting to hydrogen-powered buses.

‘Lowest-Hanging Fruit’

“The lowest-hanging fruit is in the area of energy efficiency and conservation,” UNEP Executive Secretary Achim Steiner said. “If you look at much of the urban infrastructure that has been built up over the last 100 years, and even in the last 20 to 30 years, it’s extraordinarily inefficient.”

While cities take up just 2 percent of the Earth’s land mass, they contain more than half the global population and generate over 70 percent of its carbon emissions. That makes them central to achieving national targets, such as Brazil’s goal to cut greenhouse gases by more than a third by 2020.

“The target will be met by cities, where there’s more energy consumption,” said Hamilton Moss de Souza, director of energetic development at the nation’s Federal Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The work of the mayors may prod envoys at UN talks in Bonn next week aimed at drawing up an agenda for an annual gathering in December in South Africa. Those talks are aimed at setting new carbon emission limits for industrial nations for when current targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012.

While the UN talks stalled in Copenhagen in 2009, the city itself is pressing ahead with efforts to curb emissions. Copenhagen is working with Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Co. to test hydrogen-fueled cars, and with Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novozymes A/S to make fuel from waste, Mayor Frank Jensen said.

Talk Versus Action

“Ministers and heads of state talk a lot about climate change, but we in the cities are the ones who have to act,” Jensen said. “We want Copenhagen to be an international green laboratory, and we have made a catalog of green solutions to take to other cities in the world.”

A district heating system has helped Copenhagen cut emissions by 20 percent in a decade, Jensen said.

Portland’s Adams said he’s in Brazil to tout “green” loans that allows householders to install insulation and heat pumps, paying back the borrowings through their energy bills.

The Oregon city also is working to contain a $41.9 million deficit, caused by a slump in tax revenue from businesses, especially hotels, according to Moody’s Investors Service Inc.

Clinton’s initiative in April joined with the C40, led by Bloomberg, to bolster efforts by cities to slash emissions. The New York mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.

Mayors Meet

During three days of meetings that begin today in Sao Paulo, C40 city leaders will swap notes on their experiences of fighting climate change. Attendees include representatives from cities including Addis Ababa, Athens, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Hong Kong, Lagos, Lima, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Santiago, Chile, and Yokohama, Japan.

“Many of the things you can do to increase the efficiency of buildings, such as improving lighting and insulation have a very competitive investment return,” said Arah Schuur, director of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s building retrofit program. “That’s good for business as well as the environment.”

Among the program’s projects is a collaboration with Morris Township, New Jersey-based Honeywell to retrofit 21 municipal buildings in Johannesburg with more efficient lights and solar- heated water, Schuur said. In Houston, Munich-based Siemens and France’s Schneider Electric SA are refitting 271 city buildings to cut energy use by more than 30 percent.

Global Leverage

A U.S. plan to cut energy costs in public buildings known as the energy performance contract already generates $3.5 billion of work for companies, according to Tom Rowlands-Rees, an efficiency analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. If projects like that were rolled out globally, the market could be more than 25 times bigger, he said.

“Energy efficiency has huge potential to help us reduce emissions globally,” Rowlands-Rees said. “If the energy performance contract concept could be scaled globally we’d go from a $4 billion industry to a $100 billion one.”

Landmark buildings are among those targeted for retrofits. New York’s Empire State building, once the world’s tallest, is remodeling to cut energy use by 38 percent and bills by $4.4 million a year, according to the Clinton initiative. Johnson Controls Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. are working on building at the request of the owner Tony Malkin. The city’s deficit is projected to reach $4.1 billion, according to the Independent Budget Office.

Lights in London

In London, city authorities are working with General Electric Co. and Electricite de France SA to replace lights with more efficient light-emitting diodes on Tower Bridge in time for next year’s Olympic Games, which the U.K. capital won the right to host after making a virtue of sustainability in its bid. Mayor Boris Johnson last week announced plans to roll out 1,300 electric-vehicle charging points across the city by 2013.

“City governments have the opportunity to be a crucible for low-carbon innovation with the combined clout to influence national governments and international policy,” said Johnson’s environment adviser, Kulveer Ranger. “Boris Johnson has made greener transport a top priority for his administration, which will be a key theme for us in Sao Paulo.”

Los Angeles is also looking to LEDs to replace 140,000 street lights, a $57-million project that’ll pay back the cost with energy savings over seven years, according to the Clinton initiative. Los Angeles combined budget shortfalls of $895 million from fiscal years 2013 to 2015, after closing a $457 million hole for the budget year 2012, which begins July 1.

Law in Rio

While Brazil describes its national greenhouse-gas target as voluntary, the City of Rio de Janeiro has a law requiring it to reduce emissions by 8 percent in 2012 and 20 percent in 2020, from 2005 levels. Even so, nations must strive to reach an international agreement, or “none of these measures will mean anything,” said Sergio Besserman, president of Cadegom, Rio’s sustainable development chamber.

“Any real movement will have to come through a global agreement,” Besserman said. “Carbon must be priced, it has to be internalized in the global economy.”

--With assistance from Stephan Nielsen and Helder Marinho in Sao Paulo, Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles, Timothy Jones in Chicago and Martin Braun and Mark Tannenbaum in New York. Editors: Reed Landberg, Todd White

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Assistive Technology: Access for All Students (2nd Edition)

Organized around the theme of universal design, this guide to assistive technology discusses the knowledge and skills educators need to know in order to determine the appropriate use of technology and services to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities. The text provides an overview and introduction to the topic of assistive technology, evaluating various technologies for classroom use, and using assistive technology with special needs students of a diverse range of disabilities, including the young child with special needs, students with high incidence disabilities, positioning and mobility for students with physical disabilities, students with communication disorders, and sensory impairments. It further discusses AT in relation to transitioning, distance learning, and the ethical standards of practice. The new edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect the most recent AT beneficial to students requiring such special accommodations, including links to websites of current AT devices, and software for use in the classroom, and a new chapter on Universal Design for Learning and Response to Intervention and how to combine the two techniques to provide students with access to the general education curriculum. This edition also features more on ethics and assistive technology use for consideration of all students, new chapter introductions, questions for reflection, end-of-chapter review material, and extended coverage of diversity related to assistive technology and the classroom. Designed to provide useful information and strategies for candidates in teacher education programs and those practicing educators, the book is also useful to and any other professional or layperson interested in assistive technology and learning for all students. 

Price: $43.00

Click here to buy from Amazon

Technology in Action, Complete (Go!)

A Computer Concepts Text Focused on Today’s Student! Technology in Action engages students by combining a unique teaching approach with rich companion media.

History of the personal computer, virtual computer tour, blogging, file compression and management, installing RAM, installing a computer network and firewall, PDA’s, computer architecture, creating and improving an Access database, and constructing a simple Web page.

For professionals seeking to enhance their knowledge of computer concepts and literacy.

Price: $145.33

Click here to buy from Amazon

Dell Explores Acquisitions to Widen Lead in Internet Servers

May 31, 2011, 8:07 AM EDT By Mark Lee

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc. said it is exploring acquisitions to bolster its data center business, as the company aims to widen its lead in supplying computer servers that run the Web services of clients such as Google Inc. and Baidu Inc.

“We want to continue to bring innovation through acquisitions,” Amit Midha, head of Dell’s operations in the China and South Asia regions, said at a briefing in Hong Kong today. Dell is interested in buying “everything around data centers,” an area of business that is contributing half the company’s profit, he said.

Dell is gaining orders from Chinese Internet companies including Baidu, Tencent Holdings Ltd., and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for computer servers underpinning search-engine, online commerce, and social-networking services, Midha said. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell is parlaying its experience in supplying technology to Google and Facebook Inc. in the U.S. to win in China, the world’s biggest Internet market by users.

