ANKUR JAIN

Google is losing market share in China to primary rival, Baidu.com, according to a survey by a Chinese internet research group.

The survey, conducted by the Beijing-based China Internet Network Information Center, reported that Baidu.com Inc. boosted its market share in Beijing by 10.8 percentage points to 52 percent. Google Inc.’s share was at 33 percent, as the American Internet search engine kept its customer base steady while the overall market grew, said the survey, seen Tuesday on CNNIC’s Web site.

China’s Internet population hit 103 million by June, second only to the United States, according to CNNIC. Google owns 2.6 percent of Baidu, which recently went public.

Meanwhile, U.S. Internet giant Yahoo! held only a 3.7 percent market share overall, with smaller Chinese rivals Sohu.com and Sina Corp. claiming a 4.6 percent and 4 percent share, respectively.

Google has long been popular with Chinese Web surfers, but has suffered from a lack of brand recognition.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company only recently set up an office in Shanghai in preparation for a belated expansion in China and obtained a Web address under the country’s China domain, http://www.google.com.cn

Google bought 2.6 percent of Baidu.com last year in a move outsiders thought might lead to the American giant taking over the tiny Chinese startup. But Baidu.com has stayed independent, striving to become Google’s Chinese-language equivalent.

Six months ago, Google held the largest market share in the three cities covered by the survey, which was conducted earlier in August, the report said, without giving specific figures. Microsoft Corp. is getting ready to launch a Chinese version of its MSN portal through a joint venture with Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd.

Nasa’s Marshall Center at Huntsville, Ala is supporting NASA personnel, their associates and two Agency facilities recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

The Marshall Center is working to restore communications and power to both facilities, and to deliver supplies to recovery teams and on-site personnel.

The Marshall Center also is partnering with Huntsville City Schools to enroll children of impacted NASA employees in local schools, and also will partner with the City of Madison and Madison County Schools to accommodate additional children of displaced employees.

NASA has designated a telephone number (877/470-5240) for displaced employees to call for assistance and to advise NASA of their whereabouts. Family members also may use the number to inquire about employees and others sheltering at Stennis and Michoud. For contact information for employees and contractors, or for general public information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/eoc

In addition, NASA has established a toll-free number (888/362-4323) for recorded updates about general conditions at Stennis and Michoud. For updates on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hurricane

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home

Inquiries From the Public

NASA is also taking email inquiries about personnel sheltering at Stennis and Michoud. Use “Assistance – Katrina” in the subject line, and send email inquiries to:

public-inquiries@hq.nasa.gov

- SpaceRef.com

Hitachi Ltd. announces today that it has matched Seagate Technologies with what it says is the smallest drive on the market, a one-inch-diameter hard drive that holds eight gigabytes of data.

Its product is distinguised from the Seagte products’ with the technology that detects when the hard disk is being dropped.

Prices of the new devices were not disclosed. But the price for storage has been dropping so steadily that it is now measured in pennies a megabyte - the equivalent of about one million characters. (A gigabyte is 1,000 times that.)

- New York Times

Nikon this week announced two WiFi-enabled digital cameras, the Coolpix P1 and P2. The new Coolpix 8 megapixel P1 and and 5 megapixel P2 digital cameras from Nikon have built in 802.11b/g WiFi capabilities that enable the camera to send pictures wirelessly back to a computer running a new version of Pictureproject.

Analysts said the Coolpix eight-megapixel P1 and the five-megapixel P2 are indeed the world’s first digital cameras with built-in WiFi capabilities. Kodak had announced a WiFi digital camera at the last Consumer Electronics Show that would do far more than Nikon’s model, but has not yet brought the camera to market.

The only significant difference between the two cameras is the resolution at which they take pictures. The P1 is an 8-megapixel camera while the P2 is a 5-megapixel model. In practice, this means full-resolution images from the P1 are 3,264 pixels by 2,448 pixels and those from the P2 are 2,592 pixels by 1,944 pixels.

It takes about eight seconds to transfer a full-resolution image from the P1 and about four seconds to do the same with the P2.

Google’s foray into offline advertising came in the form of full-page ads in PC Magazine and Maximum PC.

In this latest move, Mountain View-based Google is betting it can exploit its relationship with hundreds of thousands of small businesses that already advertise online by its search results. The idea is to help advertisers gain exposure in the offline world at cheaper rates, or with less effort, than they otherwise could have.

All of this will help Google act as a conduit for content and advertising delivery and distribution, analysts said. They said the deal reflects Google’s strategy to offer a one-stop shop for advertising.