Napster: What you should know before plunking down five dollars
There's no doubt that five dollars a month for a music subscription is about as dirt cheap as you can get, so Napster is right on when it comes to attractive pricing. Five dollars for five DRM-free MP3s and unlimited streaming of Napster's catalog per month is a price seated squarely on the "why not?" point.
But this is the point where you have to be wary, because you could end up buying more of what you already have.
Top 10 Windows 7 Features #4: A worthwhile Windows Explorer
Over the last few decades of Windows' existence, Microsoft has wrestled with the problem of how much control it should give users over the arrangement and organization of files on their computers. In a perfect world, users shouldn't have to care about their \Windows\System32 or \Windows\SysWOW64 directories, so a good file manager shouldn't make the mistake of exposing users to information they don't know how to deal with. On the other hand, knowledgeable users will need to have access to system directories in such a way that they don't have to jump through hoops to find them.
It is a balancing act, but not an impossible one. Over the years, third-party file management utilities such as Total Commander and xPlorer2 have been among the most popular software downloaded through Betanews Fileforum. Granted, these are typically installed and used by folks who know such bits of trivia as the fact that the \Application Data\Local Settings\Microsoft\Office folder in Windows XP maps to the \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office folder in Windows Vista. But the reason they're popular with folks such as myself is because we need more direct and comprehensive access to the systems we manage. What's more, we commonly need access to two directories at once, and it makes more visual sense to have them both open.
HP looks to its Services division to carry the load
Hewlett-Packard's recent acquisition of EDS is going great. Swimmingly. Normalizing ahead of schedule, even. That's nice, because Services is getting to be a big deal for an HP that otherwise experienced declines virtually across the board over the second quarter recently ended. Indeed, the recession is still with us, and HP's profits are down 17%, or $400 million, year over year.
Services revenue grew 99%, but those numbers are skewed by the acquisition. Otherwise, only the Technology Solutions Group saw year-over-year growth, with other departments down between 6% (HP Financial Services) to 28% (Enterprise Storage and Servers). Analog printing's ongoing movement to digital led the Imaging and Printing Group to 33% of HP's Q2 profits. In the Personal Systems Group, total units sold remained flat, with sales of desktops off by nearly 25%. Sales overall would have been up 3% were it not for those pesky currency fluctuations; as it is, they're down 3%.
LG's new BD player is first with high-def DivX stamp
Last year, DivX began to certify certain Blu-ray players for DivX playback, which meant that the high-definition players could support files in the popular codec that were burned onto high capacity Blu-ray discs. As much as 25 hours of standard DVD quality footage could be loaded onto a single disc.
While that news was certainly welcomed by achivers, home video enthusiasts, and [ahem]...other consumers of DivX files, it did not certify the high definition players to play back high definition files. Today, DivX announced that it has certified its first Blu-ray player for 1080p HD DivX playback: the LG BD390.
Android 1.5 'Cupcake' delayed by one week
The "early May" release of Android 1.5 has become "early June," with a recent announcement from T-Mobile. The G1 Community forum received a message yesterday that said, "We are working diligently to get Android 1.5 out as soon as possible, while aiming to ensure a consistent, positive experience for our customers. We're finalizing the build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June."
By the time the OS update better known as "Cupcake" is released over the air, it will have been on the public's radar for more than six months; and its features are well-known and well-desired (only now a bit more impatiently).
Microsoft releases Security Development Lifecycle process template, with free docs
On Tuesday, Microsoft released its Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) Process Template and documentation on the new 4.1 SDL version free to all applications developers -- including those who aren't using the company's development tools.
Microsoft's not the first company to think about incorporating security scrutiny somewhere in the development process, but there's no industry-wide standard for doing so; even the IEEE's SESC Framework hasn't provided any significant mention of security concerns. Microsoft's idea is to integrate security concerns into every step of the development process, and Microsoft counts six of them: setting project requirements, design, implementation, verification, release, and response (support and service).
Linux Foundation joins Microsoft in opposing software defect warranties
If someone sells you a defective piece of software, what rights do you have? If the retailer doesn't offer a return policy, as you may very well know -- especially if you ever read the End-User License Agreement, wherever it might be located -- your ability to hold the manufacturer liable may be very limited, if not non-existent. Since the 1990s, Microsoft has been an active opponent of changes to laws and regulations that allow the sale of software to be treated as an exchange of services rather than a sale of goods -- changes that one software development lawyer in 1997 warned would "have a far more damaging effect on software publishing competition and on the quality of software products than anything being done solely by Microsoft today."
But now, Microsoft's principal competition in the operating system field has joined sides with it in opposing the latest efforts by a panel of prominent judges and attorneys to reform the protocols for developing software sales contracts and warranties. The Linux Foundation is now on record as opposing changes to warranties, and has co-authored a document with Microsoft to that effect, as Microsoft revealed last Sunday.
