Forex Technology Blog

Congrats to Infineon Technologies AG. Just yesterday, Infineon Technologies launched a new chipset for digital cordless phones that will allow total system costs to be reduced.

The new chipset incorporates the Step8 DECT baseband controller, an eighth-generation device from the company that pioneered the digital cordless market segment in the early 1990s. The Step8 leverages Infineon’s expertise to provide new functionalities like polyphonic ringing, color-display support and a microcontroller optimized for maximum performance. The Step8 is used along with a radio frequency transceiver and power amplifier to provide a very price competitive solution with an extended feature set for digital cordless handsets.

Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG grabbed the No.2 spot in the global DRAM market in the first quarter as its key rivals focused on more profitable NAND flash memory, iSuppli Corp. said on Friday.

Global sales of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips rose 7 percent in the first quarter from the October-December period, beating its earlier estimate thanks to strong chip sales to the PC market, the U.S. research firm said.

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Microsoft Corp. is tempering its income outlook as it boosts research and development spending, leaving some analysts grappling with whether that decision will translate to higher profits.

For the three months ended March 31, Microsoft earned $2.98 billion, or 29 cents per share, compared with $2.56 billion, or 23 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The most recent results included a charge of 3 cents per share for legal expenses. However, the company said that, without rounding, it actually earned 28.6 cents per share and took a charge of 2.6 cents per share. That means it would have earned 31 cents per share.

Revenue for the three-month period was $10.9 billion, a 13 percent increase over sales of $9.62 billion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 33 cents per share, on revenue of $11.04 billion.

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ExplorerDestroyer.com is helping people make more money with the Google Firefox Affiliate Program by offering a script that detects users browser.

The campaign, called Explorer Destroyer, takes advantage of a new program by Google to pay users $1 for each referral to Firefox made through Google Toolbar, according to the group’s Web site (http://www.explorerdestroyer.com).

“You already want people to switch to Firefox. Now’s the time to get serious about it,” according to the site. “Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer. … Now you can advance your ideals, save people from popups and spyware hell, and make some serious money.”

According the Explorer Destroyer Web site, the group offers Web-site owners scripting technology that will detect if a visitor is running IE. If so, an alert will appear directing them to download Firefox either to view the site better or at all. Whenever a visitor to a Web site using the group’s technology switches to Firefox from IE, the owner of the Web site will get the referral fee if they have signed up for Google’s AdSense program.

Apparently there’s more to the Hard Rock Cafe than queueing for an hour to eat an overpriced burger while looking at a plectrum once used by a member of the Stray Cats. They’re now developing property under the same banner, and the Black Eyed Peas are designing a million dollar suite for one in San Diego. The profits will go to charity, although we can’t imagine there’s any charity that wouldn’t rather they just bought a bed and some nice curtains from Ikea and gave the million dollars to charity instead.

“Hard Rock is a brand that has always been true to its core and I really dig the direction these guys are headed in San Diego,” said Peas member will.i.am. “When I heard about this project, I knew I had to be a part of it and what we’re going to do will be outrageous and, at the same time, benefit the Peapod Foundation and children all over the world. All the band — Fergie, apl.de.ap, Taboo and I — will have input so it’s going to be a great time for us all.”

Hard Rock Hotel San Diego suite by Black Eyed Peas source

I’m must be becoming a crazy Hard Rock Cafe / Hotel fan (HRC). I have visited HRC Rome and Amsterdam this month. I bought 7 HRC Rome tshirts, 2 HRC Amsterdam shirts, 4 HRC Amsterdam shot glasses. I’ll post up the pics later. And here’s some more Hard Rock Hotel news…..There’s a new Hard Rock Hotel Madrid opening in Summer 2006. But somehow the HRC website missed out the new Hard Rock Hotel Port Dickson scheduled for 2007.

See this too. Hard Rock Cafe Penang in Sept 2006.

I’m seriously in need of a new 19 inch monitor and just wondering if I should get the new Dell UltraSharp 1907FP 19-inch Flat Panel Monitor posted on the Malaysian website at dell.com.my. Its going for a song now at RM1049 (about USD283) and its got digital DVI-D and Analog inputs.

Anyone of you out there had a chance to play with this monitor yet ?

