Archive for the ‘Microsoft’ Category
Did that weekend go by quick or what? Obviously, not a lot of tech news to report since weekends tend to be slow in terms of news. The biggest story from the weekend is multiple reports of Leopard crashing! Yes, the Mac OS X 10.5 is crashing. The problem seems to be with the Unsanity Application Launcher third-party app. Uninstalling it before updating Leopard seems to fix the problem for most people. Read more at Engadget
here.
It appears as though major US games-retailer GameStop has stopped offering a replacement warranty on all Xbox 360s sold through its brick-and-mortar stores. We wouldn’t blame them. The 360 is notorious for its high failure rates and with Microsoft extending the warranty to 3 years anyway, the GameStop warranty was kind of useless. [Via GamerReports]
We could soon be seeing terabyte-capacity flash-drives. If these researchers have their way. A team at the University of Arizona has come up with a new technology based on nanoscience that will open the doors to super-high capacity flash drives in the near future. We won’t bother you with the technical details which you can read over at Wired.
Finally, some music news to wrap up our first weekend update. Several indie bands are now inviting their fans to fund their new albums. With the help of websites such as Sellaband.com, these bands can ask for donations from fans. This money goes into securing a recording studio and the contributors get a copy of the album once it’s done. Some bands also interact with their donors via webcast during the recording of the album. All the money goes straight to the bands and they are not under the RIAA. How could this possibly be any more perfect? [Via Yahoo! News]
Popularity: 39% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 29, 2007
Hello again to our daily news post. Another slow news day unfortunately, but we do have a couple of interesting stories! And another recommended reading at the end of the post. Today’s reading is from HowStuffWorks.com and is on nanotechnology.
It’s time for some earnings reports! On one hand, you have Microsoft whose entertainment division is finally making some money thanks to Master Chief. On the other, you have Sony whose PS3 continues to be a major loss maker. Of course, as always, Nintendo is still laughing all the way to the bank. [Via GameDaily BIZ]
SanDisk is suddenly feeling trigger happy as it just sued 25 (!) companies for patent infringement over USB mass storage device, or flash drives. Among others in the crosshairs are biggies LG, Kingston, and Corsair. The reason given by SanDisk is that it wants to protect those companies that already license its technology. Sounds to us like they want to get these 25 to pay up license fees to fill up SanDisk’s coffers. [Via CNET]
Nvidia could be gearing up to announce a new high-end laptop graphics chip – the 8800GTX which will essentialy be a mobile-optimized version of the desktop 8800GT. It would come in 256MB and 512MB flavors and the announcement could be coming November 19. [Via Electronista]
Finally, some good news for AMD. The company managed to increase its market share at the expense of rival Intel in Q3. Intel lost 0.4% of its market share to AMD during Q3 to end at 76.3% while AMD went up to 23.5%
This doesn’t quite count as news, but the buzz around the interwebs is that Leopard is awesome. It comes out today for the general public. In 16 hours 31 minutes as of this post.
Recommended Reading: How Nanotechnology Works
Popularity: 25% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 26, 2007
A bit of a slow news day today. Not a lot happened but coming up is a short summary of today’s top stories. On slow news days like today, we’ll try and add a “Recommended Reading” link which will take you to an analysis/article/editorial/op-ed that while not news, makes for good reading.
The
Indian government did a U-turn on OLPCs today as it agreed to a pilot project that will give 22 students in Maharashtra an OLPC each. The government will evaluate the usefulness of the OLPC and then decide on whether to get more OLPCs. A few months ago,
the government was bragging about being able to build $10 computers which was as unlikely then as it is now. A year ago, the Indian government snubbed the OLPC but things appear to have changed now. [Via Yahoo! News]
For once, Microsoft has managed to beat Google. The company managed to clinch a 1.6% stake in popular social networking site Facebook earlier today for a whopping $240 million. This means that Facebook is now worth $15 billion in the short span of three years. The deal gives Microsoft exclusive rights to post adverts on the website outside the United States among other things. [Via REUTERS]
In news sure to please open source aficionados, Version 2.4 of the GNU Image Manipulation Program or GIMP was released to public today. While it hasn’t brought any GUI changes with it, the GIMP website has been given a much-needed makeover. Version 2.6 is expected to bring in a new interface but this is a solid release by the GIMP team. Click here to download the latest version.
In our last item for the day, we have information courtesy HardMac that copies of Leopard have already made their way into retail stores ahead of its impending release. Leopard is the new Mac OS X operating system (10.5) and ushers in several new features and enhancements over Tiger. [Via HardMac]
Recommended Reading: Why Motorola and Sony Ericsson need to “get it” from AllAboutSymbian.com
Popularity: 20% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 25, 2007
See? We really are back for good! Two posts in two days is an achievement if you look at the past month! Lets look at some of the big news now, shall we?
Popular private BitTorrent tracker OiNK.cd was shut down today after officials confiscated their servers and arrested the administrator. The website was home to several music torrents and was well-known for getting leaked albums and new music before other public trackers. The entire operation was handled by the Interpol and was done at the behest of the IFPI and the BPI. Ironically enough, this comes two weeks after English band Radiohead practically gave away digital copies of their new album and still made boatloads of money. The record labels and anti-piracy organizations still don’t seem to get it. [Via TorrentFreak]
In gaming news, Microsoft finally outed the Arcade edition of the Xbox 360. It has been in stores for a few days now and people already knew what was in the box. It’s basically a Core version with a 256MB memory card, HDMI port, wireless controller, and a disc with 5 (!) arcade-type games to get you gaming right out of the box. Since it costs the same as the price-reduced Core ($279), this definitely represents a much better deal. It’s also a good competitor to the Wii, albeit more expensive. But then again, the holiday bundle coming out for Christmas is much sweeter – the Pro with two games for just $350! [Via TeamXbox]
Dell today announced availability of their new XPS desktop, the XPS 420 featuring aggressive multimedia options. As is usual with XPS systems, this one offers up a variety of high-end components and costs a bomb. We’re talking $1500 and up for this bad boy!
