Google mulls Microsoft response

By Rory Cellan-Jones Technology Correspondent, BBC News, Hertfordshire

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke at the Zeitgeist conference on Monday

Google's bosses are meeting in Britain on Monday evening to discuss a response to Microsoft's new talks with Yahoo.

. . . . read more

Why Microsoft Is Desperate for Yahoo

Monday, May. 19, 2008 By JOSH QUITTNER

There are a ton of great jobs in the world, but running Microsoft? No thanks. I'd rather run Iraq. . . more

$100 Laptops embraces windows XP

Microsoft has joined forces with the developers of the "$100 laptop" to make Windows available on the machines. . . . . read more

Office 2007 update available June 16

Published: May 10, 2008 at 9:12 AM

REDMOND, Wash., May 10 (UPI) -- Microsoft will roll out its Office 2007 Service Pack 1 via the Windows automatic update feature starting on or around June 16, company technicians say. . . more

Microsoft Releases XP SP3 After Delay

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service | Tuesday, May 06, 2008 1:20 PM PDT

Microsoft Tuesday released the third service pack for Windows XP to the Web after last week delaying its scheduled release because of an incompatibility with one of its other software applications. It also resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 (SP1), which had been halted because of a similar problem. . . . read more

Microsoft closing external Hotmail access by end of June 2008

April 22, 2008

Summary: Microsoft are disabling WebDAV access to all hotmail.com accounts. This means Hotmail Pop Links and Outlook Express access to hotmail.com accounts will stop working at the end of June 2008. You should download all your Hotmail email ASAP and tell people to stop using your @hotmail.com email address as soon as possible.

For many years, Microsoft has provided external access to hotmail.com accounts via a protocol called WebDAV. This is the protocol FastMail uses on the Options -> Pop Links screen to allow downloading of email from hotmail.com accounts. It’s also the same protocol that Outlook Express uses to access hotmail.com accounts.

In 2004, Microsoft said they would be disabling or charging for WebDAV access to hotmail.com accounts. It seems that what happened at the time is that they disabled WebDAV access for newly signed up free accounts, but left it for existing accounts.

Since then, Microsoft have changed to using a new protocol. Rather than offering an open and standard protocol such as POP or IMAP, they’re using a new one they call DeltaSync for their live.com and new hotmail.com accounts. This protocol is not an open or standardised protocol. It’s a Microsoft proprietary one and only works with their Windows Live Mail, Vista Mail and Outlook Office Outlook Connector. There’s been no documentation anywhere on how the protocol works. We spent some time trying to reverse engineer the protocol, but got stuck at the proprietary compression system they’re using. Others have also tried to help, but I don’t yet know of anyone that has successfully reverse engineered it.

Microsoft have now announced that they will be disabling WebDAV access to all hotmail.com accounts from the end of June. This means that apart from the web interface and the above 3 programs, there will be no way to access your email in hotmail.com accounts.

Free & Independent news

Microsoft and News Corp. lock arms for Yahoo bid?

April 9, 2008 8:28 PM PDT

Posted by Dawn Kawamoto |

Are Microsoft and News Corp. locking arms for a joint bid for Yahoo?

That would be something.

According to a report Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, the two industry titans are in "serious talks" over such a matter. Details as to why Microsoft feels a need to bring another party into its Yahoo bid are unclear.

The software giant could afford to pay more for Yahoo on its own, given the size of its cash reserve and the volume of cash that flows from its business. And despite the weakening economy and credit crunch malaise that's hitting Wall Street, Microsoft could easily obtain more financing if needed to do the deal.

Is there some sudden strategic reasoning that went off like a lightbulb for the dudes in Redmond that made the notion of a News Corp. partnership suddenly seem attractive for its Yahoo buyout bid? Or maybe there is some tangible benefit to chatting with News Corp., who might have gotten a glimpse of Yahoo's books, whereas Microsoft to date has been shut out.

The day-by-day, nearly hour-by-hour, developments involving Yahoo since Microsoft on Saturday issued a three-week deadline for its reluctant target to do a deal is enough to make your head spin--from the Legg Mason investor offering support to Yahoo should Microsoft lower its bid to Yahoo looking at a two-week test for Google search ads to the never-ending noise that Yahoo is looking at doing an asset swap/investment with Time Warner's AOL.

One thing is for certain as the days count down to the three-week deadline: the volume of noise is going to get even louder and more frequent...

