Analyst: PS3 Delay Likely, Cost at $800
Microsoft may end up the only manufacturer with a next-generation game console on the market for at least another six months, says Merrill Lynch. A delay in Sony's PlayStation 3 could cause the electronics giant to miss the crucial holiday season in a majority of the major markets, according to analysts.
Merrill Lynch Japanese analyst Hitoshi Kuriyama told clients in a research note late last week that he was seeing evidence of a delay in the PS3 that could push the launch into autumn in Japan and late 2006 in the US. Any further delays would mean the console's debut into 2007, he warned.
XM Board Member Quits, Says 'Crisis' Looms
Following the announcement of a wider than expected loss, satellite radio provider XM said Thursday that a member of its board of directors had stepped down, citing disagreements with management over the company's direction.
Both XM and its smaller competitor Sirius are incurring heavy losses in order to attract high-profile content to their services. XM signed a $55 million deal for the exclusive rights to radio content produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios.
IBM Invests $1B in On-Demand Efforts
IBM said Thursday it would invest $1 billion over the next three years in information management software development. The move is designed to help Big Blue's clients make information more accessible to office workers, often referred to as "information-on-demand."
More than 15,000 consultants would be dedicated to the projects, with plans to increase that number by about 10,000 more over three years. The company would bring together its software and consulting wings in order to address "an emerging business opportunity," IBM said in a statement.
Amazon Music Player, Service Coming?
Amazon is in talks with both the major record labels and digital music player manufacturers about creating a music offering to compete with market-dominating iTunes. The plans call for Amazon-branded music players that would be deeply discounted -- or even free -- in connection with a subscription music service.
The program would work much like a post-pay cellular plan, where a customer receives a phone at a discount in exchange for a long-term subscription. A flat monthly fee would be charged, and Amazon is even considering pre-loading the devices with songs suggested by the online retailer using the consumer's music buying habits.
EU to MS: We Will Decide Compliance
The European Commission shot back at Microsoft Thursday, accusing the company of making misleading statements in the press the day before. It also reminded the media that it was the European Commission's responsibility, and not Microsoft's, to decide whether Redmond was in compliance.
Microsoft was taken to task over its claims that the Commission had ignored the most recent version of technical documents the company was ordered to produce.
Vista Encryption Concerns British Gov
British officials are concerned about encryption in Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista release, saying the technology could prevent law enforcement from reading suspects' computer files. They claim certain new features within Vista, while intended to do good, may actually set back terrorism investigations.
The comments came as part of a larger House of Commons home affairs select committee meeting on holding terrorism suspects. Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, said, "from later this year, the encryption landscape is going to change with the release of Microsoft Vista."
Angry Shareholders Sue GTA Publisher
Game publisher Take Two is facing two more lawsuits, this time from separate shareholder groups seeking reparations for losses incurred over the discovery of pornographic material in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The suits were announced by the law firms Milberg Weiss on Tuesday and Stull, Stull & Brody earlier this week. Both seek class action status, and are looking for shareholders who owned Take Two stock between the launch of GTA: San Andreas in October 2004 and January 27 of this year, the day the company was sued by the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
New Walkman Phone Offers 4GB, 3G
Sony Ericsson's line of Walkman phones has been a modest success, the company revealed on Tuesday, announcing that nearly 3 million units have been sold. The company also unveiled its latest addition to the line, the sleek W950i.
The dark purple-colored phone will run on the Symbian operating system and will be UMTS-capable for connectivity to high-speed networks. A touch screen provides easy access to music files and 4GB of flash memory storage would put it in line with Apple's iPod Nano.
Registrars Question VeriSign .com Deal
The leaders of eight domain registration companies have come out against a proposed agreement between VeriSign and ICANN over management of the .com registry. In an open letter to ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf, the companies say if this is VeriSign's best offer, "it must not be ICANN's."
Under the terms of the agreement, VeriSign would be permitted to raise .com registration fees by 7 percent without any justification in four of the next six years, as well as extending the "presumptive renewal" right to the registry when the agreement expires.
MS Claims EU Antitrust Malfeasance
Microsoft called the European Union on the carpet Wednesday, arguing that the EU was ignoring "critical evidence in its haste to attack the company’s compliance." The statement was part of a 75-page response to charges that the company was not complying with a 2004 European Commission antitrust decision.
The company was mandated to respond to a December statement of objections, the EU's version of a formal indictment. The company was threatened with fines of 2 million euros per day for non-compliance.
Microsoft's Valentine: Patch Tuesday
It was no love and all business for Microsoft on Tuesday, as the company released seven updates for its products. These included fixes for two critical flaws in Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, and five important updates addressing issues in Windows and Microsoft Office.
A critical vulnerability that existed in the Graphics Rendering Engine of Internet Explorer was one of those patched. A specially crafted Windows Metafile image could be generated to allow for remote code execution and potentially open the door for an attacker to take complete control of an affected system.
Senators Press for NSA Spying Details
Two prominent Democratic senators who are also outspoken critics of the NSA's domestic wiretapping program have asked three major telecommunications companies to explain their involvement in the effort.
One of the companies, AT&T, has been sued by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for complying with a request to open its network to the NSA.
Microsoft to Comply with EU Deadline
Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it would respond to a midnight Wednesday deadline to prove that it is complying with the European Union's March 2004 ruling against it. The EU has threatened to fine Microsoft 2 million euros per day if it does not comply.
The company says it is confident that the documentation it plans to file with the European Commission will prove that it is indeed in compliance with the judgment. Microsoft had been ordered to sell a version of Windows without its Media Player software, as well as divulge portions of the Windows Server source code to third parties.
Russian Piracy Costs US $1.8 Billion
Russian piracy is becoming costly to U.S. companies, according to a report released late Monday by the International Intellectual Property Association. In 2005 alone, nearly $1.8 billion was lost due to pirated films, music and software, said the organization.
While that may seem staggering, piracy in China is even worse. The IIPA said that in 2005, bootlegged software and entertainment cost U.S. businesses $2.37 billion.
MS Office Live to Launch Wednesday
Microsoft will launch Wednesday its highly anticipated Office Live product, a set of services aimed at bringing online small business with less than ten employees. Office Live will offer e-mail, Web domains, Web site hosting and other services for free during the beta.
After the beta ends, a basic package of services would stay free, however higher-tier packages would be sold on a subscription basis, likely for less than $50 per month.
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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