Scientists discover Earth-like, water-rich planet: study

PARIS (AFP) – Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-like planet that is larger than our own and may be more than half covered with water, according to a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.

The so-called "super Earth" is about 42 light years away in another solar system and has a radius nearly 2.7 times larger than that of our planet, according to the study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

The discovery of the planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a "major step forward" in the search for worlds similar to the Earth, added the University of California's Geoffrey Marcy in a commentary also in Nature.


The "newfound world" is too hot to sustain life as we know it, said the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in a statement.

Its density suggests however it "is composed of about three-fourths water and other ices and one fourth-rock," it said. "There are also tantalising hints that the planet has a gaseous atmosphere."

Its temperature is estimated at between 280 and 120 degrees Celsius (536 and 248 degrees Fahrenheit) with its host star about one-fifth the size of the Sun, according to the scientists.

"Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld," says Zachory Berta, a graduate student who first spotted hints of the planet's presence.

"It is much smaller, cooler and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet," he said in the statement.

An exoplanet is one outside of our solar system.

Berta said some of the water would likely be in crystalline form that exists at pressures greater than 20,000 times Earth's sea-level atmosphere.

Its temperature is much lower than that on the only similar discovery, called CoRoT-7b, which revolves around a star that is much hotter, the scientists say.

The CoRoT-7b has a density close to that of the Earth (5.5 grammes per cubic centimetre) and seems to be rocky, while the new discovery appears to be much less dense (1.9 g/cm3).

"To keep the planet's density that low requires that it contains large amounts of water," said Marcy. "It must contain a huge amount of water, roughly 50 percent by mass."

The "wild card" is the make-up of the gases on the planet, he said.

The planet orbits every 38 hours around a small, faint star that was first spotted by eight ground-based telescopes no larger than those used by amateur astronomers, the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre said.

Its relative closeness makes its possible to study it to determine its atmosphere.

"That will make it the first super Earth with a confirmed atmosphere -- even though that atmosphere probably won't be hospitable to life as we know it," said David Charbonneau who heads the research team.

787 Dreamliner takes to the sky

EVERETT, Wash.--At long, long last, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is aloft.

On July 8, 2007 (7/8/07), in front of thousands of enthusiastic onlookers, Boeing rolled out the 787 at its mammoth assembly plant here. The aerospace giant promised to change the nature of long-haul flight, making it significantly more efficient than ever before, and promised to showcase the new plane with its first flight just a few months later.

But one delay after another has substantially slowed the 787 program, and even though the plane was brought to the flight line last May, and it was expected that the first flight would take place sometime in the second quarter, that didn't happen. Until Tuesday, when at 10:28 a.m. PST, the maiden voyage of the first Dreamliner finally lifted off from Boeing's Paine Field here, quickly disappearing into a thick cloud cover. The plane is scheduled to land in a few hours at Boeing Field, near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, about 29 miles south. For Boeing, Tuesday's development is one of its most significant in years. The 787 Dreamliner, which is built from carbon fiber composite materials and has new-style curved wings--allowing it to fly 20 percent more efficiently per passenger than other planes of its size--was meant to be the company's best chance to dominate the next generation of super planes. Originally, said Boeing spokesperson Russ Young, the idea was to build a plane that was 20 percent faster. But eventually, the company decided, after discussions with potential customers, to go for more fuel efficiency.

But the delays--a machinists strike, a problem with the joint between the wing and the fuselage, shortages of parts and supplies, and more--cost Boeing that advantage. And in the interim, archrival Airbus got its much-heralded A380 plane off the ground and into the hands of several carriers. Today, the A380 is flying regularly scheduled service on airlines like Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and others.

Still, with the kind of time and money Boeing has invested in the 787, it was hardly going to drop the program because of some delays. Instead, it fought through the problems and continued forward. Last week, the company completed the last tests necessary to get the green light for the first flight, and today, the plane took to the skies in front of a large audience, some of whom were said to have paid $250 for the privilege of watching. Also on hand were thousands of Boeing employees who had front-row seats alongside the runway.

Of course, while all eyes were on today's flight, there is a great deal more work to do before Boeing can deliver its first 787 to a customer--expected to be All Nippon Airways in 2010 assuming no more major delays--or see the plane carry its first paying passengers.

