IBM confirmed in a press release it will be working with rural electricity cooperatives on the project, joining forces with rural broadband leader International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC).

The $9.6 million agreement states that IBM will install BPL networks at electric cooperatives throughout the eastern U.S., while IBEC will focus on “providing broadband services to underserved residents in rural America.” The scope of the project is staggering: IBM will have to work with 900 electric cooperatives in the country that cover three quarters of the land mass and provide 45% of the total electric grid in the country. IBM engineers will manage and oversee the project, in addition to training line crews who will actually install the BPL equipment. IBEC will provide the necessary equipment and sell broadband access to rural residents.

The announcement is unexpected in a time when most of us either accepted that there simply is no broadband in rural areas or hoped that WiMax will solve the problem within a few years. Either way, broadband Internet for rural areas may be able to bridge the growing digital divide that exists today between rural and metropolitan areas, which can only be considered as a positive development.

While these numbers are actually considered to be small in comparison to the total number of Facebook Users (more than 150 million), it is a giant step in mobile social networking. Currently Facebook is considered to have one of the most advanced mobile web site.

Using Facebook via a mobile device is actually quite simple. Compared to many other social networking sites, Facebook has done a tremendous job allowing users to interact while on the go. Being able to comment from your phone, change your status, and see what your friends are up to, apparently has hit a nerve with Facebook users and seems t o be hinting at what we are likely to see in social networking sites in the future.

According to DRAMeXchange, the DRAM vendors

The convenience of Wi-Fi in a memory card is not only expensive subjectively. A regular SD memory card can be purchased for about $10, translating into a 10x premium for the Wi-Fi feature. But if you want to get rid of cables and card swapping, the Eye-Fi card remains the most elegant solution.

SonyEricsson was the first major cellphone manufacturer to announce a device that is designed to directly compete with Apple’s iPhone in terms of form factor and features earlier this year. Following a limited launch at the end of September, the manufacturer apparently decided that there was enough supply to accelerate the early 2009 launch date to November 28, 2008.

The good news is that consumers, who are looking for a smartphone this Christmas season, will have another choice next to the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and possibly the Blackberry Storm as well as the Nokia 5800.

The SonyEricsson Xperia X1 resembles the general look of the iPhone, but its surface area is slightly smaller and follows more the traditional size of a cellphone. Compared to the 4.5″ x 2.4″ x 0.5″ size of the iPhone, the X1 measures 4.3″ x 2.1″ x 0.7″. The device is slightly thicker than the iPhone, which is due to the fact that the X1 is a slider phone and allows users to pull out a QWERTY keyboard from under the screen. Considering this fact, SonyEricsson appears to have done its homework in designing a compact phone, especially if we look at its weight: Including the keyboard, the X1 weighs 145 grams (5.1 ounces), just 10 grams more than the iPhone (135 grams, 4.8 ounces).

Offering a keyboard, the X1 may be a better “email machine” than the iPhone, while supporting regular GSM networks (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), EDGE, as well as 3G broadband services, including HSDPA, HSUPA and UMTS (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz).

Other features of the X1 include a 3.2 megapixel camera versus the 2 megapixel camera in the iPhone and the 3″ display has a much higher resolution than the Apple screen - 800 x 480 pixels. The iPhone offers only 480 x 320 pixels. The X1 also uses A-GPS or “Assisted-GPS”, which uses an assistance server as well as a cellphone network to determine a location using GPS. The X1 is wrapped in a metal casing, it supports WLAN, Bluetooth.

The downside, when compared to its rivals, is its available memory. SonyEricsson said that only 400 MB will be available for storage by default, which can be extended via a SD memory card slot. And that leads us to its most significant disadvantage. The device will sell as an unlocked device for $799.99 MSRP, which is about $150 more than the unlocked price of the Apple iPhone. It was rumored before that the Xperia X1 may be an expensive phone, but considering the fact that users will still need an extra memory card, there is no dedicated music service, there is no dedicated application store available yet (SonyEricsson is still working on convincing developers to write specific applications for the X1) and if we look at the state of the economy the pricing strategy looks to us like a sure bet on shooting yourself in the foot.

In the end, the price difference between the X1 and the iPhone as well as the G1 may level itself out and may not matter that much objectively - since you will be paying anyway $100 or more a monthly service contract including taxes with such a phone - but we have learned that consumers in fact look at device prices. And if the iPhone is available for $199 and the G1 for $179 - and Nokia’s 5800 for a rumored unlocked $350 - then Sony may have a problem.

At least at this point, the Xperia X1’s future does not look very bright.

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