InformationWeek > Firefox > Firefox Momentum Slows > September 28, 2005

InformationWeek > Firefox > Firefox Momentum Slows > September 28, 2005: "Firefox's once-strong surge against Microsoft Internet Explorer is showing signs of losing momentum, a Web metrics firm said Wednesday.
San Diego-based WebSideStory released market share numbers for Firefox, IE, and other browsers that noted Firefox has crept up from April's 6.75 percent to September's 7.86 percent, a single percentage point gain in five months. During the first few months after its November, 2004, release, Firefox was adding another point each month. "

Yahoo accused of poaching speech engineers | CNET News.com

Yahoo accused of poaching speech engineers | CNET News.com: "A California court has temporarily barred about a dozen engineers hired by Yahoo from working on interactive speech technology at the search engine after the company they recently left filed a lawsuit accusing Yahoo of trying to steal trade secrets.
A Santa Clara County Superior Court order issued on Wednesday said speech technology company Nuance Communications was likely to prevail on the merits of the case regarding misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, among other claims. The order also said Nuance would suffer 'great and irreparable injury' if the employees were not blocked from doing work on speech technology at Yahoo. "

New Skype for Windows gets off ground | CNET News.com

New Skype for Windows gets off ground | CNET News.com: "Skype was set to formally release on Thursday its latest Windows voice-over Internet Protocol service, which includes call forwarding and downloadable ring tones, pictures and sounds.
Skype for Windows 1.4, first available in beta in August, lets callers forward incoming Skype calls to another Skype account for free. Users can also forward calls to up to three landline or mobile numbers for as little as 2 cents a minute, depending on the country, said Skype Chief Marketing Officer Saul Klein."

BetaNews | $100 Laptop Close To Reality

BetaNews | $100 Laptop Close To Reality: "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it is close to making available a laptop for developing markets that would cost around $100 USD. At a minimum the computer would feature a color screen, Wi-Fi, a 500MHz processor, and 1GB of flash memory.
The unit would even be able to generate power on it own through the use of a hand crank, making it useful even in areas where electricity is not readily available. Developing countries would be able to buy a laptop for every child, allowing new educational opportunities previously thought impossible."

Via Offers $5,000 to the Person Who Hacks the StrongBox - Softpedia

Via Offers $5,000 to the Person Who Hacks the StrongBox - Softpedia: "IT companies sometimes employ rather weird strategies, one of them being security competitions. Basically, the participants have to bypass the security mechanisms of a certain technology.

This time is Via�s turn, the company offering $5,000 to the person who succeeds to break the StrongBox application. The event will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia."

BBC NEWS | Business | Google and Nasa in space venture

BBC NEWS | Business | Google and Nasa in space venture: "Web search firm Google has formed a partnership with US space agency Nasa in an effort to harness new technology which could boost the space programme.
Google is to build a new office complex on the site of Nasa's research facility in California, close to its own headquarters in Silicon Valley.
The two companies will co-operate in a range of areas including IT solutions, data management and nanotechnology.
It would look to 'bring entrepreneurs into the space programme', Nasa added. "

BetaNews | Office 2003 SP2 Adds Phishing Blocker

BetaNews | Office 2003 SP2 Adds Phishing Blocker: "Microsoft on Tuesday quietly slipped out Service Pack 2 for Office 2003, which includes a number of security and performance improvements for the productivity suite. Among the new additions is a Phishing Protection feature for Outlook that filters out e-mails trying to steal personal information."

BetaNews | Toshiba Builds HD-DVD Enabled PC

BetaNews | Toshiba Builds HD-DVD Enabled PC: "Hot off the heels of news that Microsoft and Intel are throwing their support behind HD-DVD, Toshiba says it has developed the first PC with an integrated drive capable of reading the new high-definition DVD format. The PC will launch in Japan early next year, but a U.S. debut has not been scheduled."

BetaNews | Next-Gen BlackBerry to Use Intel Chips

BetaNews | Next-Gen BlackBerry to Use Intel Chips: "Ending a summer of speculation, Research in Motion on Tuesday announced that it would use Intel XScale processors in its next-generation devices. The two companies will also work together on new technologies and features for BlackBerry handhelds.
The new devices would be for use on the Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) network, a GSM-based standard that acts as a stepping-stone to 3G wireless technologies such as UMTS and W-CDMA."

BetaNews | BitTorrent Gets $8.75 Million Backing

BetaNews | BitTorrent Gets $8.75 Million Backing: "BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer technology that has become one of the most popular methods for sharing files, has landed $8.75 million in funding, according to reports. Venture capitalist firm DCM-Doll provided the cash infusion and intends to bring BitTorrent to Hollywood's doorstep."

Yahoo Desktop Search goes prime time | CNET News.com

Yahoo Desktop Search goes prime time | CNET News.com: "Yahoo is set to push its Desktop Search program into general availability on Wednesday.
Yahoo Desktop Search includes a new feature called LiveWords, which allows people to highlight text within documents and click a button to search for those words in other documents on their hard drive."

Microsoft Launches Its Own MSN AdCenter - Softpedia

Microsoft Launches Its Own MSN AdCenter - Softpedia: "Microsoft has launched today its own online ad service for MSN France. Ad Center was introduced last month in Singapore and it would be available in the United States in October.

Unlike its rivals, Google and Yahoo, Microsoft offers its clients a demographic targeting of the ads. In this way, they will be able to establish their target by choosing the age, sex and local time. "

Intel, Microsoft endorse HD DVD | CNET News.com

Intel, Microsoft endorse HD DVD | CNET News.com: "Intel and Microsoft are combining their computing industry power in an attempt to make the HD DVD format the victor in a battle over a standard to succeed DVD.
Typical DVDs today can hold 4.7GB of information, but two dueling camps are trying to establish a larger-capacity format that will be allow for the recording of high-definition television and the backing up of more data. HD DVD, supported by a Toshiba-led consortium, is up against Blu-ray Disc, backed by Sony and allies including the two biggest personal computer manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard and Dell."

Microsoft previews online software purchasing with the Digital Locker

Microsoft previews online software purchasing with the Digital Locker: "Microsoft has a new preview web site entitled 'Windows Marketplace Labs' to showcase new methods of buying and selling Windows software. The first such effort is called Digital Locker. Digital Locker is a method of purchasing and downloading third party Windows software online, and then using that purchased software on any computer you wish. This is handled through Microsoft's Passport authentication service, the same system that is used to identify your Hotmail account, MSN Messenger settings, and other Microsoft services such as MSDN."

InformationWeek > Phishing > New Phishing Scam Deceives With Phony Certificates > September 22, 2005

InformationWeek > Phishing > New Phishing Scam Deceives With Phony Certificates > September 22, 2005: "
A new, advanced form a phishing dubbed 'secured phishing' because it relies on self-signed digital certificates, can easily fool all but the most cautious consumers, a security firm warned Thursday.
SurfControl, a Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Internet security vendor, said that it's seen one instance of such an attack, and expects more. "

BetaNews | Symantec Acquires Anti-Phishing Firm

BetaNews | Symantec Acquires Anti-Phishing Firm: "Looking to improve the security and anti-phishing capabilities of its products, Symantec on Thursday announced that it had acquired WholeSecurity. The firm's technology analyzes worms and viruses in order to better provide protection against attacks, rather than looking for signatures of specific threats."

BetaNews | Bill Gates Still the Richest Man

BetaNews | Bill Gates Still the Richest Man: "Microsoft chairman architect Bill Gates is still the wealthiest person in America with a total of $51 billion, according to Forbes' annual list. Four out the top five richest Americans represent the technology industry, with fellow Microsoft founder Paul Allen, Michael Dell and Larry Ellison trailing Warren Buffett."

Microsoft plans to sell search ads of its own | CNET News.com

Microsoft plans to sell search ads of its own | CNET News.com: "Microsoft will unveil Monday its own system for selling Web advertising as it struggles to compete with Google and Yahoo in the expanding Web search business. The system, to be used by MSN, is meant to improve on those of Microsoft's rivals by allowing marketers to aim ads on Web search pages to users based on their sex, age or location.
The move is part of Microsoft's broad response to the threat from Google, which is using its powerful advertising sales network to support an expanding range of free software products and Internet services. Last week, Microsoft announced a broad reorganization that placed MSN in the same group as its Windows operating system, indicating that it saw software delivered over the Internet--and possibly paid for through advertising--as central to its future."

New Sun software to work with Microsoft | CNET News.com

New Sun software to work with Microsoft | CNET News.com: "Sun Microsystems is hoping to steal market share from the Microsoft Corporation with the release on Tuesday of a new version of its business software collection, StarOffice, with improved compatibility with Microsoft Office.
StarOffice 8, which includes a spreadsheet, word processor, database and presentation software, allows users to import and export Microsoft Office files and to use Office macros, the tiny chunks of code that automate specific tasks."

Palm sets sail as Microsoft OEM | The Register

Palm sets sail as Microsoft OEM | The Register: "The industry's worst kept secret is no more. Palm, Microsoft and Verizon are to host a press conference on Monday in San Francisco to launch Palm's first Windows-based device, the Treo 700W. Late this afternoon, the Wall Street Journal confirmed the news. Snaps of the Treo 700 have floated around the internet for months, and full specifications emerged this week. Palm's shares had been clobbered as a response to its Q1 results throughout the day, but rose in late trading as the news percolated.
So a new era dawns for Palm - this time as a Microsoft OEM. It can't have been an easy decision to make. Microsoft's other great handheld competitor from the 1990s, Psion, is now a Microsoft OEM too - but it only released its first Windows machine into a vertical niche, two years after it had withdrawn from the consumer handheld market. The PalmOS Treo, meanwhile, is a hit."