For one, there are six 787s that will be part of the test fleet, with 34 total test pilots. The planes will be put through a battery of in-air stress tests to determine if the model is ready for prime time. All told, said Young, the six already-built 787s will be put through more than 3,000 hours of test flights. In addition, there will be more than 4,000 of ground tests. Young said either the fourth or the fifth 787--in terms assembly order--will be flying tests with a fully fleshed out interior.

SRC-news.cnet.com

Our devices will spin denser webs of data in 2010s

SEATTLE – Ten years ago, we would have been blown away by a cell phone with far more computing power and memory than the average PC had in 1999, along with a built-in camera and programs to manage every aspect of our lives. Ten years from now, the iPhone and its ilk will be antiques. Over the next decade, the evolution of computing and the Internet will produce faster, increasingly intelligent devices. More of our possessions will contain sensors and computers that log our activities, building digital dossiers that augment our memories, help us make decisions and tame information overload.

Such ideas may sound futuristic and excessive today. And technological predictions are notoriously off-base. Short-term forecasts tend to assume too much change and long-term forecasts underestimate the possibility of sudden, major shifts.

Even so, this vision of interconnected devices that produce and filter massive amounts of data in the 2010s is a logical progression of the Web, computers and gadgetry that emerged in the 2000s. Moore's Law, the principle that computing power doubles every two years without increasing in cost, still rules.

Underwater gas may hold clues on Turkey quake risk

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Natural gas that lies under Turkey's Marmara Sea close to Istanbul could provide advance warning of an earthquake experts believe will hit the country's largest city, scientists said. Researchers from France and Turkey scanned the Marmara's seabed over six weeks using a robotic sonar device, similar to the kind of equipment used to detect shoals of fish.

Their mission was to study the link between gas bubble expulsion and earthquakes along the North Anatolia fault, which lies some 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the south of Istanbul, the country's biggest city with 15 million people.

Using the underwater robot, they found two points where natural gas was coming through the fault and believe by looking out for changes in these gas flows, earthquakes could be detected earlier.

"We realised that the (gas) reservoirs...leak continually at two points (along the North Anatolia fault), one south of Istanbul and the other further west," said Louis Geli, a geophysicist with French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea.

Naci Gorur, a seismologist from Istanbul Technical University, called for monitoring stations to be set up.

"By installing observation points to monitor the changes to the fluids coming through the fault, it will be perhaps possible to detect early signs of an earthquake," said Gorur.

Geli said experts predict another earthquake to hit the area shortly and called on Turkish authorities to set up two underwater observatories and a submarine research centre.

He estimated the projects would cost between five and eight million euros (seven to 11 million dollars).

TeliaSonera launches first ever 4G mobile broadband

4G/LTE services will make it easier for customers to perform more web-based tasks requiring high transmission speed and capacity, such as web conferences, online games.
STOCKHOLM,SWEDEN:New 4G mobile services are now available for customers of Nordic telecom operator TeliaSonera in Stockholm and Oslo, the company announced on Monday.

"We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services," Kenneth Karlberg, TeliaSonera's Head of Mobility Services, said in a statement.

"The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic countries is exploding and customers need higher speeds and capacity. This is why we are launching 4G services in both Stockholm and Oslo."

According to the company, the added capacity of the 4G/LTE services will make it easier for customers to perform more web-based tasks requiring high transmission speed and capacity, such as web conferences, online games, or web TV.

"Being first out with new technology gives us unique experience that we can use on all our markets," said Karlberg.

TeliaSonera's two 4G city networks will cover the downtown areas of Stockholm and Oslo and will be used for mobile data.

4G is the fastest mobile technology available on the market, according to the company, with speeds up to ten times higher than today's turbo 3G.

Brain scan reveals who will keep their promises

Promises are made to be broken, so it can be tough to tell which ones will be kept. But new-found patterns in brain activity can reveal whether someone intends to keep their word.

The finding raises the possibility of using brain scans to determine the true intentions of criminals who are up for early release on parole, according to Thomas Baumgartner of the University of Zurich in Switzerland.He and his colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to catch promise-breakers in the act.

The team set up a game of trust between an investor and a trustee. In the game, an investor is given real money, which they can choose to invest in a trustee. Giving the money to the trustee increases the amount of money fivefold, but the investor runs the risk that the trustee might not share the winnings but keep all the money for themselves.