Topics: Yahoo, Microsoft, Search

Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, News Corp. mergers and acquisitions

View UN refugee camps thru Google

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:38:47

Computer users can now view images of refugee camps in Chad, Iraq and Colombia viewing details from broad topography to shots of tents.

Called Google Earth Outreach, the new program gives UN workers the ability to use Google Earth and Maps to highlight conditions of refugees and programs to help them in any area of the world.

Take digital notes from paper without PC

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:18:12

IOGEAR digital pen takes note from plain paper.

The first functional pen ever to capture handwriting from any surface and store it with a digital receiver for future use is unveiled.

Without any need for a special notepad, digital pad or ink, you can write on paper and upload your notes later on your PC or laptop via USB.

The updated IOGEAR Mobile Scribe captures 50 pages of natural handwriting and doodles on any surface, using regular ink.

The device allows you to store notes written on any paper by using an ultrasonic transmitter and a special infrared pen.

Handwriting recognition software (OCR software) in the pen turns handwriting into digital text.

The system can recognize 12 different languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese and Russian.

NAT/JC/GM

1st Sony Ericsson with windows mobile

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:16:17

New XPERIA X1 by Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson unveils its first premium handset using Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system to capture the web connecting market.

Blending multimedia with mobile web communication in its first product using Microsoft's operating system, the XPERIA X1 is expected to be launched in the second half of 2008.

After long time collaboration with Symbian Operating System, it marks the first time Sony Ericsson is using Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional.



The new XPERIA X1 looks to be a very impressive new device with its arch slider design which slides up to expose the full keyboard.

The notable list of features continues with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and GPS navigating system as well as Wi-Fi networking technology.

The X1, which measures 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm and weighs in at 145 grams, is to be released sometime in the second half of 2008.

NAT/GM

Apple delivers world's thinnest laptop

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:07:26

Steve Jobs shows the MacBook Air

Apple's Manager Steve Jobs has launched the world's thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air which almost disappears when you flip it on its side.

"There's clearly something in the air today," said Jobs, who wasn't kidding. He delivered the world's thinnest notebook computer.

The laptop is 0.406 centimeters thick at its thinnest point and 1.93 centimeters at its thickest.

It will cost USD 1800 for the basic model, which is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, a 13.3-inch display, five hours of battery life, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and a large trackpad.

It also comes standard with 2GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, and best of all a fully backlit keyboard, which not only makes it easier to type in the dark but, more importantly, looks pretty cool.

AGB/RA

Microsoft camera fights memory loss

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:26:44

Microsoft Corp. makes a breakthrough by creating a wearable digital camera which can help individuals suffering from memory problems.

The newly-developed 'SenseCam' camera takes snapshots of daily events every 30 seconds so they can be reviewed later at high-speed to rekindle the patients' memory.

Experts anticipate that it could provide promising assistance to people with general memory loss and more serious conditions such as Alzheimer's, Epilepsy and Dementia.

"Once people in the early stages of Alzheimer's or other conditions involving memory loss realize they can't remember events, people and places they stop doing things because of the frustration of not being able to remember later," said Dr Chris Moulin, a neuropsychologist at the UK Leeds University.

"A great use for such a camera would be for such events - things out of the normal routine. Having the camera could mean that they can revisit not only the facts of such events, but the essential feelings that are so much part of memory," He concluded.

SBB/HGH

Internet may collapse by 2010

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:14:10

Collapse of the internet would severely affect our daily life.

A report issued by a US-based technology analysis firm has warned that by the year 2010 the Internet could collapse due to excessive data.

Nemertes Research Group has reported that the increasing demand by users and customers to download and upload data may well clog the information superhighway in a few years.

The study suggests that the network is now struggling to conduct the huge amount of data, which contributes to reduced speed.

The study suggests that the improvement of the network's capacity would require a total outlay in the region of 137 billion dollars.

The Internet infrastructure and capacity might be insufficient to support popular Websites such as Google and YouTube and the projected slowdown could severely affect their operation.

Experts worry about serious effects resulting from the collapse of the Internet on the life of people in the electronic world of today.

NAT/GM

Mozilla patches three Firefox security vulnerabilities

November 27, 2007 5:32 AM PST
Posted by Robert Vamosi

Mozilla on Monday released Firefox version 2.0.0.10. The update addresses three high-impact security vulnerabilities. Two concern cross-site request forgeries, which can be used to steal personal information while visiting certain sites, and one concerns memory corruption.