Dell has about 70 percent of the market for servers running the data centers of so-called cloud services in the U.S., and about 60 percent of the market in China, according to Midha.

Demand from data center operators helped Dell more than double net income last quarter to $945 million from $341 million, the company reported this month. Dell bought data- storage company Compellent Technologies for about $800 million in February.

Dell, the world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, plans to double the number of service centers in China this year to 2,000, Midha said. The company will also expand its sales network in the Asian country, at present comprising of about 15,000 outlets, Midha said.

China recently became Dell’s biggest market outside the U.S., Midha said, without specifying when that happened.

Dell will start selling a larger version of its “Streak” tablet computer later this year in China, where the company currently offers a model with a screen measuring about 5 inches, Midha said. Dell also plans to offer more smartphones in the country, he said.

--Editors: Suresh Seshadri, Jim Silver.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Dropbox Working With Partners for Global Growth

May 30, 2011, 8:40 PM EDT By Ari Levy

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Dropbox Inc., the Web storage provider with 25 million users, signed deals with mobile carrier Softbank Corp. and handset maker Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB to attract more customers in Asia and Europe.

The agreement means Dropbox’s file-sharing application will be preloaded on two phones running on Softbank’s network in Japan in early June, said Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, head of mobile business development at Dropbox, in an interview. Sony Ericsson is building the app into devices that will be sold in 10 countries in Europe and Asia.

The partnerships are the first for San Francisco-based Dropbox, a startup whose app has surged in popularity as consumers turn to smartphones to take pictures, create videos and listen to music. The app lets users store and access their content from any computer, phone or tablet with a Web connection.

“Whenever you do anything that can be stored, consumed or shared, we want to become part of that,” said Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, who joined the company in January. “We’re working with the guys who are moving the fastest.”

Terms of the partnerships aren’t being disclosed. Softbank and Sony Ericsson will be promoting the app in stores and commercials, while also training sales staff so they can demonstrate it to customers.

Dropbox’s app is currently available as a free download on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad, devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system and on Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry smartphones. The company expects to sign marketing and distribution deals later this year with U.S. carriers and manufacturers.

Freemium Pricing

Founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, Dropbox uses a tiered-pricing model, called freemium, giving away the basic app and charging users who want more space. The free version comes with 2 gigabytes of storage, enough for thousands of documents or hundreds of photos. Beyond that, Dropbox sells as much as 50 gigabytes and 100 gigabytes for $9.99 a month and $19.99 a month, respectively.

Dropbox said last month that more than 25 million people are using the service, a sixfold increase from January 2010. It competes with Box.net, an Internet-storage company that raised $48 million in February from investors including Andreessen Horowitz. Box.net, based in Palo Alto, California, has almost 6 million users.

With the Softbank partnership, Dropbox will come automatically loaded on two Android phones in Japan, one with a 3-D screen manufactured by Sharp Corp. Tokyo-based Softbank, Japan’s third-largest wireless carrier, will be promoting the devices in about 7,000 stores in Japan.

Softbank Price Break

In addition to the two free gigabytes that come with the app, Softbank is adding 50 percent more at no charge, the Tokyo- based company said in an e-mail.

Sony Ericsson, the London-based mobile-phone venture of Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, is selling Android phones with the Dropbox app pre-installed in countries including the U.K., Denmark, Australia and Indonesia, starting today.

Chief Executive Officer Bert Nordberg said in March that the company is aiming to expand its global share of Android handsets to at least 25 percent from 14 percent at the beginning of this year.

Sony Ericsson has similar partnerships, where it promotes apps from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Foursquare Labs Inc., said Calum MacDougall, Sony Ericsson’s London-based head of Web service partnership.

‘Entertaining Smartphones’

“Dropbox is something that is an exciting and rapidly growing service,” MacDougall said in an interview. “To have the most entertaining smartphones, we need to find partner brands that consumers are using.”

Dropbox was initially funded by Y Combinator, the Mountain View, California-based startup incubator, and then raised $7.2 million from Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners. It now has about 55 employees.

Bryan Schreier, a partner at Sequoia and Dropbox board member, said he’s an avid user of the product in addition to being an investor. For his kids’ birthday parties, he sets up folders that enable everyone involved to take photos and shoot video from their phones and upload the files immediately.

“In real time we’re building a shared photo album that people can access on the Web anywhere,” Schreier said in an interview from his office in Menlo Park, California. “It’s an awesome experience.”

--Editors: Donna Alvarado, Stephen West

To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at alevy5@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Reliance Communications Annual Profit Falls to Four-Year Low

May 30, 2011, 8:40 PM EDT By Ketaki Gokhale

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Reliance Communications Ltd., the worst performer on India’s benchmark index this year, reported its lowest annual profit in at least four years as competition cut network usage.

Net income fell 71 percent to 13.5 billion rupees ($299 million) in the year ended March 31, from 46.6 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. That compared with the 15.2 billion-rupee average of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The results yesterday underscore the challenges facing billionaire Anil Ambani’s flagship company, as competition intensifies following the start of number portability this year and the arrival of Telenor ASA and NTT DoCoMo Inc. in the world’s second-largest market for wireless services. Reliance added fewer customers last quarter than smaller rival Vodafone Group Plc’s Indian unit, the nation’s third-largest mobile phone company by subscribers.

“Minutes on the network have been coming down,” said Abhishek Gupta, an analyst at IDFC Securities Ltd. in Mumbai. “You can blame churn for that, or people shifting to the other guys.” The brokerage rates Reliance shares “underperform.”

Reliance, India’s largest mobile phone company after Bharti Airtel Ltd., added 10.1 million connections, while Vodafone added 10.3 million. Reliance had 136 million subscribers at the end of March, according to data from the nation’s telecommunications regulator.

Falling User Revenue

Net income fell 86 percent to 1.69 billion rupees in the three months ended March 31, from 12.2 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said. That compared with the 3.14 billion-rupee average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg and is the seventh consecutive drop in quarterly earnings.

Average revenue per user, a key metric in the telecommunications industry, declined 23 percent to 107 rupees per wireless customer each month from 139 rupees a year earlier. The number of minutes each client spent on Reliance’s network in a month slumped 24 percent to 241 from 318 in March 2010.

Owning multiple mobile-phone connections is common in India, where Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Norway’s Telenor sparked a price war in 2009 that pared call rates to as low as half a U.S. penny a minute.

Reliance rose 2.9 percent to 87.55 rupees at the 3:30 p.m. close of trading in Mumbai yesterday, while the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 0.2 percent. The stock has lost 40 percent this year, compared with an 11 percent decline in the Sensex and Bharti’s 3.5 percent climb.

Net Debt

Reliance’s debt exceeded cash and equivalents by 320 billion rupees as of the end of March from 199 billion rupees a year earlier, according to the phone operator.

Reliance will spend 15 billion rupees on capital expenditure in the year ending March 2012, said Syed Safawi, president of the company’s wireless business, in a call with analysts yesterday. The spending will be funded by internal funds, he said.

The company was in talks to sell a stake or hold an initial public offering of its mobile-phone tower unit, after negotiations to sell it to GTL Infrastructure Ltd. collapsed on Aug. 31 with neither side attempting to extend the deadline.

The transaction would result in a “significant” reduction of debt, Reliance had said.

The board had also approved a separate plan to sell a 26 percent stake in the company at an “appropriate” premium to the market price, to a strategic buyer or a private equity firm, the company said in an e-mailed statement on June 6.

