Latest Technology News

Apple updated its MacBook Pro line of laptops Tuesday, giving the computers slightly faster processors, more memory, and better graphics capabilities across the board.

The actual feature set of the MacBook Pro has not changed, and it still includes the 15 and 17-inch models with built in iSight, MagSafe Power Adapter, and 802.11 capabilities.

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ORLANDO - Enterprise-wide operating system customers purchase their licenses in bulk, and for them, the value of their subscriptions needs to be periodically refreshed. So Microsoft has been looking for ways to infuse Vista - which won't be upgraded substantially within the next 12 months, even though customers purchase annual licenses - with periodic value increases.

This is why one of this week's TechEd announcements is especially important: Software Assurance licensees will soon be receiving a Windows utility called System Center Desktop Error Monitoring as part of the Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) they receive with their licenses.

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Four new unpatched vulnerabilities have been published for Internet Explorer and Firefox, with two coming for each browser. The flaws were discovered by security researcher Michal Zalewski who published them to the Full Disclosure mailing list on Monday.

The most severe of the bugs is an issue in IE that could lead to cookie stealing and/or setting, page hijacking, and memory corruption. Zalewski referred to it as the "bait and switch vulnerability."

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ORLANDO - At TechEd 2007 this morning, Microsoft's senior vice president Bob Muglia generated the biggest applause of the day (not related to the Christopher Lloyd cameo) by announcing the new Server Core installation option in the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 will have as one of its ready-made "roles" the ability to rapidly appropriate Internet Information Services in a command-line-only environment.

This role should make it tremendously easier for admins to provision and deploy low-overhead Web services very rapidly, and could finally close the similarities gap between itself and the world's most deployed Web server software, Apache.

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ORLANDO - Let the record show that, although Christopher Lloyd was supposed to save TechEd from too much "MS-BS," it was Microsoft's Jeff Woolsey who finally saved humankind from the Wrath of "Product Focus." In a demonstration of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Woolsey showed how in Windows Server 2008, a VMware virtual machine could be converted to a "Viridian" VM using a single PowerShell "command-let" (cmdlet) that can be scripted.

VMs can be moved from server to server using System Center VMM, using a right-click process that is not much more difficult than using Windows Explorer.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is criticizing Apple over its practice of encrypting user data into purchased tracks from its iTunes music store, saying it poses a security risk to its users.

Information such as customer name and e-mail can be found within the files of an iPod, and the data can apparently be culled from a stolen iPod rather easily, the technology lobbying group said.

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Ostensibly acknowledging that focusing on its own audio and video formats has become a losing proposition with the near-ubiquity of Flash video, RealNetworks is preparing a new version of its oft-maligned RealPlayer software that supports Windows Media, Apple's QuickTime and even Adobe's Flash.

Rather than continuing to focus on building software for media already on the desktop, Real is taking a unique approach by letting users download videos off the Web. Although independent developers have created tools for downloading Flash videos from sites like YouTube, such capability is not currently supported by the major industry players. Users will be able to burn the clips to CD or DVD, and share the links with friends directly through RealPlayer. A free version of the new software is expected next month.

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Correcting a translation error that sparked a number of reports stating Microsoft planned to release its Zune portable music player in Europe, but not until 2008, the company now says it has no set timeframe. The confusion came in a response Steve Ballmer made to a German magazine.

In the proper translation, Ballmer said that "we decided not to enter new markets so far" and will not do so until "after we have reached some of the goals outlined. When this will be the case, I cannot tell you today." Zune product manager Cesar Menendez further clarified the situation, stating, "We will not expand the device family or our geographical footprint until we are positive that we can provide the best experience from the start."

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Microsoft has teamed with Verizon's business arm to provide consumers with one-click phone calls to businesses found on its Live Search listings, the telecommunications company said on Monday.

"Windows Live Call for Free" will be powered by the Verizon Business IP network, and gives consumers a way to immediately contact businesses they discover through using Windows Live Search and other products.

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Microsoft on Friday re-opened MSN Soapbox, the company's competitor to Google's YouTube, after two months of being closed to the public due to copyright concerns. The updated Soapbox now lets anyone view videos without being signed, and includes filtering of content.

The filtering technology, provided by Audible Magic, is intended to allow Microsoft to identify when potentially copyrighted material is uploaded to the service. In turn, the company can more easily block access and avoid the lawsuits that are piling up against YouTube from Viacom and others.

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Apple confirmed the launch date of its highly-anticipated foray into the mobile handset market in a Sunday night television ad: the iPhone is coming Friday, June 29. That doesn't mean the device will be easy to obtain, however, as Cingular customers are expected to line up in droves for the $599 USD phone.

While Apple has yet to prove itself in the mobile space and the iPhone lacks now-key smartphone features like a QWERTY keyboard and 3G capability, the company has built an innovative touch screen user interface that has iPod and Mac fans clamoring to be early adopters. Cingular has a multi-year exclusive deal with Apple, which means customers from other wireless carriers are out of luck for the time being.

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Microsoft is launching a new program that will give new music artists an opportunity to get discovered by 30 million Zune, MSN, and Xbox users through a program it calls "Ignition."

Participants in the offering will receive a month's worth of prominent placement on Zune Marketplace, Zune.net, MSN's entertainment Web site, and Xbox Live Marketplace. The first band to participate is UK based Maximo Park.

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Yahoo is raising the cost of its online subscription music service between $1 and $3 per month, depending on the customer's plan. Initially launched in 2005 at a price of $4.99 per month, Yahoo Music Unlimited will now cost $11.99 per month when purchased annually.

Without a year commitment, the service runs $14.99 per month. The last price hike was made in November 2005, when Yahoo raised the cost by $5 to $9.99 per month. At the time, Yahoo kept a version of Yahoo Music Unlimited without the ability to transfer songs to portable devices at $6.99 per month. That subscription will now cost $8.99, although only $5.99 per month if purchased annually. Still, Yahoo claims it continues to offer the lowest price of any such music service.

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ORLANDO - In a very memorable effort to erase executive vice president Bob Muglia's reputation for overstating the "Microsoft Vision," while introducing a much-needed element of self-deprecating humor to the proceedings, the company's senior vice president starred with the legendary Christopher Lloyd in a "Back to the Future" video where he was given an opportunity to go back in time two years and undo the mistakes of his prior keynotes.

As our video begins, it is 2005. Bob Muglia exits the stage at TechEd 2005, his blue denim shirt drenched with the debris of numerous tomatoes, lettuce, and other valuable organic waste products, after what appears to have been a disastrous reception at the main keynote. Pleading with "Doc" for an explanation, Muglia asks him, what could possibly have gone wrong? "I was just showing them Microsoft's Vision of the Future."

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Palm said Monday that it had received $325 million in funding from Bono's Elevation Partners, and would shuffle its board -- including the addition of a former iPod exec from Apple -- to make itself more competitive.

Shareholders will receive $9 per Palm share they own as part of the restructuring. In turn, two board members will resign and be replaced by the co-founders of the private equity firm making the strategic investment in the portable electronics maker.

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