The update is being pushed out to all current Firefox users. New users can download the current Firefox release from the Mozilla site (or download the English versions for Windows or Mac from CNET Download.com).

The first cross-site request forgery vulnerability could allow an attacker to generate a fake HTTP referer header by exploiting a timing condition when setting the window location property.

Mozilla says the referer header is supposed to reflect the address of the content that initiated the script. "Instead, the referer was set to the address of the window (or frame) in which the script was running, and this vulnerability arises from that tiny difference." It credits Gregory Fleischer with reporting the issue.

The second cross-site request forgery vulnerability concerns the JAR ZIP format, which enables Web sites to load pages packaged in ZIP archives containing signatures in Java archive format.

According to Mozilla, a Beford.org blogger noted that redirects confused Mozilla browsers about the true source of the JAR content: it was "wrongly considered to originate with the redirecting site rather than the actual source. This meant that an XSS attack could be mounted against any site with an open redirect, even if it didn't allow uploads."

A proof of concept demonstrates how to exploit this vulnerability to steal a user's Gmail contact list. Mozilla credits security researchers Jesse Ruderman and Petko D. Petkov with reporting the issue.

The final update concerns memory corruption, and Mozilla says there are three specific fixes that improve the stability of Firefox. The concern here is that with enough effort, some of these memory crashes could be exploited to run arbitrary code.

Source: News.com
URL: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9823744-7.html?tag=~

One Laptop per Child Project by MIT Prof

Europe the leader, not the follower in open source

November 23, 2007 6:50 AM PST

Posted by Matt Asay

Matthew Aslett of The 451 Group quotes from Viviane Reding, European commissioner for information and society, on Europe's need to capitalize on its open-source assets:

As online software, or software as a service, replaces traditional packaged software, Europe has advantages that give it a "window of opportunity to develop a leadership position in software." These include a large home base of demand to build on, high levels of qualified talent, and the fact that 70% of open source developers worldwide are of European origin. However, "the window is small and it will soon be closed if we don't act," since 90% of the economic benefits of open source are being won by US companies.

Despite this, as Matthew goes on to say, Europe is a bit conflicted on open source. Its public policy statements tend to be affirmative of open source, but its purchasing policies tend to be neutral. I think it's just a matter of time before the rhetoric gives way to purchasing decisions.

Indeed, I've already seen it firsthand. Most open-source companies operating in Europe do a steady and growing stream of business with European governments (while, interestingly, much of the sales in the US are to private corporations).

Regardless, open source has a large home base in Europe. Indeed, I'd argue that open source is distinctively European in its roots and mindset, and that VCs who want to find the best open-source investments may well have to get on a plane to find them (even if they ultimately succeed in getting European executive management to move back to the US, as with Marten Mickos of MySQL and others).

The economic impact of open source on Europe should not be understated. Europe needs to accept this and buy accordingly. Its future is not in exporting euros to the U.S. Its future lies in building its own IT ecosystem with open source.

Google’s OpenSocial: What it means

Google’s open social networking platform play is the buzz of the blogosphere tonight. (see Techmeme). Indeed, it is called OpenSocial in that the set of APIs allows developers to create applications that work on any social network that joins Google’s open party. So far, besides Google’s Orkut social net, LinkedIn, hi5, XING, Friendster, Plaxo and Ning (see Marc Andreessen’s post) have joined the party.

Oracle and salesforce.com are also supporting Google’s OpenSocial efforts, which indicates that they have plans to add social networking elements to their application platforms. OpenSocial will officially launch on Thursday.

Plaxo emailed a statement about OpenSocial this evening, getting ahead of the stampede:

“Dynamic profiles redefine what users should expect in terms of how they can represent themselves in a social or business network,” said Todd Masonis, Co-Founder and VP of Products for Plaxo. “We believe that users should have full control over what they share with whom – and that the catalog of widgets that they can choose from should be as open and diverse as the web itself. We are excited to support in dynamic profiles any application written to Google’s just–launched OpenSocial APIs. ”

According to TechCrunch, which first reported on Google’s larger social networking ambitions, OpenSocial consists of APIs for profile information, friend information (social graph) and activities, such as a news feed. OpenSocial users Javascript and HTML rather than a markup language as Facebook does.

This comes on the heels of the Facebook’s dynamic growth based on opening its social graph to developers and Microsoft’s $240 million investment for 1.6 percent of the company. However, unlike Google, Facebook doesn’t open its APIs to support other social networks. The other social networking giant, MySpace, is also planning to open its platform to developers.