UltraSharp 1907FP 19-inch Flat Panel Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand tech specs:

* Sharp and brilliant graphics with a max resolution up to 1280×1024 pixels
* Panel swivel, tilt, and pivot allows for easy adjustments
* 5.1 inches of height adjustment facilitates easy adjustment of monitor to the preferred level minimizing discomfort and reducing eye and neck fatigue
* 4 USB 2.0 ports two located on the side of the display for easy attachment/detachment of peripherals and two are located at the base for keyboards and mice
* Integrated rubber sleeve for clean cable management
* Lock down mechanism for easy transportation
* 8 milli-second response time

Compare Dell UltraSharp 1907FP 19-inch Flat Panel Monitor prices at Amazon

Update : 30 April 2006.
The Online Promotional Price has dropped to RM 969 already. I’m ready to buy it anytime now….

Here’s something of interest. I’ve been using lots of Ajax software recently – like Meebo.com and ThinkFree . It would be good to read this post below if you are a Ajax developer.

If you have developed an AJAX based web application you would know how many JavaScript files are required per webpage. If you use the prototype or dojo toolkit library you would know how big those JavaScript files can turn out to be.

A few months back I was developing a website dotbeta.com, though I never completed it, I learned a few things about caching and how you can speed up your website for users who visit your site often. A website like digg takes up more than a minute to load on my dialup connection even though the main page is no more than a 27-32 KB. The real time is taken up by the JavaScript files. The solution for this problem is to cache the JavaScript files. Though caching improves the speed but it causes a problem when you have to update the JavaScript files, since the browser will not look for updated files if they have been cached.

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Western Digital is having it good. Want to work for them ?

27 April 2006
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today reported revenue of $1.1 billion on shipments of approximately 18.8 million units, and net income of $102.9 million, or $.45 per share for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2006. Gross margin for the March quarter was 19.3 percent.

These results represented strong year-over-year performance, including 23 percent growth in units from 15.3 million in the year-ago period, 23 percent growth in revenue versus $920 million, and 45 percent growth in net income over the $70.8 million reported last year. A year ago, the company reported earnings of $.32 per share and gross margin of 18.2 percent.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users’ data close-at-hand and secure from loss.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

When you order your meal in Netherlands, or when the waiter brings the food to your table, its always polite to say “lekker”. Thats what I learned when I was in Netherlands from 22 Jan to 22 April 2006.

The first, and sometimes the only, Dutch word that foreigners learn. This is mainly because it is easy to pronounce (no awful diphthongs, no throat-cracking g-sounds) and, apparently, simple to use. After all, it means ‘delicious’ , doesn’t it, and it’s applied to food. No problem. We-e-ll, yes and no. For a start, you can use ‘lekker’ to describe just about anything, from the weather or your state of health to a member of the opposite sex. A hot bath is ‘lekker’, the perfume smells ‘lekker, the business is doing well -’loopt lekker’… And even if you confine it to food, there are nuances. ‘Delicious’ is a pretty effete translation of something that denotes an unrefined and robust appreciation. Sure, a bag of chips with mayonnaise is definitely ‘lekker’, but used to describe quails’ eggs on a bed of rocket salad it probably needs a qualifier. Watch out, too, for the strange Dutch habit of automatically replying ‘lekker’ whenever food is even mentioned as an option. ‘Can I get you a cup of coffee?’ ‘Lekker’. ‘Do you like strawberries?’ ‘Lekker’. ‘Shall we order the special?’ ‘Lekker’. After all, they don’t know if it’s going to be delicious or not… But, never mind, you’ll learn and soon you’ll be throwing ‘lekker’ around as liberally as everyone else.

Some news on internet domain names…

Jim Croce’s famous song “I got A Name” may one day need to be changed to “I got A Domain” if current Internet growth rates remain the same. Today there over 70 million registered Internet domain names across the globe, according to Dotster, Inc., a leading provider of Internet domain name and hosting services.

“While more and more businesses are taking advantage of the innovation and power offered by the Internet by registering domains, an equal number of individual users are registering for domain names as well. In fact, with the Internet becoming such a ubiquitous part of everyday life and commerce, one can imagine a day when every individual and every corporation will have a domain name just as they do a social security number or corporate tax ID,” says Kevin Kilroy, Chairman, Dotster, Inc.

Domain name registry is on the rise as a result of the growing online community and more comprehensive domain name registry and online services marketed and offered by companies such as Dotster.com. According to the most recent Verisign reports, 8.5 million new domains registered were registered in the 3rd quarter of 2005, a 33% increase from 3rd quarter 2004 and a 94% increase from 3rd quarter 2003. Internet use worldwide reached the landmark number of 1 billion users in the 3rd quarter of 2005.

Dotster Inc provider of Internet domain name and hosting services