Second to China

The Indian wireless market is forecast by researcher Gartner Inc. to exceed 993 million users by the end of 2014. India had 812 million mobile-phone accounts in March, according to the nation’s phone regulator, second only to China’s market in size.

Three officials of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group are among nine people charged in April and subsequently arrested by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with its probe of a government sale of wireless permits. A Reliance ADA Group e-mailed statement said its three employees deny the charges and have a legal presumption of innocence pending the completion of a trial.

Seventeen of the 42 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend selling Reliance shares, 15 have a “hold” or equivalent rating, and 10 make a recommendation for buying the stock.

--Editors: Abhay Singh, Arijit Ghosh

To contact the reporter on this story: Ketaki Gokhale in Mumbai at kgokhale@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

View the original article here

Technology - The Key to Alleviate World Poverty

Modern age brought out solution to a lot of human problems. Science and technology have become part and parcel of everyday life. Technology is being used to help resolve the dangling and perplexed issues of the humanity. Modern invention and tools are being used to facilitate the life. Technological advancement has helped man eradicating poverty.

People were optimistic that technology would become the answer to all human tribulations, mainly those related with poverty. He was also hopeful that travel to space and the nuclear energy would resolve all the problems. Due to this false notion man wasted and over consumed the natural resources in the name of fast economic growth and social development. At once he has come to know that advancement in technology had deprived him of the clean water, fresh air and healthy atmosphere. Pollution led to global warming, food crises and poverty. Poverty has become a serious concern of the modern times.

In spite of the technical advancement, the developing as well as the advanced nation is wanting in commodities of life. The worst preys are the developing nations. The developing nations followed west blindly and spoiled their economies as well as atmosphere. This technology was hardly suitable to the circumstances of people in developing nations. Technology without necessary infrastructure and skills is nothing other than wastage of resources. It does not help to overcome poverty.

Technology is helpful only when it does not harm the local culture, society and skills. Such technology is called appropriate technology. Only this kind of technology is helpful in eradicating poverty. Only appropriate technology is the solution to the problem of poverty.

Circumstances specific technology

It took a lot of time to reach the conclusion that only appropriate technology is the suitable way to overcome the problems of daily life. Use of technology according to the local circumstances is a new phenomenon and is helping a lot in the war against poverty and food crises.

The acclimatization of technology is the only way to solve the manifold problems of the poor nations. Expertise intended to be appropriate to the requirements and means of a specific community is the only way to eradicate poverty. It utilizes native ability and means that are appropriate to the local circumstances. It does not damage the atmosphere and assists man to overcome the multitude of problems.

Appropriate technology is only way to resolve the present day issues related to poverty. Technology is related to all aspects of life. It has reached its zenith in advancement. This advancement can become helpful if we use the technical expertise according to our local circumstances. Small scale technical projects providing energy and power are the basis of the all programs related to poverty eradication.

People and states should take advantage of technical advancements mainly in sectors of energy, communications, and information technology to give power to the poor and gain fiscal development. Information and communication technologies are basic elements of the universal production, business, investment and capital flow. Incorporation of these technologies into poverty reduction programs is necessary.

Technology that supports Local growth, employment and local enterprise is in fact real technology.

It reinforces local economic progress and involvement of community in the development projects.Technology with its roots in customary skills and resources is the only way to get self-reliance and get rid of poverty.

In the end we can say that use of internet to gain access to the development projects and keeping touch with the world markets is also an important technology to decrease poverty.It can coordinate all the efforts made in this connection and can help in achieving the success.

self obsevation

A Post-Fukushima Rebound for Toshiba

By Bruce Einhorn

After the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami, few Japanese companies were in worse shape than Toshiba. The Tokyo-based maker of semiconductors, computers, and televisions is also one of the world's leading makers of nuclear power plants, and with the Fukushima crisis putting that industry in peril worldwide, investors dumped the stock. Toshiba's share price plunged 27 percent in the week following the disaster, making its shares the second-worst-performing on the Nikkei index. Only Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, did worse.

Since then, Toshiba's stock has shown surprising resilience, a recognition of the company's underlying strength. The stock is up 15 percent since Mar. 18, the ninth-best performance on the Nikkei, and on May 10, Toshiba announced that profits for the year would climb to a record 140 billion yen ($1.7 billion).

Toshiba can thank Steve Jobs for its recovery. The Japanese company is the world's second-largest producer of Nand flash chips, behind only Samsung, and is a major supplier to Apple (AAPL) for the iPad. The Toshiba plants in central and southern Japan making those chips were largely unaffected by the earthquake and tsunami. Toshiba Mobile Display, a fully owned subsidiary, makes small LCD panels for the iPhone and other products, and that double play of memory chips and displays puts Toshiba in the electronics industry's sweet spot. "The expansion of Nand and small-panel demand from smartphones and tablets will help support a longer profit recovery for Toshiba," CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analysts Christian Dinwoodie and Nanako Imazu wrote in a May 12 report.

Chips and displays aren't the only products contributing to Toshiba's revival. The company ranks fifth among the world's PC vendors, and while industry leaders such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Acer, and Dell (DELL) struggle with falling shipments, Toshiba's computer business, led by its Portege laptops, is on something of a roll. Its PC shipments grew in the first quarter by 5.3 percent worldwide, according to data from market research firm Gartner (IT). Of the top five PC vendors, only Lenovo grew faster than Toshiba. (Shipments from HP, Acer, and Dell all shrank.) The company did even better in the U.S., with shipments jumping 10.9 percent, second only to Apple's 18.9 percent.

Post-tsunami spending in Japan could give Toshiba a further boost. Fumio Muraoka, corporate senior executive vice-president, told reporters on May 9 that the company expects to benefit from reconstruction demand for TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners in the current fiscal year. Toshiba also sees growth in demand in some of its other businesses—such as water treatment systems and electrical substations—in the region hardest hit by the disaster.

Can Toshiba keep the turnaround going? For all its strength, the company's semiconductor business has lower profit margins than its South Korean rivals, largely because the strong yen makes Japan a more expensive place to operate chipmaking facilities than Korea. Toshiba also is struggling in some of its other businesses. It lags far behind market leaders Western Digital (WDC) and Seagate (STX) in disc drives, and while it is strong in Nand flash, it's weak in specialized semiconductors such as logic chips. The non-Nand business "has been bleeding the last couple of years," says David Rubenstein, an analyst in Tokyo with MF Global FXA Securities who would like to see Toshiba jettison its low-margin businesses. "They need to buckle down and cut costs," he says, by outsourcing production to foundries and selling low-margin businesses. That isn't easy in Japan, where companies are used to making things themselves.

Another big concern is the future of the nuclear business. For now the company can count on a healthy backlog of orders from China, but with the future of nuclear power still uncertain, Toshiba is making moves into other energy sectors. On May 10 it signed a preliminary deal with Charlotte-based clean-energy company Babcock & Wilcox to develop thermal and solar technologies. It's trying to become a player in the fast-growing market for smart-grid equipment for electricity networks, too: On May 19, Toshiba announced a $2.3 billion deal to buy Landis&Gyr, a Swiss electronic metering company.

The bottom line: Toshiba is making record profits from its chip business. To keep growing, it's moving aggressively into alternative energy technologies.

With Maki Shiraki. Einhorn is Asia regional editor in Bloomberg Businessweek's Hong Kong bureau.

