Microsoft, Intel Spread 'Digital Joy'
Intel and Microsoft have teamed up for a joint marketing campaign to proclaim the merits of the "digital lifestyle." The Digital Joy campaign focuses on the new experiences that arise when consumer electronics are interconnected. The campaign's ultimate goal is to establish a strong brand image for products built using Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center 2005 operating system and Intel's Pentium 4 processor family.
The marketing mix will use both addressable and interactive media. Its message execution is composed of television, print, online and cinema advertisements created by Deutsch Inc. highlighting the experiences customers can have with Windows and Intel powered home entertainment. More personal selling will occur in 38 high traffic shopping malls across the United States where customers can "test drive" products as they would in their own living rooms in staged "digital home settings."
Microsoft Plots Out Office 12 Timeline
Microsoft has been quietly briefing select partners on its plans for its forthcoming Office 12 series of desktop productivity and server products. According to Microsoft Watch, Microsoft's internal calendar has Beta 1 penciled in for August 29, 2005 with a second beta lined up for December 5, 2005.
Unconfirmed reports point to an array of new Office server products on the horizon. These include server versions of Excel, Visio and potentially InfoPath. The extension of Office System server development has left the rumor mill whirling about potential Web services.
Intuit Launches Refreshed QuickBase
Intuit has publicly unveiled the Fall 2004 version of QuickBase Solution. QuickBase Solution is a Web-based tool with unified data, process and communication management functions.
Features includes a new spreadsheet application with database-style application creation, e-mail notifications and form builders, field level access permissions for the spreadsheet application and e-mail, and 40 pre-built industry specific modules.
AOL to Layoff 700 Workers
As first reported by the Washington Post, America Online is expected to eliminate more than 700 jobs from its workforce next month. The majority of the layoffs will occur at AOL's Dulles, Virginia headquarters where nearly 5,000 are presently employed. Analysts cite AOL's dwindling subscriber base; however, a company spokesperson refused to validate that assertion. Officially, AOL has no comment.
GAX Adds Interactivity to Satellite TV
Luxembourg-headquartered GAX has announced a beta of TV Snapshot, an application that provides satellite TV viewers with interactive features by capturing data feeds sent by broadcasters. The software translates the feeds into related Internet content. TV Snapshot is targeted toward the European market and sub-segmented to viewers who have DVB receiver cards and watch TV on their computers. A free download and programming information is available from the TV Snapshot homepage.
Solaris 10 Nears with New Beta Release
Sun has issued a refreshed beta build of Solaris Express 10. Build 69, Beta 7 is an incremental update that reaches several milestones.
The bits flesh out Sun's Predicative Self-Healing initiative with the Service Management Facility, replace Gnome 2.0 with Sun's own Java Desktop Release 3, and bundle new tools to help debugging. A host of X86 platform specific enhancements are included, along with more security features, additional mass storage support for mass storage drives and USB keys, as well as various networking tweaks.
AOL Cans IM Spam, aka 'Spim'
After tackling Spam, AOL is now waging a two front offensive against spammers. America Online has taken the fight to "Spim," which is crossing over the threshold of disruption.
Spim -- instant messages that contain a side of spam -- is a fairly new method for sending unsolicited bulk messages, but has become enough of a nuisance that AOL has filed a federal lawsuit against unnamed defendants to can it.
MSN Issues New Messenger Beta
Microsoft Beta Place testers have reported that they have received a refresh of the MSN Messenger 7 beta, which includes many bug fixes. MSN Messenger 7 is slated to have new personalization options borrowed from Microsoft's ThreeDegrees concept, new transactional services, improved contact management, and integration with MSN Search.
The ThreeDegrees test bed is the territory of Microsoft's maverick NetGen product group. Developed with the goal of facilitating social interaction within a group of friends or family members, Three Degrees aims to allow users to "do fun things together."
AIM Users Streamed Political Video Ads
In the finals days before voters go to the polls in US Presidential election, partisans are doing nearly everything possible to reach out to voters in so-called "swing states." No one is immune to their unrelenting efforts to sway public sentiment -- not even users of America Online.
For the past several ad cycles, AOL Instant Messenger users who volunteered their zip code are now receiving geo-targeted streaming video political ads as they chat.
Fossil Slims Down MSN Smart Watches
Fossil is ratcheting up its support of Microsoft's MSN Direct wireless service with a new line of Wrist Net "smart watches" that are more fashionable than previous models.
The watches come in a choice of two different brands -- Fossil and its offshoot ABACUS line -- and three styles, all of which are designed with a thinner form factor and butterfly clasps for comfort. The Wrist Net watches enable users to connect to personalized news, weather updates, sports scores, stock quotes, horoscopes, lottery results, personal messages, and entertainment news through MSN.
I-Names a Spam-Free E-Mail Alternative?
While the industry is left squabbling without a consensus on how to block spam, a consortium of organizations has delivered a privacy-protected global Internet address that cannot be spammed - because it is not an e-mail address.
Instead, the group seeks to eliminate spam at the fundamental level of Internet addressing. Within the next 90 days, Identity Commons, in partnership with 2idi, are offering the first 150,000 registrants who sign up for the service 50 years of exclusive ownership rights to their own "i-name."
Microsoft Plans a Less Ambitious 'R2'
In an effort to be more transparent, Microsoft has informed customers not to expect some features to make it into the Windows Server 2003 "R2" refresh. Instead, those features will slide into later releases.
R2 is expected to be a compilation of bug fixes that have accumulated since the software was made available in 2003, and will bundle "feature packs" that Microsoft has rolled out since the release.
106 Million XP SP2 Downloads Tallied
The tally is in: Just two months after Windows XP Service Pack 2 was publicly distributed, users worldwide have downloaded in excess of 106 million copies of the update. According to Microsoft, approximately 90 million copies were downloaded via Automatic update, Windows Update and Microsoft's Download Center; another 16 million copies were distributed on compact discs.
Windows XP SP2 is an operating system update deemed critical by Microsoft because it was designed with a single goal in mind: Security. The second service pack fortifies Windows XP with stronger default security settings; a new version of Internet Explorer that includes a pop-up blocker and a retooled download manager; automatic updating; memory protection against buffer overruns; e-mail safeguards for Outlook Express; Windows Firewall; and new security settings for Windows Media Player 9.
Microsoft Repackages Plus!
With Longhorn many moons away, Microsoft is extending the Windows XP customer experience once more. The company has taken the wraps off of a new edition of its Plus! add-on for Windows dubbed Microsoft Plus! SuperPack in time for the holiday season. SuperPack is a re-branded combination of Plus! for Windows XP and Plus! Digital Media Edition.
Microsoft Plus! SuperPack places emphasis on digital media as well as fulfilling its traditional role of providing new customization options and games. Microsoft has included a photo slideshow utility; tools that extend Windows Media with new experiences such as bonus skins, a "party mode", desktop dancers and CD/DVD label creation; 50 new video effects and transitions for Windows Movie Maker 2; as well as various games and puzzles.
Windows Server 2003 SP1 Inches Closer
Testers will soon receive a new build of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, according to sources that say a release candidate is nearing. The service pack fortifies the Microsoft's flagship Windows Server line with a bevy of new security fixes, bug fixes and provides the underpinnings for the company's upcoming 64-bit Windows Server product series. The final version of SP1 is expected to be released in early 2005.
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