Credit card companies can keep data ID theft secret | The Register

Credit card companies can keep data ID theft secret | The Register: "Credit card companies don't have to notify customers their personal information has been stolen, a California Judge ruled today.
The Rothken law firm in Marin County, Ca had brought a class action suit on behalf of cardholders and merchants against CardSystems Solutions, Visa and MasterCard following a high profile data ID heist in June."

British scientist calls US climate sceptics 'loonies' | The Register

British scientist calls US climate sceptics 'loonies' | The Register: "The chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Sir John Lawton, has called climate change deniers in the US 'loonies', and says global warming is to blame for the increasingly strong hurricanes being spawned in the Atlantic.
In an interview with The Independent, Lawton said that global warming is 'very likely' the cause of increasingly intense hurricanes, in line with computer simulations."

Problems surfacing with iPod Nano screen | CNET News.com

Problems surfacing with iPod Nano screen | CNET News.com: "Some owners of Apple Computer's new 'impossibly small' iPod Nano are starting to wonder if the device is also impossibly delicate.
The most widespread complaint about the otherwise highly praised device seems to be that the color display screen gets scratched extremely easily."

AMD speeds dual-core Opteron a notch | CNET News.com

AMD speeds dual-core Opteron a notch | CNET News.com: "Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce faster new models of its dual-core Opteron processor on Monday, an attempt to stay ahead of rival Intel in the market.
The company is introducing its Opteron 180, 280 and 880, which are 2.4GHz chips geared for computers with one, two and up to eight processors, respectively, said Randy Allen, corporate vice president of server products at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD. Dual-core chips have two processing engines on a single slice of silicon. They are now are arriving in the mainstream market for servers based on x86 processors from AMD and Intel."

Toolbar, search site aim to guard against phishers | CNET News.com

Toolbar, search site aim to guard against phishers | CNET News.com: "A Massachusetts company on Monday plans to launch a search site and toolbar that will alert Internet users when they are visiting Web sites that are fraudulent or should not be trusted.
The TrustWatch Search site and TrustWatch Toolbar, both provided free from Needham, Mass.-based GeoTrust, are designed to help protect people from unwittingly giving up their financial and other personal information to fake Web sites when shopping online or when targeted by phishing scams."

Intel's dual-core Xeon makes Dell debut | CNET News.com

Intel's dual-core Xeon makes Dell debut | CNET News.com
Dell plans to announce Monday the first server to come with Intel's dual-core Xeon processor, a significant step in the allies' effort to catch up with technology from chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices.

Dell is bringing the new 2.8GHz chip to all of its dual-processor servers and to two workstation models. The products will begin shipping in October, said Neil Hand, Dell's vice president of worldwide enterprise marketing. Until then, he said, Dell is only taking orders from customers who agree to hold details under wraps.

WSJ.com - Battling Google, Microsoft Changes How It Builds Software

WSJ.com - Battling Google, Microsoft Changes How It Builds Software: "Jim Allchin, a senior Microsoft Corp. executive, walked into Bill Gates's office here one day in July last year to deliver a bombshell about the next generation of Microsoft Windows.
'It's not going to work,' Mr. Allchin says he told the Microsoft chairman. The new version, code-named Longhorn, was so complex its writers would never be able to make it run properly."

RSS goes to work in Windows | The Register

RSS goes to work in Windows | The Register: "RSS maybe more commonly associated with millions of blogs, but Microsoft is preparing to take the popular XML technology a step further - into the enterprise.
Microsoft's decision to put Really Simple Syndication (RSS) into the next edition of its Dynamics customer relationship management (CRM) software, for business users to easily access their freshest sales data, will be the tip of the enterprise iceberg."

Lack-lustre Larry takes a pop at SAP | The Register

Lack-lustre Larry takes a pop at SAP | The Register: "Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is happy with SAP�s choice of NetWeaver as its middleware because it has �an almost non-existent market share�.
In a Q&A session during his keynote speech closing Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco, Ellison was given a golden opportunity to lambaste NetWeaver and underline the company�s new open-to-all strategy. He claims that Oracle Fusion Middleware holds a bigger share in the SAP market because NetWeaver is three or four iterations behind with open standards versions."

AOL Won't Become MAOL - Softpedia

AOL Won't Become MAOL - Softpedia: "The merger between MSN and AOL won�t take place, according to Richard Parsons, Time Warner�s Executive President.

Parsons hasn't denied that there were indeed some talks with Microsoft, which wanted to acquire AOL in order to revitalize MSN and strengthen for the competition with Google.

Since AOL no longer succeeds to generate any profit from the dial-up services, it has to deal now with the challenge of generating as much traffic as possible on its sites, in order to increase the incomes. "

Busy Oracle leaves many questions unanswered | The Register

Busy Oracle leaves many questions unanswered | The Register: "Oracle OpenWorld is drawing to a close in San Francisco, and some big questions are being left unanswered. Namely, one wonders what Oracle might look like at the OpenWorld event one year from now.
The company is maturing and beginning to open out and extend its products. Project Fusion is the major challenge as the company melds its disparate CRM offerings. Competitors believe and hope that it is impossible to evolve a single species of CRM from around eight products. Oracle says it can do it by breaking them all down into services and bolting them together again."

Move over Google Sidebar | CNET News.com

Move over Google Sidebar | CNET News.com: " Chicago-based company is set to launch on Friday technology that will compete with Google Desktop Search and its Sidebar customization feature.
Watson 2.0 is designed to understand the context of the text a computer user is reading or creating and automatically offer up relevant news articles, Word documents and other Web- or PC-based information--without the privacy concerns Google's service has raised--and in real-time.
The context-sensitive Windows search tool, developed by Chicago-based Intellext, is based on technology developed at Northwestern University.
'Nothing gets sent to our servers,' as with Google's Sidebar service, said Al Wasserberger, chief executive of Intellext. Sidebar users only get the customized news and other feeds if they opt in to sending information to Google servers about what documents and Web pages are being viewed. "

Google builds an empire to rival Microsoft | CNET News.com

Google builds an empire to rival Microsoft | CNET News.com: "Google's one-of-a-kind computer network gives it a chance to surpass Microsoft to become the most dominant company in tech, according to the author of a recently published book on the search giant.
Google already has plenty of influence. It handles nearly half of the world's Web searches. It's hiring some of the biggest names in the industry, from the controversial Kai-Fu Lee of Microsoft to the legendary Vint Cerf, an early Internet pioneer. And it has become such the topic du jour in Silicon Valley that its search for a new corporate chef warrants significant local news coverage.
But what's next? Author Stephen Arnold has closely analyzed Google patents, engineering documents and technology and has concluded that Google has a grand ambition--to push the information age off the desktop and onto the Internet. Google, he argues, is aiming to be the network computer platform for delivering so-called 'virtual' applications, or software that allows a user to perform a task on any device with an Internet connection. "

How Microsoft can 'kill' Google | The Register

How Microsoft can 'kill' Google | The Register: "When Steve Ballmer yelled at a departing Microsoft employee that he would �kill Google� we had no idea just how direct a method he had in mind. Buying all or part of AOL may be the first part of the master plan, as Google relies heavily on the advertising pages that come from Yahoo!, since it now syndicates its search to Google.
One estimate suggested that Google would lose as much as $380m of advertising revenue if AOL dropped its search engine and took on MSN's. That would cut Google�s profit by something like 25 per cent, potentially giving its huge share price something of a tumble. No wonder Google is thought to be entering the bidding to partner with Time Warner on AOL instead of Microsoft.
However, the move by Microsoft could still potentially backfire, although with its cash mountain you would expect it to win the day. Google only chance is to paint a sufficiently rosy future picture to Time Warner�s management about what kind of outcome there would be for an AOL partnering Google, then perhaps a lot more than that $380m could be saved.
For instance the new physical fiber network that Google is believed to be in the process of putting together, be used to transport more than just voice, advertising and wi-fi traffic. This could also become a conduit for video services, providing another route to market for the remainder of Time Warner�s content? Could the Google Video search capability index all of Time Warner�s precious content and give it another lease of life?
It�s too late for the Google Talk VoIP service to go out to all the AOL customers because AOL has launched its own complete VoIP package service. The AOL Time Warner merger had some original logic and perhaps a company as imaginative as Google could make that logic work.
On the other hand Microsoft in June 20"

Microsoft Turns 30 - Softpedia

Microsoft Turns 30 - Softpedia: "On Friday, September 23, Microsoft turns 30.
The event will be celebrated at Safeco Field in Seattle, where Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer will present all the software giant's achievements in front of the 16,000 Redmond employees.

Gates and Ballmer will also use this event to reveal the company�s direction, especially since Microsoft has recently announced a new top management scheme.

In the press release related to the event, Ballmer stressed again the importance of the following 18 months for the company. In this interval, Microsoft is preparing to launch several products, twice as many as last year, among which Windows Vista and Office 12. "

Mozilla suffers growing pains | The Register

Mozilla suffers growing pains | The Register: "The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser successfully took market share away from software giant Microsoft's Internet Explorer over the past 18 months, but has found that popularity comes with growing pains.
When Microsoft fixes problems, the public generally doesn't know about them. For Firefox, the nature of the process means that we know what gets fixed."