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5 Easy Steps to Retaining Women to Trades, Science and Technology Classrooms

Step One: Bridge the Technology Divide

The reality is that overall women tend to have less experience with technology than their male counterparts, whether we are talking about computer technology or auto technology. Instructors who are successful in retaining female students recognize that they need to start with the basics during the beginning of the semester so that the less experienced students get the basic building blocks needed to be successful (this is helpful to male students missing those basics too). So that might mean an introduction to tool identification and use or the basics of navigating the Internet. Instructors should also provide open lab time for students in need of additional hands-on experience. If possible, staff the lab with a senior female student, women are often more comfortable asking questions of other women in a male-dominated field. For some best practice case study examples that illustrate these concepts look at the Cisco Gender Initiative's Best Practice Case Studies developed by the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS) (1).

Step Two: Collaborative Learning in the Technology Classroom

Many female students lack confidence in the classroom and this negatively impacts their learning ability. There are several reasons for this: first, overall, male students have more experience with technology, especially hands-on labs; second, male students tend to boast of their accomplishments while females tend to think that they are doing poorly even when they are doing well; third, male students tend to dominate in classroom discussions and lab activities.

Technology instructors can overcome these factors by using collaborative group methods in the classroom designed to increase student learning, interaction and support of each other. Some examples of these group methods are: 1) grade students in teams as well as individually; 2) put female students in positions of leadership in the classroom; 3) assign students to teams or pairs rather than leaving it up to them to pick their partners; 4) have female students work together in labs during the beginning of the semester; 5) enlist the help of whiz kids with the teaching of their fellow students, providing them with a constructive outlet for their talents.

Step Three: Contextual Learning

The recent adage that women are from Mars and men are from Venus is alive and well in the technology classroom -- women and men have different learning styles when it comes to technology. Most men are excited by the technology itself -- how fast it is, the number of gigabytes, the size of the engine. Most women are engaged by how the technology will be used -- how quickly the network will run, how much information can be stored, how far the vehicle can go without refueling. These Mars and Venus differences have implications for the class curriculum: female students will better understand technical concepts in the classroom when they understand the context for them. Don't front load your computer programming classes with writing computer code with no context for this if you want to retain most of your female students. For more information on this subject including off-the-shelf curriculums for teaching contextual technology read IWITTS's Making Math and Technology Courses User Friendly to Women and Minorities: An Annotated Bibliography (2).

Step Four: The Math Factor

Most technology courses require an understanding of applied math. Many women and girls are fearful of math and have had negative experiences in the math classroom. This phenomenon is so common that courses and curriculum on math anxiety for women are in place around the country. The key to success in teaching most females math is -- like technology -- contextual and group learning. Fortunately many off-the-shelf curriculums exist for teaching math contextually, see IWITTS's bibliography linked above. Many technology courses at the two-year college level have math prerequisites that are unrelated to the technology coursework and omit the applied math that will be needed. Technology courses should only require math that is relevant to their courses and/or develop contextual math modules to add to their curriculum.

Step Five: Connect the Women in Your Classes with Other Women

A female mentor or peer support network can help your students stay the course when they are feeling discouraged and can provide helpful tips for succeeding in a predominantly male environment. There are many on-line and real-time associations for women in technology, connect your female students to them. See the Career Links on WomenTechWorld.org for a list of some of these networks. Also, WomenTechTalk on WomenTechWorld.org -- a free listserv for women in technology and students -- provides a combination of support and expert career panels to it's over 200 members from across the U.S.

Donna Milgram is founder and Executive Director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS). She is currently the Principal Investigator of the CalWomenTech Project, a $2 million National Science Foundation grant awarded in April 2006. She was also the Principal Investigator of the WomenTech Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which had a goal of increasing the number of women enrolled and retained in technology education in three national community college demonstration sites. She led IWITTS's partnership with the Cisco Learning Institute (CLI)/Cisco Gender Initiative. Ms. Milgram produced the interactive teacher training video "School-to-Work: Preparing Young Women for High Skill, High Wage Careers." Ms. Milgram's recent conference presentations include: the NSF ATE Conference "Recruiting Women to Science, Technology, Engineering & Math" (2004) and California Educating for Careers Conference in 2003.

Bibliography: (1) [http://gender.ciscolearning.org/Strategies/Strategies_by_Region/North_America/United_States/Index.html]

(2) http://www.iwitts.com/assets/1.5_BiblioMathTechFriendly.PDF

Additional Resources:

http://iwitts.com

Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (5th Edition)

Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, 5e, the leading Educational Technology text on the market, introduces the concept of Technology Integration, shows pre-service teachers how to plan for Technology Integration, and offers them the opportunity to practice Technology Integration when designing curriculum to support and shape learning. 

 

Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, 5e incorporates two complementary instructional models to create a comprehensive technology integration framework built on strong research and proven techniques.  The Technology Integration Planning Model (TIP Model) shows teachers how to create an environment in which technology can effectively enhance learning.  While the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, new for the 5^th edition, provides teachers with the knowledge and skills to overcome obstacles when integrating technology into their curriculum--across the content areas.  The text balances the “why” and “how” of using technology to support and shape the future of technology in education.

Price: $125.67

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Pandora's Sales More Than Double as IPO Looms

By Douglas MacMillan

(Bloomberg) — Pandora Media Inc., the Internet-music company preparing for an initial public offering, said revenue more than doubled last quarter and its user base topped 90 million, solidifying its lead in streaming radio.

Sales rose to $51 million in the three months ended April 30, from $21.6 million a year earlier, the Oakland, California-based company said today in a regulatory filing. The company said it expects to complete the share sale by the end of June.

Pandora aims to build investor interest for its planned $100 million IPO, which would follow the public market debuts of other popular Internet startups. Shares of professional-networking site LinkedIn Corp. and Russian search engine Yandex NV both surged after initial offerings this month. Social-media game developer Zynga Inc. may file for an IPO by the end of June, a person familiar with the matter said this week.

Pandora plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol P. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. will serve as the underwriters.

Founded in 2000 by Tim Westergren under the name Savage Beast, Pandora made 86 percent of its sales from advertisements that target users based on age, gender, home ZIP code and musical taste. Ads support the free radio service, though the company also sells subscriptions to users who prefer to listen without advertising.

Spending on marketing and acquiring the rights to songs widened Pandora's losses. The net loss attributable to common shareholders in the quarter ended April 30 was $9.1 million, or 61? a share, compared with $4.97 million, or 64?, a year earlier.

The company also borrowed $30 million through a credit line from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley this month, according to today's filing.

Pandora's ad revenue surged over the past two years as its music application became one of the most popular on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Google Inc.'s Android devices. Sales more than doubled to $137.8 million in fiscal 2011.

Pandora is facing increased competition from a variety of rivals, including Apple itself. That company reached agreements with three major record labels to let users of its music service access their song collections from handheld devices, people with knowledge of the deals said last week.

With assistance from Adam Satariano and Ari Levy in San Francisco.

MacMillan is a reporter for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek in San Francisco.

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AboveNet in Play as Fiber Creates 43% Verizon Premium: Real M&A

May 26, 2011, 10:13 AM EDT By Justin Doom, Alex Sherman and Tara Lachapelle

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- There may never be a better time for AboveNet Inc. to put itself up for sale.

The owner of optical fiber networks that hedge funds, exchanges and social media companies use to send data in cities rose to a record this week on speculation it is looking for buyers. With the most profitable business among its biggest rivals and less debt, White Plains, New York-based AboveNet may command a premium of almost 30 percent to fiber deals struck at 9.3 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization last year, according to Dougherty & Co.

AboveNet, which exited bankruptcy in 2003, is profiting as a projected tripling of Internet traffic strains networks and prompts businesses to seek faster connections. With more cash than debt and cash flows that more than doubled in the past three years, AboveNet may attract interest from private equity firms, Cowen & Co. said. Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. could also be buyers, according to Dougherty’s Mark Kelleher, who says it may be worth $100 a share in a takeover. That’s 43 percent more than AboveNet’s price yesterday.