This openness is part of what Vic Gundotra, Google’s head of developer programs, meant when he said last week, “In the next year we will make a series of announcements and spend hundreds of millions on innovations and giving them away as open source.”

He explained the newfound openness as more than altruism: “It also makes good economic sense. The more applications, the more usage. More users means more searches. And, more searches means more revenue for Google. The goal is to grow the overall market, not just to increase market share.”

What does OpenSocial mean for Facebook?

Facebook has a lot of wind behind its sails, but OpenSocial will cause developers to rethink their priorities. Developing OpenSocial applications will be easier than creating Facebook apps and will work across different social networks. However, Facebook is winning because 50 million users like the service and the applications. Unless the other social networks, which in aggregate have more members, have greater appeal to users, Facebook will continue to gain ground and developers won’t abandon the Facebook Platform. Facebook could also consider supporting OpenSocial in addition to its own APIs and markup languages as a way to be more open. It will be interesting to see how Zuckerberg and company, as well as the MySpace team, respond.

The New York Times story by Miguel Helft and Brad Stone quotes Google’s Joe Kraus on the Facebook topic.

Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, said that the alliance’s conversations preceded Microsoft’s investment in Facebook. “Obviously, we would love for them to be part of it,” Mr. Kraus said of Facebook. Facebook declined to comment.

What does OpenSocial mean for Google?

As cited above, OpenSocial is part of Google’s quest to increase usage of the Web. More applications can mean more searches and ad searches. You could also expect some new advertising services based on tapping into the OpenSocial APIs that work across all compliant social networks. In addition, Google will weave OpenSocial across its services beyond Orkut, such as iGoogle, and eventually embed the social graph in the Internet fabric for its users.

This could create some issues for Facebook, which is rumored to be cooking up a targeted ad service that can follow its members across the Web. And, Google, taking a page from Microsoft, has some confidence that over time it can build or buy its ways into a leading social network. Google will try to have its cake and eat it too.

What does OpenSocial mean for users?

For users, it means more applications that can tap into user data, social graph, feeds and other content on a variety of social networks. They will have more choice of social networks and potentially some degree of portability as the APIs evolve and Google and other heavyweights push for more standardization.

What does OpenSocial mean for developers?

For developers, they have more opportunity to spread their work across different networks without significant cost and complexity. Many of the top Facebook developers are expected to support OpenSocial APIs. In the end, the top developers will flock to the social networks that have traction, leaving room for others to build apps for the less popular networks.

What does OpenSocial mean longer term?

It could become a kind of identity fabric for the Internet–with user profile data, relationships (social graph) and other items associated with an individual, group or brand that is used as a basis for more friction-free interactions of all kinds.

See also: VentureBeat has a draft of the Google OpenSocial press release

OpenSystem Unleased into the Wild

Now that OpenSocial has been partially release into the wild, the effects on the ecosystem are being felt. TechCrunch reported on a hack of an application on Plaxo’s OpenSocial-compliant host. Plaxo shut down the application. Plaxo’s chief platform architect told Mike Arrington the OpenSocial platform is a work in progress and a few kinks need to get ironed out.

It’s early in the life of OpenSocial. The APIs are not yet stabilized and developers are just starting to test out the code in the Orkut sandbox. Plaxo jumped the gun with public access to an OpenSocial widget (Emote) on its service.

For enterprises, such as Oracle and saleseforce.com who jumped on board in support of OpenSocial on day one, the road to implementing the APIs will be longer than the consumer social networking services, given more sensitivity to security and identity management issues. But there should be no doubt that next year, OpenSocial will have significant impact and at least bring thousands of applications across the divide.

See also: Marc Canter on OpenSocial compatibility–social networks and applications vendors working together

Five Facts About Google Phone

Written by Om Malik

Monday, September 3, 2007 at 12:01 AM PT

Is Google (GOOG) Phone fact or fiction? Engadget says Google’s entry into mobile phone business is for real, and the company is going to announce it soon. Scott Kirsner talked to a bunch of folks over who are intimately familiar with the effort and outlined his findings in an article for The Boston Globe.

The story talks about a handful of Boston entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who have seen the phone, but are under NDA and can’t talk about it. Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android, a mobile software company he started with Andy Rubin (formerly of Danger) is based in Boston.

Google bought Android in August 2005. Later Google snapped up Reqwireless and Skia, two tiny start-ups with mobile expertise, and since then has been hiring mobile-focused folks at a pretty steady clip.

