Web and IT

Linux Ready for Primetime?
HP is the next major PC vendor to consider pre-installed Linux boxes.
By Eydie Cubarrubia
Hewlett-Packard may add a Linux-run PC to its line of computers—perhaps indicating the desktop computer market is finally ready for open source operating systems, an HP exec and a Linux expert said Thursday. Demand for Linux PCs is rising in both developing and established markets, and this might provide incentive for HP to reintroduce a Linux-powered PC, said Doug Small, HP's worldwide director of open source and Linux marketing. "We've seen core demand in India and China," Mr. Small said, citing an increase in requests for Linux-related customized deals. For example, he said one Chinese company recently signed a contract for 30,000 Linux laptops. Mr. Small wouldn't disclose the PC maker that did the deal with the Chinese company. HP a few years ago tried introducing a Linux laptop and desktop but weak demand prompted the computer maker to discontinue those models.

Is YouTube a Google-Sized Distraction?
Analysis: Wall Street has more or less shrugged off YouTube headaches—so far.
By Alexandra Berzon
YouTube's $1.65 billion price tag wasn't exactly chump change, even for a $141 billion company like Google. So five months after buying the upstart video-sharing site, the Internet search king is still grappling with questions from Wall Street. They came up again this week after a Google regulatory filing revealed that YouTube reported about $15 million in sales last year—meaning the Mountain View, California-based company paid over 100 times the startup's revenues. That had some analysts cringing, but it didn't surprise anyone. With Google raking in plenty of cash from its search-advertising technology, investors never expected immediate returns from side projects. But so far, YouTube has been nothing but a source of headaches for Google executives. Their efforts to negotiate content deals with mainstream media groups have resulted in a rash of negative publicity, forcing CEO Eric Schmidt to spend an inordinate amount of time defending a subsidiary that accounts for a sliver of Google's revenues.

TV Guide for the Web?
Divvio wants to organize video on the Internet.
By Joel Dreyfuss
The old complaint about having 100 TV channels and nothing to watch is being made obsolete by the explosion of video and audio content on the Internet. There may always be something you want to see or hear on the web—the challenge is finding it. Divvio, a startup based in Menlo Park, California, is offering to connect fans of Internet video and audio with the right content. On Monday, Divvio will launch what it calls a "personal guide to the Internet for video and audio." "You don't want to go from web site to web site to extract what you need," said Divvio Chairman and CEO Hossein Eslambolchi, the former chief technology officer at AT&T. Divvio's web-based application will locate and categorize millions of video and audio items on the Internet according to preferences set by the user. The site will permit detailed searches, allowing users to create "channels" that they can share with friends and suggest selections for the user channels.

Jury: Vonage Owes Verizon $58M
Other VoIP startups may face the same fate unless they can come up with strong patent portfolios.
By Cassimir Medford
Struggling Internet phone service provider Vonage Holdings suffered another blow Thursday after a federal jury ordered it to pay Verizon Communications $58 million in damages for infringing on the telecommunications giant's patents. The Virginia jury found that Vonage had infringed on three of Verizon's patents. The voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) upstart was also ordered to pay a 5.5 percent royalty to Verizon on future Vonage sales. The decision should put other VoIP providers on alert because the patented technology at the heart of Verizon's lawsuit is fairly common at other Internet calling companies, said John Rabena, a patent attorney with Washington, D.C.-based Sughrue Mion PLC. Mr. Rabena said those start-ups should be looking to install technical workarounds in order to avoid the possibility of being sued by Verizon.

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