BBC NEWS | Business | Sony to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide

BBC NEWS | Business | Sony to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide: "Electronics giant Sony has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring programme.
The job cuts, which represent about 7% of the company's workforce, will be achieved by March 2008, the firm said.
About 4,000 jobs will go in Japan, with the remaining 6,000 cuts overseas. The company will also close or sell 11 of its 65 manufacturing plants.
Sony, which now has its first-ever non-Japanese chairman, has been losing ground to rivals in key sectors.
The company that invented the Walkman has been humbled in the portable music market by Apple's iPod, while it has also been caught out by the shift from traditional cathode-ray tube televisions to flat screens."

Siebel users: sit tight | The Register

Siebel users: sit tight | The Register: "Siebel users concerned about the possible takeover of the CRM company by Oracle should sit tight and relax. So says a panel of JD Edwards and PeopleSoft users at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.
Oracle presented four cherry-picked users to the press, who supplied a rosy view of the convergent roads towards Fusion, the paths that will blend all of the company�s CRM products into one. All agreed that their experience is good so fa,r but concerns for the future still exist.
Mitch Myers, vice president of operations at F W Murphy, admitted that his initial concerns were that the PeopleSoft and JD Edwards acquisition would require a massive migration to Oracle. This has not been the case and the gentle migration to Fusion that Oracle now offers is an attractive proposition, he said.
Some fears still exist because of Siebel�s leading role in the CRM market. Users are worried that this will influence the shape that Fusion will take."

Apple's Jobs: Microsoft and Dell copy us but won't beat the iPod - Desktops - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com

Apple's Jobs: Microsoft and Dell copy us but won't beat the iPod - Desktops - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com: "Apple CEO Steve Jobs has hit out at fellow tech heavyweights Dell and Microsoft, claiming they have been copying Apple, and put the company's tight-lipped strategy down to a refusal to give its rivals a roadmap ahead of time.
Speaking yesterday at Apple's annual European conference, Apple Expo in Paris, he said: 'Microsoft is copying us with its operating system... Dell's trying to copy us with its hardware. That's fine but we'd like to not give them a map and show them where we're going to go. At least they can follow our taillights.'"

Ellison's ambitions for Oracle | CNET News.com

Ellison's ambitions for Oracle | CNET News.com: "Oracle's chief executive discussed his game plan to grow the software giant from a nearly $15 billion company to a $30 billion behemoth over the next few years--and do so at a pace that maintains a 40 percent operating margin.
'In order to grow at this pace, there'll have to be a couple of acquisitions along the way,' Ellison said during a press conference Wednesday at Oracle OpenWorld. 'The tricky thing is to grow at this rate and maintain a 40 percent operating margin.'
The PeopleSoft merger and Oracle's pending acquisition of Siebel Systems mark two recent megamergers that will help Oracle achieve the $30 billion goal. And the PeopleSoft acquisition has already demonstrated Oracle can undertake large mergers without giving up its 40 percent margins, Ellison said. "

Prince of Persia 3 confirmed for 2005 - Softpedia

Prince of Persia 3 confirmed for 2005 - Softpedia: "The adventures of the prince will continue in the second half of the year, when Ubisoft�s game will be launched.

This last title will combine all the good things from the previous versions Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia Warrior Within, but will also add new elements to attract both novice players and the veterans of the series.

The story of the new game begins with the return of the prince from Island of Time in Babylon, together with his lover, Kaileena. But there is war in his kingdom, so the prince is captured and all Kaileena can do to save him is to unleash Sands of Time. Things become more complicated when the prince discovers that he is possessed by an evil spirit, Dark Prince, and the most important battles will be fought against him."

Lenovo Launches Industry's Thinnest and Lightest 14-inch Widescreen Notebook - Softpedia

Lenovo Launches Industry's Thinnest and Lightest 14-inch Widescreen Notebook - Softpedia: "Lenovo announced the ThinkPad Z-Series, the first widescreen multimedia ThinkPad notebooks with integrated Verizon Wireless Broadband Access. ThinkPad Z-Series is designed for mobile and small business users who rely on one notebook computer for both work and life demands.

In addition to the classic black ThinkPad design, the new Z-Series is available in a special-edition, brushed titanium cover. Titanium offers a sleek new look, durability, and scratch resistance for one of the world's most well-known notebook brands.

The ThinkPad Z60m's 15.4-inch display offers 30 percent more data space than a 15-inch XGA and better viewing angles for notebook use on an airline flight. At 1.1-inches thick and just 4.2 pounds, the 14-inch ThinkPad Z60t is the thinnest and lightest widescreen notebook in its class. The Z60t boasts 25 percent more data space than a standard 14-inch XGA screen - the equivalent of four additional spreadsheet columns - offering a productive solution to business users who often work with multiple applications simultaneously."

BetaNews | Sharp to Release 57-Inch LCD TV

BetaNews | Sharp to Release 57-Inch LCD TV: "Sharp said it has plans to release a 57-inch LCD television in December in a move aimed at increasing its market share of flat-panel TVs. The company also said that it plans to launch the TV in North America in February 2006. The TV will support the full HD standard, with a resolution of up to 1,920 by 1,080 pixels."

BetaNews | MSN to Close Adult, Mature Groups

BetaNews | MSN to Close Adult, Mature Groups: "BetaNews has learned that MSN plans to remove mature and adult rated communities from its MSN Groups service in late November. The groups would be moved to a third-party site, WorldGroups, who will handle mature and adult categorized groups for the service after the transition.
Users will be unable to create or change a group's classification as 'adult' or 'mature' after October 19. This would be followed by a lockdown of content on these groups on November 2, and then removal of the groups from MSN on November 28.
At that time, it will be prohibited to either post or upload anything that expresses pornography or obscenity according to a draft of the announcement obtained by BetaNews.
'MSN services are used by a broad audience and we need to ensure that content is appropriate for all viewers,' the draft reads.
'To meet these needs, MSN prohibits content and language that is sexually explicit from many MSN sites. We are also unable to provide access to additional adult content and services desired by many of our users.'"

Tom's Hardware Guide: Tom's Hard News

Tom's Hardware Guide: Tom's Hard News: "ATI and Nvidia remain focused on their discrete graphics card business, but apparently expand their reach into lower margin areas to increase production volume: While Nvidia is preparing the launch of its C51 integrated graphics processor (IGP), ATI convinced Intel to use its Xpress 200 chipset on entry level Intel-branded boards, sources told Tom's Hardware Guide.
Despite much media coverage of the graphics industry is focused on ATI' and Nvidia's battle for the highest performing chips, the leadership in total market volume is wrangled out on a different field. In fact, both ATI and Nvidia are trailing Intel in terms of shipped graphic chips by a wide margin: Simple IGPs allowed Intel to reach a 43.7 percent market share in the second quarter of this year, according to Jon Peddie Research. ATI follows as a distant second with 26.8 percent, Nvidia's so-far non existing IGP business resulted in only 15.9 percent market share in the overall graphics chip market. "

PCWorld.com - AOL Readies VOIP Service

PCWorld.com - AOL Readies VOIP Service: "America Online has announced it will offer a new Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service starting October 4, entering a heated race for Internet-based telephone services.
The service, called TotalTalk, will enable calls to be placed using a computer and standard telephone hardware together by connecting a telephone line and a cable or DSL modem to a broadband router. Users do not need to have AOL as their Internet access provider, according to a company description of the service.
TotalTalk will be 'a little bit of a paradigm shift for telephone service' for subscribers, as it will allow the mobility to take a phone line anywhere, said Anne Bentley, an AOL spokesperson. Through the company's next version of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), code-named Triton, users will be able to answer calls to their home phone from other computers, forward calls to their cell phones, and direct them to their voicemail.
The service's 'dashboard' feature will integrate its messenger and dialing software along with voicemail, Bentley said. "

IPdrum plugs mobile phones into Skype | The Register

IPdrum plugs mobile phones into Skype | The Register: "Norwegian company IPdrum yesterday launched a system that connects the Skype VoIP network to mobile phones.
You'll note the use of the plural there. IPdrum's Mobile Skype Cable requires two handsets, one which connects to a host PC's USB and audio ports using the aforementioned cable, and the other to make and take calls from wherever you happen to be at the time."

DVD Forum okays 30GB, dual-layer HD DVD-R | The Register

DVD Forum okays 30GB, dual-layer HD DVD-R | The Register: "Toshiba today said the DVD Forum has approved its suggestion for a 30GB, dual-layer recordable HD DVD-R disc.
The format gained the organisation's thumbs up last week at a meeting of the Forum's Steering Committee. The dual-layer disc will now become part of the HD DVD-R standard, though formal ratification is not expected to take place until next Spring."

BBC NEWS | Business | Time Warner keeps faith with AOL

BBC NEWS | Business | Time Warner keeps faith with AOL: "Time Warner has said it remains committed to America Online following reports that it could spin off the internet firm or sell a stake in it.
Richard Parsons, Time Warner chairman, said he was determined to increase AOL's value which, in turn, would boost the US media giant's share price.
Time Warner is facing investor pressure - led by Carl Icahn - to overhaul its cable TV and internet assets.
Recent reports have claimed it may sell a stake in AOL to Microsoft. "

PayPal hit by payment problems | The Register

PayPal hit by payment problems | The Register: "PayPal has been hit by two separate technical problems that are causing transactions to appear more than once on some customers' accounts. Although the money is not actually being removed from accounts this can have the effect of freezing the account if spending limits appear to be breached.
Messageboards on PayPal's parent eBay are plastered with posts from irate customers."

Linux users warned over Firefox flaw | The Register

Linux users warned over Firefox flaw | The Register: "Security researchers have discovered a new vulnerability with Firefox that might allow hackers to seize control of Unix or Linux machines running vulnerable versions of the popular alternative browser software. The vulnerability can only be exploited on Unix or Linux based environments. Firefox users at risk are advised to upgrade to version 1.0.7 to guard against attack."

