MS hopes for Xbox Japan boost with Live gaming ... Semiconductor industry looks to 18-inch wafers

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft hopes for Xbox Japan boost with Live gaming
News: Semiconductor industry looks ahead to 18-inch wafers
News: AMD looks to raise $2.2 billion through debt sale
News: U.S. Army team wants second chance at hacker contest
Opinion: The mashup approach to application integration
ITwhirled: eBay auction of papal Volkswagon flops
Podcast: U.S. government targets ID theft .... Number of telephones grows in India ... DoCoMo to sell motion-sensing handsets for games


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft hopes for Xbox Japan boost with Live gaming
Microsoft Corp. hopes the launch in May of a gaming platform that ties together Windows PCs and the Xbox 360 console will give PC gaming a boost in Japan and in turn mean better business for its console.

Semiconductor industry looks ahead to 18-inch wafers
The world's largest contract chip manufacturer is part of a group of companies exploring the use of 18-inch (450 millimeter) silicon wafers to drive down chip costs, but the technology faces a major hurdle: nobody can afford an 18-inch wafer factory.

AMD looks to raise $2.2 billion through debt sale
Less than one week after disclosing a $611 million first-quarter loss, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) Monday said it hopes to raise up to $2.2 billion through the sale of convertible notes to institutional investors.

U.S. Army team wants second chance at hacker contest
A team of U.S. Army hackers will attend the Hack In The Box (HITB) Security Conference 2007 in Kuala Lumpur later this year, seeking redemption after falling short at a hacker competition in Dubai earlier this month, the conference organizer said Tuesday.

Alcatel-Lucent sales, operating profit dip in Q2
First-quarter operating profit dipped at telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA on weak sales of the company's products for wireless and core networks.

EnterpriseDB upgrade aims at Oracle
EnterpriseDB is releasing an upgrade to its database software next month, hoping to lure customers away from Oracle Corp. with the promise of lower license fees and compatibility with applications written for Oracle's database.

Report: Former Apple execs may be charged this week
Two former executives of Apple Inc. may face legal action this week by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their roles in the stock options backdating scandal at the computer company.

Apple product hazards put to shareholder vote
Apple Inc. shareholders will vote on a resolution at the company's annual meeting May 10 on a proposal to remove certain hazardous chemicals from their products.

AT&T to target iPhone to enterprise
AT&T Inc. plans to market the iPhone to business users in addition to consumers but analysts aren't recommending that enterprises supply workers with the phones.


OPINION

I'll push and you pull. The mashup approach to application integration
By Sean McGrath, ITworld.com

The phenomenon of mashup applications on the web intrigues me. The applications themselves are fascinating enough but on top of that you have the richly painted canvas of reaction and opinion from the IT community. In a scene reminiscent of a busy Hieronymus Bosch painting, many voices speak at once. Many reactions take place all at the same time, evidencing delight, horror, exacerbation in equal measure.

Read the full article here.

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ITWHIRLED

eBay auction of papal Volkswagon flops
A hatchback car that Pope Benedict XVI owned before his elevation to the papacy was auctioned off on eBay, but failed to meet the reserve price. You might be forgiven for thinking the owner was being a little greedy: That reserve price was apparently more than $204,400.

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U.S. government targets ID theft .... Number of telephones grows in India ... DoCoMo to sell motion-sensing handsets for games

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