Global News

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo may tie up with Google Japan’s NTT DoCoMo is in the process of considering a tie-up with Google. This could mean that the former will adopt the latter’s search and e-mail features in its mobile phone and Internet service. This move also marks a strategic shift for Japan’s largest wireless operator by seeking a partner, as the firm has been lagging behind much smaller rivals in luring new subscribers in recent months. On the other hand, this alliance would provide Google access to DoCoMo’s 48 million users of “i-mode” mobile phone Internet service. That said, Yahoo Japan leads the web-search market presently in the land of the rising sun. The alliance may also lead to the development of new functions and handsets. Starting as early as spring, users will be able to access Google searches, e-mail, scheduling and photo-saving features through DoCoMo’s i-mode network service. While rival KDDI has already been working with Google in search and e-mail on its mobile phones, DoCoMo eyes deeper ties in services and technology with the US firm, including the development of a next-generation handset featuring Google’s Android platform. It is expected that this move by the county’s largest wireless operator could increase the page views and in turn boost the firm’s data traffic revenue. DoCoMo accounts for half of Japan’s mobile market.

AOL to end support for Netscape browser According to an official blog, AOL will discontinue the development and active support for the Netscape browser beginning February 2008. That said, AOL would however keep delivering security patches for the current version of Netscape until February 1, 2008, after which it will no longer provide active support for any version of the software. The blog was posted Tom Drapeau, lead developer for Netscape.com, on The Netscape Blog on December 28, 2007. The Netscape.com Web site will remain as a general-purpose portal. Netscape was the original mass-market Web browser, and helped popularize the Internet in the mid-1990s. But since then it has taken a back seat to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Firefox itself traces its roots back to Netscape software that was made into open source. Ever since the Mozilla Foundation was founded in 2003 with support from AOL, it has released successive versions of Firefox. AOL on the other hand continued to develop Netscape on top of the same platform. According to the blog, groups within AOL have tried and failed to revive Netscape Navigator and gain market share against Internet Explorer. According to Web application and analytics firm Net Applications, Netscape has only 0.6% of the browser market, which was still dominated by Internet Explorer with more than 77%.

Bible on a pinhead-size chip If researchers in Israel are to be believed, the Bible has now been printed in the smallest ever version. Believe it or not, but the researchers have succeeded in putting a version of the Bible on a chip smaller than a pinhead. Its 300,000 words in Hebrew were inscribed on a silicon surface at the Haifa Institute of Technology. The aim of the project was to increase young people’s interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The record for the smallest copy is held by a Bible measuring an astonishing 2.8x3.4x1cm (1.1x1.3x0.4in), weighing 11.75g (0.4 ounces), and containing 1,514 pages. In contrast, the nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm). The text was written using a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib). The next step now for the researchers is to photograph the Bible and display it on a giant wall within the Faculty of Physics. This photograph will measure approximately 7m by 7m (23ft by 23ft) in size and will enable them to read the text and measure the height of each letter with the naked eye. Once this is done, the original and the nano—Bible will be placed near this photograph.

EMC to acquire Document Sciences Storage major EMC has decided to buy Document Sciences, a developer of software for personalizing mailshots and other communications. The acquisition will enable EMC to extend its offering in the field of transactional content management. The company has agreed to incorporate Document Sciences into its content management and archiving division. The companies Board of Directors have already approved the acquisition and this will cost the storage major $85 million which will in cash. Subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of regulators and Document Sciences’ shareholders, the companies expect to close the deal by the end of March. Document Sciences and EMC have been partners since 2004, when Document Sciences signed an agreement to integrate its xPression software with EMC’s Documentum platform. xPression, which is also Document Sciences’ flagship application, allows companies to automate the creation and delivery of personalized communications such as brochures and contracts. The data can be drawn from CRM (customer relationship management), ECM (enterprise content management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems, it said.