“Whoever is going to buy AboveNet would have to write a very big check,” said Colby Synesael, a New York-based analyst at Cowen, who has an “outperform” rating on AboveNet. “In terms of public companies, I think AboveNet makes the most sense because they’re a pure play and an infrastructure provider.”

Jeffrey Garte, a spokesman at AboveNet, said the company doesn’t comment on market rumors or speculation. Peter Thonis, a spokesman for Verizon, declined to comment, as did Mike Buckley for Dallas-based AT&T.

Relative Value

AboveNet, led by Chief Executive Officer William LaPerch, generated a 71 percent return for the company’s owners in the past year, which included a $5 per-share dividend in December. That outstripped the 48 percent gain for technology companies in the Russell 2000 Index, including payouts.

The company owns fiber networks in more than a dozen of the biggest U.S. cities, including New York, Washington and San Francisco, according to AboveNet’s website. Revenue has climbed 86 percent over the past five years, driven in part by more businesses using remote data centers to run their software and store their data.

Worldwide demand for so-called cloud-computing services may more than double to $148.8 billion in 2014 from $58.6 billion in 2009, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc. AboveNet connects companies to data centers using its network of optical fiber, which is made from bundles of flexible glass that can transmit more data over longer distances than metal wires.

Fiber Highway

AboveNet’s conduits typically contain about 432 fibers, about three times the market average, according to Cowen’s Synesael. The company’s shares jumped 9.3 percent on May 24 after DealReporter said it hired New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. to find a buyer. AboveNet rose 1.1 percent to $70.07 yesterday, giving it a market value of $1.81 billion.

Today, the stock advanced 3.1 percent to $72.25 as of 9:46 a.m. in New York.

With $15.6 million more in cash than debt, AboveNet is valued at about 8.6 times its estimated Ebitda of $209 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. For fiber deals in 2010, buyers paid an average of 9.3 times Ebitda, according to Cowen.

In an acquisition, AboveNet may be able to ask for as much as 12 times next year’s Ebitda, according to Kelleher, a Boston- based analyst at Dougherty. That’s equal about $100 a share, according to his estimates.

“You’ve got this movement right now to cloud computing,” said Kelleher, who recommends buying shares of AboveNet. “All of this information is being moved out to these data centers. Fiber is the highway. It’s how you get data in and out.”

Profitability

A deal for AboveNet would then cost more than the 6.4 times Ebitda that Broomfield, Colorado-based Level 3 Communications Inc. agreed to pay for Global Crossing Ltd. in an all-stock deal last month. Both compete with AboveNet.

While AboveNet has made money in the past five years, Level 3 lost $622 million last year and hasn’t been profitable since 1998. Global Crossing, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and run out of Florham Park, New Jersey, lost $172 million in 2010 and last had a profit in 2003, the year it emerged from bankruptcy.

The two companies are also burdened with more debt than AboveNet. Level 3 and Global Crossing had a total of $7.2 billion in net debt as of March, while Washington-based Cogent Communications Group Inc., another rival, had $151 million more in borrowings than cash, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

AboveNet generated 25 cents in operating income for each dollar of revenue in the past 12 months, the highest of the four fiber companies and more than three times the operating margin of Cogent, the data show.

Potential Bidders

Cash from operations at AboveNet has also increased by 134 percent in the past three years, more than double the rate of Cogent. Level 3 and Global Crossing both reported declines in operating cash last year, the data show.

AboveNet is a “very attractive asset from a balance-sheet perspective,” said Robert Dezego, an Atlanta-based analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. “You’re not buying a declining- revenue asset. You’re buying a growing-revenue asset. They have a good infrastructure. It’s a well-run company.”

Dezego, who rates AboveNet a “buy,” estimates the company may be valued as high as $88 a share in a takeover.

Its ability to generate cash and profits makes it a target for private equity firms, according to Cowen’s Synesael.

“Quite frankly, fiber is a great place for PEs to put money,” he said. “It’s a low-risk business with recurring revenues and high margins.”

Deal Rationale

Dougherty’s Kelleher favors Verizon as the most likely buyer after the New York-based wireless carrier acquired Terremark Worldwide Inc., a cloud computing provider, for $1.7 billion including net debt last month.

AboveNet already connects Terremark’s Culpeper, Virginia- based data centers with Washington, which could help Verizon compete better in the area. AboveNet is also expanding its fiber network in Miami, where Terremark is based.

“AboveNet has very high density of fiber within the cities they focus on, and those cities tend to be where the big data centers are,” Kelleher said. “If Verizon asked Terremark where to go for metro fiber, Terremark would point to AboveNet.”

Overall, there have been 9,985 deals announced globally this year, totaling $967.8 billion, a 21 percent increase from the $797.6 billion in the same period in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Katie Hoffman, Greg Bensinger and Sarah Rabil in New York. Editors: Michael Tsang, Daniel Hauck.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Doom in New York at jdoom1@bloomberg.net; Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net; Tara Lachapelle in New York at tlachapelle@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Hauck at dhauck1@bloomberg.net; Katherine Snyder at ksnyder@bloomberg.net; Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net.

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LinkedIn Pessimists Unable to Short Can Now Use Options

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Telefonica to Raise $1.1 Billion From Call-Center Unit IPO

May 26, 2011, 12:07 PM EDT By Manuel Baigorri and Zijing Wu

(Updates with advisers in final paragraph.)

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA, Europe’s second- largest phone company, is seeking to raise about 745 million euros ($1.1 billion) in an initial public offering of its call- center division Atento Inversiones y Teleservicios SAU.

Telefonica is selling 33.7 million Atento shares, including the so-called overallotment option, for a range of 19.25 euros to 25 euros each, the Madrid-based company said today. At the middle point, Telefonica will raise 745 million euros.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Cesar Alierta, who had tried to sell Atento as early as in 2007, is seeking to reduce debt and focus on Latin America to offset declining domestic market share. About 56.1 percent of Atento will be publicly tradable after the IPO, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.

Atento’s revenue rose 26 percent last year to 1.66 billion euros, with the largest part coming from Brazil, according to Telefonica’a annual report. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization increased 23 percent to 190 million euros.

Telefonica said yesterday it plans to cut 25 percent of its Spanish workforce over five years, instead of 20 percent of over three years under an earlier proposal. The phone company is betting on Latin America’s economic growth to win back investors discouraged by Spain’s unemployment rate, the highest in Europe. While revenue from Latin America rose 26 percent, its profit margin in the region slipped 0.5 percentage point to 36.2 percent in the first quarter.

The shares fell 0.7 percent to 16.57 euros at the 5:30 p.m. close of trading in Madrid. They have gained 9.8 percent in the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of 75.6 billion euros.

Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are managing the IPO, along with Banco Santander SA, BNP Paribas SA, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA.

--Editors: Kenneth Wong, Simon Thiel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Manuel Baigorri at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net; Zijing Wu in London at zwu17@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net

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The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves

“More than anything else technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being,” says W. Brian Arthur. Yet despite technology’s irrefutable importance in our daily lives, until now its major questions have gone unanswered. Where do new technologies come from? What constitutes innovation, and how is it achieved? Does technology, like biological life, evolve? In this groundbreaking work, pioneering technology thinker and economist W. Brian Arthur answers these questions and more, setting forth a boldly original way of thinking about technology.

The Nature of Technology is an elegant and powerful theory of technology’s origins and evolution. Achieving for the development of technology what Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions did for scientific progress, Arthur explains how transformative new technologies arise and how innovation really works. Drawing on a wealth of examples, from historical inventions to the high-tech wonders of today, Arthur takes us on a mind-opening journey that will change the way we think about technology and how it structures our lives. The Nature of Technology is a classic for our times.

