New language inserted into the third discussion draft of version 3 of the General Public License for free and open-source software would prohibit a license holder from paying another party to receive a patent license for works the GPL covers.

But a bracketed clause would make this language take effect for licenses issued from today (March 28) forward. As a result, the agreement reached last year between Microsoft and SUSE Enterprise Linux vendor Novell may be "grandfathered in," if this language is left standing.

Continue reading →

In reporting a story on Microsoft's Channel 9 blogging initiative, Wired Contributing Editor Fred Vogelstein got an unexpected surprise in his inbox: the company's public relations firm's research on him.

The thirteen-page document shows the lengths to which Waggener Edstrom likely goes when dealing with the media to ensure Microsoft's public relations goals are met. Among the information included are tips on how to handle Vogelstein and transcripts of interviews and e-mails.

Continue reading →

Dispelling any notions from analysts that by open-sourcing the design of its SPARC processors, it's continuing its slow exit from the chip production business, Sun Microsystems has set out marching in precisely the opposite direction as analysts expected. Yesterday, the company announced it is reforming the "Microelectronics Group" division that during the 1990s was the standard-bearer for RISC processing.

To that end, Sun is moving executive vice president Dr. David Yen, one of UltraSPARC's key architects, into the new division's leadership post, which has yet to be given an official title. Yen had been the head of the Scalable Systems Group, which was the department that acquired the resources of Sun Microelectronics - a.k.a., SPARC Technology Business - a few years ago.

Continue reading →

AOL on Wednesday released the final version of AIM 6.1, which primarily brings support for Windows Vista, as well as announcing a new beta of AOL Web Mail that integrates AIM. Users will be able to conduct AIM conversations directly from their Web-based AOL Mail interface.

AIM 6.1 has been in beta testing for a number of months and is fully compatible with Vista, which launched at the end of January. Other new features in the update include the ability to send an offline IM or SMS message when a buddy signs off AIM, and new Buddy List docking and color picker options.

Continue reading →

Dell confirmed on Wednesday plans to offer Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems, beyond its current Linux-based servers and Precision workstations. The decision comes after feedback on its IdeaStorm site and a survey that garnered over 100,000 responses.

No specific timeframe was given for the expanded Linux plans, although the company said in a blog posting that it will provide an update in the coming weeks regarding the effort. It will detail "information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available," Dell said, adding that, "The countdown begins today."

Continue reading →

Confirming speculation that it was set to announce a price drop in its players, Toshiba said Wednesday that it would lower the cost of its entry-level HD DVD player to $399 USD, and would debut a 1080p player at $499 USD.

The Toshiba HD-A2 would become the new entry-level player, and the HD-A20 will provide an affordable entry point for those seeking full 1080p resolution. The top of the line HD-XA2, which also includes 1080p, was already reduced to $799 USD at the beginning of the month.

Continue reading →

Online advertising firm DoubleClick, which has seen its share of troubles in recent years, is now rumored to be exploring a sale to Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Such a deal is worth about $2 billion, according to those close to the company. Current owner Hellman & Friedman bought the company for $1.1 billion in 2005, and has sold off a number of divisions amid a massive restructuring.

Continue reading →

Sling Media, the company behind the popular Slingbox device that allows you to view what's playing on your home TV or DVR remotely, has released a beta version of its software for Palm OS based devices - namely the Treo 700p. Owners of the smartphone can now watch and control their TV over the 3G networks of Sprint and Verizon.

The beta will be free of charge until a final release, upon which time the software will cost $29.99 USD. Sling Media says it is currently evaluating supporting other mobile platforms, including RIM's Blackberry, J2ME, and BREW. SlingPlayer is already available for Windows Mobile based devices.

Continue reading →

InfoNow will integrate Microsoft's Virtual Earth application into its mapping location services that it provides for retail outlets and banks, the two companies said on Wednesday.

Although it provides no standalone service, InfoNow's LocationInsight plays a large part in many retailers' websites. According to the company, its customers include Everbank, LaSalle Bank and Suzuki, and its services are used by more than 20 million consumers worldwide.

Continue reading →

UPDATED Starting in May, Yahoo! Mail will offer all users unlimited storage, becoming the second major webmail provider to do so for non-paying customers behind AOL. The company currently offers 1GB of storage for free, and 2GB in its premium service. In comparison, Microsoft offers 2GB and Google 2.5GB.

Yahoo! Mail users will begin seeing the upgrade in May, with the full rollout expected to take a month. Only customers in China and Japan will not see the storage increases. Web-based e-mail is becoming an increasingly competitive market, with AOL and Google recently integrating instant messaging, and Microsoft preparing an overhauled webmail client called Windows Live Hotmail.

Continue reading →

Microsoft on Wednesday will release version 1.3 of the Zune firmware, which resolves a number of minor issues customers have been experiencing with the Redmond company's first portable music player and iPod rival. The patch was originally scheduled for March 20.

Included in version 1.3 is a fix for skipping issues some were experiencing with content purchased from the Zune marketplace; improved device and software reliability, which Microsoft says would offer better device detection and improved syncing; and changes to the FM tuner to prevent it from draining the battery during sleep mode.

Continue reading →

Perhaps sensing an oncoming attack from the world's new #4 PC manufacturer, Acer, HP reached deep into its patent portfolio yesterday, uncovering five technology methods - including three acquired from Compaq - and filed a lawsuit accusing Acer of utilizing HP technologies covered by those patents without authorization. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, but more importantly, it requests that a judge block the sale of Acer computers utilizing those technologies, imported from Taiwan.

That could quite possibly include all of Acer's notebook line, since the technology addressed by two of the listed patents (one granted to Compaq pre-merger, one to HP post-merger) concerns processor speed reduction - the capability for a computer to instruct its processor to power down in periods of reduced stress or workload.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has confirmed earlier reports of the Xbox 360 Elite, saying it would begin arriving in US stores on April 29 at a street price of $479.99 USD.

As expected, the new model comes with a 120GB hard drive and HDMI support, along with HD cables, wireless controller, and Xbox Live headset. Both the console and controllers will feature a premium black finish.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is working hard to ensure users of Apple's iPod music player do not experience difficulty when trying to use the device with Windows Vista. Among several patches released for the new operating system was one designed to address iPod issues that have appeared. Users had complained that their iPods were becoming corrupted after using the "Safely Remove Hardware" option to eject the player.

While Apple itself had addressed several of the problems with Vista in the iTunes 7.1 release earlier this month, it warned that the hardware removal issue was a Microsoft problem and advised users not to access the option. Even with the fix, however, 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista still remain incompatible with iTunes.

Continue reading →

Verizon said Tuesday that it plans to deploy technology developed by Alcatel-Lucent across its FiOS service area that could increase speeds by four to eight times.

Customers in Lewisville, Texas and Kirklyn, Pennsylvania would be the first to receive the upgrade, called a gigabit passive optical network (G-PON). Verizon would be the first to deploy the new technology within the United States.

Continue reading →