World stocks slide on Fed caution

LONDON – World stock markets mostly fell Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve struck a note of caution in its latest assessment of the world's biggest economy, indicating Europe's debt crisis poses a risk to the recovery.
The central bank's statement, which accompanied a decision to leave interest rates at a record low, added to unease after weak housing figures suggested the U.S. economic recovery is uneven and vulnerable to turmoil in the markets.
The Fed said that "financial conditions have become less supportive of economic growth." It cited what it called "developments abroad" but didn't mention by name debt-laden Europe, where shaky government finances have threatened to nip the continent's recovery from recession in the bud.
After mixed trading in Asia, European stocks fell on the open. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.2 percent at 5,117.68 and Germany's DAX was 1.0 percent lower at 6,141.10. France's CAC-40 shed 1.2 percent to 3,596.86.
Wall Street was also expected to fall later — Dow futures were down 0.6 percent at 10,173 while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were 0.7 percent lower at 1,079.30.
"The (Fed) statement was unequivocally more dovish, reflecting both the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis on financial markets and the weaker tone of the incoming economic data," said Paul Ashworth, economist at Capital Economics.
Stock markets had been hit earlier this week by poor housing sales figures from the U.S. Because the American property market was the original epicenter of the global financial crisis, news that it is not healing as quickly as hoped undermined investors' confidence.
Eyes will turn later to U.S. data on durable goods orders, which are expected to have fallen during May, and to tomorrow's start to the G-20 summit of leading nations in Canada.
World leaders are expected to discuss economic policy, specifically how soon stimulus should be withdrawn and how quickly deficits should be tackled. While Europe — scarred by the near default of Greece — is focusing on painful spending cuts to the detriment of growth, the U.S. is pushing for a more cautious approach that will not risk derailing the global recovery. Discussions will start Friday and last into the weekend.
In Asia, economic news on Thursday was relatively more upbeat — with Japan reporting continued growth in exports for May, driven by demand from within the region — but couldn't stop most markets reversing course after early gains.
"Investors are still paying close attention to the uncertainty in Europe, because that might hurt China's exports," said Peng Yunliang, an analyst for Shanghai Securities.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index edged up 0.1 percent to 9,928.34 after exports rose for a sixth straight month as brisk global demand for cars and high-tech products helped shore up a recovery in the world's second-largest economy. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 1,739.87.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.1 percent to 4,479.70 amid news Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had been dumped as leader by the ruling party and replaced with his deputy.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.6 percent to 20,733.49 and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.1 percent to 2,566.75. Stocks in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and New Zealand all fell.
In New York overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed just 0.1 percent to 10,298.44 Wednesday.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 89.53 yen from 89.93 in New York late Wednesday. The euro slid to $1.2278 from $1.2316.
Benchmark crude for August delivery lost 54 cents to $75.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.50 to settle at $76.35 on Wednesday.
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Associated Press researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing contributed to this report.

