US-TECH Summary

Monday, February 21, 2011
Android, video games dominate mobile confab
BARCELONA, Spain - The 2011 instellment of Mobile World Congress, which gathered 60,000 professionals from 200 countries, served as the official coming-out party for the next generation of Google Android smartphones and tablets. Android had a massive, two-floor booth packed with all the new smartphones and tablets shipping in the coming months running off the various Android platforms, including Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play phone, which operates on Gingerbread, and LG's Optimus Pad tablet, which is powered by Honeycomb.
Libya cuts off Internet service: network monitor
LOS ANGELES - Internet service has been cut off in Libya for a second consecutive day as protesters step up demonstrations against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, a U.S. company that monitors Internet traffic said on Saturday. Massachusetts-based Arbor Networks said data collected from 30 Internet providers around the world showed that online traffic in and out of Libya was disconnected abruptly at 7:15 p.m. EST on Friday after two partial interruptions earlier that day.
Intel plans $5 billion Arizona chip plant by 2013
LOS ANGELES - Intel Corp <INTC.O> plans to build a $5 billion, cutting-edge microchip factory in Arizona by 2013, sharply ramping up its U.S. manufacturing capacity as part of a major global expansion. Construction should kick off in the middle of this year, it said in a statement. When completed, the plant will churn out next-generation 14-nanometer line-width transistors and microchip wafers of 300 millimeters.
U.S. and EU regulators eye Apple subscription plan
NEW YORK/BRUSSELS - U.S. and European regulators are keeping tabs on Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> plans to take a cut of the revenue generated by the sale of online subscriptions through its App Store following concerns voiced by publishers. Some app makers are unhappy with Apple's new plan to take a 30 percent cut on all revenue from online subscriptions.
Obama touts innovation agenda for spurring jobs
HILLSBORO, Oregon - President Barack Obama touted his agenda to foster innovation as a means of spurring job creation and boosting U.S. global competitiveness during a high-tech visit to the Pacific Northwest on Friday. Obama used a tour of an Intel Corp <INTC.O> semiconductor plant in Oregon to underscore his commitment to finding ways to reduce stubbornly high unemployment -- considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
Google group keeps sights on Microsoft in new era
SAN FRANCISCO - When a recruiter pitched Dave Girouard a job at Google Inc <GOOG.O> seven years ago to sell technology to other companies, he had the same question many are asking today. "Why does Google have an enterprise business? Are they serious about that?" recalls Girouard of one of the world's largest consumer Internet companies.
Al Jazeera says signal jammed, Libya blocks website
DUBAI - The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera said on Friday its signal was being jammed on several frequencies and its website had been blocked in Libya. Al Jazeera, whose coverage of the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is widely watched in the Arab world, reported the jamming on its website where it offered alternative frequencies on the Arabsat, Nilesat and Hot Bird satellites.
Obama to name Intel CEO to White House jobs panel
HILLSBORO, Oregon - Intel Corp <INTC.O> Chief Executive Paul Otellini will be named to a panel of experts advising President Barack Obama on jobs, the White House said on Friday. Otellini will join the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, created in January to focus on lifting hiring and promoting growth.
Apple's Steve Jobs at tech CEO meeting with Obama
WOODSIDE, California - Apple Inc. <AAPL.O>chief executive Steve Jobs, on medical leave from the company he co-founded, attended a meeting of technology industry leaders with U.S. President Barack Obama in northern California on Thursday. Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, was joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Inc <GOOG.O> Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison <ORCL.O> and other members of the Silicon Valley elite for talks with Obama at a venture capitalist's sprawling estate outside San Francisco.
Nokia sees Windows phone prices dropping fast
HELSINKI - Prices of smartphones using Microsoft's <MSFT.O> Windows Phone software platform will fall fast, Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop said on Friday. Last week Nokia <NOK1V.HE>, the world's largest phone maker by volume, said it would adopt Microsoft's software across its smartphones, raising fears the firm would miss out during the transition on surging demand for cheaper smartphone models.