The news (or rumors) were enough to get me dialing-for-dirt over the big holiday weekend. These are the tidbits I picked up from a reliable source:

1. Google Phone is based on a mobile variant of Linux, and is able to run Java virtual machines.
2. All applications that are supposed to run on the Google Phone are java apps. The OS has ability to run multimedia files, including video clips.
3. The user interface is similar to a UI typical of mobile phones, and the image (with red background) floating around isn’t representative of the Google Phone UI. The entire UI is said to be done in Java and is very responsive. The UI, of course has a “search box.”
4. There is a special browser which has pan-and-browse features that are common to modern browsers such as browsers for iPhone and Symbian phones. The entire browser is apparently written in Java. But then others have told us that the browser is based on the WebKit core, the same engine in Safari and in iPhone, and Google has been making optimizations to speed it up. This is one aspect of the Google Phone I am not sure about.
5. Initially there was one prototype, but over past few months Google has the mobile OS running on 3-to-5 devices, most of them likely made by HTC, a mobile phone maker, and all have Qwerty apps. The model that folks have seen is very similar to the T-Mobile Dash. Around 3GSM, there were rumors that Google, Orange and HTC were working together on mobile devices.

These tiny-bits of information are pretty close to what Simeon Simenov, a VC with Polaris Venture Partners had very clearly outlined on his blog eons ago. I can’t seem to find that post, so here is is an alternate link. Simenov also wrote a pretty good post on what should be an ideal mobile stack. Google is pretty close to what Simenov had outlined.

We will post more details as they come our way. I had initially thought that it could be a more viable option to the $100 PC. While that argument still remains true, I think this is a strategic move by Google to keep Windows Mobile’s growing influence in check. Microsoft has spent billions on its mobile efforts including buying companies such as Tell Me Networks.

Release: AIM 6.5

Here's one for all you AIM users out there (and I know there's a bunch of you!) I just received word the other day that a new version of the popular AOL instant messaging program, AIM, has been released. Yep, AIM 6.5 is nwo available for download. How exciting is that?! If you're a long time AIM user, I guarantee you're not going to want to miss out on what this latest version has to offer. Keep reading for details on all the new updates, all the new features and everything else that comes along with it. Let's check it out!

One of the things I love the most about AIM 6.5 is that you can now personalize it beyond your wildest dreams. With new features like WeeMee and Wallmations, you can really show off your true personality. You can even change the color of your buddy list for a new way of expressing yourself. Along with all of that, AIM 6.5 also offers new cell phone features, brand new status options for when you're away from your computer, more games to choose from and there are even some new voice and video chat features as well. It's totally awesome!

And that's not all! AIM 6.5 also brings you new options when it comes to updating your buddy profile. You can now include RSS feeds, your personal blog, more photos and there's even a new feature for inserting your favorite quotes. I mean, your friends enjoy reading about you, so why not give them some cool things to look at, right?! Along with that, you also now have the ability to receive offline messages. If someone sends you an IM after you sign off, it will be waiting for you when you sign back in. How cool is that?! There's also a new feature for your IM history and there are some brand new options when it comes to your picture sharing. This new version really does cover everything and all you have to do to enjoy it is download AIM 6.5 right here. Check it out today and take your instant messaging experience to the next level. Yes!

~ Erin

Don't stop now! Keep reading to learn all about virtual memory and what it does for your computer, find out how to rule your own way in MS Word and learn all about the new Windows Vista Aero Glass interface and how it can make your Vista experience that much more enjoyable. Also, find out how you can easily send your photos via your e-mail account with today's video tip and as always, don't miss out on Amanda's Cool Site of the Day. Enjoy!

Google Tops world search engines

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:21:02

Google is the most popular search engine in the world.

Google has powered more than 37 billion out of 61 billion search requests carried out around the world in August, according to a report.

A global study carried out in August revealed that more than half of 750 million users turn to Google for searching the web, BBC reported.

Yahoo was the second most used engine, followed by Baidu, the Chinese language search engine, the report said. Microsoft's MSN and Korea's NHN stand 4th and 5th, respectively.

The study revealed that most search activity happens in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes countries such as China, Japan and India.

More than 258 million unique users in the region carried out 20.3 billion searches in August, said the report.

Europe had the second largest total of searchers (210 million), followed by North America (206 million).

According to the report "the search market in the Middle East-Africa region is the most underdeveloped thus far, with the fewest searchers (30 million)."

MHE/MMA