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India's Scarce Talent, Rising Wages, Balky Clients

By Bruce Einhorn

In India, of all places, how could outsourcing companies be struggling with a labor shortage? The country has over 1.2 billion people, and the industry has boomed, thanks largely to its abundance of inexpensive and English-speaking workers.

The numbers can be misleading, warns Krishnakumar Natarajan, chief executive of Bangalore-based outsourcing company MindTree. There are 400,000 engineers entering the workforce each year, he says, "but the fact is, only 20 percent of them are industry-ready." And competition for experienced workers is heating up since cutbacks during the financial crisis resulted in fewer newcomers to the industry. "During the recession, nobody recruited," he says. When business revived last year, "suddenly there was a huge shortage of people."

With demand so high, churn rates have increased from the traditional level of 12 percent of all IT employees to 17 percent now, according to Nasscom, the New Delhi-based industry association for IT services companies. Call centers and other basic services are seeing attrition rates of 55 percent, up from 40 percent a year ago, according to an April report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham). High attrition rates "might prove to be fatal for the survival and growth of India's business-processing outsourcing sector," says Assocham Secretary General D.S. Rawat.

Nasscom President Som Mittal expects wage increases for new hires will be as high as 12 percent this year. More significant, he adds, experienced workers jumping to other jobs "expect 15 to 20 to 25 percent increases." Case in point: Divya Bajaj, a 25-year-old who lives in Bangalore. Bajaj used to work at Google (GOOG) and last year joined Infosys Technologies (INFY)—with a 30 percent increase in pay. "Costs are going up," says Sudin Apte, chief executive of Pune-based consulting firm Offshore Insights Research & Solutions, "but clients don't want to pay more." Five years ago typical profitability for an Indian outsourcing firm was 30 to 35 percent, according to Apte. Now it's down to 20 to 25 percent for the top providers and as low as 10 to 12 percent for lesser companies. "In the next five years," he says, "it will go down another three, four percentage points."

In the lingo of Indian industry, many of these companies rely on "linear" growth—they increase revenues by increasing head counts. More workers, more business. As Indian workers become pricier, this model may grow obsolete, given the availability of talent in Southeast Asia and other inexpensive locations. There, low-cost rivals "could definitely be a threat" to the Indians, says Praveen Bhadada, manager of Zinnov Management Consulting in Bangalore.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services company, with $8.2 billion in revenue for its latest fiscal year, is trying to develop more of a nonlinear model. The company wants to standardize some software and services it has developed and sell them to customers more aggressively. For instance, last year TCS started offering a cloud-computing service to small and midsize customers, says Vish Iyer, head of Asia-Pacific operations. The goal is "leveraging our intellectual property, not leveraging our head count," he says.

Yet even TCS still gets more than 90 percent of revenues the old-fashioned way, by adding bodies. "The needle won't shift very quickly," Iyer concedes. "But it will." The company is also diversifying, opening offices in 41 other countries, including China and the Philippines.

Bangalore and other Indian cities still maintain many advantages. "There are no other locations where you can get such a large-scale head count for export work," says Apte of Offshore Insight. Still, he adds, a change is taking place. While India has between 75 and 80 percent of the market today, by 2015 that share is likely to fall by 10 percentage points.

The bottom line: Margins for Indian outsourcers have dropped as wages rise and attrition has reached 55 percent. Clients resist paying more.

With Jay Shankar. Einhorn is Asia regional editor in Bloomberg Businessweek's Hong Kong bureau.

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What is a Business Technology Coach?

There are countless computer consultants out there. You have the geeks, the gurus, the evangelists, the computer guys, techs, nerds, network consultants, computer consultants and technologists, just to name a few. At the end of it all, regardless of what they call themselves, each provides a different level of service and technical know-how. Too many IT consultants solve every problem by asking you to throw money at it. New computers, new servers, new monitors, new printers, but every time you spend money, you are cutting into profitability. The key is for you to identify the right person for your needs. If you run a company, what you really need is a business technology coach to help you make the right decisions about your technology.

A computer consultant is usually only interested in fixing your computers. He is not versed in any business functions and is therefore incapable of assisting you with many additional services that will maximize your information technology investments. The computer guy is great when the printer breaks or when the computer goes haywire, but a business technology coach can offer you significantly more value. Large corporations hire a Chief Information Officer to fulfill this role, but a small to mid-sized business may not need that degree of full time support. In these cases, a business technology coach will serve you well.

Business Technology is any technology that serves the needs of business, including accounting, networking, and other office systems. So, while an office productivity software suite (e.g. Microsoft Office) is considered business technology, the Microsoft Xbox is not. The realization that there is a growing divide between recreational gadgets and technologies that can directly impact the business world has led to a new way of examining the direct value of technology. Business technology must add value to your company or else it is just a waste of money. There are so many products to choose from, all with competing philosophies and learning curves. More often than not, you simply accept what came with the computer when you bought it and you make due. Or, worse yet, you fall prey to that fantastic salesperson that promises the answer to all your prayers and delivers another expensive nightmare. So, the next fact you need to accept is that not all business technology is valuable to your business!

The key to modern business success is to be sure to align your business goals with your technology plans. Business and technology alignment has become a Holy Grail for large multinational corporations. Because these industrial monsters are so large, anything they can do to make themselves more flexible, more responsive to their customers, is mandatory. Fortunately, most small and medium-sized businesses are agile and fast to respond. Chances are your top customers know how to get in touch with you at any time of the day. However, just because you do not suffer from the problems of these huge dinosaur businesses does not mean you cannot benefit from business / technology alignment. A business technology coach will assist you in aligning your business goals with your technology investments.

The second benefit you can derive from a business technology coach is an understanding of your business processes. No two businesses operate exactly alike. Chances are your business practices have developed organically as your company overcomes new challenges. However, organic growth has a tendency to develop substantial inefficiencies that can impact profits. I have seen cases where companies print and mail out zero dollar invoices ($0.00) simply because the system was poorly automated. This is inefficient and expensive, and can easily be remedied. A business technology coach will analyze how you work to pinpoint and correct these inefficiencies.

A business technology coach will then use his knowledge and understanding of your computer systems and business processes to assist you in building competitive advantage. According to a 2007 IBM study, a business technology coach should be "...engaged as a strategic partner for process and culture change." This means that the lonely computer geek typing away for hours without human contact is not the right choice if you want to succeed. A business technology coach will be capable of working with others and must possess advanced communication and social skills to act as an agent of positive change. The computer geek that is incapable of communicating ideas or is lacking in social skills is not what you need.

Also, a business technology coach understands that his job is to make recommendations. Remember, you are the ultimate decision maker, so your coach needs to present you with options, instead of ultimatums. In some rare cases there is only one course of action, but in my experience I have rarely encountered them. A business technology coach will present you with multiple options to achieve your goals. However, if so instructed, your business technology coach will make decisions on your behalf based on solid experience and understanding of your objectives.

Technology is a fact of life. From cell phones to computers, technology has become a part of our everyday lives. Whether it's to improve efficiency or to develop new services, companies all over the world are harnessing technology to improve the way they do business. Don't trust your technology to someone that doesn't understand business and how you work. A business technology coach can make the difference to your success.

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Emerging Technologies America Has Fallen Behind On

There are many new technologies from all over the world, including America. But the majority of these emerging technologies are hot technology that America doesn't have. Japan has seemed to corner the market on many of the up and coming technologies such as ones that are connected to computers, consumer electronics and a host of other things that America needs to catch up on.

