International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Robots

the Salamander bionic robot during a demonstration at the International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Robots in Nantes April 7, 2011. Some 200 bio-robot technicians from 17 countries participate in the three-day event to show the latest developments in robots inspired from the animal world

Apple suppliers begin production of white iPhone

Suppliers to Apple Inc have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, flagship of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, would assemble the iPhone, one of the people said. They declined to be named because the information was not public.

Apple's Senior Vice-President of Marketing Phil Schiller first said in a Twitter post in March that the white iPhone would be available for sale by Spring, which ends in May in the northern hemisphere.

Apple will start iPhone 5 production in September

There were a flurry of rumors last week debating the launch date of the iPhone 5. Speculation has gone back and forth between this summer and coming fall, but now supplier rumors say that production on the device is set to begin in September.

According to Business Insider, Avian Securities (which is in communication with “a key component supplier” to Apple) told its investors this morning that iPhone 5 production is slated for September. And if you were pulling your hair out by the idea of waiting until September to buy the phone, you might like what you’re about to hear: The phone itself won’t make it into consumer hands until late this year or possibly even early next year. It seems almost ludicrous that Apple would condone missing the holiday shopping season, but according to the note an early 2012 commercial launch is the most likely option.

Avian Securities also claims that Apple is interested in those rumored inexpensive iPhones, and that cheaper versions with pared down specs could be on the horizon. Check out the note in its entirety below.

“Supporting out [sic] comments over the last month, conversations with yet another key component supplier indicates that production for iPhone-5 will begin in September. This is consistent with Avian findings in the supply chain in recent months and we believe the consensus view is moving towards this scenario. In addition, our conversations also indicate the existence of lower-spec/lower-priced iPhone in Apple’s roadmap. However, while our contacts have seen this placeholder in the Apple roadmap, they do not yet have insight into specs or production timing. This leads us to believe that any launch is likely a very late 2011 or more likely a 2012 event. As a reminder, Avian has uncovered several data-points in recent months pointing to the existence of a lower-spec/lower-price iPhone. A lower-spec/lower-price iPhone has also been speculated in the press and gadget blogs, though we do not believe consensus currently discounts the existence of such a model.”

Why is Apple pushing production until fall? There’s the possibility that the damage to Japanese manufacturing plants following the natural disaster contributed to the delay. Of course there are also loose theories that the Cupertino company is struggling without CEO Steve Jobs’ consistent presence. Either way, such a holdup doesn’t reflect well on Apple and its investors are surely taking notice.

Samsung Electronics suffers fall in 1Q earnings

Samsung Electronics has suffered a sharp fall in first quarter earnings, hit by weakness in its liquid crystal display business and price competition in tablet computers.

The manufacturer of the Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet said Thursday operating profit for the first three months of 2011 will fall to between 2.7 trillion won and 3.1 trillion won ($2.85 billion) from 4.41 trillion won a year earlier. It will release a full earnings report at the end of the month.

Consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31 is expected at between 36 trillion won and 38 trillion won. The Suwon, South Korea-based company recorded sales of 34.64 trillion won in the same period last year.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest manufacturer of flat screen televisions, computer memory chips and liquid crystal displays is coming off a stellar 2010 when it recorded record annual sales, operating profit and net profit. The company ranks No. 2 globally in mobile phones behind Finland's Nokia Corp.

The South Korean technology giant warned in January when releasing annual results for last year that the outlook for 2011 was uncertain as weak pricing for components and consumer electronics products that hurt profitability in the fourth quarter were likely to continue.

The company gave no reason for the expected first-quarter results and plans to release details when it announces earnings at the end of this month, according to spokesman Nam Ki-yung.

Lee Min-hee, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, said that weakness in LCDs was the main factor for Samsung's first quarter profit performance, citing weaker demand from manufacturers of TV sets and laptop computers, the latter a result of consumers switching to tablet devices.

He also said that profitability for the company's Galaxy Tab suffered "due to severe price competition" with Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Memory chips were a relative bright spot, Lee said, as prices for DRAM, or dynamic random access memory used mostly in personal computers rose slightly in March off lows earlier in the month while those for NAND flash chips used in digital devices and smartphones were steady. Both, however, were still lower in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter.

"Operating profit will improve to some extent," Lee said, referring to the current second quarter through June in which he predicts a recovery to 3.4 trillion won. He also said that memory chip prices have been rising amid supply shortages due to Japan's earthquake while manufacturers needing LCDs are stocking up amid worries over possible supply chain disruptions.

Samsung does not release net profit forecasts. Operating profit is seen as a direct indicator of business performance before taxes, dividends, asset sales and other items that are figured into net profit or loss.

Samsung began issuing earnings estimates, or guidance, in 2009 in hopes that increased transparency would help minimize market speculation over its performance. The estimates include the performance of its overseas and domestic subsidiaries.

