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Opponents of increased H-1B temporary worker visas have long argued that raising the annual cap will cause Americans to lose out on jobs to foreigners--or see their wages depressed.

A new study (PDF) released Monday by a free market-leaning nonprofit group tries to argue that's not the case--and that insufficient quantities of visas are actually sending would-be U.S. job openings offshore.

That group, called the National Foundation for American Policy, argues that for each H-1B visa requested by a corporation, its overall hires climbed by, on average, fivefold. In smaller companies, the group estimated seven new employees were … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Anne Mulcahy and Jonathan Schwartz became the latest technology CEOs to call on the government to let more foreign-born computer engineers into the United States.

"You have to raise the quotas," said Mulcahy, CEO at Xerox. Schwartz, who runs Sun Microsystems, struck the same theme.

The message went down well with an audience of Silicon Valley elites gathering at Stanford Friday for a daylong conference on political economy. Then again, they were facing a free-trade crowd of true believers, including headliners like eBay's Meg Whitman and former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, … Read more

Though it can't match the stalker creds of Olympus' SP-570 UZ, Sony's latest top-of-the-line megazoom has its own attractions. Like the recently announced H10, the H50 offers a modest update over its predecessor.

Though Sony increases its resolution to 9.1-megapixels, it incorporates the same f/2.7-4.5 31mm-465mm-equivalent 15x zoom lens (naturally with Sony's Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization system). That 31mm wide-angle remains a bit narrow compared with Olympus' 26mm and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18's 28mm. On the upside, it also retains the tilting 3-inch LCD.

As with the newly announced W300, the … Read more

Toy cars that run on alternative energies are sometimes as impressive as their grown-up counterparts. Yet they often look like, well, toys (or even worse). But Corgi, in a partnership with Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, has come up with a futuristic design that could easily be sitting on a full-size show floor. The "H2GO" is a remote-controlled miniature car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that runs on water and solar energy, made of "lightweight, environmentally friendly, wheat-based plastics and boasts fully recyclable packaging," according to Pocket-lint. It even comes with its own refueling station. The … Read more

It looks like Canon's intermediate-size APS-H sensor line, found in the 1D Mark III SLRs used by photojournalists, may be at the end of its life span.

The sensor is larger than the APS-C sensors used in mainstream Canon SLRs such as the EOS-40D or the new Canon EOS Rebel XSi, but it's smaller than those in a 1Ds Mark III or 5D, which is the size of a full frame of 35mm film. With Nikon now selling its first full-frame model, the D3, and Sony planning to launch its own full-frame competitor by the end of 2008, … Read more

Techcrunch had the chance to interview Governor Mitt Romney, US presidential candidate on the Republican ticket. The good news is that his views on taxation of venture capital and the Internet seem reasonable. The bad news? He's a PC user (though a few of his sons run the blessed Mac).

Of particular note to the tech industry is his view on H1B visas, which allow qualified candidates to come to the US to work:

I like H1B visas. I like the idea of the best and brightest in the world coming here. I'd rather have them come here permanently rather than come and go, but I believe our visa program is designed to help us solve gaps in our employment pool.… Read more

The DSC-H10 has a 230,000-pixel 3-inch LCD display, compared to the 115,000-pixel, 2.5-inch version on the DSC-H3 it replaces. Given the lack of an electronic viewfinder, that's a nontrivial enhancement, but pretty much the only one. Expect to see it in mid-April, for $299. Now go read something more interesting.

Although taxes aren't due until April, many people like to get an early start in step with the new year. Services from the two most popular digital tax-prep brands are available to try or buy, although state forms won't trickle in until mid-January.

As e-filing and online tax preparation become more popular, boxed applications and their Web-based counterparts offer most of the same tools and interface elements. As a rule of thumb, online products are ideal for one filer, while installed software can handle a bigger household. Although there are no revolutionary changes to TurboTax and TaxCut from … Read more

OK, it only took a year and a half, but I suppose it's better late than never. Tonight, AT&T and Motorola finally took the wraps off the Motorola Q9h Global, a long overdue GSM version of the Motorola Q. The quad-band Windows Mobile 6 smartphone isn't the same sleek device we saw in May 2006.

Like the Motorola Q9m for Verizon Wireless, it's bulked up a bit, but this allowed for a more spacious keyboard and added features. Like what? Well, how about built-in GPS, HSDPA, Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera? Messaging is a top … Read more