Iraqi Launches Nation's First e-shopping Site
An Iraqi IT expert has set up the country’s first e-shopping website for trading anything from cars to game consoles, hoping to build a business that may one day cater for locals and foreign investors alike. Named after an ancient and teeming Baghdad market, Harej, which means "commotion" in Arabic, the site connects buyers and sellers for free – although few goods are on offer so far.
Its creator, Mehdi al-Ajwadi, said the idea would take time to catch on in the almost entirely cash-based economy of a country ravaged by years of conflict, and where only a tiny proportion of the population has access to the Internet. "There is still a long way to go before it’s accepted by the people," Ajwadi told Reuters. "In future, when credit cards become more common and widely used here, we will take a percentage on each trade." Hosted on a British server, www.harej.com runs in Arabic and Kurdish and offers new and used goods in categories including real estate, electronics, books, furniture and vehicles. By far the most popular section is cars, with 16 offered including a BMW X5, Mercedes C300 and GMC Yukon XL. Elsewhere, sellers are flogging a Nokia mobile phone handset, a Sony Playstation 3, and a modest four-bedroom home costing $65,000.
Eventually, Ajwadi hopes to develop a delivery service to get goods to buyers, as well as one day to tap the global market. "In the future we aim to be able to direct foreign investors to investment areas in different provinces of Iraq," he said.
Opera Says Microsoft EU Browser Offer 'Not Enough'
Norwegian browser maker Opera ASA said on Friday that Microsoft’splan to ship its Windows operating system in Europe without its Internet Explorer web browser was not enough to restore competition.
On Thursday the world’s top software maker Microsoft, countering pressure from European regulators, said it plans to ship the newest version of Windows in Europe without its Internet Explorer web browser. “I don’t think what Microsoft announced is going to restore competition,” Opera’s Chief Technology Officer Hakon Wium Lie told Reuters. “I don’t think it’s going to be enough, I don’t think it will get them off the hook,” he said.
Microsoft’s abrupt reversal comes shortly before the European Commission is due to rule on antitrust charges brought against the company in January, claiming that it abuses its dominant position by bundling its Explorer browser, shielding it from head-to-head competition with rival products.
Until now, Microsoft has claimed that the browser was an integral part of the operating system and should not be pulled out, but it now plans to do that for a European version of Windows 7, due to be rolled out later this year. A European Commission official said the EU watchdog will examine the conditions under which Microsoft will ship Windows 7 without browsers to manufacturers and suppliers, warning that the Commission will find out if there are any conditions attached. “We never suggested that they have to sell Windows without Internet Explorer. We suggested that they might have to give the possibility to customers to chose between different browsers,” the official said. The official added that it was in Microsoft’s interest to inform the Commission of any conditions attached to the rollout. The Commission, which enforces competition rules in the 27-nation European Union, said it planned to decide shortly on its latest case against the U.S. tech giant. It has to date fined Microsoft nearly $2 billion for various offenses.
The Commission can impose a fine of up to 10 percent of a company’s turnover and other remedies if found to have breached EU rules. Last month, it slapped a record $1.49 billion fine on the world’s biggest chipmaker Intel for anti-competitive practices.
Adobe, Facebook Tie up to Create Flash Developer Tools
Adobe and Facebook have announced a joint effort to enable Web developers to create more compelling applications using the Adobe Flash Platform and Facebook Platform.Officially supported by Adobe and Facebook, the new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform is a free and open source programming language library that is expected to be a complete resource supporting all Facebook application programming interfaces (APIs) including Facebook Connect.
Documentation, example applications and code are now available for developers to start building rich applications with Adobe Flash and Flex software and Facebook Platform.
Ethan Beard, director of platform marketing, Facebook, said, "Our vision is to empower the world’s developers to make the Web more social with Facebook Platform and through Facebook Connect. With our official support of the ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform, our innovative community of developers can more easily use the Adobe Flash Platform to create the next generation of applications that will allow users to engage with the people they care about in even more expressive ways."
"Combining social functionality with the Adobe Flash Platform gives the millions of Flash developers the tools to create Web experiences that are truly differentiated," said Bryant Macy, director of product marketing for the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. "Flash developers are already creating great applications for Facebook, and the new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform will accelerate the pace of social innovation on the Web."
Many developers already use Adobe Flash software, including the open source Flex framework, to build applications on Facebook, or use Facebook Connect. The new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform affirms that applications created with the Adobe Flash Platform will continue to be an integral part of the Facebook ecosystem.
The new ActionScript 3.0 library for Facebook includes support for 60 new APIs, which are consistent with current Facebook Platform APIs to ensure seamless implementation. It is the object-oriented programming language for Adobe Flash technology, which is ideally suited for developing rich Internet applications (RIAs). It joins JavaScript and PHP as officially supported client libraries for Facebook Platform.
The ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform is available immediately as a free download along with developer documentation and tutorials at http://www.adobe.com/go/facebook.
Google Updates Chrome to Boost Speeds
Google released a new version of its Chrome Web browser on Tuesday, as the search giant continues its efforts to get a foothold in a market dominated by Microsoft Corp.
The new Chrome represents the first major update of the software aimed at the general public since Google entered the browser business six months ago. It offers Web surfers faster performance and a handful of new features, such as auto-filling of personal information on online forms and a new way for users to drag around tabs of different Web pages within the browser window.
Google was a distant No. 4 in the browser market, with 1.2 percent share of the worldwide market in February, according to market research firm Net Applications. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer dominates the market, with a 67. 4 percent market share in February, while the Mozilla foundation’s Firefox browser had a roughly 22 percent share. Apple’s Safari browser had an 8 percent share. Last month, Google officially joined the European Union’s antitrust case against Microsoft, describing the browser market as "largely uncompetitive." The EU has charged Microsoft with abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows personal computer operating system.
According to a post on Google’s blog on Tuesday, the new Chrome beta loads certain types of Web pages 25 percent to 35 percent faster than the current version of the browser. The new features were previously available to programmers using the "developer" version of Chrome, but Google has now packaged all the updates together into a more reliable beta test version that is available for download. Google also has a more polished, so-called stable version of Chrome, based on the older beta version.
Microsoft Testing New Internet Search Service
Microsoft Corp is internally testing a new version of its online search service under the name of Kumo.com, a spokesman for the software company said on Monday.
The service is not yet available outside the company, but may eventually form part of Microsoft’s attempt to catch up with Internet search leaders Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.
The new search service was unveiled in an internal memo sent by the head of research at the company’s online services division on Monday, but it did not go into details about features on the new service.