ATI says R5xx Radeons in 'volume production' | The Register

ATI says R5xx Radeons in 'volume production' | The Register: "ATI yesterday effectively announced its R520 series of graphics chips, releasing the names of the upcoming products on the back of statement saying they are now in mass-production.
According to the graphics chip company, its foundry partner, TSMC, is 'in volume production of multiple 90nm products for ATI'. Among them are the Radeon X1800, X1600 and X1300."

Sex and drugs hit girls harder | The Register

Sex and drugs hit girls harder | The Register: "Sex is more likely to lead to depression in teenage girls than experimenting with drugs or alcohol, research has found.
Whether you are a boy or a girl, sex, drugs and alcohol screw you up, and abstinence makes the heart grow stronger, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) found in a survey of 13,500 American teenagers.
Yet boys are far less likely than girls to get depressed after experimenting with any vice.
Rock'n'Roll is still thought to be safe for consumption, though some observers suspect it may be an indicator of poor taste.
The research, to be published in the October edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, examined how eagerly teenagers took to their vices and what the consequences were for their state of mind.
It found that those teenagers who abstained from sex, drugs and alcohol showed only a four per cent chance of depression a year later, which the researchers said was "very low". Those kids who were more hedonistic had different experiences according to their gender.
Boys who only experimented with vice did not increase their likelihood of depression. But girls only had to have sex to bring on a threefold increase in their chances of becoming depressed compared to the abstainers. A two-fold increase was experienced by those girls who experimented with drugs and alcohol."

Fewer chairs remain after Microsoft reshuffle | Channel Register

Fewer chairs remain after Microsoft reshuffle | Channel Register: "Microsoft has rejigged the company's reporting structure, collapsing the seven divisions created in 2002 into three new ones. It's a bid to deal with the process issues that have bedevilled the company, exemplified by the delivery of Microsoft Vista three years later than planned, and several features short.
The changes are 'designed to align our Business Groups in a way that will enhance decision-making and speed of execution,' reads the canned quote from Fester that's supplied in the press release.
In five years since Ballmer took over the CEO's job from Gates, Microsoft has moved from anarchy to a Kafkaesque bureaucracy. The culture of 'MaMaM', or meetings about meetings about meetings, is well known in the industry, but reached a wider audience with defection of Microsoft's China Labs chief Kai Fu Lee to Google, which led to suit and countersuit. Microsoft's inefficiencies even amused the Chinese Communist Party, Lee alleged.
In addition to the major restructuring, Microsoft also announced an expanded advisory role for CTO Ray 'Lotus Notes' Ozzie, and that veteran Windows manager Jim Allchin will step down at the end of 2006.
The reshuffle sees the Information Worker division and the Business Solutions division collapsed into a new Business Division. That's one less chair, and nine fewer syllables.
The Home and Entertainment division responsible for Xbox and Flight Simulator is merged with the Mobile and Embedded division to create the new Entertainment and Devices Division. That's one less chair, too, and six fewer syllables."

Apple Announces an Update to .Mac - Softpedia

Apple Announces an Update to .Mac - Softpedia: "Apple announced a significant update to .Mac, the membership-based online service that combines.

New .Mac features include:

- .Mac Groups: .Mac members can now easily create private, ad-free online communities that make it easy for family, friends and private groups to communicate, coordinate and share digital media. With .Mac Groups, members can send emails to the entire group using a single address; post files, pictures and movies with a common group iDisk; publish group web pages and post links to other sites; and keep up-to-date with the latest group events with a shared iCal calendar.

- Backup 3: .Mac Backup has been redesigned from the ground up resulting in easier setup, quicker backups and the ability to seamlessly automate the process so users don't have to remember to run a backup. New features include the ability to automatically back up iLife content, Home folder, iTunes purchased music, and other Mac essentials. Built-in Mac OS X 'Tiger' Spotlight search capabilities make it easy to select specific files to backup, while incremental backups help
to save time and media costs. "

Korean regulator fines Samsung | Channel Register

Korean regulator fines Samsung | Channel Register: "South Korean regulators have fined electronics giant Samsung for obstucting investigators looking for evidence of price fixing and dodgy contracts with suppliers.
The Fair Trade Commission accused Samsung of working with a chip subsidiary Semes to forge or destroy relevant documents.
A spokesman for the FTC said: 'Samsung Electronics has obstructed our investigation into unfair contracting practices with its subsidiary, Semes, by destroying or fabricating documents.', AFP reports. The regulator also accused Samsung of issuing secret guidelines for staff on how to handle investigators."

BetaNews | Nokia N91 Music Phone Pushed to 2006

BetaNews | Nokia N91 Music Phone Pushed to 2006: "Nokia on Tuesday officially said it was delaying the much-anticipated N91 music phone until the first quarter of next year, citing the desire to make the phone work with as many music providers as possible and hold thousands of songs. Motorola's ROKR iTunes phone can store a maximum of 100 songs."

BetaNews | MasterCard to Offer Swipeless Cards

BetaNews | MasterCard to Offer Swipeless Cards: "MasterCard said at an industry conference in Memphis Monday that it planned to have nearly four million 'swipeless' RFID credit cards in circulation by year's end. Dubbed PayPass, a user will only have to wave his or her card in front of a sensor to make a payment on the item. American Express announced a similar service in June."

BetaNews | New Intel Chips Promise Longer Battery Life

BetaNews | New Intel Chips Promise Longer Battery Life: "Intel said on Tuesday it had made changes to its manufacturing process that would allow for the production of processors that use very little power, and would extend battery life of mobile and small form factor devices.
To decrease power consumption of its chips, Intel had to improve the design of the transistor. Energy leaks from these transistors, even when in the off state waste electrical power. Through the new design process, engineers at Intel were able to reduce leakage by 1,000 times over the standard construction."

Office 12 makeover takes on 'feature creep' | CNET News.com

Office 12 makeover takes on 'feature creep' | CNET News.com: "For years, Microsoft has been trying to add features to Office without them getting in the way of people who already know their way around the software.
Unfortunately, the company was a little too successful at making its innovations unobtrusive. In user testing, Microsoft found that nine out of every 10 features that customers wanted to see added to Office were already in the program.
'They simply don't know it's there,' Chris Capossela, a Microsoft vice president, told a developer crowd last week. 'It's just too hard to find it.' Indeed, Office has become a case study for feature creep--the phenomenon in which a simple technology becomes complicated and unmanageable through the addition of new features. Office, which once had 100 commands neatly organized into menus, ballooned to contain some 1,500 commands located in scores of menus, toolbars and dialog boxes.
Having sensed that the software has reached the limits of functionality, Microsoft has been preparing its most radical overhaul ever for Word, Excel and friends. With Office 12, due next year, the company plans to do away with a system that depends on people remembering which series of menus lead to a particular command. Instead, users will see a "ribbon" of different commands above their document, with the options changing depending on the task. Microsoft previewed the new look for Office at last week's Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles. "

Spam map Googles junk mail proxies | The Register

Spam map Googles junk mail proxies | The Register: "Mailinator - the service that offers free, disposable email addresses for use in web registrations - has created a 'real-time' spam map. The system receives around a million junk mail messages a day. By resolving the IP addresses of proxies1 used to distribute this junk mail (and plugging this data into Google maps) the people behind the service have created a map to show where spam is coming from. This map is created from data that gets updated every three minutes.
Spam counts are rounded to the nearest hundred and what the map offers at present is just the locations and types of spam sent from the IP addresses currently sending the most spam to Mailinator. Facilities to look at snapshots of junk mail source across a sequence in time have yet to be introduced but the debut of a graphical description of spam generation - rather than just the usual, hard-to-comprehend statistics - is nonetheless welcome."

Scientists tout diamond-coated implants | The Register

Scientists tout diamond-coated implants | The Register: "A newly-developed coating for medical implants could help to reduce the number of MRSA infections, according to UK physicists.
The diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating, which makes implants harder wearing, reduces friction between components and protects them from corrosion, has several advantages over its rivals, according to researchers at Brunel University.
It is bio-compatible, and doesn't trigger coagulation of blood - a significant problem with some other coatings. The coating process can take place at relatively low temperatures, too, meaning that plastics as well as metals and ceramics can be coated with DLCs.
The researchers, led by Professor Joe Franks, report that DLC-coated knee implants have already been successfully used in two operations in arthritic patients who are allergic to the underlying metal.
Franks said: 'We've also developed coatings that can be used for catheters and various medical implants that go through the skin. The coating is important because it prevents colonization of the tissue by bacteria, such as the superbug MRSA.'"

Million pixel student makes �32k | The Register

Million pixel student makes �32k | The Register: "Enterprising UK student Alex Tew has sold enough pixels to fund his way through university. Tew, 21, decided to flog pixels for a buck on his Million Dollar Homepage as part of a cunning scheme to raise cash.
He may not have made his million, but in the few weeks since he launched the site he's flogged some 60,000 pixels - generating around �32,000. Those snapping up his pixels have included poker sites, loan companies and some small businesses."

Oracle eyes logistics and transport with UK buy | The Register

Oracle eyes logistics and transport with UK buy | The Register: "Oracle has announced its second acquisition in two weeks with a deal that expands the vertical-sector expertise of Oracle's e-business software. Oracle has snapped up privately held G-Logic, a UK-based specialist in logistics and transportation management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The database and applications giant said that ownership of G-Logic would enable it to offer a comprehensive supply chain and logistics management portfolio.
The focus on logistics and transportation follows the highly publicized bidding war with enterprise resource planning (ERP) rival SAP for retail software specialist Retek and Oracle's decision in August to take a majority stake in India-based banking and financial services ISV I-flex."

