China requires Web filtering software on PCs

In today's podcast: China requires Web filtering software on PCs; Nvidia says packaging problems hasn't hurt its laptop GPU business; and Intel invests in Japanese WiMax operator.

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China will require that Web filtering software be included with all computers sold in the country, another step up in its efforts to control pornography and other content on the Internet. The move follows a government crackdown on online smut that has led to the closure of thousands of Web sites this year, and concern that such campaigns could expand to target content that is political rather than pornographic. The move is meant to protect youth from "unhealthy" information online, according to the statement. The program, called Green Dam Youth Escort in Chinese, blocks only sites with pornographic content, and parents can turn it off, said Bryan Zhang, general manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering, which designed the software.

Nvidia's problem with weak packaging material that caused some of its laptop graphics chips to fail prematurely hasn't hurt the company's relationships with laptop makers that use its chips. The problem hasn't hurt Nvidia in terms of getting new design, said Ujesh Desai, vice president of product marketing at Nvidia. Nvidia took a one-time US$196 million charge last year to cover warranty and product replacement costs associated with faulty graphics chips. In March, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Nvidia spent $43.6 million of that amount during its previous fiscal year.

Intel's venture capital arm is investing US$43 million in a Tokyo-based WiMax operator that plans to launch the world's fastest WiMax service in July. The investment, from Intel Capital, will help UQ Communications to build-out its network, which is now under test in Tokyo. The service offers download speeds of up to 40Mbps and uploads at up to 10Mbps. It will be formally launched on July 1. The network currently covers Tokyo and the nearby cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama and will expand to cover additional cities later this year. UQ plans to offer coverage of over 90 percent of the population by 2012.

The Computex Taipei 2009 electronics show ended Saturday after a week-long display of new gadgets, including netbooks, ultra thin laptops made with new Intel chips and several surprises surrounding Google's Android mobile phone operating system. The show's final numbers were down nearly across the board from last year, but not by much considering the global recession and fears surrounding the H1N1 swine flu. An estimated 100,000 people visited Computex Taipei 2009 from around the world, down slightly from 106,517 last year, according to figures from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.