John Blau

IDG News Service

Blau is a reporter for the IDG News Service.

john_blau@idg.com

Recent articles by Blau

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

German semantic Web project seeks open-source experts
Aug. 20, 2007
Theseus, the German government-funded program to develop new semantic Web technologies, will launch a competition in November to attract talented software programmers, including experts from the open-source community.

Germany is becoming a country of gamers
Aug. 15, 2007
Every third German plays computer games, according to a survey published Wednesday by the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom).

EU telecom watchdog? No thanks, say national regulators
Aug. 14, 2007
European regulators are bracing for some intensive discussions later this year when they meet to review the European Commission's regulatory policy for the telecommunications sectors.

German antihacker law could backfire, critics warn
Aug. 13, 2007
Germany's new antihacker law could open the door to more cybercrime and not less, security experts warn.

Bankrupt BenQ Mobile sues parent again
Aug. 10, 2007
The mobile phones that once flowed from bankrupt German handset manufacturer BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co. OHG are being replaced by lawsuits.

Profit tumbles, pressure rises at Deutsche Telekom
Aug. 09, 2007
Deutsche Telekom is feeling the heat of competition big time.

Vodafone wants say in both LTE and WiMAX
Aug. 09, 2007
Vodafone Group doesn't want to miss out on the next big wireless technology, no matter what it is.