Samsung's shares fell 1.5 percent to close at 909,000 won on South Korea's stock exchange Thursday.

Google, Facebook take France to court over privacy

Internet heavyweights including Google and Facebook are to file a complaint with France's highest judicial body against a decree obliging them to keep web users' personal data for a year.

More than 20 Internet companies active in France, including Dailymotion and eBay, are bringing the case before the State Council, their representative French Association of Internet Community Services (ASIC) said on Tuesday.

"The ASIC is appealing at the State Council against the decree to keep connection data," ASIC head Benoit Tabaka told reporters.

The decree, published at the start of March, obliges e-commerce sites as well as video-music sites and online email services to keep a battery of data on their customers.

These include users' full names, associated postal address, pseudonyms, associated email addresses, telephone number, passwords and data used to check or modify them.

The data must be kept for a year and can be demanded in the context of an enquiry by police, the fraud office, customs, tax or social security authorities.

ASIC will lodge the complaint on Wednesday morning, Tabaka said.

"Several elements are problematic. For instance, there was no consultation with the European Commission," he said.

"This is a shocking measure, this obligation to keep passwords and hand them over to police services," he said.

Google founder hopes to prove he's ready to be CEO

Google co-founder Larry Page is known for his vision, passion and intelligence.

Yet there is a fair amount of concern that Page's other known traits — his aloofness, rebellious streak and affinity for pursuing wacky ideas — might lead the company astray. Page takes over as CEO on Monday as fast-rising rivals and tougher regulators threaten Google's growth.

Investors used to Google Inc.'s consistency in exceeding financial targets worry that new leadership will bring more emphasis on long-term projects that take years to pay off. And many people still aren't sure he has enough management skills to steer the Internet's most powerful company.

Page already has learned that smarts alone won't make him a great leader. Although Page impressed Google's early investors with his ingenuity, they still insisted that he step down in 2001 as Google's first CEO. He turned over the job to Eric Schmidt, a veteran executive who began working in Silicon Valley in the early 1980s while Page was still in grammar school.

Page's admirers say that at 38, he is more mature and less apt to be chronically late to meetings or tune out of conversations that don't stimulate his intellect — habits that he fell into during his first stint as CEO.

"There are parts of being CEO that don't fit Larry's personality," said Craig Silverstein, the first employee that Page and Google's other founder, Sergey Brin, hired when they started the company in 1998. "You wear a lot of different hats when you're CEO. Some of them are very interesting to Larry and some of them, presumably, are less interesting."

True to his taciturn form, Page hasn't said much publicly since Google made its stunning announcement in January that he will replace Schmidt as CEO. Google said Page wasn't available for an interview.

Page, though, has left little doubt about his top priority: to dissolve the bureaucracy and complacency that accompanied the company's rapid transformation into a 21st-century empire. Google is expected to end the year with more than 30,000 employees and $35 billion in annual revenue.

In Page's mind, the 13-year-old company needs to return to thinking and acting like a feisty startup. Rising Internet stars such as Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, all less than 8 years old, are developing products that could challenge Google and make its dominance of Internet search less lucrative.

Page has drawn comparisons to two high-tech geniuses who are even more accomplished: Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. Like those two pioneers in personal technology, Page invented and cultivated a product that changed the world.

But Page has yet to match them in this respect: as CEOs, Gates and Jobs brought out the best in the companies that they created, delighting stockholders as their investments soared.

Page doesn't fit the CEO mold, even by the standards of Silicon Valley's free-wheeling culture. He dropped out of graduate school at Stanford to start Google and doesn't have a business degree.

Science and technology, though, seems to be in his DNA even though he grew up in Michigan, where automobiles rule.

His late father, Carl, was a computer scientist and pioneer in artificial intelligence, and his mother taught computer programming. Page began working on personal computers when he was just 6 years old in 1979, when home computers were a rarity. The geeky impulses carried into his adulthood, leading him to once build an inkjet printer out of Legos.

Page relishes challenging the status quo and encourages his employees to do so, too. Those who know Page suspect he picked up the anti-establishment mindset as a boy who attended Montessori schools, which discourage structured curricula and encourage independent activities.

Page has wanted to control his own destiny — and legacy — since reading a biography of the inventor Nikola Tesla before he was even in high school. Tesla wasn't rewarded or widely recognized for his breakthroughs in X-ray, wireless communications and electricity. Page didn't want that to happen to him as an entrepreneur.

For that reason, Page embraced the chance to be Google's CEO when the company started in a rented garage not far from the company's current headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. It also helps explain why he and Brin created a separate class of stock with greater voting power so they and Schmidt could remain in charge after the company went public in 2004. Page's stake in Google has made him one of the world's wealthiest people with an estimated fortune of $20 billion.

Although the contours of his personality and background are known quantities, Page remains an enigmatic figure on Wall Street.