According to the JD Power Asian Pacific 2007 Japan Automotive Study, eight of the 14 new technologies that draw predominantly high levels of consumer interests were either related to fuel economy, safety or the environment.

It's not the Japan is the only one who is working in the emerging technologies; it's just that America is falling behind in their work within development of new technologies. Funding plays a major role in the fact that America is behind in the technology department when it comes to certain places emerging technology is needed, such as the medical community where monies need to be raised in order to sustain the research. Japan works with many different companies that fund their research in emerging technologies because these companies know how important it is to be on the cutting edge of the science and consumer technology front. Some American companies are starting to get on board when it comes to "going green" and saving the environment, because they know this is a growing concern of many Americans today.

The study also found that technologies such as extra airbags in the automobiles the likes of which are knee airbags and anti-whiplash seats have garnered much interest among consumers worldwide. These implements are in place now in Japan however this is a life-saving technology America doesn't have. They are working on it however they just don't have it as yet.

Japan's emerging technologies in the IT - Information Technology and computers in general have surpassed America for a long time. Many of the gadgets and computer components that the American companies use today we purchased and received from overseas, simply because we do not have the technology to build these components ourselves. Japan, like many of the other Asian nations, have what it takes to build the emerging technologies to put together smarter, faster computers and technological gadgets such as smarter cell phones, iPods that you can watch full-feature movies on, digital watches and calculators that do a whole host of other things besides keep time and calculate numbers.

The software industry is another place where Japan's emerging technologies surpasses Americas. Many of these software programs come in the form of games but others have practical applications in the business world. Japan's edge in the game world far surpasses Americas but we seem content purchasing Japan's gaming technologies. However, America is working hard in the consumer technology industry to come up with better, faster and more efficient ways of doing things. The medical community is one place where America has outdone Japan; medical technology in America now surpasses most countries in developing technology related to medicine and health care.

Both countries are far from finding cures for fatal diseases but they are getting close to developing technology that will help us bring cures to these once devastating diseases.

Chaashni Mahmoud writes technology, product and services reviews for The Oxford Chronicle. She has been a systems engineer and computer scientist for 15 years and continues to work in the industry today. You can read more about technology from Chaashni at [http://www.oxfordchronicle.com] and http://www.flying-toasters.blogspot.com

EMC Unit Said to Fix Defense Security Systems After Data Breach

May 28, 2011, 6:40 PM EDT By Gopal Ratnam and Tom Giles

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- EMC Corp.’s RSA unit is bolstering security for clients including Lockheed Martin Corp. after a network breach in March resulted in the theft of RSA data, a person familiar with the process said.

The remediation involves replacing the SecurID tokens issued by RSA that often expire in three years, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The company’s defense-contractor clients, which make missiles, aircraft and other weapons, also include Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. Dave Farmer, a spokesman for EMC declined to comment.

In March, EMC, based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, reported that a cyber attack resulted in information being taken from its systems, including data related to RSA’s SecurID authentication products. Reuters reported May 27, citing unidentified people, that hackers gained access to Lockheed’s networks by duplicating the SecurID data.

Jeffery Adams, a spokesman for Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor and maker of the F-35 jet fighter, declined to comment on the reported network breach or the remedial efforts. The company regularly acts to “increase the security of our systems and to protect our employee, customer and program data,” Adams said.

Remote Access System

Users trying to access their employer’s network from remote locations may use a SecurID type device, a memory stick-like unit that generates random numbers that must be used in combination with a personal identification number to gain entry.

“If intruders get the key, the seed that enables one-time passwords to be generated,” then they may have the capability to break into networks that depend on such systems to authenticate users, Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a computer security training institution in Bethesda, Maryland, said in an interview. Paller said he could not say if Lockheed’s networks were breached.

Randy Belote, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and Jon Kasle, a spokesman for Raytheon of Waltham, Massachusetts, declined to comment.

--Editor: Steven Komarow

To contact the reporters on this story: Gopal Ratnam in Washington at gratnam1@bloomberg.net; Tom Giles in San Francisco at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at Msilva34@bloomberg.net

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Freescale Raises $783 Million Pricing IPO at Bottom of Range

May 26, 2011, 12:46 PM EDT By Lee Spears, Jason Kelly and Ian King

(Updates with CEO’s comment in third paragraph.)

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Freescale Semiconductor Holdings rose on its first trading day as investors bet demand for automotive chips will help the company cut the debt burden that led underwriters to reduce its initial share-sale price.

Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company rose 95 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $18.95 at 12:17 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker FSL. Freescale raised $783 million in its initial public offering, 25 percent less than it originally sought.

“We think all investors are ultimately going to do well,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Beyer said in a telephone interview today. The company was forced to cut its offer price because “the external market conditions are sketchy,” he said. “Would we have liked to have gone out a higher price? Yes.”

Freescale filed to sell shares to the public in February, saying it would use the proceeds to help reduce debt, which is about $7.5 billion. The company, the largest supplier of chips to the U.S. automobile industry, borrowed billions as it was taken private by Blackstone Group LP, TPG Capital, Carlyle Group and Permira Advisers LLP in a $17.6 billion transaction in 2006.

Freescale needs annual sales of about $4 billion to break even, Beyer said. The company could suffer a decline in revenue from the current level of about $4.8 billion and still be able to manage debt and invest in its business, he said.

Automotive Demand

Unlike makers of personal computer and mobile phone chips, Freescale is not experiencing a drop in demand for its products, said Beyer. Automotive demand remains strong, he said.

Freescale sold 43.5 million shares at $18 each in the IPO, according to a company statement. The company lowered the range yesterday to $18 to $20 from $22 to $24. The offering price reflects a 50 percent discount to the average of $36 that investors paid for the company, according to a regulatory filing.

“The balance sheet is a large issue,” said Cody Acree, a semiconductor analyst at Williams Financial in Dallas. “There are too many other places to put your money that don’t have this kind of issue.”

Freescale has been one of the worst performers among companies taken private during the buyout boom, with a net loss of $1.05 billion in 2010. Other private equity-backed IPOs this year have benefited their investors.

Financial Crisis

The initial share sale of Kinder Morgan Inc. raised $3.3 billion in February, valuing Carlyle Group’s stake at more than twice what it paid. Blackstone, Carlyle, KKR & Co. and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP similarly used the January IPO of Nielsen Holdings NV, to trim their stakes and reap profits. That offering raised $1.9 billion.

The global financial crisis hit Freescale less than two years after its owners closed their deal. The firms brought in Beyer, the former CEO of rival Intersil Corp., to close factories and design facilities, cut jobs, and get out of less profitable businesses. As markets recovered, Freescale also reduced borrowings by more than $2 billion after negotiating with bondholders.

Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc., Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. managed the offering.

Spirit Airlines Inc., the U.S. discount carrier that charges for carry-on items, raised $187.2 million in its IPO yesterday, 42 percent less than it originally planned. Spirit fell 50 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $11.50 at 12:16 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market, trading under the ticker SAVE.

Reduced Offerings

Spirit and Freescale were forced to reduce their offerings even after Internet companies LinkedIn Corp. and Yandex NV expanded the sizes of their IPOs this month. LinkedIn shares more than doubled on its first day of trading, and Yandex surged 55 percent in its market debut.

Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, sold 15.6 million shares at $12 each, it said in a statement. The carrier initially planned to raise as much as $320 million, according to a regulatory filing, before shrinking its offering from 20 million shares and lowering the range to $12 to $13 from a band of $14 to $16.

The carrier, which flies mostly between Florida and the Caribbean, had said it would use the funds for future plane purchases and to pay off debt. It is going public as jet fuel hovers near a three-year high, crimping industry profits and forcing carriers to raise fares. Gulfstream International Group Inc. was the last U.S. passenger airline to hold an IPO, selling shares in 2007. It filed for bankruptcy last year.