GoogleNet flickers into life | The Register

GoogleNet flickers into life | The Register: "Five months after announcing its first Google-branded hot spots, covering San Francisco's Union Square and main public library, Google is enhancing the service. The ad giant briefly made a beta of a proxy server, Google Secure Access, available for limited download today before withdrawing the link.
The proxy is intended to protect 802.11 wireless users at Google hot spots from casual packet sniffing. But it also gives the ad broker the advantage of knowing what you're looking at, and exactly where you are geographically - a huge advantage to its core advertising business."

Authors Guild sues Google over library project | CNET News.com

Authors Guild sues Google over library project | CNET News.com: "The Authors Guild on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit against search engine Google, alleging that its scanning and digitizing of library books constitutes a 'massive' copyright infringement.
As part of its Google Print Library Project, the company is working to scan all or parts of the book collections of the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University, the New York Public Library and Oxford University and make those texts searchable on Google.
'This is a plain and brazen violation of copyright law,' Nick Taylor, president of the New York-based Authors Guild, said in a statement. 'It's not up to Google or anyone other than the authors, the rightful owners of these copyrights, to decide whether and how their works will be copied.'
Last month, Google said it would temporarily halt its book scanning in the project in response to criticism from publishers and others. It said at the time that it also was making changes to its Google Print Publisher Program, in which books are scanned at the request of the publisher so people can view excerpts. "

Allchin legacy seen in Windows | CNET News.com

Allchin legacy seen in Windows | CNET News.com: "Jim Allchin, to some Microsoft's biggest senior geek after Bill Gates, is retiring at the end of 2006. His legacy: Windows on almost every desktop.
The 53-year-old Allchin joined Microsoft in 1990, initially working on the company's networking product strategy. He came from Banyan Systems, where he had been the architect of the now-defunct Vines network operating system. At Microsoft, Allchin's main achievement was in leading the development of the Windows operating system.
'When it comes to Windows, the buck stops at Jim,' said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch. 'Allchin has been the guiding father of Windows for many years and had a tremendous responsibility for charting the flagship product for Microsoft.' "

BBC NEWS | Technology | EC regulation 'could stifle' net

BBC NEWS | Technology | EC regulation 'could stifle' net: "Tech lobby groups in the UK have warned that proposed changes to European TV regulation could stifle net content.
The European Commission wants to update its TV Without Frontiers directive to take account of new developments such as video-on-demand, broadcasting via broadband and podcasting.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group and trade body Intellect have branded the planned changes unworkable.
It could be an attempt to regulate the net by the backdoor, they said. "

BBC NEWS | Business | Microsoft shakes up its business

BBC NEWS | Business | Microsoft shakes up its business: "Microsoft, the world's largest computer software company, is shaking up the way it is organised in an effort to stay ahead of competitors.
The company will look to offer more of its services over the internet and will put computing veteran Ray Ozzie in charge of a number of key projects.
Microsoft will split into three units: business; entertainment and devices; and platform, products and services.
Analysts have accused the firm of being slow to react to the threat of rivals. "

BBC NEWS | Technology | Hackers target net call systems

BBC NEWS | Technology | Hackers target net call systems: "Malicious hackers are turning their attention to the technology behind net phone calls, says a report.
The biannual Symantec Threat Report identified Voice over IP (Voip) systems as a technology starting to interest hi-tech criminals.
The report predicted that within 18 months, Voip will start to be used as a 'significant' attack vector.
As well as prompting new attacks, Voip could also resurrect some old hacking techniques, warned the report. "

Symantec: Mozilla browsers more vulnerable than IE | CNET News.com

Symantec: Mozilla browsers more vulnerable than IE | CNET News.com: "Mozilla Web browsers are potentially more vulnerable to attack than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to a Symantec report.
But the report, released Monday, also found that hackers are still focusing their efforts on IE.
The open-source Mozilla Foundation browsers, such as the popular Firefox, have typically been seen as more secure than IE, which has suffered many security problems in the past. Mitchell Baker, president of the foundation, said earlier this year that its browsers were fundamentally more secure than IE. She also predicted that Mozilla Foundation browsers would not face as many problems as IE, even as their market share grows.
Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report Volume VIII contains data for the first six months of this year that may contradict this perception"

TechWeb | Internet Explorer | Microsoft Unveils IE 7 Beta 2 Features

TechWeb | Internet Explorer | Microsoft Unveils IE 7 Beta 2 Features: "The Internet Explorer development team has revealed details of upcoming key features that will land in the next beta of IE 7.
Among the features demonstrated Tuesday at a Microsoft Professional Developer Conference presentation, then outlined on the IE team's blog, were Quick Tabs and Page Zoom.
The former, wrote Chris Wilson, an IE 7 developer, lets users view and manage tabs -- IE 7 sports a tabbed interface, similar to the one Firefox and Opera have had for some time -- with a live thumbnail view of all tabs. Page Zoom, meanwhile, allows users to zoom in on text and graphics of Web pages.
Other new features, said Wilson, will include something he dubbed 'ActiveX Opt-in,' that will set most ActiveX controls (even those already installed) as disabled by default. Users can selectively enable controls as necessary.
ActiveX controls take the blame for many of IE's security woes, with both malicious code and spyware/adware using ActiveX, and vulnerabilities in it, to install themselves on PCs. "

The Internet Is Bad, China Says - Softpedia

The Internet Is Bad, China Says - Softpedia: "The Internet is a strange place, where dangers like erotic web-chats, naughty sites, warez and other virtual monsters are determined to pervert the minds of the young Chinese and to make them prisoners of the virtual reality.

At least that's what the Chinese authorities think, as China Daily reports. That is why the Beijing Municipal Youth League has made a documentary, in which it is illustrated the right way to use the Internet.

"Internet Teenagers" teaches the Chinese teenagers not to look on the Internet for relaxation, entertainment or friends, but to seek these goals in the real world.

Actually, the authorities fear the Internet's subversive content, which includes words like democracy, freedom.

The American Internet companies, like Google, MSN or Yahoo, which have decided to open sites in China have confronted with the strict rules imposed by the Chinese regime, which forced them to censor certain words. "

Swedish MP3 player maker refuses to pay levy | The Register

Swedish MP3 player maker refuses to pay levy | The Register: "Swedish producer of MP3 players Jens, which offers a full line of flash-based audio players and recorders, is facing legal proceedings after refusing to pay a controversial copying charge on its products.
According to Swedish news site The Local company director Jens Nylander told a national newspaper 'that it is not our problem that the record industry hasn't come up with its own solution to safeguard its interests.'
Like many other European countries, Sweden has a 'cassette compensation', which was designed to compensate copyright owners and applies to blank recording media. In 2004 85 million kroner in compensation was collected by Copyswede, an umbrella collecting society for coordinated negotiations and agreements in certain copyright areas. The law now also affects MP3 players."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Fine art inspires new Potter game

BBC NEWS | Technology | Fine art inspires new Potter game: "Landscape paintings by a group of 19th Century American artists have been the unlikely source of inspiration for the look and feel of the new Harry Potter video game.
The Hudson River School is known for its majestic images of the American wilderness, using light effects to lend an exaggerated drama to the scenes.
The art inspired the moody lighting of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The game is due to be released on 11 November to coincide with the film. "

BBC NEWS | Technology | Nintendo plans one-handed joypad

BBC NEWS | Technology | Nintendo plans one-handed joypad: "Nintendo has unveiled the controller for its new Revolution game console.
In a demonstration at the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata showed off a wireless controller that closely resembled a TV remote control.
Motion sensors on the controller translate its movements into game action, allowing it to be used as a virtual sword, baseball bat or racket.
Although the Revolution's controllers are public, Nintendo has yet to reveal details about the console's hardware. "

BetaNews | IIS 7.0 Learns a Few Tricks from Apache

BetaNews | IIS 7.0 Learns a Few Tricks from Apache: "Microsoft senior vice president Bob Muglia took the PDC 2005 stage Thursday morning to discuss the future of Windows Server. In addition to announcing Compute Cluster Edition Beta 1 and the first Longhorn Server CTP, Muglia introduced IIS 7.0 - complete with a modular architecture.
'We've learned from Apache,' acknowledged Bill Staples, product unit manager for IIS. Version 7.0 takes the IIS feature set and breaks it down into individual components, or modules, that can be loaded on an as-needed basis. The result is a Web server with much less overhead.
Modules can also be swapped on the fly. Staples provided a live demo of changing the standard directory listing into a flashy gallery by simply replacing a single module and refreshing the Web page.
The popular open source Apache Web server takes a similar approach to features. Administrators can add in modules they need and disable the ones they don't - streamlining a system for the fastest performance possible. IIS has taken another page from Apache's playbook as well: simple configuration.
IIS 7.0 does away with complicated the "Metabase" and replaces it with XML configuration files - an announcement that prompted cheers from the PDC audience.
"

BetaNews | Next Windows Server Gets Modular

BetaNewsNext Windows Server Gets Modular: "It may not have a name yet, but Longhorn Server features were detailed Thursday at PDC 2005 and the watchword was 'modular.' Microsoft has broken down its server OS into components, and the system installs only the services required to fill a specific role.
At its core, Longhorn Server will contain no graphical user interface and boot directly to a command prompt. The Server Core simply contains networking, security and management services, along with Active Directory.
With just a 500MB footprint, the server can perform four roles: DNS, DHCP, Active Directory and static Web server for files. Even in this basic install, terminal services are supported, as is remote scripting.
A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged the similarity to Linux and senior product manager Ward Ralston said the change was made in response to customer feedback.
"If users didn't ask for it, we wouldn't do it," he said, adding that Windows Server 2003 can operate in a headless mode, but the feature is not obvious to users.
A regular install adds on the graphical shell, MMC tools and the .NET Framework. But even with the full bits installed, Longhorn Server remains componentized and services are installed as needed. On first boot, a new Role Management Tool is the first thing users see, Ralston explained.
Roles are installed directly from the Longhorn Server DVD when activated and instantly patched using a feature called "secure-at-install." The idea is that going modular will keep the system locked down and reduce potential vulnerabilities caused by extraneous services running in the background."

