Google wants to change online communication

The service, called Wave, will erode the distinction between the various ways people keep in touch on the Web and eliminate the need to use multiple tools to do so, the company said.

Google previewed Wave at its annual developers conference in San Francisco. The free service won't be available to the public until sometime later this year. Additionally, Google intends to incorporate some of Wave's features into its other services like e-mail and documents.

Wave's users invite others to join their "wave" about a particular topic so they can follow the thread of messages, much like a bulletin board. Everyone on the list can see individual messages as they're being typed, letter by letter, like instant messaging taken to the extreme, to speed up the conversation.

There's an option to turn off the real-time feature, which will no doubt be handy for people who often revise what they write before hitting send.

Users can drag and drop photos and maps onto the waves to make them immediately visible to others. They can also edit documents together, potentially appealing to workers who are collaborating on a project and who would otherwise use wikis.

Wave is designed for use by both consumers, for communicating with family and friends, and businesses.

Software developers are being encouraged to create features that are compatible with Wave. Web site owners or bloggers will be able to incorporate Wave's messaging features as a bulletin board, for instance.

Google will need to persuade people to drop their instant messaging, e-mail and other online services, or at least use them differently from a central hub. The company also runs the risk of taking away users from some of its services like Gmail.

(05-28) 19:52 PDT -- Google is uniting instant messaging, e-mail and document collaboration into a new service with the audacious goal of changing how people communicate online.

If Wave achieves only modest success, it may simply create yet another place where people have to check messages rather than eliminating the need to go to different places. Although Wave received widespread applause from software developers at its preview Thursday, its complexity and breadth may be too daunting for more casual Internet users.

Wave was developed in Google's Sydney office by a team led by Lars and Jens Rasmussen, brothers whose company, Where 2 Tech, was acquired by Google in 2004. They previously built Google Maps, a hit that gave them credibility with Google's management when they asked two years ago for resources to reinvent communication - never mind their vague plans.

"It did sound kind of crazy," said Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, at a news conference. "The team decided to give them the benefit of the doubt."

E-mail Verne Kopytoff at vkopytoff@sfchronicle.com.

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Amazon CEO Says No Sales Data Coming For Kindle

Amazon.com (AMZN) is unlikely to ever reveal sales data for its popular Kindle e-book reader, CEO Jeff Bezos told the company's shareholders at their annual meeting Thursday.

The online retailer launched the latest update to the Kindle in February and added a large-screen version earlier this month. But ever since the first iteration of the device came out in late 2007, the company has refused to provide any specific sales data for the product, leaving analysts and investors to guess as to the overall impact on the company's bottom line.

"I'm not sure we will ever reveal all the numbers," Bezos told a shareholder during a question-and-answer session at the meeting, which was broadcast over the Web. "Our point of view is that there is a competitive advantage to keeping the numbers close."

Bezos added that he understands the curiosity, given that he checks the sales data himself on a daily basis.

"The data we have shows us that this is turning into something special. So I beg your indulgence on the question of how many Kindles have been sold," he said.

Estimates from analysts have varied widely. Analysts believe Amazon may have sold more than half a million devices in 2008. Mark Mahaney of Citigroup believes about 300,000 Kindles may have been sold in the first quarter of this year, based on data provided by Sprint (S), the telecommunications carrier that provides wireless service for the device.

Many analysts believe Kindle sales this year will pass the 1 million mark.

Of the sales, Amazon has only said that - out of sales of books that have a Kindle version available - 35% of those sales involve the electronic format.

Bezos said the company has done very little advertising for the Kindle, though the product occupies a prime spot on the front of the company's Web site. He said most sales for the device are driven by word of mouth.

"Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service," he said at the meeting.