Promise to share
Baumgartner's team ran the game twice. The first time, investors simply had to guess whether trustees would share the winnings and then made their decision accordingly. The second, trustees could promise to share the winnings with the investor, if they wanted – although the promise was non-binding.

Almost all the trustees promised to always share their winnings, thereby securing investment. While some of them remained true to their word, others consistently broke their promise, keeping the hoard for themselves.

The trustees had their brains scanned using fMRI during both runs; they spoke to the investor from inside the scanner via an intercom.

The fMRI data revealed that certain brain areas became more active when trustees were breaking a promise. These regions – the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala – are known to be involved in emotion. They could reveal an emotional conflict in a person who knows they are doing something wrong, or feels guilty, says Baumgartner.

Parole promise
Most interestingly, similar areas were active in people who were making promises that they later broke, but not in people making promises that they ended up honouring. This suggests that the former group fully intended to cheat the investor out of their money with a phoney promise, says Baumgartner.

While others have claimed to spot liars and cheats from brain scans, Baumgartner reckons that people who intend to break a promise are different.

"Even though people are aware that they are doing something wrong, they haven't actually done anything – they still have a chance to remedy the situation and do the right thing," he says.

Baumgartner envisions a future in which brain scanners might help psychiatrists decide whether or not to release on parole criminals who promise they won't reoffend.

Minority Report
He admits, however, that a scan probably wouldn't be able to predict whether someone who doesn't intend to break a promise will end up doing so. It might also fail to pick up the false promises made by people who don't feel any emotional conflict when they do so, such as pathological liars.

"We might still see some conflict, though," says Baumgartner. "Those areas of the brain might register a conflict between saying you will do something and knowing that you won't, although this area needs more research."

However, Daniel Langleben, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, doesn't think it is appropriate to use fMRI to predict the future behaviour of criminals.

"FMRI can be very useful for other investigative and forensic purposes, but I do not think that it will ever be a safe method to use for prediction of behaviour," he says. "Minority Report is science fiction and so it will remain," he said.

He adds that researchers should proceed with such work with caution. "If a government or a society invests enough effort in developing an fMRI-based method to predict behaviour in criminals, it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People will be categorised with the poorly working method and thus hurt."
SRC-www.newscientist.com

California gives green light to space solar power

Energy beamed down from space is one step closer to reality, now that California has given the green light to a deal involving its sale. But some major challenges will have to be overcome if the technology is to be used widely.

On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission gave its blessing to an agreement that would see the Pacific Gas and Electric Company buy 200 megawatts of power beamed down from solar-power satellites beginning in 2016. A start-up company called Solaren is designing the satellites, which it says will use radio waves to beam energy down to a receiving station on Earth.

The attraction of collecting solar power in space is the virtually uninterrupted sunshine available in geosynchronous orbit. Earth-based solar cells, by contrast, can only collect sunlight during daytime and when skies are clear.


Launch costs
But space-based solar power must grapple with the high cost per kilogram of launching things into space, says Richard Schwartz of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Schwartz chaired a US National Academies committee that in 2001 wrote up an assessment of NASA's space-based solar power research. "If you're talking about it being economically viable for terrestrial power, it's a tough go," he says.

Cal Boerman, Solaren's director of energy services, says the company designed its satellites with a view to keeping launch costs down. "We knew we had to come up with a different, revolutionary design," he says. A patent the company has won describes ways to reduce the system's weight, including using inflatable mirrors to focus sunlight on solar cells, so a smaller number can collect the same amount of energy.

Stay cool
But using mirrors introduces other challenges, including keeping the solar cells from overheating, says Schwartz. "You have to take care of heat dissipation because you're now concentrating a lot of energy in one place," he says.

According to the company's patent, Solaren's solar cells will be connected to radiators to help keep them cool.
SRC-www.newsceintist.com

3D chips to boost eco-friendly computing power 10-fold

London - Eco-friendly 3D microchips, being developed by a clutch of cutting-edge research labs, are likely to boost computing power 10-fold, consuming negligible energy.

They are being developed jointly by IBM Research Lab, EPFL and ETH Zurich, the twin Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology.

The project, under the leadership of EPFL's John R. Thome's (Lausanne), aims to develop processors with as many transistors per cubic centimetre as there are neurons in the entire human brain - a functional density greater than ever before.
Not so long ago our computers relied on a single core which had to be boosted for performance - making each machine into a great central heating system.

