CES 2006 ZONE

PICKS & PANS  From head-turning audio players to high-tech fitness trainers and bizarre celebrity sightings, here's the best and worst of this year's show. - http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W0RT03762836609A7C77F32D90D4C0

THE GADGET PARADE: CONVERGENCE & CONVENIENCE Apple's iPod again ruled beneath the Christmas tree in 2005 after the latest model of the iconic music player was outfitted with a video screen. And as the new year begins, a long-anticipated era of convergence in consumer technology products draws closer, according to Wharton faculty and technology analysts. Meanwhile, cell phones that play video, e-mail delivered to handheld computers, telephone conversations over the PC -- and hundreds of other glimpses into Christmas future -- were on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week where the stepped-up presence of digital giants, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Intel, signaled their ever-increasing interest in expanding from the office into consumers' living rooms.

<http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1360.cfm>http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1360.cfm

A VERY TAXING ZONE

TAX LAW CHANGES OR 2006

Every January, a wide variety of taxes and tax benefits go up or down as a result of inflation or changes in tax law. Will you be a winner or loser this year?

Here is a summary of the major changes for 2006 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/12/BUGJ2GLTB91.DTL&type=printable

CYBERZONE

HIGH SCHOOL HIGH TECH GOING STRONG

High Tech High School's strategy of infusing technology throughout an interdisciplinary curriculum is paying off. Every student in the school's three graduating classes has gone on to college.

http://news.techlearning.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/htNW0FjRB80E2V0D3LC0GL

SATELLITE RADIO BEYOND THE CAR: HOME & SIDEWALK A new range of portable devices lets you listen to Sirius and XM Satellite Radio virtually anywhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/technology/circuits/12basics.html?th&emc=th

LEGAL DOWNLOADS SURGE AFTER CHRISTMAS

Sales of music tracks online surged over the holidays, indicating what might be new baseline levels for the market. During the Christmas week,

9.5 million tracks were downloaded from legal online music services, a new record for single-week sales. The following week, that number jumped to nearly 20 million tracks, triple the number sold during the same week a year earlier. Analysts attribute much of the gain to the ballooning number of portable MP3 players in the hands of consumers and to strong sales of gift cards. For the year, legal downloads rose 147 percent to 142.6 million. Although a drop always follows the holiday spike, analysts said the holiday numbers could indicate a market that will grow to perhaps 750 million or 1 billion tracks in 2006. Such numbers still pale compared to downloads on P2P services, which are estimated at 250 million per week, but experts say the upswing in legal downloads signals a changing tide for online music.

http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6023769.html

FTC WINS SETTLEMENT FOR BOGUS ANTISPYWARE SCHEME The operators of two supposed antispyware products agreed to pay nearly

$2 million to settle complaints by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the products amounted to nothing more than a scam. Last year, the FTC charged the operators of Spykiller and Spyware Assassin with running similar schemes to defraud consumers. According to the FTC, both companies used pop-up ads and e-mail to draw consumers to the companies' Web sites, where users could supposedly receive free scans of their machines. After the scans reported spyware, which frequently did not exist, users were offered a spyware-removal service for around $30-40. The removal also did not do what was advertised, said the FTC.

In addition, many of the e-mail messages violated provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act. The makers of Spyware Assassin agreed to pay $76,000, which represents the amount the FTC spent on its investigation. Makers of Spykiller will pay $1.9 million.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3575421

OPEN SOURCE ZONE

USPTO TO WORK WITH OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPERS The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will participate in a series of efforts intended to improve the quality of software patents and reduce the time and money organizations currently spend challenging and defending patents, particularly for open source applications. As open source technologies have flourished, high-profile disputes over the validity of software patents and over so-called prior art have become a common aspect of intellectual property concerns. Many have faulted the USPTO for issuing too many patents, saying that many of them rely on components developed by others. The patent office will work with open source developers and industry to establish more and clearer channels of communication about technologies. Such an open exchange of information, it is hoped, will reduce the number of unwarranted patents issued while minimizing the efforts spent defending legitimate patents. In another initiative, the USPTO will develop a quality index for patents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/technology/10blue.html

SCIENCE ZONE

THE DOOMSDAY VAULT

The future of humanity could lie within a large concrete room, hewn out of a mountain on a freezing island just 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. The facility is designed to hold around 2 million types of seed, representing all known varieties of the world's crops. New Scientist has learned that the Norwegian government is planning to create the seed bank next year to safeguard the world's food supply against nuclear war, climate change, terrorism, rising sea levels and earthquakes...