-Dan Gallagher; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

Categories: Internet

UPDATE 3-Sony Ericsson introduces Christmas line-up

* New Aino phone links to PlayStation3

* All 3 new phones to hit shelves in early Q4

* Details of software store next week (Adds details on software applications store)

By Georgina Prodhan

LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson introduced a new phone on Thursday that allows consumers to connect to their PlayStation3 gaming consoles, part of its Christmas line-up and its strongest sign yet of integration with parent Sony Corp (6758.T).

The world's fifth-biggest handset maker, which has slid down the rankings as the mid-market handset segment has been squeezed, said telecoms operators were hungry for phones that could drive data usage without needing huge subsidies.

"What they are looking for are chances to offer unlimited broadband data tariffs while reducing customer acquisition costs," Lennard Hoornik, Sony Ericsson's global head of marketing, told Reuters.

Sony Ericsson said it would launch a virtual software applications store -- joining a host who have rushed to ape the phenomenal popularity of Apple's (AAPL.O) AppStore -- and would announce details at next week's JavaOne Conference.

Money-losing Sony Ericsson is in need of new models to renew its offering since the appeal of the years-old Sony-branded Cybershot cameraphones and Walkman music phones has faded.

The Aino phone will allow users to manage media stored on their PlayStation3, much like the PSP mobile console and helping position the video-gaming console as a media hub, but will not allow them to play games or access high-definition video.

Sony Ericsson has rapidly lost market share in recent quarters as demand for so-called feature phones has suffered during the recession. Market expansion has been seen at the high-end smartphone and low-end emerging-markets extremes.

"At last there's a cooperation between a Sony product and a Sony Ericsson phone," said Ben Wood of UK-based research firm CCS Insight. "Previously, it was just branding. We see it as a statement of intent."

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Japanese electronics maker Sony and Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST), is battling with deep losses and is expected to need at least 100 million euros ($139 million) in extra funds in the next year.

Sony Ericsson said the Aino, which will allow consumers to access media content from their PlayStation gaming machine on the move, would be available in the fourth quarter, along with two other phones presented at a London event.

The Satio, previously announced at February's Mobile World Congress as the Idou, has a 12-megapixel high-resolution camera, while the Yari contains a Nintendo (7974.OS) Wii-like gesture sensor for gaming.

Satio will not go on sale until the fourth quarter, which could mean Sony Ericsson would miss the chance to be first to market with a 12-megapixel camera phone, said CCS's Wood.

Hoornik said the Satio would be the most expensive of the three new phones, given away with high-end contracts committing users to spending around 40 pounds ($64) per month, with Aino next most expensive and Yari the cheapest. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Derek Caney, Richard Chang, Gary Hill)

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Japan exports see 'modest recovery'

Japan's economic slump appears to be easing slightly, with exports registering a smaller decline in April than in March.

Government data released on Wednesday showed that exports in April fell 39.1 per cent year-on-year, less than the 45.6 per cent decline posted in March.

That resulted in a trade surplus of about $725m for April, down 85 per cent year-on-year, but the third straight month of surplus following a record deficit in January amid a collapse in worldwide demand for big ticket items such as cars and electronics.

The improved result from March reinforced market views that the worst of the global slump in trade may be over.

Naoki Murakami, chief economist at Monex Securities, told the AFP news agency that the finance ministry data on Wednesday "confirmed exports were recovering" after volumes increased for two consecutive months.

Japan's factory production rose for the first time in six months in March and data due out on Friday is expected to show the first back-to-back increases in output in more than a year in April.

Categories: News

Barack Obama has repeated his call for Israel to stop settlement construction after holding talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

Declaring that Washington was a "stalwart ally" of Israel, the US president nonetheless said that "stopping settlements" was part of Israel's responsibility under the 2003 "road map" peace plan.

He also reiterated his commitment to a Palestinian state, saying he was "a strong believer in a two-state solution" to the Middle East conflict.

Obama's comments, made alongside Abbas at the White House on Thursday, came as Israel appeared to rebuff Washington's demand, made a day earlier, that it stop all settlement expansion without exception.

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