Beyond 85 degrees Celsius, however, single core electronic components become unstable. This problem was overcome with the multi-core technology, where the same chip includes several processors, sharing tasks.

Most of today's consumer electronics proudly boast a 'dual core' or 'quad core'. However, in time the technology will come up against the same physical limits.

These 3D processors build on the idea of multi-cores. However, the cores are stacked vertically rather than placed side-by-side as in current processors.

The advantage is that the entire surface of the core can be connected to the next layer, through 100 to 10,0000 connections per square mm.

Shorter and more numerous, these minute interconnects should ensure that data transfer is 10 times faster, while reducing energy consumption and heat.

The technological challenge is clear in terms of performance. But there is also an environmental stake. As Thome explains: 'In the US, the industry's data centres already consume as much as two percent of available electricity.'

'As consumption doubles over a five-year period, the supercomputers of 2100 would theoretically use up the whole of the USA's electrical supply!'

Although 3D multi-core chips will use up less energy and generate less heat, they will still warm up.

At the heart of the project lies a revolutionary cooling system. Channels as thin as human hair are inserted between each core layer, filled with a cooling liquid, which exits the circuit as vapour, liquified by a condenser and finally pumped back into the processor.

Next year, a prototype of this cooling system will be implemented and tested under actual operating conditions - but without a processor, says a joint release of EPFL and ETH.

The initial 3D processors should be fitted on supercomputers by 2015, while the version with an integrated cooling system should become viable by 2020

BSNL launches WiMAX service

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), on Sunday announced the nationwide launch of wireless broadband services using worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) technology starting with Ajmer in Rajasthan. The total cost of the project is Rs 225 crore. BSNL has already planned to spend approximately Rs 1,200 crore for rural WiMAX. This technology will offer broadband speed of 7 Mbps at a distance of 15 km with mobility in wireless broadband. BSNL is offering this service at a starting tariff of Rs 140 per month in rural areas. WiMAX technology is the latest 4th generation wireless broadband service working in 2.5 Ghz band.

"While we are launching services today, with more than 200 base stations in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, these services in 1,000 block headquarters will be launched across the nation very soon," the company said in an email statement.

This will provide high speed wireless broadband connectivity to 11,500 common service centres in respective blocks. Through this technology, BSNL has planned to cover the remaining block headquarters for connecting 50,000 common service centres in the next phase.

Google employees testing new mobile device

LOS ANGELES – Google Inc.'s employees are testing a new mobile device that runs on the company's Android operating system, as the search giant continues its push into the wireless market and toward more direct competition with Apple Inc.'s iPhone. In a blog post Saturday, Google said the new device combines hardware built by an unnamed partner with its Android software. The free software is crucial in Google's efforts to make its search engine and other services as accessible on cell phones as they already are on personal computers.

Google handed the device out to employees across the globe so they could "experiment with new mobile features and capabilities," and give quick feedback on the new technology, said Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management, said on the company's blog.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Sunday that Google plans to sell the phone directly to consumers, instead of through a wireless carrier. Such a move would mean Google would go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry, as well as current makers of Android phones.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google launched its first Android phone in September 2008, the G1 sold by T-Mobile USA. Verizon Wireless last month released the Droid, the first smart phone to run Android 2.0, and expects to launch another Android phone this year.

Maruti Kizashi to launch in 2010

Kolkata - Maruti won’t come as the first name when you are thinking to buy a luxury Sedan or a sports car in India but they are desperately trying to break the myth by launching this concept car into reality. It is expected to be launched in 2010 and will compete with cars like Honda Civic, Toyota Corrola, Skoda Octavia and upcoming Volkswagen Jetta as it will also be placed in the 10 lakh cars bracket albeit a bit on the higher side as you can expect.

The crossover sports sedan car was first showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007 as the concept car and was also showcased in New Delhi in 2008. Kizashi literally depicts an athlete in motion. Let’s take a look at some other details of the car.

The car will be powered by a 2 litre turbo diesel engine or a four valve turbo fired 2 lit petrol Euro V engine. It is likely to have a six speed transmission which will be the first from the Suzuki stable. The large 21 inch alloy wheels will add to the cars’s glamorous look besides being lightweight and tough at the same time.

Maruti Kizashi is expected to roll out from its Manesar plant in India. Hope that this car won’t suffer something like nano has faced in India.

