PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cell phone text messaging will be blocked during this weekend’s local elections in Cambodia, where the government is imposing a two-day "tranquility period" to keep voters from being inundated with campaign messages. But the country’s main opposition party said the move would curb constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

All three major phone companies in Cambodia have agreed to block text messages on Saturday and Sunday, Telecommunications Minister So Khun said Friday. Campaigning was to end Friday for elections to choose councils to administer Cambodia’s 1,621 communes and urban sub-districts known as sangkats. Voting will take place Sunday, and text messaging will be restored after polls close at 3 p.m. local time.

Officials imposed the ban based on a request from the National Election Committee, So Khun said. He referred to the ban as part of a necessary "tranquility period." The election committee chairman, Im Suosdey, said the committee was concerned that political parties could "use SMS services to send messages to 20 or 30 people at a time to galvanize them to vote for their parties." Being inundated with text messages could "spoil" the calm during the run-up to voting and on election day itself, he said.

The Sam Rainsy Party, the sole opposition party with parliamentary seats, objected to the ban. Mu Sochua, the party’s secretary-general, said in a statement Friday that the ban "severely" curbs people’s freedom to communicate as guaranteed by the Constitution. She called on the National Election Committee’s chairman and the telecommunication minister to reverse their decisions.

Twelve political parties are fielding a total of 102,266 candidates in the elections, which are held every five years. The first local election was held in February 2002. Until then, the communes were ruled by chiefs appointed by the Interior Ministry.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, which has maintained a firm grip on power during the last three decades, won overwhelmingly in the last local election and is virtually certain to emerge victorious again.

DALLAS - In the most serious admission yet of the extent of Dell Inc.’s financial woes, the company’s internal audit committee said it has found a number of accounting errors and evidence of misconduct in its months-long review of previous earnings statements.

In a short news release, the Round Rock, Texas, company said that the audit also found "deficiencies in the financial control environment." Dell shares fell 56 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $22.83 in after-hours trading, when the announcement was made. The shares had closed up 4 cents to $23.39 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Dell also said Thursday that it would miss an April 18 deadline to file its annual 10K financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission until the internal review is completed. The company added in the statement that it was working with management and the company’s independent auditors to determine whether the errors would require the restatement of previous earnings reports. "As we move toward the conclusion of our investigation, we are committing the time and resources required to ensure a thorough and comprehensive review and resolution of all identified issues and the implementation of appropriate remedial measures," Thomas W. Luce III, chairman of Dell’s audit committee, said in the statement.

The company did not say how much longer the internal investigation would last, and further details were not provided. Dell spokesman Dwayne Cox said the company was unable to comment further. In August, company officials said Dell received a letter from the SEC in August 2005 asking broad questions about some revenue recognition. Company executives initially shrugged it off as an informal investigation and something that happens to hundreds of other companies.

It has since grown into a formal look by federal investigators into Dell’s finances. Dell also faces a slew of shareholder lawsuits, and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has subpoenaed documents related to Dell’s financial reporting since 2002. Dell’s earnings statements from the second, third and fourth quarters remain preliminary and have yet to be filed with the SEC.

One analyst who said he has talked to top Dell management about the ongoing investigation in general terms called it "serious" but "not life threatening" and said he doubted the investigation would rise to the criminal level. "It’s a bad thing to have happened," said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. "Clearly, they did something that they should not have, but in terms of the company, I think it’s going to be more of an annoyance."

In recent months, Dell has seen a management shake-up that included the departure of several top executives — including ex-Chief Executive Officer Kevin Rollins and Chief Financial Officer Jim Schneider — and the return of Michael Dell as CEO. With Dell at the helm, the company has been trying to orchestrate a turnaround plan to improve customer service and combat Hewlett-Packard Co. and other electronics manufacturers who have eaten into Dell’s market share with low-cost, low-profit PCs.

DETROIT - Coming soon to a minivan near you: Satellite television. DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group on Thursday announced limited satellite TV service for its 2008 Dodge and Chrysler minivans and several other models, continuing its plan to turn the family cruiser into a living room on wheels.

