After a year of bluster, Murdoch makes good on his promise to extract money from consumers as he tries to roll back the culture of free information that has defined the new news media.

Turning off some of HP’s partner benefits is one thing, but does Cisco have the guts to completely cut off its data center rival as a reseller partner?

Catalyst 2960, 6504-E show up as "Cisco" devices under "Machine type" when i do an SNMP sweep. 2950, 3650, 3750 and 6509-E seem to work ok. It can read SNMP just fine, but it cant identify the switches.

Are the mibs infact missing, or is it my installation? My money is on the mibs.

A year ago, most U.S. ebook publishers predicted a bright future for ebook reading on mobile phones -- in other countries. The going assumption had been that, in the U.S., people will buy special ebook readers, like the Amazon Kindle, instead, while mobile ebooks will become a hit in emerging markets, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where people don't have the money to buy specialized devices. Well, it looks like the publishers had been wrong.

According to Oct. 27 report from Wattpad, the maker of the world's most popular software for ebook reading on mobile phones, the "US replaced Indonesia as the leading country in mobile ebook consumption in [the third] quarter."

What gives? Apparently, ebook reading is super-popular on the Apple iPhone, and neither Indonesia nor Vietnam offer the device, according to Wattpad. "In the non-iPhone market, Indonesia and Vietnam together contribute to more than two third of the market," according to the report. Currently, iPhone owners consume 42.1% of all mobile ebooks served up via Wattpad, which tracks ebook usage in 160 countries. And 78% of all iPhone ebook usage comes from North America.

On Sept. 2, Nokia announced the specs of its first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G. The netbook, which comes with a global positioning system and runs Nokia mobile services, will cost $819. Most analysts I've talked to expected it to cost less than $500, which is the price of premium netbooks today.

The same day, Nokia also announced some neat Facebook features.

The high price could dramatically impede Nokia's progress in conquering the netbooks market. Nowadays, most manufacturers' netbooks cost between $200 and $350 to the carriers, which subsidize and sell them for consumers for as little as zero dollars with a wireless service contract. But no carrier can afford to subsidize the Booklet's full cost. Germany's O2 plans to sell the Booklet to consumers for about $356, after subsidies and with a long-term wireless contact. That's a lot of money for a consumer to shell out. And my hunch is, not many consumers will take O2 up on this offer.

Even though its product looks attractive and works well, according to demos, the high price leaves little hope for Nokia's success in this market. While the company does not want to cheapen its brand, or jeopardize its margins with a cheap netbook, it has to come out with a competitively priced device to make sales. Today, in my opinion, Nokia prices itself right out of the market.

Starting on Sept. 6, AT&T will require all new smartphone users to subscribe to the carrier's wireless data plans, the company confirms to BusinessWeek.com.

Today, some of AT&T's smartphone customers can chose not to buy a data plan, or they can subscribe to MEdia Net, a cheaper service that offers wireless e-mail and news access for as little as $2 per Megabyte. Currently, AT&T's data plans range from $5 to $60 a month.

While I suspect that most people who buy smartphones subscribe to data plans already, there's probably a hefty percentage that get smartphones for voice calls and good looks. They figure they might use them for data later. That's the category of users AT&T is now hoping to rope into buying more services. And the move likely means increases in data revenues for the carrier -- and slower sales growth for smartphone vendors.

Heavier monthly charges could deter some people from buying smartphones. For AT&T, that's no great loss. The carrier spends a lot of money on subsidizing handsets so consumers get them at a lower price; and those subsidies may not pay off when expensive, feature-rich smartphones are not being used for data services, as intended.

The move, which is likely to be copied by other U.S. carriers, could slow down smartphone sales, however. So far this year, handset makers Apple, Research in Motion and others have booked double-digit revenue growth on smartphone sales. Well, that sales growth should come down as service plan prices go up, and consumers that only want the handsets for voice may opt for a cheaper option: a feature phone.

It is very important to decide what type of camping you intend to go on before you decide on your camping accessories. When you are searching for camping accessories you will find that there are so many to choose from. With the way the economy is going now, people are trying to save money by going on camping holidays. You can have a quite comfortable time with camping these days thanks to all the wonderful camping accessories that you can buy. The first thing you need is your camping tent

Nortel, the bankrupt communications vendor looking to sell off its businesses to raise money, has accepted a $475 million bid from Avaya for its Enterprise Solutions Business. The agreement sets the floor for the bidding for the business unit, and gives Avaya the right to match other bids. The announcement comes a month after Nortel announced a similar agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks for two other business units. One analyst said he expects consolidation in the bloated business communications market to continue.
- Bankrupt communications vendor Nortel Networks is continuing to sell off its businesses most recently, Avaya put in a bid for its enterprise division and the fire sale looks like it will continue. Nortel July 20 announced a $475 million “stalking horse” agreement with Avaya for its Enterprise So...

When Microsoft launches its Windows Marketplace later this year, it will apparently allow buyers to return mobile apps they don't like.

According to this story, users of Windows Mobile devices who buy apps through the store will be able to return them within 24 hours. My initial reaction: I am not sure that's a good idea.

Surveys show that most Apple App Store users rarely use mobile apps they download for more than a day. That makes sense: You may download a game today, and play it for a couple of hours. By tomorrow, you are sick of it, and you move on to something else.

So Microsoft's generous return policy could backfire: People may download a game, play it, and then return it. Essentially, users might use this policy to take independent app developers for a ride. The developers will get less money -- and might be less willing to create apps for Microsoft.

Surprise and even some anger erupted among iPhone fans when they learned that the navigation app, Gokivo from Networks in Motion, would require a $10 monthly subsciption. It's the first app to use Apple's new in-app purchase caopability and Adam Frucci wrote in Gizmodo: "Bring on the sleazy, crippled apps begging for more money!" A comment to my iPhone navigation article said: "Tell people to avoid this app like the plague."

The response shows a lot of misunderstanding about how both navigation applications and the iTunes App Store work. A lot of the grumbling about Gokivo stems from people's resentment at having to pay 99 cents for an app that really doesn't do anything until you sign up for a month's service. But this oddity is required by the rules Apple has created for in-app purchase: "Free apps remain free," as Greg Joswiak, Apple vice-president for iPhone and iPod marketing, puts it. To qualify for in-apppurchasing, Networks in Motion had to start by charging something for Gokivo, and 99 cents is the minimum Apple allows.