Medvedev: New technologies would open access

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev toured Silicon Valley to see "the origins of success," and came away expressing optimism that his country will also be able to adopt a high-tech economy that would give everyone a chance to get ahead.
His visit Wednesday to the high-tech capital was bolstered by an announcement by Cisco Systems Inc. that it would invest $1 billion over 10 years to help foster high-tech innovation in Russia.
The Russian leader is on a U.S. tour that will eventually take him to Washington for meetings with President Barack Obama.
He said he came to Silicon Valley to "see with my own eyes the origins of success."
Medvedev has said he wants to bring more high-tech innovation to Russia's oil-dependent economy, and create the country's own Silicon Valley outside Moscow.
"Russia is trying to become an open country," he said during a speech at Stanford University, the last stop on his visit. "Open for investment, for trade, for joint projects in any sector of public life, and of course in economics."
The president has faced criticism that no matter how strong his desire to bring new technologies, business and innovation into Russia, the country's political and economic systems remain too corrupt for outsiders' comfort.
But on Wednesday, while acknowledging the challenges, he remained confident that with the right partnerships and attitude, his country would succeed.
"In Russia, we have money, and in a number of cases, big money. But we don't have Silicon Valley. That's why this money should be spent correctly. It should be given to the right hands and there should be correct rules," he said.
Medvedev kicked off his high-tech tour in a meeting with Evan Williams and Biz Stone, the co-founders of Twitter, the popular microblogging site.
At Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, Medvedev set up a Twitter account under the name "KremlinRussia" and sent his first tweet.
The debut was in Russian: "Hello everyone. I am now in Twitter, and this is my first message."
During his speech, Medvedev listed 10 points he believes will pave the way for Russia's success, including reforming the nation's health care and education systems, and creating a more reliable court system and stronger financial system.
His audience at Stanford included former Secretary of States George Shultz and Condoleezza Rice, both fellows at the university's Hoover Institution.
In a private meeting before the speech with Shultz, Rice, Stanford Provost John Etchemendy and others, Medvedev spoke candidly about some of the challenges facing Russia.
He said Russia must try to combat the problem of so-called "brain drain" when young minds leave the country for opportunities elsewhere.
"If young people encounter better conditions abroad, it means we failed to do something and they leave. Our task is to make sure we are competitive," he said, according to quotes provided by the Stanford News Service, which was given access to the meeting.
He also acknowledged a problem with getting investments.
"Unfortunately for us, venture capitalism is not going so well so far. No one wants to run the risk. It's a problem of culture, as Steve Jobs told me today. We need to change the mentality pattern on this," he said.
As part of his Silicon Valley tour, Medvedev met earlier Wednesday with Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs in Cupertino.
In four months the Kremlin has lavished an "innograd" — or innovation city — project with budget allocations of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Analysts have warned, however, that without genuine reform of Russia's tremendous state machine, a mega-project like Skolkovo will be doomed.
Medvedev said, in the end, the project will depend on the will of the people and businesses.
"If you are ready to help in this project, I'm sure it has all the chances to be implemented," he said.
Earlier in the day, Medvedev met with Cisco CEO John Chambers at the company's San Jose headquarters, where Cisco said it plans to establish a physical presence in Skolkovo and set up a second global headquarters for its emerging technologies group there.
"We're very honored to commit to your dream," Chambers said as the men signed a memorandum of understanding, with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other guests looking on.

Red Hat, Cisco expand 'virtualization' partnership

BOSTON – Red Hat Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. said Wednesday that they expanded their "virtualization" partnership — the term for technology that lets one computer act like several.
The companies said they are expanding their relationship by integrating Cisco's virtual network link technology with Red Hat's enterprise virtualization technology.
The companies said that the move will give customers better network performance while lowering costs associated with rolling out virtual datacenters.
Shares of Red Hat, which is an open-source software company, rose 49 cents to $31.35 after rising to a 542-week high of $32.52 earlier in the session. Shares of Cisco, which is the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, fell 14 cents to $22.83 in late trading Wednesday.

Internet authorities adopt new .org security

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The company that oversees Web addresses ending in .org said on Wednesday it was introducing extra security measures to guard against identity theft.

.Org, which is monitored by the Washington-based Public Interest Registry, is the first generic domain name system (DNS) to adopt the extra measures, but others, such as .com and .net, are expected to follow.

In the United States alone identity theft is estimated to have risen 37 percent to affect 11 million people last year, at a total cost of $54 billion, according to the 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report by Javelin Strategy and Research.

Eight million websites use the .org suffix, which is one of the Internet's original domain names, established in 1985.

.Org is frequently used by nonprofit groups and hosts many credit unions' online banking services, making it a target for fraudsters who want to tap into bank accounts or donations being made online to charities and other organizations.

More than $1 billion is now being donated electronically each year in the United States, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, with the figure growing by nearly 40 percent between 2005 and 2006.

The new DNS security measures will authenticate the origin of data on .org websites, ensuring its integrity, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said during a week-long meeting in Brussels.