Microsoft launches 'My Phone' beta for Windows Mobile 6+
Today, Microsoft announced that its cloud-based data sync service for Windows Mobile called My Phone will be moving into its open beta phase. Similar to MobileMe from Apple, My Phone lets users automatically and wirelessly back up contacts, photos, video, text messages and calendar data to a password-protected cloud account.
My Phone first made an appearance in February as a closed beta update to the service originally known as SkyBox; today, all users of Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 can download the service by going to myphone.microsoft.com.
Palm's game-changing Pre arrives June 6
Calendars were tentatively marked this week for something from Palm, and today we've found out what it was: the launch date and price of the Pre.
The eagerly anticipated Palm Pre is slated for availability on June 6, and will cost $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two year contract through Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and even Wal-Mart.
Imagine, a 'Firefox 4' without browser tabs
Insofar as Web applications have become a fact of many everyday users' lives and work, the Web browser has come to fulfill the role of a de facto operating system -- which is why browser performance is a more important topic now than ever before. Now, this most important class of application could be at a turning point in its evolution, a point where history appears to repeat itself once again.
During the era between Windows 2.0 and 3.1, a minimized window was an icon that resided in the area we now consider the "Desktop;" and even today, many Windows users' Desktops don't perform the same role as the Mac Desktop that catalyzed Windows' creation. Even Windows 7 has tweaked the concept of what a minimized window does and means; and in the Web browser context, a tab represents a similar type of functionality, giving users access to pages that aren't currently displayed.
Atlanta's Clear WiMAX launch only weeks away
Sprint's and Clearwire's WiMAX joint venture Clear is expected to gain 15 new markets by the end of 2010. Following up on the announcement that the company had aligned with Cisco for infrastructure, Clearwire confirmed the next 4G connected city will be Atlanta.
CEO William T. Morrow said in Clearwire's earnings call, "We remain on track to launch our next two markets this summer. In June, we'll be expanding to Atlanta, adding nearly 3 million people to the Clear coverage footprint in a city that will be our largest market to date. With the network covering upwards of 1,200 square miles, we have validated that we can design and deliver large scale markets with our low cost network architecture, another key differentiator for Clearwire. And as with all of our pre-WiMAX markets, we are utilizing a hybrid approach of microwave rings and dark fiber across approximately 90% of our sites. We believe that this is the lowest cost, most scalable back haul approach to transport the immense 4G data payload from our sales side."
Upgrading from XP to Windows 7: Does Microsoft's method work?
Three months ago, Betanews experimented with a process for converting a Windows XP-based system to Windows 7 even though a direct upgrade process was not officially supported by Microsoft. Our process involved borrowing a Windows Vista installation disc, and going through the upgrade motions twice except for the part where you register and activate Vista. This way, you would only have to register Windows 7. Although our tests involved an earlier build of Win7 than the current public release candidate, we discovered the process, while slow and laborious, was at least workable.
To make certain of this, we installed Office 2007 in our XP-based test system first, then ran Word, Excel, and PowerPoint perfectly well in Windows 7 after the installation was complete. We did have to re-activate Office, but that only took a moment.
ZigBee aims to cut energy costs through IP-based metering
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a non-profit international board which drafts and publishes standards for a huge range of electric and electronic technologies. Among the hundreds of standards put out by the IEC, some of the most notable include VHS/S-VHS video cassette technology (IEC 60774), digital audio based on compact discs (IEC 60908) and electromagnetic compatibility (IEC 61000).
You may not be familiar with ZigBee just yet, but if the IEC gets its hands on it, that could change. ZigBee is a low-power wireless protocol similar to Bluetooth that fits under the 802.15.4 personal area network standard. Its current largest deployments are in home utility wireless networks and smart meters, and because of its conservative use of electricity, the ZigBee Alliance is attempting to make it the preeminent standard for smart energy metering. Today, the group announced that it will be submitting its ZigBee Smart Energy profile to the IEC for as the basis of a new standard in smart grid technology.
Napster will slash its subscription fees
After nearly six years as a subscription-based service, Napster will make its library of over 7 million tracks available tomorrow for as low as five dollars a month. In addition to unlimited streaming, users get to keep five DRM-free tracks per month, essentially making the streaming service, which formerly cost $12.95 per month, free.
Napster's leaked press release describes streaming as "CD Quality," and most MP3s available for download in the service are encoded at 256 kbps, but there are also tracks currently only available in 128 kbps. The bitrate of each individual track will be listed when purchasing.
Microsoft tries to patent a working 'Magic Wand' for Xbox 360
With this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known as E3) less than two weeks away, speculation has been steadily increasing about the big game companies' announcements. One of the major topics of chatter has been updated controller schemes, and entries for both the PlayStation3 and the Xbox 360 in the Wii-like motion controller category.
The latest application for a patent for such a device to come to light was filed by Microsoft in November 2007. Attributed to Chief Experience Officer James "J" Allard, it covers the architecture of a multi-sensor control environment.
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