Skype 4.0 Beta 2 shrinks window, hints at Mac support?
The first beta of Skype 4.0 exposed testers to a totally redesigned UI that placed increased emphasis on video conferencing. In the second beta, released today, the Skype team provided a more familiar-feeling alternative.
Based upon what seemed to be a universally negative reaction to the amount of real estate Skype's new UI required, beta 2 of version 4.0 offers the ability to switch to a window more similar to previous versions. Skype's Mike Bartlett said the team received over 45,000 comments, with the predominant issue being the interface.
Keystream tech puts TV ads in 'empty' spaces of moving images
Technology from a California company could insert interactive ads and other content into the clear blue sky, or right field, or any other area on your TV or movie screens where the action isn't.
The technology, in the works since 2003 at privately held Keystream, analyzes video on the fly, detects where moving objects are going, and places its overlays somewhere unobtrusive -- for instance, upfield as a running back heads downfield. An overlay might be a simple logo, or it could be an interactive element, such as an offer to buy that running back's team jersey.
.NET Framework 4.0 to become less SOAP-centric, embrace REST
It was surprising enough when four years ago, Microsoft made an historic decision to ditch its own Web services architecture attempts and go with the flow. Today, it announced its next version of Windows will go with a different flow.
For the last four years, one of the most prominent signs of Microsoft's change of thinking with regard to the division of labor in programming, has been its embrace of Simple Object Access Protocol (now just called SOAP, after too much deliberation over the acronym) in Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). It was Web standards organizations, not Microsoft, that initially drove the widespread adoption of so-called WS-* services that use SOAP, but Windows' embrace of SOAP later cemented the standard as a fixture of Web development.
Netflix releases its own API for developers
The Application Programming Interface (API) that will allow third party developers to create new tools for use with the Netflix movie and user data is now open,enabling them to build new applications based on Netflix's platform.
The free API (available here) includes JavaScript and REST APIs and ATOM feeds. The JavaScript component allows users to integrate such things as the user's queue into other Web applications.
RealNetworks, MPAA in a cage match over RealDVD
On the same day, RealNetworks sued Hollywood studios and the DVD Copy Control Association, and the MPAA sued RealNetworks over the less-than-month-old RealDVD software that allows users to save copies of DVDs.
Using DVD Copy Control Association v. Kaleidescape Inc as a legal precedent, Real sued for a declaratory judgment for the protection of RealDVD. According to the company, the action was a response to threats made by major movie studio parents Disney, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros.
Nokia acquires OZ in a play for phone-based e-mail
Yesterday, Nokia purchased a software vendor which competes against RIM's BlackBerry and Motorola's Good Technology Group. With these and lots of other changes now afoot, in which direction(s) is Nokia headed?
On the eve of the rollout of a new consumer-targeted phone, Nokia announced plans on Tuesday to acquire OZ Communications, a company that produces mobile messaging software in the same general ballpark as RIM and Motorola's Good Technology Group.
Sony PS4: It's never too early to wonder
Japanese site PC Watch has started the global rumor mill churning with a report that Sony's Cell BE processor that powers the PS3 could still be a viable chip for the company's next next-gen console.
Without citing sources, PC Watch appears to be saying that a technological leap of the same scale as from the PlayStation 2 to the PS3, may no longer be affordable. As a result, the article says -- showing material from recent presentations on the Cell processor family as evidence -- Sony may be considering elevating what had been called the "PlayStation 3 +" project to PlayStation 4 status.
Amazon's cloud to host Windows Server
After tests are completed sometime this fall, the cloud provider announced this morning, customers will be able to deploy complete Windows Server-based machine images to Amazon's high-capacity computing cloud, eliminating hardware costs.
In what could be a waterspout moment, if you will, for cloud computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS) developer Jeff Barr announced this morning that his operation is currently hosting a private beta of hosted Microsoft Windows Server instances. Within the next three months, AWS customers will be able to deploy machine images with 32- or 64-bit versions of Windows Server -- including high-performance packages -- to Amazon's cloud, to be hosted remotely.