"In very simple terms, DNS (security measures) allow Internet users to know with certainty they have reached the website or location they intended to," said Rod Beckstrom, chief executive of ICANN, which oversees the Internet on behalf of the U.S. government.

In effect, the measures introduce a key to validate data, ensuring it has not been tampered with in transit.

Such security measures are already used by web addresses with the national suffixes for Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Puerto Rico and Sweden.

Internet domain registrars Comcast and Go Daddy, which sell web addresses, have already agreed to implement the measures, which other registrars are expected to adopt, the chief executive of Public Interest Registry, Alexa Raad, said.

Ordinary Web surfers will not notice any change when accessing .org websites. Websites ending in .com and .net are expected to adopt the extra DNS security measures by the first quarter of 2011.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Braving the crowd: Getting an iPhone 4 without a reservation

if you’ve been paying attention over the past few weeks, it should come as no surprise that the iPhone 4 is in high demand. More than 600,000 pre-orders and reservations were placed between Apple and its partners in the device’s first day of availability. The result crashed servers, networks, and iPhone apps alike. Shipping dates have been pushed back into July, retailers stopped taking pre-orders—it’s been tumultuous, to say the least.

And yet, for whatever reason, you’ve decided that come launch day, you’re going to try and get yourself a new iPhone without a reservation. We commend you. If the pre-order process is any indication, this is going to be moderately more difficult than showing up on launch day for past Apple products. How difficult, you may ask? Well, before you rush out the door with a tent, chair, and your choice of soon-to-be-obsolete electronic gadget to pass the time in line, here are a few tips, tricks, suggestions, and warnings regarding your impending journey.

Don’t go to AT&T

You may be tempted to go straight to the carrier, but it’s ill-advised: AT&T put out a statement on Tuesday noting that “demand is simply unprecedented,” and that they’re “committed to fulfilling preorders first.”

What this means: There will be iPhone 4s at AT&T stores on June 24, but unless you placed an online or in-store pre-order via AT&T and have had it confirmed, you won’t be able to buy one until at least June 29. Once June 29 rolls around, all orders are first come, first served—and if those run out, you’re looking at a nice undetermined wait time for your device to show up.

Bottom line: No AT&T store will have the iPhone 4 for walk-in customers on launch day. Don’t go there.

Best Buy and Radio Shack aren’t great options either

Here’s the problem with third party electronics stores: initially, you think “hey, everyone’s going to go to AT&T or Apple to order their phones, I bet no one but the blogger crowd knows that the iPhone 4 will be sold at Best Buy and Radio Shack too!” And you know, you’re probably right. Unfortunately, you know who else is going to think that? Apple. As such, stores like Best Buy and Radio Shack get far fewer devices, and like clockwork, they sell out pretty much instantly.

Radio Shack put out a press release via Facebook to let its customers know that “demand for iPhone 4 has far exceeded expectations” (seeing a pattern here) and as a result, some stores won’t even receive enough devices to fill their pre-order queue. Customers who have pre-ordered should call their local store to see if they’ll be affected. In either case, it seems like walk-up purchases are completely out of the question. “We apologize for the inconvenience,” says Radio Shack.

A similar story looks to be unfolding over at Best Buy. Computerworld dug up a few forum postsper store. There’s no official word from Best Buy itself, but considering the chain’s employees were told to halt pre-orders, this does not look to be a good option. that allegedly indicate a supply of less than 15 devices

Bottom line: Radio Shack definitely won’t have iPhones for walk-in customers and may not even have them for customers who reserved. Best Buy might have an incredibly small supply, but it’s probably not worth chancing it.

To the Apple Store, then?

It comes down to the folks who make the phone in the first place: Apple. In the past, retail launches like this have been organized as such: the store receives a shipment of devices dedicated solely to those who have pre-ordered, and a shipment dedicated for walk-in customers. On the day of launch (or several days before, depending on the size of your respective Apple Store), two distinct and separate lines will form: one for those with reservations, and one for those who wish to wait “Standby.” Reserved devices are guaranteed until a certain point in the day, while standby devices are first come, first served.