The company, which invented the minivan, is teaming with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. to bring three channels — Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network — to the next generation of minivans, as well as the 2008 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum, Jeep Commander and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Chrysler said it has the channels exclusively through the 2008 model year, after which Sirius can offer it to other partners.
The feature comes with a price tag, though. It costs $470 and will be packaged with Chrysler’s rear seat entertainment system and Sirius Satellite Radio. The cost includes the first year of service, after which the TV channels will cost $7 per month, plus the satellite radio fee of $12.95 per month.

It’s possible that in the future, more channels and even full satellite service could become available, but for now, it’s limited by bandwidth allocated to satellite radio, said Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development for Chrysler.
Sirius, he said, has figured out how to send a limited TV signal within the airwaves allocated to satellite radio. "I think there’s certainly some potential in the future for expansion of additional channels," he said. Klegon also said satellite TV is the latest step in a continuation of information technology moving from home to vehicle.

But Tom Libby, J.D. Power and Associates’ senior director of industry analysis, questioned whether people would be willing to pay for it. His company recently found that the average new vehicle price has passed $28,000. With the initial cost plus the monthly bills, he wonders whether the feature might only appeal to high-end customers.

Still, he said the feature would be attractive for people who travel with children, and it will help Chrysler differentiate its minivans in an extremely competitive market. "Any advantage they can get, they’ll try to use," he said.

Sirius spokesman Patrick Reilly said the new TV service would have no effect on the company’s audio programming. However, he declined to say how many more channels, if any, Sirius would have the capacity to transmit. "We’ve got the three channels we want there," Reilly said. "We’re programming it for the demographic of the back seat, which is children, and in the cars that will carry it." The TV service has been in the works for several years, and Sirius has demonstrated it at trade shows in the past.

Sirius’ satellite radio rival, XM, is exploring backseat video with its automotive partners but has no plans for an announcement, spokesman Chance Patterson said. "As soon as there is a market opportunity, we will take it under consideration," Patterson said.

Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Thomas Eagan said the video should help Sirius grow its subscriber list, but could have the potential of causing a glitch in Sirius’ plans to combine with its rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Sirius and XM have been blocked from merging under licenses granted to them a decade ago, but the companies argue that there are now many forms of competition for audio entertainment, including MP3 players, Internet radio as well as terrestrial radio. "My concern is that one consequence could be that regulators could define the market more narrowly and conclude that broadcast radio is not a competitor," leading them to block the proposed combination, he said.

Chrysler and Sirius ran a demonstration of the service Thursday morning in New York’s Times Square. In a Dodge Grand Caravan, the TV system easily was able to switch channels, with a slight delay, and delivered good quality sound and pictures. The driver or front-seat passenger can switch between the TV service, Sirius satellite radio’s audio service as well as regular AM and FM radio via a small video screen installed in the dash. That system, which also includes a navigation service and a hard drive for playing music from MP3 files, is called the MyGIG. The vehicle has three screens — two 8-inch screens for the rear-seat passengers, and the smaller screen in the dash.

Having the Sirius TV service installed in the vehicle requires an additional antenna in order to improve reception, and also a separate video tuner in addition to the satellite radio tuner for audio signals. It also works on a screen in the dashboard, but don’t think for a minute that you’ll be able to watch SpongeBob while driving. For safety reasons, the TV channels won’t show up in the front unless the vehicle is in park.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Philips Electronics is introducing a mobile phone with a built-in compartment for an ordinary AAA battery to power the device when the main battery runs low.

The Xenium NRG handset was developed in collaboration with battery maker Energizer Holdings Inc. and Techtium Ltd., an Israeli chip maker specializing in battery management technology. The AAA battery inserted into the phone can be of any brand or type, whether rechargeable or disposable. In the case of a rechargeable, the phone will recharge both the main battery and the backup AAA when it is plugged into an electrical outlet.

The companies say the AAA battery can provide up to three extra hours of talk time. They did not disclose how much the Xenium NRG would cost, when it would go on sale, or in which countries.

The new handset is based on the same Techtium technology that was used to develop Energi To Go, a portable backup phone charger that Energizer introduced last year. That device is also powered by standard AAA batteries. "Service providers tell us they want to increase (revenue)," said Itai Green, Techtium’s chief operating officer. "But when people run out of power, the providers can’t make money" from calls, text messaging and other non-voice services.

Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics NV announced in February that it was selling its remaining cell phone operations to China Electronics Corp.

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A computer and an Internet connection may soon be all that are needed for anyone to hear closing arguments in a corruption trial or listen to the testimony of a mob turncoat. The federal judiciary approved a pilot program this week to make free audio recordings of court proceedings available online. Although a court’s participation in the program is voluntary, U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, the executive committee chairman of the policy-making Judicial Conference, said he expects the system ultimately will be widely used. "I do hope the Judicial Conference efforts will be looked at as an attempt to see if we can make court proceedings more inclusive and transparent to people," Hogan said in an interview.

News organizations and open-government groups applauded the decision, which will allow the files to be played on television and radio and posted on Internet news sites and blogs. At present, recording devices and cameras are prohibited in all federal courtrooms. However, in some high-profile cases the Supreme Court releases audio recordings of oral arguments. Some federal trial courts, such as the one in Philadelphia, sell daily audio recordings of hearings.

The pilot program, set to launch in the next few months, would put those recordings on the court’s electronic records database for download. "It gets the judges accustomed to the idea that electronic coverage can be beneficial," said Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. "It makes storytelling more accurate and more compelling." Cochran’s organization supports allowing cameras in federal courts, something some Supreme Court justices have adamantly opposed. All states have laws allowing some camera access to courts but, in practice, the policies vary. States such as Florida, for instance, routinely allow them while others such as Minnesota allow them only if all parties consent.

Hogan said the audio pilot program is not a step toward allowing cameras. Although that will be the normal practice someday, Hogan said the movement to open courts to cameras was hurt by the recent Florida case over custody of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith’s corpse. In that case, Judge Larry Seidlin was accused of showboating for the camera. On live, national television, he discussed everything from his wife to his morning swim, then sobbed as he issued his ruling. "It was not the dignified judicial proceeding you’d expect in a courtroom," Hogan said.

He described the pilot program as a compromise between allowing no recording and turning the court into a set for a TV show. Attorney Nathan Siegel, who represented more than a dozen news organizations last month and won the release of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s grand jury tapes, agreed. "As technology becomes more pervasive and access to recorded material becomes more a part of daily life, the courts are moving with the times," Siegel said. Hogan, the chief judge in the Washington, D.C., federal court, made news in the Libby case by creating a media room with a closed-circuit video feed for the trial. He said the response was positive and he received no complaints about the broadcast of the Libby tapes.

With so many high-profile cases, the Washington courthouse is a good testing ground for the audio program, Hogan said. He said he does not yet know how many judges will sign up here or nationwide. He said judges will have discretion over when to turn the recorder off, such as during a FBI informant’s testimony or when a rape victim takes the stand. Ronald Collins, a scholar at the First Amendment Center, said lawyers will haggle over when that’s appropriate. "Inevitably there’s going to be a U.S. attorney who objects on secrecy grounds, a defense counsel who objects on prejudicial grounds or invasion of privacy. There’s going to be a victim who objects," Collins said. "Those determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis but the default position is open."

By Jefferson Graham

LAS VEGAS - This year you’ll finally be able to get the digital camera you’ve always wanted, but couldn’t afford.

Popular digital SLR cameras from Canon and Nikon generally set you back around $1,000. But discounters will likely drive that down to $299 by year’s end, says Chris Chute, an analyst at researcher IDC. That’s just a tad higher than most people pay now for compact point-and-shoots. "This will dramatically reshape the digital camera market," Chute says. "It will give consumers a reason to jump into features they’ve always wanted, but didn’t know they could get."

Professional-looking digital SLRs (single-lens reflex) can stop action on a dime, without annoying shutter lag. They produce better-looking photos in low light and are much simpler to use than novices might think.

Chute says the point-and-shoot market peaked in 2006 at 29.8 million cameras. He expects flat sales this year. Meanwhile, 1.7 million digital SLRs sold in 2006, which he expects to jump to more than 2 million for 2007.

At the Photo Marketing Association trade show that concluded over the weekend, Olympus and Nikon introduced new SLRs for $799 that are expected to greatly fall in price in the coming months.