To some, he remains best known for uncompromising idealism, reflected in his embrace of his company's "Don't Be Evil" motto and his pledge to never cater to investors' desire for ever-rising quarterly earnings at the expense of long-term investments.

Page already raised concerns by pushing Google into renewable energy and robotic cars. Those who know him say he has discussed even more far-flung projects behind closed doors.

"Sometimes his ideas are just way out there and you're kind of like, 'Wow, that came out of left field,'" said Ethan Anderson, a former Google product manager who now runs Redbeacon, a startup that operates a search engine for finding neighborhood businesses.

Uncertainty about whether Page will be as interested as Schmidt in appeasing Wall Street has contributed to a 6 percent drop in Google's stock price since the CEO change was announced Jan. 20. The technology-driven Nasdaq index has added 3 percent during that time.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis doesn't believe it's a coincidence that Google revealed it would hire more than 6,200 employees this year — a 25 percent boost, and the most in its history — less than a week after it announced Page's comeback as CEO.

"Don't be surprised if Google's spending goes up, even it means its earnings per share might go down," Gillis said.

Page's supporters believe Google's current market value of about $190 billion will climb even higher under his leadership. That would mirror what happened after Jobs finally got his chance to run Apple in 1997 after a decade in exile. Since then, Apple has brought out the iconic iPod, iPhone and iPad devices and created more than $300 billion in shareholder wealth.

But the returns of company founders haven't always been triumphant. Consider Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang's second stint as CEO from June 2007 to January 2009. Yahoo's stock fell 56 percent during that period, larger than the 41 percent drop for Nasdaq. Unlike the rest of the Nasdaq, Yahoo shares aren't close to rebounding to their June 2007 levels.

Hoping to smooth the transition to a new CEO, Google is keeping Schmidt, 55, in a prominent role as executive chairman and chief liaison with lawmakers and regulators around the world. That's an important job as Google faces growing scrutiny over its ambitions to use its dominance in search to enter new markets. Brin, 37, intends to focus on long-term projects, leaving Page to manage Google's daily operations.

"I am quite convinced that this change will result in faster decision-making, better success for the business and ultimately greater value for the shareholders," Schmidt told The Associated Press after Google announced its shake-up in January.

In the past, the three made key decisions by committee, though Schmidt was the one responsible as CEO. Schmidt guided Google through an uninterrupted stretch of prosperity that has topped the performances of other technology trailblazers, including Apple and Microsoft, at similar stages of their corporate lives.

Page is better prepared to be CEO after a decade as Schmidt's apprentice, said Douglas Merrill, who worked with both executives before leaving Google in 2008 as vice president of engineering.

"Larry has grown over time," Merrill said. "He has learned how to make projects work. He has learned how to make sure things happen on time and in a predictable fashion. Larry is a sort of a learning machine."

EBay to buy GSI Commerce for $2.4 billion

Online marketplace operator EBay said Monday that it will pay $2.4 billion for GSI Commerce, which operates websites for retailers like Toys R Us and Bath & Body Works.

EBay Inc., which runs its namesake site where users buy and sell items through auctions and fixed-price "Buy it Now" formats as well as online payments service PayPal, hopes the acquisition will bolster its ability to connect buyers and sellers around the world. It could also help it become more of a threat to Amazon.com Inc.

GSI runs websites, packs and ships products and offers interactive marketing services to a variety of retailers. It has long-term contracts with 180 retailers, including Radio Shack, Ace Hardware and American Eagle Outfitters.

Shares of GSI, which is based in King of Prussia, Pa., surged 51 percent, or $9.82, to $29.20.

EBay has been working on improving its eBay.com website by doing things such as revamping its home page, cutting upfront listing fees it charges sellers and bolstering its search engine. In an interview, eBay CEO John Donahoe said the GSI deal fits in with his company's efforts to help retailers grow.

"Commerce is at an inflection point where the lines between online and offline commerce are blurring," he said. "We see retailers of all sizes, merchants of all sizes, looking for partners that can help them grow their businesses."

Lots of businesses need help doing things like generating demand for products, running their websites, delivering goods to customers, and growing their mobile sales, Donahoe said. GSI does this for large companies, and eBay and PayPal do this for small- and medium-sized companies, he said, which makes the acquisition a natural fit.

The purchase might also help eBay compete with Seattle-based Amazon, which, in addition to selling many items directly, allows merchants to sell their products through its site and offers product fulfillment services, too.

EBay is already involved with GSI through PayPal, which was integrated with GSI customers' sites last year, Donahoe said. He hopes that the purchase will also result in some of the companies GSI works with selling their goods on eBay.com.

Forrester Research analyst Brian Walker said the acquisition is a good move for eBay since it adds diversity to its business and gives the company access to larger merchants and merchant services that have traditionally shied away from selling on its site.