This time around, Apple’s strategy looks to be similar, but no doubt more limited. Macworld called fifteen Apple Stores between Colorado and New York to confirm tomorrow’s operating procedures, and despite busy store lines, got through to four stores. Out of the four, two were able to expressly confirm that they will in fact have a supply of iPhone 4 units for walk-in customers, but could not divulge how many phones were being set aside or what the distribution of capacities (16GB vs. 32GB) would be.

There’s a small chance that unclaimed phones originally set aside for reservation customers could increase this walk-in supply, but according to one store I spoke with, customers will have their phones reserved for them until 9:30 p.m., when the store closes. As such, those released phones may not be available for sale until the store’s Friday 8 a.m. opening.

Bottom line: Apple Stores will have a separate supply of iPhones for walk-in customers on launch day, but they are first come, first served, and we don’t know just how many are set aside per store. In other words, get there as early as humanly possible—remember, Apple Stores are opening at 7 a.m. for launch—and the further away from a city center your Apple Store is, the better.

Braving the Apple Store standby crowd

If this all this doom-and-gloom is prompting you to leap from your chair and run to your nearest Apple store, hold your horses. Before you head on over, there are a few key things to remember.

Whether you’re signing up for a new account or upgrading your phone, go through Apple’s pre-authorization process. Not only will this save you time once you get in the store, but you’ll speed up the line for everyone else. If you head on over to Apple’s pre-order page and choose the phone you wish to buy, Apple will have you fill out your AT&T information, will run a credit check (if applicable), and present your pricing options. This information will save an Apple Store employee the hassle of trying to touch type it when you’re in the store. It speeds up your transaction time, and the rest of the line will thank you.

Check with your Apple Store to find out how early you can line up. Some stores, like Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue flagship location, already have a swarm of people lined up outdoors. Other stores are in malls, which have specific restrictions about when and how you can line up. Check with the mall or your local store to find out specifics.

If you already have an account with AT&T, you cannot buy yourself a new iPhone without the account holder present (if the account holder is not you). If your dad is the one paying the bills, he has to stand in line with you to get the phone, and he has to bring his driver’s license and know his Social Security number. Yes, it’s a pain, but it’s how Apple prevents fraud. You should also bring some sort of ID card.

Paying with cash is doable, but not ideal. You’re required to use some sort of card to ring up your iPhone transaction. Some Apple Stores may let you buy a gift card for the amount of the phone, then use that gift card to ring out your purchase, but that’s in no way guaranteed. In short: if you can use a credit card, it’s preferable. Also, you’ll need a card to do a credit check if you’ve never had an AT&T account before.

Bottom line: If you’re planning to wait in line, launch day will be stressful, but don’t forget to have fun and enjoy it. Talk to the people in line with you. Bring your iPad and play a good game of Strategery. Smile at the Apple Store employee who brings you water or helps you pick out a case. And just remember that you won’t remember all this stress and hassle two weeks from now, once you’re happily settled in with your new iPhone.

iMovie for iPhone hits the App Store

While some iPhone 4 customers have started receiving their new phones—including some Macworld editors—Apple’s latest smartphone doesn’t officially go on sale until Thursday morning. That’s not the case with one piece of software designed for that phone: iMovie for iPhone appeared on the App Store late Wednesday night.
The app takes many of the features of Apple’s desktop video-editing software and brings them to the iPhone. So extensive are the features, in fact, that the mobile version of iMovie will only run on the iPhone 4 and that phone’s more powerful A4 processor.
Introduced two weeks ago at the Worldwide Developers Conference, iMovie greatly expands the limited video-editing features previously found on the iPhone 3GS. Users could trim footage shot with that phone’s video camera and share the finished product via e-mail, MMS, or the Web, but that was about it.
iMovie for iPhone promises substantially more capabilities. Users can trim clips with the help of drag handles, zooming in for finer edits. iPhone 4-toting Spielbergs can also add cross-fade or theme-based transitions as well as titles. The app also lets users add canned music that comes with each project theme or songs stored in the iTunes library. And users can insert still images from their photo libraries into a project, tweaking the pan-and-scan Ken Burns Effect to their liking. Delivery options for sharing videos remain the same, but users will be able to export movies at 360p, 540p, or 720p resolutions.
Those features do not make for a slender app. iMovie for iPhone is a 30.6MB download from the App Store. The app costs $5 and runs on iOS 4—fitting, since that’s the OS that ships on the iPhone 4.
Look for a hands-on with iMovie for iPhone—and a full review of the mobile app—soon.

