New Volume Licensing Pushes Windows 2000
In other Microsoft news, a report over at News.com indicates that next year the Redmond Giant will be revamping its volume licensing agreements with businesses to exclude its consumer versions of Windows. This latest move pushes all focus on Windows 2000 in efforts to boost sales to major corporations who favor the volume licensing agreements Microsoft offers. On March 1st Microsoft will end volume licensing of Windows ME, followed by Windows 95 and 98 on June 30th. For more information read the article on News.com.
Microsoft Whistler Embedded Beta 1 Ships
According to a press release over at Microsoft, a handful of Microsoft partners have received Beta 1 of the currently developing "Whistler Embedded" operating system. Whistler Embedded is a componentized version of the parent operating system, which allows developers to select only the features and portions of the system they need.
Beta 1 of the system focuses on "delivering embedded client scenarios, including Windows-based terminals, advanced set-top boxes and retail point-of-sale kiosks."
MacArthur Park - Killing Bill Gates
A new movie entitled MacArthur Park created by Florida-based GMD Studios will come onto the seen at upcoming film festivals around the world, and kill one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates. The movie is set in MacArthur Park, where Mr. Gates is shot from the top of a nearby building during a charity event. Following the Blair Witch model of building up the movie via the Web, GMD Studios plans to open the Web site BillGatesisDead.com to explore various other theories on the murder, including the possibility of multiple gunmen on the scene, and conspiracies involving powerhouse tech companies such as Apple, Sun, and Oracle. For more information read Mary Jo Foley's article over at ZDNet.
Gateway Country Stores to Sell PCs Directly
In a move to combat slower sales in recent days, computer maker Gateway has announced that customers will soon be able to purchase and take home PCs immediately from their Country Stores. The computer maker has traditionally sold built-to-order PCs via the Web or the brick and mortar stores, but due to recent sales trends made the move to offer pre-made PCs in their stores. Gateway officials stressed that the move is temporary, and offer no insight into future plans with the corporation.
IBM Supercomputer vs Human DNA
IBM's latest supercomputer creation is set to take on the worlds toughest test yet, human DNA. Big Blue will soon make the computer available to firms asking questions about the mysterious fabrice of life, using the database of said fabrice created by the Human Genome Project. The new computer can cut simulation time from a period of 447 years to about one month say, for a company asking questions about breast cancer. The new computer is capable of 7.5 trillion calculations per second, and consists of 1,250 IBM servers with 2.5 terabytes of memory and 50 terabytes of online disk storage backed by a high-bandwidth networking infrastructure. This makes it the second fastest supercomputer in the world. For more information check out MSNBC.
Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer?
Researcher Kwok Chan is attempting to at least begin to answer that question with his new study. While thus far no certified results have been found to prove they do cause tumors or cancer, there has also been no certified results showing they do not. The FDA recently ordered a new study into the effects of cellphone use, and in Britain leaflets have been distributed warning children to limit their use to emergencies only. For the rest of the story you can read the Associated Press article at MSNBC.
3ivx Codec Released
The much talked about 3ivx video compression format has officially been released over at 3ivx.com. The new technology was first reported on BetaNews earlier this month and movie fans have been anxiously awaiting it ever since. The creators boast the new format could offer sizes 40% to 60% of current DivX file sizes. Download it from FileForum or visit 3ivx.com to download the player today.
NVIDIA to Buy 3dfx
A huge development occured in the gaming and graphics card industry yesterday, as nVIDIA announced the purchase of its biggest rival, 3dfx. 3dfx agreed to dissolve itself and sell most of its assets to nVIDIA for some $70 million cash and 1 million shares of common stock. nVIDIA also agreed to loan 3dfx $15 million, which will come out of the cash portion of the purchase when the deal is finalized. Current litigation between the two companies will also cease as part of the deal. A live conference call from nVIDIA executives will be webcast on December 18th at 7am ESThere. The cash and stock come to a grand total of $112 million. Read the NVIDIA press release or the 3dfx press release for more information.