They compete with Canon’s market-leading $799 EOS Digital Rebel XTi, which has a 10-megapixel sensor (a megapixel is a measurement of a camera’s resolution).

Nikon’s lineup includes the $599, 6-megapixel D40. Its new $799 D40x matches Canon’s 10 megapixels. Olympus’ 10-megapixel Evolt E-410, also $799, offers built-in image stabilization, which helps make shots steady for those with shaky hands.

The E-410 is small and an ultralight 10 ounces. "Portability is the key for the female demographic," says Olympus product manager Sally Smith Clemens.

On the other end of the spectrum, Canon unveiled its latest super-high-end SLR. It’s a $4,000 model aimed at professionals, mostly sports and news photographers.

The EOS-1D Mark III is "the fastest camera we’ve ever had," says Chuck Westfall, a Canon customer service executive. The Mark III can shoot 110 pictures in 11 seconds.

Now that’s fast.

The new SLRs are expected in stores later this month. Elsewhere at the PMA show:

•So many cameras. In the heyday of SLRs, iconic cameras such as the Nikon F and Nikkormat were around for decades. Now Nikon, like its rivals, introduces about 20 cameras a year, only to kill them off the following year with new ones.

The average Nikon camera lives on for just six to eight months, says Nikon senior product manager Steve Heiner.

Why the constant reshuffling? "The stores demand it; the consumer demands it. They want to see ‘what’s new,’ " Heiner says.

Olympus’ Smith Clemens says that unlike the film era, when cameras rarely changed, "In electronics, the technology is constantly evolving, and we want to bring the new innovations to our customers as soon as we can."

•Big zoom, small size. Most compact cameras come with a 3X zoom, which brings you a little closer to the action from your seat. A new breed of "super zoom" tried to bring people even closer, with a 10X zoom. The drawback was that these cameras were big and bulky and couldn’t fit into your pocket.

Not anymore. Panasonic’s Lumix TZ3 is a typical compact size, but also has a 10X zoom. The $349, 7-megapixel camera is expected in stores later this month.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Medical Association, using a program like SugarStats will reduce the complications associated with diabetes by as much as 40%.

Volcano, Hawaii - Marston Alfred, founder and chief architect of SugarStats.com, himself a diabetic since he was 9 years old, has developed a web based self-management application in which users can track, manage and monitor the most essential and important of their diabetic information online. Through a user-friendly web interface using the latest in web and information technology, SugarStats.com also enables the Diabetic to selectively provide friends, family, educators and health care professionals ‘read only’ access to their statistics. Primary elements affecting blood sugar levels including medication, food intake and physical activity are addressed in a manner that is not overly complex or too feature rich, enabling the end user to expediently self-manage via the Internet and Internet-enabled mobile devices. The core of this system will be available free to the public.

20.8 million people, approximately 7.0% of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2002. The prevalence of diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate, as are the associated personal and societal costs, including long-term complications such as blindness, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease and lower-limb amputations. Further studies show diabetes and its complications cause substantial loss in quality of life, are the fourth most frequent reason for ambulatory physician visits, and incur $132 billion dollars in U.S. health care expenditures, directly and indirectly annually. There is now abundant evidence that complications of diabetes are preventable.

According to Dr. IM Stratton, Al Adler, HA Neil, et al, management of glycemia in diabetes is crucially important to the prevention of both acute and long-term complications. In general, every percentage point drop in A1C blood test results (e.g., from 8.0% to 7.0%) reduces the risk of micro-vascular complications (eye, kidney, and nerve diseases) by 40%. When programs like SugarStats were used regularly by the diabetic, they showed an average of a 1 point drop in the A1C levels.

Web-based tools have been emerging as effective methods for lowering HbA1C levels and several other key health markers in diabetics such as blood pressure however, to date, none have been available to the public. SugarStats.com provides a proven means to substantially lower these important health markers while also supporting the important opportunity to shift the focus of diabetes management toward patient self-management.