Android apps for bedtime and relaxation

Bedtime is often the most peaceful time of your day ... until it’s interrupted with an email alert or a phone call. It's a good thing Android devices are so smart these days; there are a number of apps that can fix your phone settings, or merely help you lull your way to sleep.
Here are some essential Android apps you’ll need for bedtime.

Tools and settings

Sweet Dreams is an app designed to help you sleep better. Free, the Android app lets you set what time you go to sleep and what time you typically wake up.  From there, you can set various actions for sleep mode, such as silencing your ringer, changing your screen timer, and disabling Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The app provides location, motion and sound settings as well.
Timeriffic has similar features as Sweet Dreams, but it can be used for more than just bedtime. The free Android app lets you create multiple profiles for saving various phone settings—set one for bedtime when the ringers are turned off, and set another for when you’re in an office meeting.
Setting Profiles is another robust settings service, with a few additional options that may really make bedtime more peaceful. At $3.95, this Android app can (and should) be used for anytime of day. For bedtime, you can set times for volume control, screen brightness, touchtones, and Wi-Fi. You can also set tasks to operate based on things like battery conditions, location, or your own set of rules.
How about a night clock as well as a settings saver?  Bedside is a free Android app that has a dimmed night clock, with options to mute your notifications and ringers.  Optimized for nighttime use, Bedside won’t shine annoyingly bright in your darkened bedroom.

Games and relaxation

If star-gazing is your thing, try Google Sky Map.  The free Android app overlays the night sky with constellations and other grids to outline planets, Earth’s orientation within our galaxy, and more. It can be a great way to unwind before crawling into bed, and you get to learn a thing or two as well.
Sometimes, the perfect way to drop off is by reading a book. Mob4 turns your Android phone into a book with its multiple bedtime story apps. Choose from several topics, including motivational stories, animal stories (for kids), love stories or crime stories. All free, the apps come with about 10 stories each and have audio options as well.
Need to drown out city sirens or country crickets? White Noise can help you out.  The $1.99 app plays 40 different ambient sounds, giving you background noise to which you can pay attention.  Images accompany each ambient sound, from ocean waves to babbling streams.
Tanagram Pro is a great game for those with active bedtime brains.  For 99 cents, the puzzle game will help relax you (or frustrate you) as you find a way to calm your brain down before sleep. A recent update has added 150 more puzzles to the game, giving you months of bedtime relaxation.

Report: Users Find Yellow Discoloration on IPhone 4 Screens

Some users who purchased the latest version of Apple's iPhone report finding yellowish spots and bands marring the device's high-resolution display.
Several blogs, including TUAW and Gizmodo, reported user complaints of yellow discoloration on the phone's screen, which offers significantly higher resolution than screens on previous versions of the handset.
Pictures of the problem posted online by Gizmodo showed faintly yellow patches and bands crossing the screen.
An Apple spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment about the reported screen problems.
The iPhone 4 went on sale Thursday, starting in Japan. However, some users in the U.S. who preordered the new handset received their phones before retail sales started.
Sales of the iPhone 4 will also start today in Germany, France and the U.K.

