New application measures mobile phone radiation

HERZLIYA, Israel

Israeli start-up firm Tawkon has developed software to measure mobile telephone handset radiation aimed at helping users reduce exposure to emissions without giving

up their phones.

Tawkon's (pronounced talk-on) application is already available for Research In Motion's BlackBerry handsets and will be launched for Google's Android-based phones and Nokia's

Symbian later this year.

''We are the first solution that can be downloaded to a phone,'' Tawkon co-founder and CEO Gil Friedlander said.Until now radiation emissions were measured with an external

device.

In many countries handset manufacturers must disclose the maximum level of radiation emitted and similar legisation is starting to appear in the United States, Friedlander said.

The application monitors the phone user and if radiation levels reach a certain threshold called the ''red zone'' an alert is emitted along with suggestions to minimise exposure.

''There are simple things you can do such as changing the phone's position from horizontal to vertical,'' Friedlander said.

On many phones the antenna is on the bottom and often covered by the user's hand, causing the phone to emit more radiation. Connecting an ear piece or switching on speakerphone

will reduce radiation exposure. In addition, Tawkon is connected to GPS and the software will show users where to move to reach a ''green zone'' and reduce exposure.

''We don't want people to stop using phones but to use them more responsibly,'' the Canadian-born Friedlander, 44, said.

Tawkon initially targeted its software for the iPhone, but said Apple rejected it in March for sale in its App store.

''The media picked up on it... and a week later I got a phone call from Apple saying they wanted to talk with us. They are trying to see how they can get it into their App store,''

Friedlander said.

Friedlander would not disclose how many users Tawkon has but said every three days the number of downloads doubles.

San Francisco became the first US city to pass a law requiring retailers to post radiation levels on cell phones and Friedlander said he believes Tawkon will benefit from this

increased awareness. It will launch its application for phones based on Google's Android software in San Francisco in a month.

''It will take a few years until research (on the health effects of cell phone radiation) will be more conclusive,'' Friedlander said. ''A lot of regulatory bodies are concerned this

will be too late for a whole generation. To take precautionary measures is the right thing to do.''

Sep 2010

Suzuki to build new auto plant in India - Nikkei

TOKYO

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp is planning to build a new factory in India capable of producing more than 250,000 vehicles a year.

Suzuki aims to start operations at the new plant as soon as 2013

The automaker, which first started production in India in 1983, plans to expand output there to 1.45 million units by 2012.

The latest expansion will increase annual output in India to 1.7 million units by 2013 -- exceeding total output of 1.4 million in Japan.

Suzuki has more than 50 percent market share in India, which is one of the fastest growing automobile markets in the world.

Maruti Suzuki, India's leading car maker which is 54.2 percent owned by Suzuki, posted a 24 percent rise in August sales for its best-ever month.

Samsung to challenge iPad with own tablet

BERLIN

Samsung Electronics' first tablet computer will go on sale in two weeks, it said today, joining the

hunt to challenge Apple's iPad.

Global handset vendors and PC makers including Nokia, LG Electronics and Hewlett-Packard Co are moving into the new category of devices, between traditional PCs and smartphones,

taking a cue from Apple.

Dell Inc said last month it was launching its new tablet device called the Dell Streak to US customers.

Sep 2010

Samsung says to focus on Android, bada software

BERLIN

The world's second-largest cellphone maker, Samsung Electronics, has decided to use Google's Android as a key software platform for its smartphones alongside with its own new bada software, a company executive said.

''We are prioritising our Android platform. Android is very open and flexible, and there is a consumer demand for it,'' YH Lee, head of marketing at Samsung Mobile, told Reuters in an

interview on sidelines of the IFA consumer electronics fair.

Android is also powering Samsung's first hit smartphone model, Galaxy S, which sold more than one million units in the United States alone in its first month of sales.

Google's Android has stormed the cellphone industry over the last year, overtaking Microsoft and Apple to become the third-largest software platform after Nokia's Symbian and

Research in Motion.

Samsung unveiled on Thursday at the trade fair its iPad rival, Galaxy Tab, which runs on latest Android software, and the Wave 723 phone, the second model to run on its own bada software.

Sep 2010

Sony Ericsson sees big smartphone growth in China

BEIJING

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said on Wednesday that it expects half of all mobile phones sold in China to be smartphones by 2015, as prices for handsets fall amid growing

popularity.

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony Corp and Sweden's Ericsson also aimed to become the biggest smartphone brand globally, Sony Ericsson President Bert Nordberg told reporters in Beijing, declining to give a timetable.

When asked about talk that Sony could buy out Ericsson from their joint venture, Nordberg said: ''I expect no change for a while.''

Sony Ericsson is the world's fifth-biggest handset maker, with an about 17 percent share of the global market for smartphones.

The company on recently introduced its first phone using TD-SCDMA, a homegrown Chinese technology used in a 3G network operated by China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest wireless

carrier by users.

Sep 2010

ECONOMY-GLOBAL

China manufacturing picks up, India going strong

BEIJING

China's manufacturing sector regained some momentum in August while India and Russia continued to power ahead, cheering investors in the face of signs that sputtering U.S.

recovery was cooling global demand.

A pair of China's manufacturing surveys showed activity picked up last month after a government-engineered slowdown and Indian factories stayed in top gear after Asia's third-largest economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly three years in the last quarter.

Factories in Russia -- part the BRIC quartet of new economic powers alongside China, India and Brazil -- also cranked up their output, expanding at their fastest rate in 28 months largely thanks to the strength of domestic demand.

Fears that recovery in the United States, the world's biggest economy, was petering out and could stall the global upturn led by export-driven Asian economies have haunted markets for weeks pushing the global stock index down more than 3 percent last month.

Trade data from South Korea, the world's ninth largest exporter showed its shipments abroad hit a five-month low last month, while a pair of Chinese surveys provided mixed messages about the strength of demand for the nation's exports.

An official survey compiled by China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed a pick-up in new export orders, while one produced by the HSBC bank showed export demand slipping for a third consecutive month.

Yet optimism that Beijing was succeeding in shifting towards a more domestic-driven and sustained growth after a credit-fuelled spurt early this year helped lift Asian stocks and metals markets largely dependent on demand from China.

''This reconfirms our long-held view that China is moderating rather than melting down,'' said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC.

The bank's HSBC purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to a three-month high of 51.9 in August from 49.4 in July, while the official index also rose, to 51.7 from 51.2.

China, which by some measures has already overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy, has been exerting ever growing influence as exporter, importer and investor.

The China effect was at hand in Australia's second quarter economic performance when it grew by 1.2 percent, handily beating market forecasts largely with the help of China's and India's

voracious appetite for Australia's resource riches from coal to wheat.

Sep 2010

SONY-APPLE

Sony to challenge Apple with music, video service-FT

TOKYO

Sony Corp will launch a new music and video download service linking a range of its devices, in a challenge to Apple Inc's dominant position in the market, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

The announcement is set to be made at the IFA technology show in Berlin on Wednesday, the paper said, coinciding with a scheduled media event by Apple the same day in the United States.

The service will work across various internet-connected devices, such as Walkman music players, Vaio computers, Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players and Sony Ericsson mobile phones but will not be available to consumers until next year, the paper said.

Sony's Welsh-born president, Howard Stringer, has struggled to develop hit products and services that take advantage of the conglomerate's rich portfolio of music and film.

The company launched a video-on-demand service in the United States, dubbed Qriocity, this year.

But Sony has so far failed to gain ground on Apple in the download market. Apple is expected to unveil a revamped iPod at its media event on Wednesday, although speculation is also

simmering it will make an announcement about its own TV project, Apple TV.

Sep 2010