Electronic Arts to Develop for Xbox
Electronic Arts, long known for setting the bar in sports games for just about every gaming system known to man, has signed a multiyear agreement with Microsoft for Xbox games. EA has promised as many as 10 games for system launch, and already ordered 500 Xbox Dev Kits to get started immediately. Electronic Arts CEO told reporters "Microsoft has the vision, the technology and the resources required to make a significant impact on our industry." The company has already played a major role in Xbox development as one of the founding members of the Xbox advisory board. The company also touted "titles like 'Madden NFL 2001, 'SSX' snowboarding and 'Knockout Kings' boxing are going to look great on Xbox." For more information read the press release over at Microsoft.
1.3GHz Pentium 4 to Ring in New Year
Chip-making giant Intel says that it will be launching a new line of processors to ring in the new year, and at the top of the list is a more economical 1.3GHz Pentium 4. Intel reports that the new chip will enable PC retailers to begin selling systems with the new line of Pentiums for under $1600 USD. Also on the list are revved up versions of the 800MHz Celeron and a 500MHz PIII mobile processor originally slated for the middle of next year. For more information on the latest CPU speed and pricing war, read John G. Spooner's article found on CNet.
Scour Won't Be Free Anymore
After Scour, Inc. pulled the plug on the service last month, the new owners of Scour say that when the service relaunches sometime around March of next year, netizens will have to pay to use it. CenterSpan Communications, who recently acquired Scour, say the move comes as a reaction to the notion that "content holders won't accept a free model."
Recent court battles with MP3.com and Napster have proven this notion, and the company says the new Scour will have digital rights management technologies built into it.
Rage Against the Machine Apologizes to Fans..With Free Stuff
The popular band Rage Against the Machine is apologizing to fans after many were kicked off Napster recently due to sharing the bands music over the network. Though the band itself was not responsible, but the work of its label and management, the hard rocking band extended an apology to fans nonetheless. On its Web site, Rage has now posted several videos and songs that would otherwise be unavailable. A message from the band came with it, showing the bands efforts to correct the situation. A total of 15 songs and 8 videos were released, most of them live recordings from performances. For more information visit the Rage Against the Machine Web site.
Corel Dropping Linux
Well not exactly dropping, but according to initial reports, Corel Linux will soon carry a different name. News has spread that Linux Global Partners recently signed a letter of intent for the $5 million purchase of Corel's Linux unit. Corel will also retain 20% of the new LGP-Linux unit, according to Mary Jo Foley's report on ZDNet.
Rumors floated in late November that the struggling company was looking for possible buyers of its Linux division, even after a hefty $135 million investment from Microsoft in exchange for a promise to make Corel products compatible with MS .Net strategies.
Windows Media Audio and Video 8 Beta
Just in time for the holiday season, Microsoft has announced that the first public beta of Windows Media and Audio 8 is available for download. According to the Web site, the new software "dramatically raises the standard for audio and video quality while integrating support for industrial strength security and rights management."
The media system comes with brand new compression technology that is backwards-compatible with both Windows Media Player versions 7 and 6.4. Microsoft boasts the new technology delivers near-CD quality at just 46KBps, and perfect CD quality at 64KBps. This means files encoded with the new compression offer the same quality as an MP3 of a higher KBps at a fraction of the file size.
WebBlinds - Stardock Shines Again
Stardock Systems, maker of the popular series of software products collectively called Object Desktop (including WindowBlinds and DesktopX), has come through again with its latest creation, WebBlinds. This new program offers users the chance to skin Internet Explorer much like skinning Windows works. Not only does it skin the GUI, but changes the toolbar, and the throbber. Upcoming feature improvements include the ability to skin individual Web sites to your flavor, giving you the personalization you really want. You can visit Stardock for more information about this program, which is expected to be released anytime now, or check out a screenshot first. On top of this release also comes DesktopX 0.60 for all you fans of that great piece of software.
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