XAML specification published, added to Microsoft's open promise
It's the language that Microsoft's opponents in Europe claim the company is using as a possible proprietary bypass of HTML. But now, that opposition will have to face the fact that nearly every scintilla of detail about XAML is in the public record.
The second bit of news emerging from Microsoft today on the interoperability front comes from its release of complete documentation for its existing 2006 implementation of Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML): both the object mapping specification and the vocabulary specification for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). (Complete ZIP file with both specs available here)
Musical social network searches for a niche with geo-location
Social networking sites are a dime a dozen these days, compelling developers to implement new methods to garner interest. To that end, the IndieMV Group today announced a slew of new changes to its social network for the indie music community.
The most significant change allows IndieMV to offer data, promote events and target ads directly by a user's geographic location. All Google-driven banner ads also have been modified and "enhanced" to provide ads solely on a user's location. If the technology does mistake a user's geographic location, or a user wants to check the "scene" for a different location, it's possible to select a new location through several drop down menus.
Could an Aussie WiMAX 'disaster' have been prevented?
Although an Australian WiMAX operator publicly branded his experience a "disaster" at a WiMAX conference in Thailand, its hardware partner, Airspan, is blaming the WiMAX problems on the operator's unwillingness to invest enough money or to bring in outside expertise.
Buzz Broadband CEO Garth Freeman stunned an international WiMAX conference in Thailand this week with complaints about network delays and jitter on VoIP and other Internet applications, along with poor wireless coverage range for the 3.5 GHz WiMAX link both indoors and in non-line-of-sight outdoor transmissions.
Graphical 'Pipes' enable Yahoo services to be included in mashups
It's a tool for creating "mashups," which are Web meta-services built upon existing frameworks. Today, Yahoo's Pipes received the Badges feature, which converts Pipes from an RSS feed into a shareable, embeddable widget.
Yahoo has encouraged developers to create mashup services (new tools made by combining pre-existing services) since their emergence in popularity several years ago. Today, it has added Badges to its Yahoo Pipes toolset, enabling users to turn their mashups and feeds into embeddable widgets.
WD shrinks the size of portable 320 GB capacity
Western Digital today introduced its latest portable hard drives: the thin and attractive My Passport Elite series, available now at 250 GB and 320 GB in a small form factor.
The My Passport Elite 320 GB hard drive is available for a suggested retail price of $199.99, and the 250 GB hard drive is available for $169.99.
Yahoo enrolls in Google's OpenSocial network, joining MySpace
On the same day Microsoft casts its net to draw Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo, and two others into a contacts-sharing system, Yahoo joins Google's similar collective which already snared MySpace and just poached imeem. The battle lines are starting to be drawn.
You can't find any corner of the computing industry these days where there are fewer than two competing standards or ways of doing business. Among the general "social networking community," there are fast becoming two centers of gravity. Google already placed itself at the center of one with its creation of the OpenSocial Foundation last October; and if Microsoft isn't exactly at the other center, it's trying to adjust its orbit to come close enough, with the establishment of a network of services with Windows Live as the facilitator.
Using the Web to get ready for the DTV transition
For those who want to prepare for the US' digital TV transition prior to next February, or whose stations are already broadcasting in DTV, a series of Web services are available for applying for and redeeming government coupons toward the purchase of new equipment.
Consumers need to go to different sites, though, to make this process happen.
Netflix competitor Peerflix to cease operations
Peerflix offered a service similar to Netflix, except that it was geared toward members trading their own discs rather than renting them. According to its Web site, its demise is attributable to escalating operational costs.
Last night, an e-mail was sent to Peerflix users announcing the service's ultimate departure from the DVD marketplace, and into what is regarded as the current "bubble" in internet commerce: advertising.
Microsoft offers a contacts 'bridge' to Facebook, Bebo, others
One way to make yourself accessible to others is by offering a valuable service that they can't easily turn down. Microsoft hopes it's doing that today by offering users of LinkedIn, Facebook, and three other platforms a way to consolidate their contacts...through Windows Live.
Rarely does a week go by without Microsoft announcing another interoperability initiative; the company has put forth two new ones just this morning. One deals not so much with making some Microsoft product accessible to the outside world as it does with offering a kind of bridge between social media platforms, although it's hard to escape noticing that this bridge runs right through Windows Live Messenger.
Imeem unveils its social networking API to Web services
Specializing in networking the creative sector -- including artists, musicians, filmmakers, photographers -- imeem opened its API today, allowing developers to take advantage of the site's media library, with OpenSocial support soon to be added.
The imeem Media Platform, as it is called, includes a Web services API and client libraries which give developers access to the site's expansive library of user-uploaded songs, videos, and photos as well as its recommendation engine, social graphs and user profile data. With these, an imeem sandbox environment in which to build and debug applications has also been opened.
INCITS chair: Failure of OOXML could endanger ODF
While the official ISO vote on Microsoft's response to thousands of technical comments on OOXML is being tallied, the man who made a personal U-turn that helped rally the US delegation now says the question of interoperability hinges on adoption.
The chairperson of the INCITS V1 technical committee -- the US' standards body representative to the International Organization for Standardization -- expanded on his stated position yesterday in support of Office Open XML's adoption as ISO standard DIS 29500, by suggesting that if ISO decides against adoption, the result could negatively impact the already adopted OpenDocument Format.
Netflix glitch takes down site, delays deliveries
The Netflix Web site was down for 12 hours on Monday, and the company says the problem took out both its logistics and delivery systems.s.
Problems began around 7am Pacific time Monday, when customers began seeing a message stating "The Netflix Web site is temporarily unavailable." The outage continued until about 7pm Pacific time.
Sony BMG mulling digital music subscription offering
Sony is developing a music service that will be compatible with most music players, and provide unlimited access to the label's catalog.
Sony BMG's catalog includes artists such as Dido, Britney Spears, Sean Kingston, Chris Brown, and Alicia Keys. In an interview with the German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz did not provide a launch timeframe.
Survey: 6 in 10 Americans know about the DTV transition
As late as February of this year, only 59 percent of Americans were aware of next year's slated transition from analog to digital TV, according to a survey by Frank N. Magid Associates.
With the change about to happen on February 19, 2009, these results show a big jump from a similar survey by the same company six months before, when merely 34% of Americans had heard about the transition.
Lack of interoperable radio key to XM + Sirius merger approval
As it turns out, if XM and Sirius actually were to deliver on an earlier promise to make an interoperable radio, that fact might precipitate a reduction in consumer choice. That's the conclusion Monday from the Dept. of Justice.
In an unusually sideways argument from the US Justice Dept. this afternoon, the fact that both XM and Sirius satellite radio services have been unable to create an interoperable radio device for the foreseeable future, has been put forth as evidence that a merger between the two entities -- which the DoJ approved this afternoon -- would not reduce competition between them.
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