Sun Launches StarOffice 8 Suite
Highlighting its OpenDocument compatibility, Sun on Tuesday released the final version of StarOffice 8. With the launch announcement also came deals with two software distributors, Encore and Avanquest Software, to ensure wider retail distribution of the productivity suite.
Encore will be the sole distributor of StarOffice 8 in the U.S. and Canada, while Avanquest will initially offer the software across ten countries in Europe. The new retail agreements are aimed at placing StarOffice in front of the eyes of more consumers, and attempt to cut into Microsoft's dominance in the productivity software market.
Sun Attacks Dell in New Ad Campaign
Sun has begun to aggressively pursue legacy Dell server owners, offering a promotion that will allow them to use their old servers as a trade-in for up to $1,900 off the purchase of a new SunFire X4100 or X4200 server.
The push comes complete with an online advertising campaign that not so subtly attacks Sun's competitor.
The Buzz: MS Scores Big Win with Palm
After a decade of rivalry, Microsoft and Palm finally shook hands Monday morning at a press conference announcing a new Treo smartphone powered by Windows Mobile 5.0. Although the device won't launch until early next year, analysts and consumers alike have already begun to weigh in and the response is overwhelmingly positive.
"While deals like Skype and eBay make you want to check your calendar to see what year it is, deals like this make you want to check outside to see if Hell has frozen over. This is a huge win from a psychological perspective and from a market perspective [for Microsoft]. Microsoft has the potential to be a very strong player in the mobile space. Great device, great form factor, great partner with EV-DO and its all running Windows Mobile 5.0."
- Michael Gartenberg, Jupiter Research
MTV, Warner Take Music Videos Mobile
MTV Networks on Monday announced that it had signed an agreement with Warner Music Group to use its music videos in an upcoming mobile offering. The agreement is the first to allow on-demand access to music videos over a wireless network. Also, MTV plans to make excerpts of some of its programming available for download as well.
Original content will come from the company's various networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo. "This is a great leap forward in the evolution of our mobile video strategy, and we look forward to developing more exciting initiatives in this space over the year to come," said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks.
Nokia Debuts New Music Phone Brand
Nokia on Monday debuted a new brand for its growing list of music-enabled phones in a effort to make them more easily identifiable by consumers. Called Nokia XpressMusic, the phones will have common features such as dedicated music keys and automatic pause and resume of incoming calls.
The phone maker's announcement coincides with the unveiling of a new phone to fall under the brand. The Nokia 3250, will support over-the-air downloading, Windows Media format songs, and up to 1GB of expandable memory.
Beta 3 of Team Foundation Server Out
Microsoft on Friday released Beta 3 of its Team Foundation Server to MSDN subscribers. Based on the SQL Server 2005 CTP and Visual Studio 2005 Release Candidate first distributed at this year's Professional Developers Conference, the software is used to better manage application development.
The final release of TFS is expected sometime early next year. Rick LaPlante, general manager of Visual Studio Team System, said Microsoft was on track to release the program on time. "Releasing a high quality, feature complete TFS Beta 3 was a critical step in being ready for Q1 [2006] and we still feel good about that commitment," LaPlante wrote in his Web log.
iPod Nano May Have Some Big Problems
What some analysts have billed as the "top MP3 player this fall" may have just hit a potentially damaging roadblock - its own frailty.
Complaints have begun to circle on both Web logs and Apple's own support forums surrounding an issue with the polycarbonate plastic that covers the front of the iPod Nano. Some users claim the player scratches extremely easily, enough that it makes the screen difficult to read.
MSN adCenter Moves Out of Testing
MSN has officially taken the lid off its paid search service in France and Singapore, with plans to launch a pilot in the United States next month. The program, known as adCenter, had been in testing since March in the two countries and launched in Singapore on August 31.
The new method of selling advertising will be used across MSN's search pages initially, company officials said. However, the content provider expects to use adCenter across other web properties in the future.
Apple Maintains Margin with iPod Nano
Contrary to initial reports that Apple may have had to settle with significantly lower profit margins in order to release the flash-based iPod Nano, electronics research firm iSuppli says that the cost to the Cupertino company to produce the player is likely the same as previous models.
iSuppli dissected a 2GB iPod Nano and found $90.18 USD worth of parts. Combined with the $8-10 it costs to produce each model, the Nano ran about $100 USD to produce, said iSuppli. The player retails for $199 USD, meaning a profit margin of just under 50 percent.
TiVo Institutes 1 Year Service Contracts
A recent change made to TiVo's customer agreement has opened up the door to allow the company to institute service contracts. Although it is unclear as to why the change has been made, TiVo has recently endeavored to market the DVR service to new customers and contracts would keep those users from canceling.
According to the new service agreement, any TiVo activated after September 6 will require a 12-month commitment. Those who cancel before the end of their contract, or have their contracts terminated by TiVo, will be forced to pay a $150 early termination fee.
AtomFilms Expands Online Reach
AtomFilms announced on Friday it had penned deals with AOL, Singingfish, Blinkx and other video search engines to put the company's content in front of millions of new viewers. Online since 1999, AtomFilms provides online distribution to independent movies and animation. The company says that its viewership has nearly doubled in the past year thanks to increasing adoption of broadband.
"Consumer interest in online video is exploding and it is one of our highest priorities to provide consumers with a top-notch and entertaining video experience," said Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President of Programming and Products at AOL. "With its extensive library of short films and animation, AtomFilms is one of the leaders in this industry and we are pleased to be working with them."
CardSystems Liquidates Assets
Embattled credit card processing company CardSystems, which in June exposed the card numbers of approximately 40 million customers, has agreed to be acquired by CyberSource, an electronic payment solutions provider.
CardSystems' servers were hacked in June, resulting in a federal investigation of the company. While only 200,000 of the cards were marked as a high risk for fraud, the FBI called an investigation for a theft of that size "the next logical step."
Symantec Acquires Anti-Phishing Firm
Looking to improve the security and anti-phishing capabilities of its products, Symantec on Thursday announced that it had acquired WholeSecurity. The firm's technology analyzes worms and viruses in order to better provide protection against attacks, rather than looking for signatures of specific threats.
This approach works better than traditional methods says WholeSecurity, because it can stop an unknown attack immediately by looking for a set of characteristics common to viruses, worms and code attacks.
New Software Developed to Combat P2P
Two entertainment trade groups announced the launch of a new software tool on Thursday that they hope could curb the ever-increasing tide of illegal file sharing across unregulated peer-to-peer networks.
The International Federation of Phonographic Industry and the Motion Picture Association unveiled Digital File Check, a program that will remove or block file-sharing programs, as well as delete copyrighted work from a computer so it cannot be shared.
Google Looking to Move into TV?
Google is showing an interest in moving into yet another form of media: television. A job posting that first appeared on Wednesday seeks a product manager for a service dubbed "GoogleTV." According to the listing, the candidate would be expected to study trends in television viewing and see where the search engine's technologies could further enhance that experience.
The posting seems to indicate that while Google is unlikely readying a television channel, GoogleTV could possibly be an extension of Google's prototype search that scours the closed captioning text of television shows. Results are displayed with a still image of the video, along with snippets of text that contain the search terms.
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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