Pakistan court wants Google, Yahoo, YouTube blocked

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – A Pakistani court has ordered the authorities to block access to nine websites including Google, Yahoo and YouTube for allegedly offending Muslims with blasphemous material.
Judge Mazhar Iqbal ordered Pakistan's Telecommunications Authority to block the websites due to "material against the fundamental principals of Islam and its preaching," according to a copy of the judgement obtained by AFP.
Pakistan shut off Facebook for nearly two weeks last month in a storm of controversy about a competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad and has restricted access to hundreds of online links because of blasphemy.
Iqbal announced a short version of the order in the eastern city of Bahawalpur on Tuesday and released a written detailed order on Wednesday, lawyer Latif ur-Rehman who brought the petition for the ban, told AFP.
But while the PTA quickly implemented the earlier ban against Facebook in May, regulators told AFP on Thursday that they had yet to receive the latest order.
"We have not yet received any directives from the ministry of information technology. The ministry is the decision-making authority," Khurram Mehran, a PTA spokesman, told AFP.
The ministry was not immediately reachable for comment.
Iqbal called on the PTA and information technology ministry to submit detailed reports to the court next Monday.
Retired civil servant Siddique Mohammad had petitioned the court through Rehman for the ban on nine websites -- Google, Yahoo, Amazon, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Islam Exposed, In The Name of Allah and Bing.
A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan warned that the order could strangle Internet access for millions.
"If implemented the decision will choke Internet users. It will seriously impact millions of Internet users in Pakistan who use search engines for email, education, business and other productive purposes," said Wahaj-us-Siraj.
"Courts are not a competent jurisdiction to handle technical issues. The issue should have been handled by the PTA," he said.
Islam strictly prohibits the depiction of any prophet as blasphemous and the row sparked comparison with protests across the Muslim world at the publication of satirical cartoons of Mohammed in European newspapers in 2006.
When a Facebook user decided to organise an "Everyone Draw Mohammed Day" competition to promote "freedom of expression", it sparked a major backlash among Islamic activists in the South Asian country of 170 million.

Updated Bing for iPhone Strives to Be an All-in-One App

Bing iPhone app, adding social network integration, visual scanning, and restructured entertainment sections that may lure people away from Google. Version 1.2 of the Bing iPhone app is now available at the App Store and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad (no word yet on when or if Android will receive a similar update). Here's a rundown of Bing's new features.
Advanced Social Networking Integration
Just like the Web-based version of Bing, the iPhone app now connects to your Facebook and Twitter accounts to show your friend's status updates. To activate this setting, go into the "settings" menu of your Bing app, click "social" and then sync your Facebook and Twitter accounts to the app. Maybe it's my dinosaur iPhone 3G, but the syncing process took me more than 10 minutes.
Microsoft didn't stop at status updates and tweets -- it researched how people use Facebook and Twitter. The company discovered that 40 percent of the time when people ask Bing questions that don't have a defined answer -- like inquiries about where to eat dinner -- "social networks are faster at providing a great answer than traditional search engines," according to the Bing blog. I searched for "sandals" and Bing showed me not only Web and shopping results, but a social section that included a friend's update about buying you know what.
If you like what the Bing app found, you can then broadcast the results via Facebook, Twitter or e-mail by clicking the arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of your iPhone screen.
Visual Scanning
There are already a few shopping-related barcode scanning apps for the iPhone, like pc2shop, Shop Savvy and the superior RedLaser. Bing has taken it one step further and included "visual scanning." Using the iPhone's camera, you can take a picture of a product -- like the cover of a book or a DVD case -- and catch descriptions, reviews, prices and links to merchant Web sites.
I tested the barcode scanner and found it to be very responsive. The results took a while to arrive, but that was because, of course, AT&T dropped the signal. Once my phone finally connected, Bing showed me my product, some reviews, where to buy it online, Web results and more images.
Amazon's iPhone app has a feature similar to visual scanning called Amazon Remembers, and Android phones have access to Google Goggles. Google Goggles is expected to come to the iPhone soon, but for now, Microsoft has a head start on this.
Movies and Shopping
It appears Bing is gunning to replace your other movie and shopping apps like Fandango, IMDB and Amazon. The movies section of the Bing app now boasts more videos and trailers, and the shopping section speeds product search and includes prices and merchant links.
Will Bing be the Only App You'll Need?
Version 1.2 of the Bing app aggregates several other iPhone apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, IMDB, Fandango, and more. I expect that future updates will further encroach on territories, perhaps eliminating the need to ever leave Bing.