Tech stocks ride a roller coaster while Congress deliberates
One moment it's all doom and gloom, and the next it's brighter days ahead. But with Congress actually uttering the "D" word in place of the "R" word as debate on the bailout bill continues, the market now consistently lacks stability.
With Congress having taken yesterday off for the Bank Holiday, investors saw opportunities and potential bargains everywhere they looked, especially with Apple stock trading at a 16-month low. So injecting a much-needed dose of confidence back into the markets, the buyers came back yesterday, giving Apple an 8% boost, responding to what was the single largest Dow 30 point drop in history by looking forward to better times.
Wal-Mart ceases DRM support for music downloads
Like Microsoft and Yahoo before it, Wal-Mart will soon shut down DRM servers for its old music service. But Wal-Mart customers only have one week to prepare, and that could mean hurriedly backing up the tracks they've already bought.
Wal-Mart made a bold move in February of this year, when it began offering DRM-free MP3 tunes on its Web site. This week, though, the mass merchandiser has infuriated many users by sending out a letter signaling the end of DRM support for earlier music downloads from the site.
AP, Reuters struggle to control the news flow in a changing marketplace
The largest wellspring of news in America is rethinking how it gets its words out, and the future looks a lot like RSS. Meanwhile, one of its main competitors is suing a plug-in creator who brought social networking to "its" turf.
The wellspring in question is the Associated Press -- the colossal wire service that pumps news to over 1,700 newspapers and 5,000 TV and radio outlets. Years ago, that job was done by teletype, a clattering beast of a machine that emitted paper and ink, and around which newsrooms centered. If you've ever seen a movie where some cigar-chomping editor rips a story off a typewriter-looking object and starts snarling, you have seen a teletype. (Or, for Terry Gilliam fans, it's the machine into which the bug falls at the beginning of Brazil.)
Pandora sees relief ahead in net radio fee talks
6:28 pm PST September 30, 2008 - The Senate has given its blessing to the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, which net radio operations such as Pandora hope will let them negotiate financial arrangements that will keep the music playing.
Reached for comment Tuesday night, an audibly relieved Tim Westergren, co-founder and CSO of Pandora, said, "We're pleased, and grateful too I guess. There were so many people who stepped up over the weekend -- listeners, bloggers. People mobilized so fast and so intensely over this issue. It's amazing."
Exec shuffle at MSN: Who's on first?
Yusuf Mehdi is the new number-two for Microsoft's Online Services division -- but, as The Prisoner would be the first to ask, who is Number One?
Medhi, formerly Senior VP of Strategic Partnerships, has shifted his responsibilities from mergers and acquisitions to MSN and Microsoft's search properties. He takes most of the job's marketing and search tasks off the plate of Bill Veghte, the senior VP now focusing mainly on the Windows and Windows Live groups; Veghte picks up a new title, Senior Vice President for the Windows Business.
Survey says: Firefox, OpenOffice leads in open source deployments
Firefox leads the way in open source software used in organizations, and the Web browser is being deployed abundantly on Linux and Windows PCs alike, according to new data from the Open Source Census released today.
Open source software deployment is higher in Europe than the US, and in government and finance than in other industries, says the Open Source Census (OSC), a six-month-old effort which is also accumulating data on use of open source software across Linux and Windows.
Advocacy groups already nervous about Xohm WiMAX policies
Sprint's Xohm WiMAX network barely got its feet on the ground before neutrality advocates began to tear apart the service's acceptable use and network management policy.
Sprint's terms of service include the passage: "XOHM may provide various Service plans with different characteristics, including different speeds and usage limitations. You agree to comply with these limitations. In addition, your use of the Service may not result in an excessive burden of system or network resources, may not weaken network performance, and may not restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or degrade any other user's use of the Service. To ensure a high-quality experience for its entire subscriber base, XOHM may use various tools and techniques designed to limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing."
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