Apple countersues Nokia for patent infringement

NEW YORK - Apple Inc said it filed a countersuit against Nokia, claiming that the Finnish cellphone maker has pursued anti-competitive business practices and infringed on more than a dozen of its patents.

Apple, maker of the popular iPhone, was responding on Friday to a lawsuit that arch-rival Nokia filed in October. That suit accused Apple of infringing 10 Nokia patents for technologies such as wireless data, speech coding and security. The countersuit heats up the fight between the two companies. While relative newcomer Apple trails Nokia in cellphone shipments, its iPhone has been gaining a lot of ground against the market leader in the smartphone segment.

In court documents, Apple denied infringing the Nokia patents and said that the patents asserted by Nokia were not essential for technology standards used in cellphones. It said the countersuit was filed in the same Delaware court where Nokia brought its case.

Apple also said that Nokia had engaged in anti-competitive behavior and did not live up to commitments to license its own technology at fair and reasonable terms.

The 13 patents that Apple cited in its countersuit involve various computing technologies including graphical interfaces, teleconferencing, power conservation and touch screen technologies -- features popularized by its iPhone.

In response, Nokia said that the countersuit does not change anything fundamental in the original case, but noted that it would take time to study the suit.

"They have infringed our patents since the iPhone launch in 2007," a Nokia spokesman said.

While the battle may go on for some time, analysts see the companies eventually coming to a licensing agreement.

"We can now look forward to a lengthy tit-for-tat exchange between Apple and Nokia as they grind out a deal," said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.

Netbooks to Get Longer Battery Life With New Atom Chips

Netbooks could offer longer battery life and better system performance when Intel launches its second generation of Atom processors, which are due to start shipping soon.

The new netbook chips, code-named Pineview, will draw less power and deliver faster performance, an Intel spokesman said. Pineview chips are part of the Pine Trail platform, aimed at netbooks and low-cost desktops. Intel declined to comment on the release date for Pineview processors. But company officials have said that netbooks using the chip could start shipping as early as January. Pineview chips are already being manufactured, and samples have shipped out to PC makers.

Intel is integrating a graphics and memory controller into the CPU, which will enable reduced power consumption and improved performance in desktops and netbooks, said Bill Calder, an Intel spokesman.

Atom processors were first launched in 2008 for netbooks, which are low-cost laptops that are typically characterized by small screens and keyboards. The devices are designed to surf the Web and run basic applications like word processing. Atom chips go into most netbooks today.

The chip maker showed some prototypes of netbooks and nettops, which are low-cost desktops, at the Intel Developer Forum in September. The company has not shared specifics about the clock speeds or cache inside the processor. However, some specifications were posted in information about Lenovo and Fujitsu computers on the U.S. Federal Communications Communication's Web site, including mentioning a Pineview processor running at the speed of 1.66GHz. That information has since been removed from the FCC site.

The reduction of components could also allow PC makers to design thinner netbooks, said Dan Olds, principal analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. The reduction of chips in the platform also will lead to lower prices, which could lead to cheaper and more affordable netbooks, Olds said.


Intel is embracing the trend of creating smaller and cheaper netbooks for people to buy its products, Olds said. "The price point brings a lot more people into the market, where the computer gets down to a point where it's almost an impulse purchase," Olds said.

Tech blog, Singapore startup feud over tablet PC

SEATTLE – About 18 months ago, a technology blogger got fed up with the industry and forged an alliance with a startup to make his dream computer. It almost worked.

The touch-screen "tablet" device will be available for pre-order Saturday — from the startup. The blogger is out of the picture, back to producing posts rather than PCs.

But this is Michael Arrington, the often caustic frontman of the TechCrunch blog, and he's determined not to let the story end there. He filed suit in federal court on Thursday, saying the $500 JooJoo tablet is the fruit of his CrunchPad project.

For its part, startup Fusion Garage says Arrington's contribution was minimal, and he didn't manage to fulfill his commitments to the project. Tired of waiting for him to come through, the startup went ahead on its own.

The story begins in July 2008, when Arrington, one of Silicon Valley's best-connected bloggers, posted a manifesto on TechCrunch.

"I'm tired of waiting — I want a dead simple and dirt cheap touch screen Web tablet to surf the Web," wrote Arrington, calling for collaborators to step forward.