Intel founds Chinese R&D company | Channel Register

Intel founds Chinese R&D company | Channel Register: "Intel has set up a software and hardware focused research and development subsidiary in China, the chip giant said today.
The operation, formally named Asia-Pacific R&D Ltd., will concentrate on products that span Intel's platform-centric business units and target markets around the globe as well as a China itself.
Located in Shanghai's Zizhu Science Park, the company will take on 1,000 staff by the end of 2006, the chip giant said, many taken from what it described as 'the growing pool of technical talent in China' and its growing cadre of 'highly trained researchers and technologists'.
That might sound like Intel is trying to butter up the locals, but it cuts both ways. The company was last year instrumental in persuading China to ditch plans to impose its own wireless networking security standard, WAPI (Wireless LAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure), on the country's IT industry. Intel threatened to stop selling Centrino chips to Chinese PC companies, and the government back-tracked."

Abandon ship! Dell jumps off Itanium | The Register

Abandon ship! Dell jumps off Itanium | The Register: "Dell has become the latest OEM to abandon Itanium, Intel's ill-fated 64 bit chip. The processor's future has been looking downbeat since Intel decided to adopt AMD's 64 bit instruction set for its future servers, relegating IA-64 to high end niches.
Dell's decision is hardly surprising given its poor sales figures. Dell lives or dies by high volumes, but last year shipped just 1,371 Itanium servers. That's up from just 12 the previous year, but it was enough to give Dell five per cent of the IA-64 market. HP, Intel's partner on the chip project, shipped 76 per cent of IA-64 systems."

Microsoft issues HPC, web server challenge to Linux | The Register

Microsoft issues HPC, web server challenge to Linux The Register
Microsoft has taken its battle against Linux and open source a notch higher with a first beta of its Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition operating system for high-performance computing (HPC), and a modular version of its IIS web server.
Bob Muglia senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows server division, announcing the Windows beta at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) positioned the operating system as an integrated alternative to Linux in HPC.
[Open source] applications are not integrated into companies' Linux environments. They are built on one off environments so there's no consistency... there are real support issues," Muglia told Windows diehards.
Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition will cluster at least four, eight, 32 and 64 machines, Muglia claimed, with the ability to run jobs across different machines with different requirements and memory demands. "Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition is targeted at intensive environments," Muglia said.
Microsoft has recognized that it is trailing Linux in HPC and Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition, due in 2006, is designed to close the gap. While acceptance of the Linux threat is new, Microsoft has been chipping away at clustering since the late 1990s, when Windows 2000 - then Windows NT 5.0 - was on the drawing board.
In a second stab at open source, Microsoft on Wednesday handed out its first developer release of the next version of IIS. IIS 7.0, part of the Longhorn Server due in 2007, has dumped the web server's monolithic architecture for an Apache-style, modular approach.
By going modular, developers can quickly add and remove services and launch their web server without rebooting. Also gone is the IIS metabase, which stored all of IIS's configuration data and required machine-level skills to change or fix.
"The monolithic nature of IIS which has been a total pain for people to build applications has been replaced," Muglia said. Product unit manager Bill Staples, also speaking at PDC, added IIS 7.0 was "molded on the kind of modularity Apache is known for"

Microsoft in talks for AOL stake: source - Yahoo! News

Microsoft in talks for AOL stake: source - Yahoo! News: "Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) have been in business discussions over the past several months regarding Internet search and advertising networks, but not a joint venture, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
'There have been talks on ways Microsoft and AOL assets can be better leveraged and they've taken place over the normal course of business...,' the source said, calling reports of a joint venture between the two companies 'way overblown.'
The source said nothing was 'imminent.'
Time Warner declined comment. Microsoft was not immediately reachable.
Various discussions between the two companies started some two years ago after the two companies settled a long-running antitrust suit that America Online, a unit of Time Warner, filed against the software giant, the source said."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Paris Hilton hacker sent to jail

BBC NEWS | Technology | Paris Hilton hacker sent to jail: "The teenager who reportedly hacked into the mobile phone of socialite Paris Hilton has been sent to jail.
The hacker, who cannot be named because of his age, will serve an 11-month sentence in a juvenile jail.
He will be under supervision for two years following his release, during which time he cannot own a computer or any device that can access the net.
The jail sentence covers a series of crimes committed over a 15-month period. "

PDC: Microsoft replaces menu bar with feature docks : Tom's Hard News

Tom's Hardware Guide: Tom's Hard News: "Microsoft chairman Bill gates announced at the PDC conference a major shift in how users will navigate through the firm's core applications. The menu and icon bar as we know them today are gone. They are substituted by what Microsoft calls 'ribbon' - docks providing more transparent access to the functionality of software.
Lack of functionality never was a usability problem in modern software. For years, however, the industry has been quoting research findings that users are not able finding certain features in applications and in fact used as little as 10 percent of the functionalities some programs offered. Microsoft came up with a new concept that aims to make embedded features more visible and accessible to users - rather than hiding them in the deep structures of sub-menus and folders. "

Microsoft expresses designs on website teams | The Register

Microsoft expresses designs on website teams | The Register: "Microsoft is moving into Adobe and Macromedia territory with graphics and web tools designed to improve the way illustrators and coders work together when building websites.
David Treadwell, a Microsoft corporate vice president, introduced the Expression family of Acrylic Graphic Designer, Sparkle Interactive Designer and Quartz Web Designer on the second day of Microsoft's Professional Developers' Conference (PDC)."
Historically, it's been difficult for developers and designers to work well together," Treadwell told PDC's coder-centric audience. "The Expression family does a lot to make it easier for developers and designers to work efficiently together.
Expression means Microsoft is challenging web tools from Macromedia and design tools from Adobe on the PC. The suite's design goal, of producing better-looking applications through improved collaboration, is similar to Macromedia's Flex.
Flex helps developers building server-side Java code to construct more graphically oriented interfaces to websites and online applications.
Acrylic is a painting and illustration tool that combines graphic design features such as coloring, filters and shadows familiar to users of Adobe's Illustrator and Photoshop. Microsoft adds the ability to alternate between vector- and pixel-based graphics.
Sparkle is for the creation of 3D images and graphics, and uses XAML to transfer the newly designed interface into Visual Studio for hand-over to the coding side of the team. Quartz delivers layout and design capabilities for programmers to build web sites using HTML, XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Microsoft will no doubt encourage Adobe and Macromedia users to switch to using either all or part of the software trio. Adobe is buying Marcomedia in a $3.4bn deal announced earlier this year, and Microsoft will hope it can tempt users whose old Adobe and Macromedia licenses are set to expire, and who are uncertain of Adobe's product roadmap."

Microsoft's WinFS waves files goodbye - vnunet.com

Microsoft's WinFS waves files goodbye - vnunet.com: "Microsoft demonstrated its forthcoming WinFS file system at the Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles, claiming that the technology will offer easier access to data.
Instead of looking for files, WinFS identifies relationships between items such as images, documents, email messages and calendar appointments, allowing the user to search for objects dispersed over several applications.
The technology could, for instance, enable a query for all email messages to and from a client whom the user is meeting today.
'I can go into one application and build a list of people and go into another application and show their messages,' Shishir Mehrotra, who is responsible for WinFS product planning, said during a session at the Microsoft developer event.
Mehrotra demonstrated an application where an estate agent could see a map of the homes for sale within a certain price range that were close to a property about which a client had inquired.
WinFS is Microsoft's next-generation file system. The company first spoke about the technology in 2003, and it was originally scheduled to be released as part of Windows Vista but has since been pulled from the operating system"

More tech fails to exorcise security risks | The Register

More tech fails to exorcise security risks | The Register
Current IT systems are inherently insecure and growing complexity will simply increase these risks, a leading academic has warned.

Users should rebel and demand vendors compensate them for security foul-ups, said pugnacisous Professor Klaus Brunnstein of the University of Hamburg

Brunnstein told delegates to an IT security conference in London on Wednesday that attempting to protect against IT risks - such as hacking attacks - by increasing the complexity of systems is futile. "That would be like trying to expel the devil with Beelzebub," he said.

The present wave of IT security incidents is caused by inherently insecure assumptions, including overly complex systems. The interoperation of these systems with other insecure technologies magnifies the problem, the applied informatics academic argued.

He said more secure technologies will only be developed after a fundamental rethink involving building security into applications rather than adding it as an afterthought. Beyond saying that applications shouldn't delete valuable data when they failed, Brunnstein failed to elaborate on this key point preferring instead to criticise suppliers for resisting change.