Verizon and Motorola to battle iPhone with Droid X

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless plans to start selling Droid X next month, launching the latest phone from Motorola Inc based on Google Inc's Android software.
The move comes as the three companies try to keep pace in the intensely competitive smartphone market, which this week will see Apple Inc roll out its much anticipated iPhone 4 on five continents.
Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile provider, said the Droid X phone will go on sale July 15 for $199.99 after a $100 rebate to customers signing a two-year contract.
The Droid X has a 4.3 inch touch-screen and an 8 megapixel camera, according to Verizon Wireless, which already depends on Motorola's Android phones as a key weapon in competing against AT&T Inc, the exclusive U.S. provider for iPhone.
But Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart noted that as well as battling iPhone, the latest Motorola phone will also have to fight for prominence on Verizon Wireless store shelves against HTC Corp's popular Droid Incredible.
"This won't dissuade somebody who wants an iPhone 4 but it will keep customers who want to stay with Verizon Wireless happy," said Greengart.
Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer John Stratton said he has planned a "very major" marketing campaign for Droid X.
"We think this is going to be a terrific product," Stratton said, noting that his goal would be for the phone to sell faster than the first Droid, which sold 2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010 when it launched.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, also announced on Wednesday that any customers coming to the end of their contract in 2010 would be able to immediately upgrade to any smartphone, including the Droid X.
Motorola and Verizon Wireless hope the phone stands out in particular for its multimedia capability due to the relatively large screen and a high definition video player.
But JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall worried that the phone's battery would compare badly with iPhone's and he questioned how popular the device's size, larger than usual, would be.
"We believe that the very large form factor screen may put some users off as pocketability is diminished," Hall said in a research note.
But Motorola executives cited several reasons why consumers may prefer Droid X including a removable battery and the option to add more storage, all features that are absent in iPhone.
Droid X includes Swype software, which Apple lacks. Swype helps make typing on the touch screen keypad faster and more accurate as the user can drag fingers between letters instead of tapping on each letter individually.
SEES NO DROID X SHORTAGES
The Droid X allows consumers to rent and buy movies from Blockbuster Inc to watch on the phone. Movies cost $9.99 to purchase and $3.99 to rent using the Wi-Fi network. Unlike iPhone 4, the Droid X will support Adobe Flash.
Motorola Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said he sees the device selling well despite the disproportionate amount of attention the iPhone launch has attracted.
"There's a meaningful amount of traction we can get through the summer period," he said in an interview.
Jha said he was seeing some tightness of supply of components such as chips and phone screens but said he is comfortable the company would meet demand for the Droid X.
For its part, Google's Android system has been gaining some ground on iPhone in the last year. Google's head of engineering Andy Rubin said at the Droid X phone launch that about 160,000 new consumers were signing on to Android phones every day, up from the 100,000 per day it announced in May.
USAGE BASED PRICING
Verizon Wireless also hopes to attract new customers to Droid X by keeping a $29.99-a-month unlimited-data-download service for Droid X customers. AT&T recently eliminated its unlimited data use plans.
However, CMO Stratton said Verizon Wireless would turn to usage-based data pricing in the "not too hugely distant future." He said the company is deep into the process of working out a new pricing system as a usage-based model would help ensure a heavy bandwidth users do not strain the network.
The operator is already starting to limit data downloads for customers who use the Droid X as a hotspot to connect up to five devices at a time using its short-range Wi-Fi connection.
Verizon Wireless will charge $20 a month extra for this service with a data download limit of 2 gigabytes after which every megabyte downloaded would cost 5 cents, implying a $50 surcharge for every additional gigabyte downloaded.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr, Gary Hill)