Alfred was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as a child. He always felt dissatisfied and uninspired with the various ways to monitor and track his blood sugar levels and trends, finding them either over complicated and involved, or pedantic and & ‘boring’. Now 24 years old, Alfred’s professional expertise in the field of computers, networking and Internet technology/programming provided the foundation from which he developed for himself an engaging, informative, time saving and means to effectively address his diabetic management needs. From his personal quest, SugarStats.com has now emerged to support Internet-accessible diabetics the world over an alternative means to effectively address, control and ultimately improve their health.

Alternate Contact: Daerick Lanakila at dlanakila [@] sugarstats.com SugarStats POB 909 Volcano, HI 96785

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Journalists, newsletter publishers, bloggers and others: You may reprint anything in this article as long as you include a link to our website and email.

Need a screenshot of what a diabetic would see on their personal SugarStats page along with more info regarding SugarStats is available at http://www.sugarstats.com/tour

CONTACT: Marston Alfred at 619-573-4071
SugarStats
PO Box 909
Volcano, HI 96785
http://www.sugarstats.com

About This Release: If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases please contact the organization listed in the press release. Issuers of press releases and not PR Leap are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

TechAddress: Tell me a bit about your company, what it does and what’s your value proposition?

Likebetter: I don’t know about you, but I take a ton of digital photos. I literally have ten thousand photos on my hard drive, just sitting there in folders. No one besides me has ever seen them, and really, I only saw them when I took the picture in the first place. This shouldn’t be.

We want to help you dust off those monster collections of photos, by acting as a “goodness filter” that only the best photos can pass through. You upload your collection to likebetter, send a link to your friends, and within minutes you have a list of your best photos - which you can then do cool stuff with, like exporting them to flickr, printing them, or posting them on your blog.

TechAddress: What makes your company stand apart from your competitors?

Likebetter: There are a ton of companies in the photo space. No one that we know of has tackled this particular problem in the way we have.

A lot of companies have adopted our lovely interface though. Which we take as a compliment, and then we make catnip voodoo dolls of their creators, and introduce them to Felix.

Likebetter.com stands out from other photo-centered sites like Flickr because it’s all about helping you find your best photos. Since finding your best photos is hard, and Flickr isn’t helping much, we’re fixing it ourselves.

TechAddress: What are some of the main features?

Likebetter:

* It’s much easier to upload tons of photos at once here than there.

* Social editing features - your friends sort and rotate your images for you.

* Photo viewing and voting are the same - whenever someone views your photos, they’re giving you feedback. Everyone participates in some small way.

* Exporting to other photo sites (soon): no one we know does/allows this. Most photo sharing sites don’t allow sharing in this way, which sort of defeats the purpose. You own your photos, so we’re going to help you do what you want with them.

* Our interface is super-simple and really, really pretty.

TechAddress: Who’s your target customer or audience?

Likebetter: Anyone with a digital camera, really. Since that list now includes my mom, it must be really, really big.

Our power users are photographers, graphic designers, web designers; anyone who works with visual information, and needs to evaluate it in some way. There’s nothing stopping you from finding your best logo designs, web site layouts, or whatever you want. We’ve kept likebetter general on purpose.

TechAddress: Any new things in particular that you’re working on right now?

Likebetter: Lots of stuff. Right now we’re fleshing out the flickr/smugmug/etc integration. That’s coming soon.

TechAddress: Where do you see your company heading in the future?

Likebetter: Likebetter should be the place you put your pictures as soon as you plug in your camera.

TechAddress: Any negative feedback or criticism regarding technology and services?

Likebetter: No, none really (hurray!). Some people complain about a lack of so-and-so a feature, but we just add it and they’re happy.

Scaling was a hard problem to lick, and will likely continue to prove difficult in the future. It’s just one of those things you need to deal with.

TechAddress: So what would you say is the guiding principle behind your company?

Likebetter: Make something that people want.

TechAddress: What is the mission of your company and what are you bringing to the market that is innovative?

Likebetter: Wait, is this a trick question? Are you trying to get me to change my story? Likebetter is going to revolutionize the telecommunications industry, of course.

TechAddress: Where are you in terms of funding and your lifecycle?

Likebetter: We were funded by ycombinator.

TechAddress: If your technology or service is not formally launched yet, when’s the launch date? If you have already launched, when was your launch date?

Likebetter: October 2006. Digg was very helpful.