Xbox 360 to hit shelves before Thanksgiving | CNET News.com

Xbox 360 to hit shelves before Thanksgiving | CNET News.com: "After months of intense industry speculation, Microsoft revealed late Wednesday the launch dates for its much-anticipated Xbox 360 video game console.
In an announcement at the Tokyo Game Show, the company said the new Xbox--Microsoft's entrant in the next-generation console wars--would hit store shelves in North America on Nov. 22, in Europe on Dec. 2 and in Japan on Dec. 10. The company clearly wanted to take advantage of the holiday shopping rush just before and after Thanksgiving in the United States.
'That's what you want to do to launch a console,' said International Development Group market analyst Mike Sabine. 'You definitely want to have it on shelves to enjoy the Thanksgiving shopping period.'
Last month, Microsoft said the Xbox 360 would come in two flavors: a base model for $299 and a souped-up version with a 20GB hard drive and wireless controllers for $399.
The company is trying to alter a current-generation console landscape in which archrival Sony has sold 75.6 million PlayStation 2s, compared with Microsoft's sales of just 19.8 million Xboxes, according to IDC analyst Schelley Olhava. "

MSN offers bird's eye view of Katrina damage | News.blog | CNET News.com

MSN offers bird's eye view of Katrina damage | News.blog | CNET News.com: "MSN has launched a Web site that allows people to see bird's eye images of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wreaked on the city of New Orleans. The Web site, at maps.msnbc.com allows users to click on camera icons or type in specific addresses to see overhead views of shots taken before the hurricane and after. Users can also zoom in and out and pan around.
The images, provided by Pictometry, are the first public application from MSN taking advantage of the overhead image technology. This early Virtual Earth technology was released ahead of the fall launch date for MSN's Virtual Earth application in order to help government and aid agencies see the damage and assess priorities, an MSN spokesman said. "

Google sells $4.18 billion in stock | CNET News.com

Google sells $4.18 billion in stock | CNET News.com: "Web search leader Google priced a follow-on stock offering at $295 per share, raising $4.18 billion in the largest high-tech secondary sale in nearly a decade, underwriters said on Wednesday. Google went public in August 2004 and announced the follow-on offering in a regulatory filing last month. It had previously said it expected $4.11 billion in net proceeds from a shelf offering of 14.16 million Class A shares."

Yahoo set to unveil new search feature | CNET News.com

Yahoo set to unveil new search feature | CNET News.com: "Yahoo is set to launch a new beta feature on its search Web site on Thursday. Called Instant Search, the feature interprets what a search is likely to be as the user is typing and automatically displays what it deems the most relevant result. In many cases, instant answers will be provided in the form of Yahoo Search Shortcut results. The optional feature automatically corrects spelling, as well."

Intel chips cost $40 to make - report | The Register

Intel chips cost $40 to make - report | The Register
It's not hard to see how Intel makes its money. According to market watcher In-Stat, the chip giant's average cost per die is a mere $40 - significantly less than it the prices it attaches to its processors.

That figure, the researcher calculates, has remained consistent over the past two years and will continue through 2005. This despite rising fab and materials costs.

In part, Intel has been able to maintain the cost per die by moving to 300mm wafers and by aggressively adopting new, smaller fabrication processes. According to In-Stat, Intel leads the market in manufacturing process development and fab capacity. It noted the chip giant will have four 65nm fabs ramping up output volumes next year. By contrast, AMD has a single 65nm fab, currently in development. The Dresden, Germany plant is its only facility capable of handling 300mm wafers.

Still, AMD is broadening its capacity through foundry deals - Chartered Semiconductor will also be pumping out 65nm, 64-bit AMD processors - and, more importantly perhaps, working with other chip vendors to develop future process technologies and this spread the cost.

Office will be simpler to operate, Gates says - The Boston Globe

Office will be simpler to operate, Gates says - The Boston Globe: "The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s Office software will feature simpler graphics and try to anticipate users' tasks as the company hopes to make the product easier to use, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said yesterday.
Microsoft hopes the new features will entice users who have found it unwieldy to wade through the dozens of tool menus and other features packed into Office, the software suite that includes Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel.

The stakes are high because Office is a cash cow for Microsoft, even as it ventures further into areas such as Internet search and video games.

For Microsoft's fiscal year ended June 30, the unit that includes Office had operating income of nearly $8 billion, on revenue of $11 billion. The company's overall revenue was $40 billion.

Gates used this year's forum at a software conference to preview Office 12 and the next generation of Microsoft's operating system, dubbed Windows Vista. Both are due out sometime next year.

During his presentation, the multibillionaire poked fun at his geeky image, drawing laughs from the crowd for his role in a video skit featuring actor Jon Heder reprising his uber-dweeb character from ''Napoleon Dynamite."
"

Google and Microsoft both claim victory in court | The Register

Google and Microsoft both claim victory in court | The Register
The cliché that no one wins in court but the lawyers was turned on its head yesterday when both Google and Microsoft claimed victory in their ongoing fight over former Redmond employee Kai-Fu Lee.

Microsoft was in court to stop Lee from joining Google China - in July it gained a temporary injunction to stop Lee taking up his post. Google employed Lee to set up and run its Chinese development centre.
Yesterday the judge imposed an injunction on Lee: he can work for Google as long as he doesn't recruit other MS staff or use confidential information. Microsoft described this as wider than the original injunction and would happily end the case if Google accepted the restrictions as permanent.

The statement says: "We are pleased with our victory in court today. The court entered an injunction that restricts the work Dr. Lee can do for Google, preventing him from working on speech, natural language and search technologies, as well as setting the overall research and development course for Google China."

Apple shot first, asked question later, say sued sites | The Register

Apple shot first, asked question later, say sued sites | The Register: "Apple sent its lawyers after two amateur-run Mac news sites without conducting a serious internal company investigation first to demand who leaked trade secrets, court documents show. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which bid to have the documents unsealed, claims it deals a crucial blow to Apple's attempt to silence the webstes.
Apple is suing AppleInsider and O'Grady's PowerPage, claiming that they published leaked product information on 'Asteroid', an audio hardware interface. It's seeking to compel the websites to identify unknown parties, 'John Does', who provided the information. Apple has yet to sue a professional news organisation for publishing similar scoops"

PDC 2005: Gadgets embraced by Microsoft

Skinning the frog - JoeUser.com: blogs from the average joe: "One of the things that has made Object Desktop so popular over the years is that users knew, with certainty that many of the concepts found in it would likely one day end up in the OS. That's why its tag-line is 'It's like running the next version of Windows -- today.' Whether that be ObjectZIP which preceded Microsoft's Compressed folders to the much better known example of WindowBlinds in which Windows XP came with a similar, though more basic, implementation.
Today at PDC, Microsoft announced 'Microsoft Gadgets' on the same day Stardock opened DesktopGadgets.com for the public (the official announcement isn't until September 20th). Microsoft's implementation of their gadgets is quite interesting. Like gadgets created by DesktopX Pro, Microsoft's gadgets can be put into a bar. DesktopX's gadgets can sit on the desktop or be placed into an ObjectBar bar. Microsoft's gadgets go into the Microsoft SideBar on Windows Vista.
From reading the flame war over on Microsoft's Gadget blog, Mac zealots claim that Microsoft stole the whole thing from Apple. They apparently forget that Apple was almost certainly 'inspired' by Konfabulator. And DesktopX has had user-created mini apps on the desktop since late 1999. Of course, Mac zealots will point towards desktop accessories as some sort of 'see, Apple did it first'. But desktop accessories are so divorced from the modern widget/gadget concept as to be nonsensical. What makes widgets (and gadgets) interesting is that they can be created by end users who have little to know programming knowledge. My 8 year old son has a DesktopX widget he made on his home page. It's pretty unlikely that 8 year olds were cranking out desktop accessories."

Mitsubishi Electric Develops 10 Gbps Low Noise Avalanche Photodiode - Softpedia

Mitsubishi Electric Develops 10 Gbps Low Noise Avalanche Photodiode - Softpedia: "Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced today its successful development of an avalanche photodiode (APD) for use in high sensitivity optical receivers in fiber optic communications.

The avalanche photodiode was mounted on a XMD MSA compatible Receiver Optical Sub Assembly (ROSA), and this new construction is capable of 10 Gbps(2)-80km transmissions with low noise and the world's highest reliability while also increasing compatibility.


With sharp increases in Internet traffic in recent years, XFPs, small optical transceivers that comply with the 10 Gbps transmission standard specification, have been used to increase transmission capacity in urban mid- and long-distance trunk lines. A way has been sought to increase performance of the light emission and receiving element mounted on the optical transceiver in order to extend transmission of the current 40-80km range as well as reduce the number of broadcasting optical amplifiers and reduce construction cost of fiber optic networks.

For long distance communications, however, it was necessary to develop an avalanche photo diode that reduces noise up to 40 percent over previous models so that even very weak signals can be received by the light-receiving element. With this model, we have developed a new planar construction giving it low noise characteristics as well as the world's highest level of reliability. We have also mounted a small light module (ROSA) to the light-receiving element, which can be easily attached to small optical transceivers like XFP. "

Anti-Spyware Vendors Say AskJeeves Is in Trouble - Softpedia

Anti-Spyware Vendors Say AskJeeves Is in Trouble - Softpedia: "AskJeeves could have a lot of problems because of its Internet Explorer plugin, called Ask Jeeves' MySearch toolbar. In fact, several security experts consider that other AskJeeves products, such as MyWay Speedbar, FunWeb Products Smiley Central, CursorMania, FunBuddy Icons and MyFunCards could be rated as spyware products as well, since they are installed on the user�s computer without his/her consent.