"It makes them a solution for large, regular-price retailers and consumer brands who would not see eBay or PayPal as solutions," he said.

The price seems high, he said, but it reflects the growing importance of the Web and mobile commerce.

San Jose-based eBay said it will pay $29.25 per share, a 51 percent premium to GSI's closing stock price on Friday. The $2.4 billion total is the second-largest amount eBay has paid for another company thus far — in 2005 eBay paid at least $2.6 billion for Internet calling and messaging service Skype, which it has since sold.

As part of the acquisition, eBay plans to sell GSI's licensed sports merchandise business and 70 percent of shopping sites RueLaLa.com and ShopRunner.com.

EBay hopes to complete the deal in the third quarter. It says its 2011 net income per share will be 30 cents to 34 cents lower than its earlier outlook. In January, it had forecast earnings of $1.56 to $1.61 per share. Its adjusted earnings won't be affected. The company had forecast adjusted earnings of $1.90 to $1.95 per share in January.

Nintendo ready to take 3-D gaming to mass market

With the Nintendo 3DS, the Japanese video game company is betting that it can once again nudge mass entertainment in a new direction, just as it did nearly five years ago when it launched the Wii with its innovative motion-based controller.

This time, though, the competition from other devices is tougher.

The handheld 3DS, which goes on sale in the U.S. on Sunday for $250, lets users play 3-D games without wearing special glasses. It also takes 3-D photos. This summer, the 3DS will play 3-D movies streamed from Netflix on its 3.5-inch screen.

Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo's U.S. arm, calls it "the first mass-market 3-D device."

Nintendo's handheld gaming systems have been wildly popular since the days of the Game Boy, but in recent years people have grown accustomed (and sometimes addicted) to playing games on their smartphones. "Angry Birds," for example, is played by 40 million people a month.

And both AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. have announced they'll be selling smartphones with 3-D screens soon.

Fils-Aime acknowledges that consumers have a wide range of entertainment options. Nintendo, he says, must provide better entertainment experiences so that people keep flocking to its games and devices.

So far, they are. While demand for the handheld DS has slowed over the past year, video game analyst Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research said that's only because people have been holding out for the 3DS. As of Dec. 31, Nintendo had sold about 145 million units of the DS in all its iterations worldwide. Divnich thinks demand for the 3DS will be more brisk during its first year on sale than for previous iterations, such as the DSi, which went on sale in 2008.

The Wii, which hit store shelves in 2006 for $250 (it is now $200), was often sold out or in short supply as recently as last February. It's not clear yet whether this will be the case with 3DS, but retailers say demand has been strong based on the number of pre-orders they received. Tony Bartel, the president of GameStop Corp., the world's largest video game store chain, said the company is "working every day with Nintendo" to ensure that they can meet demand.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said Nintendo will sell "as many as they can make" over the next 12 months. While the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan will likely affect supplies, he called an estimate of 16 million units "very fair."

The 3DS isn't Nintendo's first foray into 3-D gaming. In 1995, it launched the Virtual Boy, which required bulky headgear and displayed all images in red. It bombed and Nintendo soon discontinued it. But it didn't give up on 3-D.

The technology used to create 3-D images on the 3DS is not new. Called a "parallax barrier" LCD screen, it works as if two sets of thin blinds were laid over the screen, so that your eyes each see a different version of the image. Your brain then puts them together, creating the 3-D effect. Because it only works if the viewer is at a certain place in relation to the screen, this technology is better suited to hand-held devices than TV sets.

As entertainment technology, 3-D doesn't have a long track record of appeal to the mass market. It's been possible to play computer games in 3-D for years, with the help of glasses, but they have never caught on. People are willing to pay extra to see 3-D movies, but they haven't helped overall box office receipts.

Veteran game designer Hideki Konno, who helped develop the 3DS, said being able to see games in 3-D makes it easier to comprehend distances while playing.

"You will find it easier to grasp the width, height and the depth of the gaming world," he said in an email message translated from the Japanese.

Ji Soo Yim, 20, is a fan of Nintendo but she said she might wait to buy the 3DS. She tried it out recently at the Nintendo World store in New York City while visiting on spring break from Grinnell, Iowa.

"It was supposed to be 3-D, but it looks like it's going to be a headache," she said.

Nintendo notes that the 3-D effect is adjustable (and can be turned off completely, too), which could help those prone to headaches from 3-D. Nintendo hopes that, along with the lack of glasses, will make the 3DS appealing to a broad range of people.

It also helps that people are familiar with 3-D technology from movies. Ross Rubin, an analyst for market research firm NPD Group, thinks consumers will eventually adopt 3-D TVs in their homes just as they bought high-definition screens. The 3DS is one sign that the use of 3-D is spreading through the electronics industry, he said, though he noted that 3-D TV sales haven't been as strong as some manufacturers have expected.