The post caught the attention of Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan, the young founder of Fusion Garage, which had been working for a few months on software that might power such a tablet. Like Arrington, Rathakrishnan envisioned a system that was based on a Web browser rather than a desktop operating system such as Windows. That would allow the tablet to start up quickly and would keep hardware requirements — and thus costs — down.

In September 2008, Rathakrishnan tracked Arrington down after a conference. Arrington agreed that Fusion Garage's software might solve part of his tablet puzzle, and said he'd want to acquire Fusion Garage. Arrington said they settled on Fusion Garage owning 35 percent of a joint CrunchPad venture.

"I thought that was exciting. Here we had the guy who had a blog with a lot of reach, suggesting we're something exciting," said Rathakrishnan, now 29 years old. "I know how hard building hardware is, how much money you need for that. Having Arrington by our side (would) help us get there faster."

Between September 2008 and February 2009, the new partners worked on a prototype designed by CrunchPad's small team and a circle of consultants, running Fusion Garage's software.

From here, the stories diverge and the partnership of two scrappy entrepreneurs sours.

Rathakrishnan said in an interview that looking at the February CrunchPad prototype made him think twice about the project.

Globalive to launch mobile phone service in Canada

TORONTO – The Canadian government said Friday that it has approved a request from Egyptian-backed telecom Globalive Wireless Management Corp. to launch its mobile phone service in Canada.

It will be the fourth major wireless company serving Canada, competing with Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp.

Industry Minister Tony Clement said the federal cabinet has determined Globalive meets Canadian ownership requirements, reversing an earlier ruling by the country's federal telecom regulator.

"Now we're ready for action," Globalive CEO and Chairman Anthony Lacavera told cheering supporters in Toronto. "We could be launching as early as next week."

"The objective is to have a few__quite a few__WIND Mobiles under your Christmas tree," Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND Mobile, the brand name Globalive will operate under across Canada.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission had turned down Globalive's request in October because it is majority funded and controlled by Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding, the Middle East's largest telecommunications operator by market capitalization.

Orascom, which is controlled by Egyptian telecommunications mogul Naguib Sawiris, holds 65 percent of parent company Globalive Holdings, while Canadian entrepreneur and Globalive chairman Anthony Lacavera owns the rest. Orascom also holds much of Globalive's debt.

But Clement said 80 percent of Globalive's voting shares are held by Canadians and the wireless company, which is based in Toronto, should be considered Canadian.

"We came to the conclusion the lender had influence over the company, which is perfectly acceptable under our legislation, it did not have control over the company," Clement said. "This variance is effective immediately allowing Globalive to enter the market without delay."

Globalive's arrival is expected to put pressure on consumer prices across the industry, as it heralds the entry of more players into the market opened up through an auction of wireless spectrum in 2008. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's annual Communications Outlook study, published in August, found that Canada has the third-highest wireless rates among developed countries after the United States and Spain.

In that auction, Globalive paid 442 million Canadian dollars ($419 million) for airwaves over which to operate and has invested millions more in its network and employees.

Globalive has already hired 800 employees and approximately half have already finished their training and are now doing paid volunteer work at organizations such as food banks, boys and girls groups, literacy groups and the Salvation Army.

Google bolsters Web Elements capability

San Francisco – Google expanded its Google Web Elements mechanism for embedding Google products onto a Web site this week, adding three Web Elements and other enhancements, according to the Google Code Blog.

Introduced in May and powered by Google developer APIs, Google Web Elements has enabled developers to add applications such as Google Calendar, Google Custom Search, and Google News to sites.

Among the new Web Elements is a Translate element, which offers capabilities of Google Translate for translating Web pages and text into different languages.

"The Translate element enables visitors to automatically translate your pages into their native language, extending the reach of your Web site to a global audience," said Christine Tsai of the Google Web Elements Team.

A Reader Element embeds headlines from recent shared items from Google Reader, which keeps track of favorite Web sites. An Orkut Share element enables visitors to share pages from a site on the Orkut social networking site.

In addition to the new elements, new login integration links Google Web Elements to a Google account. "By logging in (if you're not logged in already), you'll be able to more easily select your Calendar, Presentation, or Spreadsheet in creating your element. Login is also required to personalize your Reader element," Tsai said.

Also, the look and feel of the Custom Search Element can be adjusted without coding. Previously, knowledge of JavaScript and CSS were required. A document selector capability in the Google Web Elements Web site enables searching through data when creating a Calendar, Presentation or Spreadsheet element.