One of AskJeeves fiercest contestants is Sunbelt Software, a company which has published a 30 page document, in which it concluded that AskJeeves should change its distribution policy so that the application asks for the user�s consent before the installation continues.

Sunbelt Software is a company which discovered in August a fraud scheme affecting over 50 banks, while analyzing a modified version of CoolWebSearch. "

Nokia Proposes Mobile Email - Softpedia

Nokia Proposes Mobile Email - Softpedia: "Nokia Business Center is a new software solution enabling collaborative business applications for the mobile world, starting with push email. Nokia Business Center brings mobile email to the corporate masses, changing the economics of mobile email adoption so that employees at all levels can reap the rewards of virtually anytime, anywhere access to their corporate email.

Nokia Business Center is designed to expand the universe of potential mobile users by leveraging the broad availability of standard mobile phones and by providing a two-tier client strategy. The standard client will be licensed on an unlimited basis with each Nokia Business Center server. A more richly featured professional client will be available for a minimal upgrade fee. The product is a Java-based solution that can be deployed on any Java MIDPI 2.0-capable phone, once certified by Nokia. Initially, Nokia Business Center will support mobile email over the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator, as well as the Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, and Nokia 6682 integrating with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, followed shortly by support for Lotus Notes and Domino, and an expanded range of Nokia certified devices."

BetaNews | Microsoft 'Maxes' Out Your Photos

BetaNews | Microsoft 'Maxes' Out Your Photos: "Microsoft on Tuesday unvelied Microsoft 'Max,' an application that enables a user to create and manage slideshows, as well as arrange their photos into various layouts. Max is one of the first publicly available applications to use WinFX, which is the next-generation technology that allows developers to easily take advantage of the enhanced graphics capabilities in Windows Vista."

Wired News: Google Can Keep Ex-Microsoft Exec

Wired News: Google Can Keep Ex-Microsoft Exec: "A judge on Tuesday cleared the way for Google to hire a former Microsoft executive to head its Chinese research and development center so long as the employee does not recruit from Microsoft.
At the same time, King County, Washington, Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez found that former Microsoft vice president Kai-Fu Lee had misled his former employer and taken advantage of confidential Microsoft information, which could help Microsoft when the case seeking to hold Lee to a confidentiality pact goes to trial. "

Microsoft, Canon Team Up on Vista Color Management

Microsoft, Canon Team Up on Vista Color Management

Microsoft Corp. and Canon Inc. unveiled a strategic alliance on Tuesday that will result in a new color management system for the forthcoming Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

The new Windows Color System is intended to provide better color predictability and fidelity throughout the operating system.

This is especially important for screen-to-print matching as well as better color appearance overall on a computer's display.

The proliferation of digital devices that rely on color, such as digital cameras and color printers, prompted the alliance between Microsoft and Canon, the companies noted.

Pervasive use of color is no longer limited to designers but instead has become part of the mainstream, as consumers print out photos using special printers and work with color-based images with greater frequency.

The relationship between Microsoft and Canon is a natural outgrowth of how color is used in printing, photography and even with cell phones, noted Microsoft.

New Yahoo Mail beta unveiled | CNET News.com

New Yahoo Mail beta unveiled | CNET News.com: "Yahoo was set to unveil on Wednesday a limited public beta of its new Yahoo Mail service, featuring a new desktop e-mail application-type interface and faster response time.
As first reported in June, the new Yahoo Mail beta features e-mail caching, message preview, drag-and-drop filing, the ability to quickly search e-mail headers, body text and attachments and the ability to view multiple e-mails at the same time in separate windows and scroll through all message headers in a folder rather than one page at a time.
In addition, the new version adds address auto-complete, right-click menus and standard keyboard shortcuts. "

Gates on Google | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

Gates on Google | Newsmakers | CNET News.com: "For Bill Gates and Microsoft, that's the big question. This week at the software giant's Professional Developers Conference, Gates rallied the troops--software developers, Microsoft's most important audience--to build enthusiasm for Vista, the oft-delayed new version of Windows, and Office 12, an update to Microsoft's most profitable franchise.
Gates' mantra hasn't changed much in 20 years: The PC is the center of the computing universe, and Windows, along with Office and other products, represents the best platform for new software development. What is new, and is much in evidence this week in Los Angeles, is the growing influence of Web-based development.
In that realm, Google has emerged as the poster child for a new wave of applications assembled from the piece-parts of several Web sites. No Windows necessary. Microsoft has its own ideas, of course. "

Micron crafts 5-megapixel sensor for cell phones | News.blog | CNET News.com

Micron crafts 5-megapixel sensor for cell phones | News.blog | CNET News.com: "Micron Technologies, the company started in a dental office, will come out with a 5-megapixel sensor for cell phones and digital still cameras as well as a 3.1-megapixel sensor for cameras as part of its effort to expand beyond memory.
After several years of false starts, the market for camera sensors appears to be picking up. Camera manufacturers, who used to insist on developing these chips themselves, no longer want to shoulder the costs associated with designing their own chip, especially with camera (and phone) prices plummeting. Micron, Texas Instruments and NuCore and the other third-party chip makers now compete for these contracts. Like others, Micron has come up with ways to make sensors on standard silicon, rather than the more expensive materials used originally by the camera makers. "

Google blogs in Mandarin about Microsoft lawsuit | News.blog | CNET News.com

Google blogs in Mandarin about Microsoft lawsuit | News.blog | CNET News.com: "Google may not be doing much to convince the American public of its innocence in the lawsuit Microsoft filed over a former executive it hired to work in China, but it is appealing to the Chinese. Google launched a blog in Mandarin this week that presents its side of the case.
Microsoft has sued Google and former employee Kai-Fu Lee, alleging that his hiring by Google to launch a development center in China violates a noncompete agreement Lee signed with Microsoft. A judge on Tuesday ruled that until the case is decided at trial, Lee can only recruit for Google and talk to government officials about getting Google a license to operate there. He cannot set budgets or salaries, decide what research Google will do in China, work on computer search or speech recognition technologies, or use any confidential Microsoft information, the order said.
The Google blog defends Lee's character and accuses Microsoft of trying to scare its employees from leaving to join Google.
'Microsoft, by suing Google and Dr. Lee, is warning other employees who might be thinking of leaving the company,' Anna Huang, deputy director of Google's legal department, wrote in the blog. 'In fact, this is a short-sighted measure and will inevitably fail. Employees will eventually go to the best companies.' "

Gates previews Windows Vista and Office 12 | The Register

Gates previews Windows Vista and Office 12 | The Register
Two years after unveiling Microsoft's "biggest release of the decade" Bill Gates is back to preview features in the upcoming Windows Vista client, along with Office 12.

Opening Microsoft's Professional Developers' Conference (PDC)in Los Angeles, Gates set the scene for the first public demonstrations of Windows Vista and Office 12 architectures and interface features that are intended to help users and developers.

The big-ticket features will have more than a ring of familiarity to many: Windows Vista introduces a set of Gadgets that enable information services such as RSS-enabled newsfeed sto run on the desktop, outside of the browser. Gadgets are pieces of XML, DHTML and .NET code, and are similar to a set of Java-based plug-ins for Apple Computer's Tiger OS X 10.4 operating system.

Additionally, users can flip individual Windows around and view them from behind, in a similar style to Sun Microsystems' Looking Glass technology. Microsoft also plans to rival the increasingly popular Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) web client framework with a technology codenamed Atlas. Atlas uses DHTML and XML script to simplify the development of rich, interactive, browser-based applications.

Among the other changes unveiled in Windows Vista is the ability to search for information and web links using a search function located inside the Windows start-menu. Applications can also be saved as thumbnails and related documents in a flat list of icons, or virtual folders.

Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 simplifies the ability to use tabs and also the ability to find and store RSS feeds. Tabs can be viewed visually as thumbnails and saved to the IE favorites menu, while Explorer will automatically discover and list RSS feeds on a web page.

The biggest break-through in Office 12, due in the Windows Vista "time-frame" next year, is the ability to access many of the suite's existing features. Office 12 reveals features such as drawing charts in Excel or turning bullet points in PowerPoint into graphics, through a series of icons and so-called galleries.

Gates used the demonstration to drum up developer support for Windows Vista and Office 12. He encouraged developers to build their own Gadgets and galleries, while also unveiling the Language Integrated Query (LINQ) Project that simplifies the ability for developers to access data-based services.

LINQ provides a series of extensions to Microsoft's C# and Visual Basic and a unified programming model to query objects, database and XML without having to use other languages such as Structured Query Language (SQL).

Microsoft CRM RSS feeds on the books | The Register

Microsoft CRM RSS feeds on the books | The Register: "Microsoft is introducing RSS to its fledgling customer relationship management (CRM) suite. The company is working on features that enable users of its Dynamics CRM to receive updated sales information through subscriber-based Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. RSS is expected in the third edition of Microsoft's CRM software.
Chris Capossela, corporate vice president for the information worker product management group, told Microsoft's Professional Developers' Conference (PDC) today that customers or partners of companies who use Dynamics CRM could subscribe to RSS services which post updates about information like price quotes.
An RSS feed means customers will not need to run a query every day to get quotes, he said: 'We believe RSS will be transformed into a platform that embraces business applications. We see RSS as a great way to publish information to partners, customers and employees.' C.
Microsoft's decision to RSS-enable its CRM software comes as Spanning Partners last month launched a service that provides a set of RSS feeds to Salesforce.com's rival hosted service. Spanning Salesforce.com 2.0 pushes updated information to Salesforce.com subscribers, who click the RSS buttons on Spanning's website. The RSS feeds are then delivered to aggregators such as FeedDemon or NewsGator."