Telmap CEO explains Intel acquisition
Chip giant Intel today announced the acquisition of Israeli location-based services (LBS) provider Telmap. So we managed to get Telmap CEO Oren Nissim on the phone to tell us all about it. In case you're not already familiar with Telmap, it provides location-specific services - primarily to phone operators - which enable the development of independent value-added navigation services, such as restaurant guides, local offers, etc. We've been talking to them for a while; here's our introductory piece, and here's Telmap's stated aim to be the main alternative to Google Maps.
Hexus

Drive time: RMIT's new in-car entertainment system
Researchers at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia and Germany are developing an in-car entertainment system that aims to solve the age-old "Are we nearly there yet?" problem with the aid of motion controls and holographic displays. Tentatively titled Enjoyable Interactions in the Rear Seat, the project will attempt to mix holographic displays and off-the-shelf motion sensing technology similar to gaming systems like the Microsoft Kinect and the Nintendo Wii to create a variety of rear-seat applications designed for use on long car trips by both adults and children. Dr Steffen Walz, director of RMIT's Games and Experimental Entertainment Laboratory (GEElab), says the idea for the project came from looking at cars not as mere means of transport, but rather as symbols of personal freedom.
The Guardian

PV module revenues will continue to decline in 2011 and 2012
A new quarterly report from market analyst, IMS Research indicates that rapidly declining PV module prices will result in the global industry revenues contracting in 2011 and 2012. A huge oversupply of PV modules and fierce competition has led to module prices falling quickly throughout 2011; despite shipments increasing, revenues are forecast to shrink by almost 10% in 2011, and shrink yet again in
EE Times

India's $35 tablet said to ship in October, do dreams really come true?
This mysterious $35 tablet has broken our hearts, crushed our fantasies and even made unicorns cry with delay after delay. Today, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal assured us that the much anticipated slate will be released on October 5th -- promising that this time, "[It's] not just a dream." Evidently, the tablet has overcome the manufacturing problems that plagued the project previously and now production is proceeding according to a new plan. That means that five, seven and nine inch slates are said to be shipping to lucky Indian students in early October -- sadly, both the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot have advised us not to hold our breath.
Engadget

Facebook to be investigated over privacy concerns
Facebook is to be investigated by the Irish privacy regulator into how it handles users' data across Europe. In the next fortnight the Irish data protection commissioner will launch a wide-ranging privacy audit of the social network after complaints about how Facebook tracks its users online. The Irish regulator will conduct the audit on behalf of authorities in 27 European states, including the UK. The commissioner expects to complete the report before the end of the year, a spokeswoman for the regulator said. Facebook is also under pressure in the US, where the Federal Trade Commission is considering an investigation into the popular website following complaints from a coalition of privacy campaigners. The social network is under the spotlight after changes made last week to how Facebook stores information about its 800 million global users. On Wednesday, Facebook hastily fixed an issue that meant its users were being tracked even when they left the network. Facebook has consistently argued that it did not store the information.
The Guardian

Broadband advertising proposals ‘a green light to mislead customers’
Guidelines for industry self-regulation propose that internet service providers (ISPs) can advertise maximum “up to” speeds for net packages if those speeds can be received by just 10 per cent of users. They have also argued that broadband packages with data caps can be described as "unlimited", so long as ISPs are clear about the limits. Communications regulator Ofcom had previously found that services marketed as “up to 20Mbps” actually achieved an average of only 6.8Mbps. Some packages advertise speeds that no consumers can actually receive. The regulator asked that ISPs advertise "typical" speeds instead. In its response to the resulting proposals from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Ofcom said "We are disappointed that it appears not to be possible to establish a single, clear and consistent 'Typical Speed Range'. Our view is that this is the best way to ensure that consumers are able to compare the wide range of packages that are available.” "This new guidance directly responds to consumer concerns by setting an appropriately high bar for advertisers who want to make speed and unlimited claims in ads," claimed CAP chairman James Best.
Telegraph

RIM: we're committed to the PlayBook
Poor sales of device have caused web gossip to spread suggesting that RIM is ready to ditch its tablet. The culprit setting the web alight with the news was John Vihn, Collins Stewart semiconductor analyst, who said: "We believe RIM has stopped production of its PlayBook and is actively considering exiting the tablet market. But now the BlackBerry creator has spoken out to call the rumours "pure fiction". In an emailed statement, Marisa Conway, RIM spokeswoman, said: "Rumors suggesting that the BlackBerry PlayBook is being discontinued are pure fiction. RIM remains highly committed to the tablet market and the future of QNX in its platform."
Mobile Entertainment

90 Per Cent of Smartphone Users Would Use Mobile Payment
More than 90 per cent of smartphone users are willing to use mobile payment technologies for purchases and other money transmission, according to a survey by strategy consultants Simon-Kucher & Partners. The report, based on a consumer discovery panel, found that customers were prepared to pay up to £3 as a fixed fee to download a mobile wallet. The research explored five different types of mobile payment: contact-less or NFC, country-dependent peer-to-peer, location-independent, app-based purchases, location-dependent wallet-to-account purchases over 3G or wireless networks and overseas remittance. Respondents were most inclined to try contact-less payments, with 65 per cent willing to do so, while overseas remittance was the least popular at 36 per cent.
Mobile Marketing

Google adds real-time capability to Analytics
Google Analytics has been around since 2005, but until now it has only been able to analyse the past performance of websites. However, the company bought the real-time analytics firm PostRank in June and, less than four months later, that capability is being added to Google's service. "Currently, Google Analytics does a great job analysing past performance. Today we're very excited to bring real-time data to Google Analytics with the launch of Google Analytics Real-Time: a set of new reports that show what's happening on your site as it happens," Google Analytics product manager John Jersin wrote in a blog post on Thursday. Jersin explained that, although it was once "fine to build a website and modify it only when new products were launched", the advent of social media such as Twitter and Facebook has made it important to track traffic in real time. He said this was particularly important for those running social media-based campaigns — to see how promoting a blog post with a tweet affects traffic, for example. "Last week we posted about the latest episode of Web Analytics TV and also tweeted about the post," Jersin wrote. "By campaign-tagging the links we shared, we could see how much traffic each channel is driving to the blog as it happened. We could also see when we stopped receiving visits from the tweet, which helps know when to re-engage."
ZD Net

Amazon's Kindle Fire will track users across the web
The new browser, Amazon Silk, uses the firm’s network of giant data centres to pre-load web pages before they are delivered to the device. According to Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, this "split browser" approach will offer “ultra-fast” mobile web access. It will reduce the computation required from the Kindle Fire’s processor, which is lower performance than that of Apple’s iPad 2. But it also means that Amazon’s systems will keep a record of every single web page that Kindle Fire users visit, which could be used to profile their interests for advertising and other commercial purposes. The records will also be subject to data requests from police and intelligence agencies, as the relatively limited data held by broadband providers. The browser will even aim to predict your next move in its effort to shave milliseconds off loading times, by learning how users tend to browse individual websites.
Telegraph