MS Acquires Onfolio, Refreshes Toolbar
Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it had acquired research and information company Onfolio, integrating its technology into the new Windows Live Toolbar. The add-in would allow users to collect and organize information they find on the Internet, Microsoft said.
The Toolbar also gives users of Internet Explorer for Windows XP an integrated RSS reader. RSS technology will be built into Windows Vista and the next version of Internet Explorer.
Intel Plans New Offensive Against AMD
Intel set out at Tuesday's opening of the Intel Developer Forum to assure followers that it would not let itself fall behind its smaller competitor. AMD has gained the upper hand in desktop chips, and is beginning to put a significant dent in Intel's dominance in laptop processors, recent surveys indicate.
AMD's embrace of 64-bit has paid big dividends for the company. Intel was slow to adopt the technology, and many believe that has resulted in market share losses for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker. The moves also hurt the company financially; it announced last Friday that it would miss its revenue target for the third straight quarter.
Cingular Taps Real for Video Service
Cingular on Tuesday announced the availability of Cingular Video, a free service to subscribers of its high-speed data network. The deployment, which is the first commercial use of RealNetwork's Helix technology, would be available in the 16 markets currently served by the carrier's 3G UMTS/HSDPA network.
Real unveiled the Helix OnlineTV application last September, along with the announcement of Cingular's new service. Application development, hosting of the service and delivery of content is handled by Real, and the streaming video would be in Real Video or 3GPP format.
Microsoft Acquires App Transfer Firm
Microsoft said Tuesday that it had purchased Apptimum, maker of software that assists in transferring applications to new computers. Technology acquired through the deal would be incorporated into Windows Vista through an optional software download.
The Redmond company said its customers had been requesting easier ways to transfer files and applications to new computers. The experience had already been upgraded in Windows Vista, and Microsoft says the Apptimum technology would improve that further.
blinkx Looks to Make Search Automatic
blinkx on Tuesday introduced Pico, a one-megabyte download that would automatically search for information based on what is on the user's screen. The company says the product revolutionizes the search process by continuously analyzing screen content.
Modern Web searching is a disruptive process, where a user must stop what he or she is doing to search for information. With blinkx, the company says it is turning "the search paradigm on its head."
GDrive the Future of Data Storage?
If Google gets its way, the search giant could soon be acting as your hard drive. The company accidentally leaked speaker's notes from CEO Eric Schmidt's appearance at its analyst event, which detailed plans for Google to be at the center of data storage.
Google would initially like to store e-mails, Web history, pictures and bookmarks -- much like Microsoft's Windows Live service -- eventually moving toward storing "100% of user data." The notes say that the company is currently working on such plans, including something called "GDrive."
Microsoft Receives 5,000th Patent
Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it had been granted its 5,000th patent in the United States, with a patent surrounding online video game play on the Xbox 360. The company said the feat underscores its commitment to innovation, adding it would continue to open the doors to its research and development efforts.
While the company is far behind IBM, which holds over 25,000 patents, or other leaders HP, Intel, Samsung and Sony, Microsoft said it is modeling its licensing structure on those companies. The Redmond company first promised to license its technologies in December 2003.
Sony All But Confirms PS3 Delay
Sony may have come the closest to an admission that the PlayStation 3 would indeed be delayed in a story about its CEO in a prominent entertainment paper. An article in Variety claims that issues relating to the chips controlling the Blu-ray drive are causing the delay.
While Variety says holiday 2006 is the launch date, CEO Howard Stringer is not quoted as the source of that information. Many analysts believe that the console would likely not be available in the US until early 2007, following a holiday launch in Asia.
Toronto Wi-Fi Network Expected by Fall
Toronto will soon join a list of Wi-Fi enabled cities, as city utility Toronto Hydro will announce a plan in conjunction with municipal officials to offer wireless Internet access across the city. If all goes well, service in the downtown region could be available as early as this fall, sources told the Toronto Star newspaper.
New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco are all considering plans to similarly blanket their towns with wireless Internet, with a project in Philadelphia currently the most advanced. The initiative is seen as a way to both boost tourism and attract businesses to those cities.
Microsoft: No Backdoor In Vista, Ever
Microsoft late last week began to publicly deny reports that it was building a backdoor into Windows Vista in order for governments to gain access to private files. Calling it "simply not acceptable," Microsoft System Integrity Team developer and cryptographer Niels Ferguson said the official line is that the company does not, and would not, create backdoors.
Reports of such an issue within the next generation Windows release surfaced in mid-February following a report by BBC News. The story claimed the British government feared that new encryption technologies, specifically BitLocker in Vista, could set back terrorism investigations.
Microsoft, Cisco Link VoIP Solutions
Microsoft said Monday it had entered into an agreement with Cisco Systems to integrate the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based Microsoft Live Communications Server with the SIP-based Cisco Unified Communications System. The two companies say the partnership would enhance real-time business communications.
Cisco and Microsoft will work together to create a converged solution that would be able to interface with Cisco's Unified CallManager, allowing for desktop VoIP call control.
AOL Planning Paid Download Service
AOL will add paid video downloads to its Web site later this year, the company has confirmed to BetaNews. The new paid portion of the site would complement its pre-existing free service in hopes of cashing in on a booming market brought to life by Apple and its iTunes Music Store.
The paid downloads would be gradually introduced into a planned rework of AOL's online video on-demand service, the company said. Programming would come from Time Warner properties and other partners, and would sell for $1.99 USD per download. iTunes offers the the same pricing.
MSN Opens U.S. adCenter Beta
MSN said it was opening up its adCenter self-serve advertising pilot to U.S. advertisers for a period of three hours beginning at 12pm Eastern Time on Monday. During that period, advertisers would be able to create an account for a $5 one-time fee.
adCenter debuted in a closed beta test in the United States in October of last year after successful launches in both France and Singapore the month before. MSN said in January that it had hoped to launch the program by June of this year.
Group Pushes for More Gov't ODF Use
A group of over 35 organizations representing various associations, academic institutions, industry and related groups said Friday they were forming a group known as the ODF Alliance. The organization would aim to promote improved access to government documents through use of the OpenDocument Format.
The ODF Alliance asserts that storing documents in an open format would ensure access across a variety of clients, as well as ensuring the information can be accessed well into the future.
AOL Offers Olive Branch to Non-Profits
Hoping to quell an increasing wave of criticism over its Certified Mail program, AOL announced Friday plans to offer qualifying non-profit organizations two ways to ensure their messages are making it to its members.
The services would be provided at no charge to both the sender and recipient, and would offer comparable terms to what AOL is offering commercial senders. The Dulles, Va.-based ISP said this would also allow its users to trust that the e-mails they receive are authentic.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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