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18925343.700

EX-POLLIES TO LOOK OUT FOR ET

Philosophers and former politicians will soon join an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extra-terrestrial intelligence.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/space/SpaceRepublish_1526555.htm

OLD BRAINS LEARN NEW TRICKS

Imaging neurons in the living brains of mice shows that these cells can grow in surprising ways -- perhaps suggesting new ways to treat spinal cord injuries and other neurological problems. By Emily Singer

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5c10757c61077c7316-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

BIO BRIEFS

Austin--Winkler starting anew following Ambion sale

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020142

Buffalo--ECIDA fund supports biotech industry

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020143

East Bay--Grail of genomics: $1,000 test would open new frontier

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020144

East Bay---Two East Bay companies sign deals with big pharma firms

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020145

Houston---CytoGenix stock on milestone-fueled upswing

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020146

Raleigh/Durham--Bio niche means new role, added funding for NCCU

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020147

Raleigh/Durham--Under Watch '06: Optimism finds new supporters in tech, biotech

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020148

San Francisco--Values proposition: Growth poses huge challenge to sustaining Genentech's culture

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020149

San Francisco--JPMorgan's biotech blast: 7,000 attendees, 300 firms, 1 mood http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020150

San Jose--Nuvelo hopes two new drugs lead to company's first profit

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020151

Seattle--Startup VLST nabs top execs

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020152

Seattle--Rocky ride for biotech stocks

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/2020153

ASIA-PACIFIC ZONE

THE GREAT CHINESE EXPERIMENT

China is betting its economic health on becoming a world leader in the sciences. But will it succeed?

PART ONE

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5610767261007a7d14-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

PART TWO

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5610767c6502787310-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff01167477610

PART THREE

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5c1077756c037a7516-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

AUCKLAND FIRM DEVELOPS WORLD'S SMALLEST GPS DEVICE The world's smallest global positioning system (GPS) receiver - the size of a baby's fingernail - has been developed by an Auckland electronics company.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,77463~3535373a28~,00.html

CHINA MAPS OUT STRATEGIC HIGH TECH DEVELOPMENT FOR NEXT 15 YEARS China will intensify its development of high technologies with strategic significance for next 15 years, Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said Tuesday. "In the next 15 years, China will break the international monopoly on strategic high technology to ensure national security, and China will also probe and innovate in key international edge-cutting technology," Lu said.

http://english.people.com.cn//200601/11/eng20060111_234492.html

SMALL BUSINESSES LOOK TO CHINA

Once upon a time, China was a risk only big multinationals were willing to take. But these days, more and more U.S. small businesses are taking the plunge. Pint-size suppliers are following big customers to the mainland. Venture capitalists are pushing startups to develop a China strategy before ponying up any cash.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/48101.html

CHINA BECAME THE WORLD;s LARGEST CHIP CONSUMER IN 2005 Domestic production in China, however, while explosive, will remain far behind its consumption for years to come, says IC Insights, even as it becomes the largest market for ICs in the world.

http://email.electronicnews.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/eoxs0HRQ8K0DbD0CgBc0E

WIRELESS ZONE

YAHOO LOUNGES AT SHERATON

Co-branding effort sites Yahoo lounges in hotel lobbies.

http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,25aj,1,5rww,k6ou,jcj3,9ffi

SITE CITE

ANCIENT PERUVIANS LOVED THEIR SPUDS

The first cultivated potato was grown in what is now Peru, researchers say, and it originated only once, not several times, as some experts propose.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1474174.htm