Private Equity

Private equity firm Indigo Partners LLC bought a majority stake in Spirit in 2006, and also invests in similar low-fare carriers outside the U.S., including Mexico’s Volaris. Oaktree Capital Management LP is the second-biggest investor.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley led the Spirit IPO.

In other IPO news, Delphi Automotive Plc, the former parts unit of General Motors Co., registered for an initial public offering of $100 million. That amount is a placeholder to calculate filing fees, and the sale’s final size may vary, Troy, Michigan-based Delphi said yesterday in a regulatory filing.

The IPO may raise more than $1 billion, a person with knowledge of the plans said last week.

Delphi, once the largest U.S. auto-parts maker, exited bankruptcy restructuring in October 2009 with four classes of shares. Lenders including private equity firms Elliott Management Corp. and Silver Point Capital LP bought most of the original Delphi and still hold a controlling interest after Delphi bought back stakes from General Motors and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in March.

The offering’s proceeds will be used for general purposes, retiring debt and capital spending, Delphi said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan are managing the deal.

--With assistance by Kevin Orland in Chicago. Editors: Lisa Rapaport, Tom Giles

To contact the reporters on this story: Lee Spears in New York at lspears3@bloomberg.net; Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jennifer Sondag at jsondag@bloomberg.net Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

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Google Sued by PayPal Over Claims It Stole Trade Secrets

May 27, 2011, 12:39 PM EDT By Joseph Galante and Joel Rosenblatt

(Updates with Google statement in sixth paragraph.)

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. was sued by PayPal Inc., the fastest-growing unit at online marketplace EBay Inc., over claims it misappropriated trade secrets from PayPal’s mobile- payment business.

Osama Bedier, a former PayPal executive now at Google, stole PayPal’s confidential information, the company said in the lawsuit filed yesterday in state court in San Jose, California. Stephanie Tilenius, another ex-PayPal executive now at Google, violated contractual obligations by recruiting Bedier, PayPal said.

Bedier “is now leading Google’s efforts to bring point-of- sale technologies and services to retailers on its behalf,” according to the complaint. “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers.”

Both companies are trying to move into storefronts from online transactions and build their mobile businesses. PayPal, based in San Jose, is working with major retailers to develop a new type of point-of-sale system -- the equipment next to cash registers where consumers swipe credit cards.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, yesterday unveiled two services to let consumers pay merchants and download coupons with a tap of their mobile phones.

“Silicon Valley was built on the ability of individuals to use their knowledge and expertise to seek better employment opportunities, an idea recognized by both California law and public policy,” Aaron Zamost, a Google spokesman, said in an e- mailed statement. “We respect trade secrets, and will defend ourselves against these claims.”

Android Talks

PayPal also alleges that Bedier, who left the company in January, discussed a job with Google while simultaneously leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android Market. He didn’t disclose the job-related talks, a breach of his fiduciary duty, the company said.

Tilenius, who left EBay in 2009, was under contract not to recruit employees, PayPal said. She messaged Bedier on Facebook Inc.’s social-networking website, telling him she had a “HUGE” opportunity for him, and sent him e-mails and text messages offering advice while he interviewed for a position, according to the complaint.

The case is PayPal v. Google Inc., 11CV201863, California Superior Court, County of Santa Clara (San Jose).

--Editors: Mary Romano, Stephen Farr.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joseph Galante in San Francisco at jgalante3@bloomberg.net; Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

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Can Wi-Fi Work Citywide in New York?

By Peter Burrows

Imagine if smartphones always worked as fast as home Wi-Fi networks, and no one had to pray that a cellular signal was strong enough to send an e-mail or retrieve a map. A company called Towerstream (TWER) hopes to make that dream come true for New Yorkers in late June, when it turns on a network of about 1,000 wireless routers—souped-up, weatherproof versions of the Wi-Fi devices in millions of homes. The goal, says Towerstream Chief Executive Officer Jeff Thompson, is to provide a superfast mobile network that covers seven square miles of Manhattan, and sell access to the system to wireless carriers that can use it to fill in areas prone to spotty service. (Lots of those in New York.)

In theory—the company hasn't announced any deals with carriers—consumers may never know they're using Towerstream's network. Behind the scenes, Carrier X would seamlessly switch a customer's smartphone or tablet to Wi-Fi mode when that person comes within range of one of Towerstream's hotspots, and the connection speed would go up dramatically. During a demonstration recently on the corner of West Broadway and Broome Street in New York's SoHo district, an iPhone's data speed leapt from .35 megabits per second to 26 Mbps. That's fast enough to stream high-def video, and much faster than most home connections in the U.S.

Towerstream, a 12-year-old company that has specialized in providing broadband service to corporations, isn't the first to try large-scale Wi-Fi. In 2006 cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago announced networks; Google (GOOG) had plans to unwire its hometown of San Francisco. For a variety of reasons—slow speeds, high costs—those projects went nowhere. They were meant to cater to laptop users who wanted to connect wherever they were. Users weren't so desperate to do that, it turns out. Now users of mobile devices are.

While most of the failed experiments of yore were based on taxpayer-funded municipal projects, this time there's a clear business need for wireless carriers. Traffic that's processed via Wi-Fi doesn't take up any capacity on local cell towers and doesn't take up room on so-called backhaul connections—often decades-old copper cables—that bring traffic from the tower to the Internet. In Towerstream's network, data from iPads, Android phones, and such would be siphoned off by the nearest Wi-Fi antenna. Then the data would get passed along to other antennas until it reached one of nine large base stations around the city, including one at the top of the Empire State Building, and then travel right onto the Internet. "AT&T (T), China Telecom (CHA), and many others are doing this kind of 'Wi-Fi offload'" on a smaller scale, says Michael Howard, co-founder of market research firm Infonetics Research.

The antennas themselves are much cheaper and less obtrusive than cell towers. They're about the size of a football, cost about $800 apiece, and sit on poles or rooftops; cell towers can run upwards of $200,000. Towerstream representatives have fanned out in Manhattan, persuading landlords and building owners to let the company install the devices on their property. The company pays $50 to $1,000 per installation per month, depending on location.

There's little doubt about consumer demand. Last year, Towerstream conducted a three-month test of a 200-device Wi-Fi network in Manhattan. Without any promotion, the network handled 20 million Web sessions by consumers who happened to spot Towerstream when trolling for a Wi-Fi connection. That's a fifth of the Wi-Fi traffic generated by AT&T during the same three months at its hotspots, which include most Starbucks (SBUX) and McDonald's (MCD). Demand is expected to increase, even as cellular networks go from today's 3G technology to 4G. While 4G is roughly four times faster than 3G, overall data traffic is projected to rise more than 30 percent per year, according to multiple studies. "If any of these estimates are even close to true, those 4G networks will be filled up almost immediately," says CEO Thompson.

Towerstream's stock has risen from $3.71 in early April to $5.21 because of its Wi-Fi ambitions, says Morgan Joseph TriArtisan Group analyst Ilya Grozovsky. "Jeff is obviously very excited about this opportunity," says Grozovsky. "But until they get a carrier deal, this business is still very theoretical." If carriers choose to build their own Wi-Fi rather than rent from Towerstream, Thompson may need to take the riskier step of selling directly to consumers. Should his Manhattan project take off, Thompson says he'll proceed to San Francisco, then Chicago, then to seven other cities. As Thompson says: "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

The bottom line: City-spanning Wi-Fi has been tried before. Towerstream's effort may work because of the rise of smartphones and tablets.

Burrows is a senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, based in San Francisco.

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