In more Dell news, Engadget has found information on an as yet unannounced XPS all-in-one desktop. FCC documents reveal a 22″ LCD with a 1680×1050 resolution, slot-loading blu-ray burner, built-in webcam, and other goodies. Engadget leaks are generally reliable so keep an eye out for this XPS!
The flash-based MP3-player market might just get a bit of a shake-up as DAPReview.net found info on a 32GB SanDisk Sansa View coming up. Both Creative and Apple offer 16GB devices but neither has gone beyond that. SanDisk has the advantage of being a flash-manufacturer will can help keep prices down. Although, judging from the picture, it looks like the 32GB version will cost $330.
Popularity: 20% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 24, 2007
Hello readers! Did you miss us? We went on a pretty long leave there, didn’t we? Sorry about that. Starting with this post, we’ll be giving you a daily dose of news. Like everyday. Each day’s post will summarize all the major technology news in the past 24 hours. We’ll also have external links for you to read the full stories! And we also promise to stay away from iPhone stories as much as possible! It’s freaky how iPhone stories still cause a big stir on a near-daily basis. But let’s get started with this new format.
One-by-one, all the phones announced on August 29 by Nokia are starting to ship. The N95 started shipping last week and today it was the turn of it’s younger Nseries sibling, the N81. The phone comes in two flavors, one with a whopping 8GB internal flash and another one with a microSD slot. The two versions cost 430 euros and 360 euros respectively.
Alienware computers will now be available for less, as long as you are willing to trade in your old hardware. Under a new program, Alienware will give you money for your old computer or hardware which will automatically mean a lower price on any Alienware computer. While still ridiculously expensive, $300-400 price reductions will entice a lot of customers. My 3-year-old Dell Inspiron 9100 will apparently fetch $364. If your old computer is an Alienware, you get an extra $200!
Dell is looking to expand its presence in brick-and-mortar stores and recently signed a deal with Staples, a major retail chain for office supplies in the United States. Customers will now be able to buy Dell laptops at retail outlets. Dell had already begun selling computers via Wal-Mart and this move is clearly a push to regain market share lost to rivals. [Via ArsTechnica]
HD DVD backers received a major shot in the arm recently when it was revealed today that the HD DVD version of Michael Bay’s Transformers sold about 100,000 copies in its first week in North America alone. While a drop in the ocean compared to the 4.5 million DVDs sold on day one alone, this is still a significant victory for the HD DVD camp. This is the record for high-definition video sales for either format. [Via TG Daily]
Finally, it seems that Microsoft finally decided to throw in the proverbial towel in its decade-long legal battle with the EU over antitrust issues. Microsoft has agreed to the demands of the EU which represents a major shift in attitude. The news of the move bumped Microsoft share prices. Open source developers and enthusiasts are still treading with caution. [Via Yahoo! News]
Popularity: 21% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 23, 2007
Well, it looks like AutoPatcher is gone for good. According to the official blog,
Today we received an e-mail from Microsoft, requesting the immediate take-down of the download page, which of course means that AutoPatcher is probably history. As much as we disagree, we can do very little, and although the download page is merely a collection of mirrors, we took the download page down.
It’s unfortunate that this had to happen. Several users love AutoPatcher and the ease of use associated with updates clubbed together monthly. Good bye AutoPatcher. It was nice knowing you.
AutoPatcher Blog
Popularity: 14% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 30, 2007
Nokia will inlcude Windows Live services, such as Live Hotmail and Live Messenger in its phones starting later this year. Initially, the services will be available on its Symbian (Series 60) devices. It will be then extend to Series 40 devices by sometime next year.
According to Microsoft, the reason why they’re teaming up with a rival company such as Nokia is simple: reach. Nokia makes the most handsets and by having Live services on their phones, Microsoft stands to benefit from the tremendous sales.
But one question comes up: Is Microsoft changing for good?
CNET News
Popularity: 5% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 23, 2007
As of August 23, 2007, the Nintendo Wii is the market leader for the current generation of consoles with sales of 10.57 million since it’s launch in November 2006. The Xbox 360, available since November 2005, has sold 10.51 million consoles in two years since launch. Congratulations Nintendo!
Who would’ve thought this was even possible a year ago? But Nintendo have repeated the success of the DS with the Wii. Giving gamers a new control scheme, the Wii has been racking up high sales week after week and is in short supply even 9 months after launch.
Now can we have some good games? Pretty please?
VG Chartz
Popularity: 5% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 23, 2007
Microsoft has finally decided to show some love to their faithfuls over in Europe. The BBC is reporting price cuts for Europe starting August 24. The Premium version will cost 349.99 euros, a cut of 50 euros. Keeping in line with the US price cuts, the Core will cost 279.99 euros. In the UK, the Premium will cost £249.99 while the Core will come in at £179.99, earning cuts of £30 and £20 respectively.
In more good news for Europe, Microsoft will launch the Elite version of the 360 soon. It will be priced at 449.99 euros or £299.99 for those in the UK.
BBC
Popularity: 4% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 20, 2007
ArsTechnica is reporting that Windows Home Server has been released to system builders and should see an official release by the end of the month. While there will be a support team ready by August 27, Microsoft is refusing to divulge any details regarding pricing or availability in North America. ArsTechnica, however, has information that WHS is available in some markets such as New Zealand (for NZ$253) and the UK (for £88.74).
US pricing should fall in between $100 and $250 with $199 being highly likely. Information for other markets is unavailable.
ArsTechnica
Popularity: 9% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 20, 2007
