eBay launched its instant buying service to supplement its normal auction listings Monday, hoping to lure more traditional e-commerce users to its service. First announced in January, eBay Express allows users to purchase from multiple sellers using a single shopping cart.

The site is completely separate from eBay's main auctions, and has the appearance of a more traditional e-commerce store. Nearly 10 million listings are included, culled from the auction site's "Buy it Now" listings. A U.S. version is currently in "preview mode," allowing sellers and buyers to test out the service.

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MTV Networks and Nickelodeon parent Viacom announced Tuesday plans to acquire Xfire, an online game technology company, for $102 million. Xfire has a largely youth-oriented audience that use its instant messaging and social networking platform alongside their games.

Although Xfire does not create games itself, it provides the platform for connecting players together. MTV plans to utilize the technology for its online properties, including features for sharing music videos. The network will push the service on its television programming and Web site in an attempt to expand Xfire's 4 million plus user base.

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Nokia on Tuesday introduced three new phones, as well as announcing several partnerships aimed at further solidifying its leadership in the mobile multimedia category.

The devices would join Nokia's N Series line of "converged" devices, which offer several different entertainment options in a single electronic device. The partnerships are intended to support these new handsets.

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Microsoft has released build 5365 of Windows Vista, asking testers to focus on the 64-bit installations of the operating system. The pre-Beta 2 build has been released to members of its TAP, Beta, and Partner programs in x86 and x64 versions of the Ultimate Edition.

Microsoft is recommending a clean install, noting several issues when upgrading from Windows XP, and build-to-build upgrades are not supported. "This build is another snapshot of our progress on our way to the Beta 2 milestone and will allow you to verify fixed bugs as well as check for new regressions that may have been introduced," the company said in an e-mail to testers.

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Microsoft said Monday it was expanding a pilot of the Windows Genuine Advantage program that would notify users of counterfeit versions of the operating system. The company will still continue to delivery high priority software updates to these users regardless of their WGA status.

Piracy remains a growing problem in the software industry, with as much as 35 percent of all software pirated, according to the Business Software Alliance. Research firm IDC has said that if the piracy rate dropped to 25 percent, as many as 2.4 million new jobs and $400 billion in economic growth would be created worldwide.

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Microsoft early Tuesday put live the Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 7, the company's new standalone browser for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. A new IE Web site is promoting the beta, which Microsoft is targeting at both enthusiasts and the general public.

IE7 Beta 2 follows a preview release in January and a layout-complete build that debuted at MIX 06 in March. Margaret Cobb, IE Group Product Manger, told BetaNews that although there have been many noticeable changes since MIX, Beta 2 brings improved compatibility and a far more reliable browsing experience.

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Following a flurry of rumors, Sun Microsystems on Monday disclosed that Scott McNealy, the company's founder and CEO for the past 22 years, will step down from his chief executive position. Sun COO Jonathan Schwartz will replace McNealy effective immediately.

McNealy's departure comes as Sun reported a quarterly net loss of $217 million as it struggles to increase revenue and market share amidst growing competition from rivals such as IBM. McNealy will remain on as company Chairman and will devote his time to "expanding market opportunities," Sun said in a statement in which it called the change part of an "on-going succession planning process."

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Intel on Monday introduced a new brand for business PCs dubbed vPro, which serves as a chip platform much like Intel's Centrino for mobile computers and Viiv for entertainment systems. vPro brings to the table the second generation of Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) and built-in virtualization.

AMT is designed to ease management of workstations for businesses, offering the ability to diagnose and repair PCs, even if the operating system has crashed or hardware has failed. Administrators could also use AMT to isolate systems infected with spyware or viruses.

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Banding together with companies such as IBM, HP, Hitachi and Sun, VMware announced Monday the creation of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Alliance. The group will help VMware promote its virtualization solutions, and the company will work with each partner to build joint offerings.

VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is designed to enable businesses to deploy thin-clients instead of full desktop workstations, which would use remote desktop capabilities linked to virtual machines. "Just as the Web has transformed many applications into a hosted service, virtualization is transforming the entire desktop into a server hosted environment that is always on, dynamically scalable and centrally secured and managed," said Brian Byun, VMware's vice president of products and alliances.

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Microsoft over the weekend made available for download Office Communicator Mobile, its new unified messaging client that links into Live Communications Server 2005. The software runs on both Windows Mobile 2003 and the latest 5.0 release for both Pocket PC devices and smartphones.

Office Communicator Mobile 1.0 features an interface similar to the desktop client, and is designed to enable information workers to stay connected when away from their desk. Along with text and voice messaging, the software supports voice over IP calling, which will enable companies to save on calling rates.

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Microsoft on Monday detailed innovations coming in Windows Vista that the company believes makes the operating system superior in the delivery of multimedia. This would include several enhancements to Windows Media itself as well as expanded functionality within Windows Media Center, now standard in Vista.

The company is promoting the new features of its upcoming operating system at the National Association of Broadcasters convention being held this week in Las Vegas. With online multimedia becoming more prevalent, traditional broadcasters are increasingly interesting in utilizing the Internet as a method for delivery.

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RealNetworks said Monday that it had been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office surrounding its media technology. The patent covers methods used when consumers click on links to stream content from Web browsers and media players, the company said.

Called "click-to-stream," the technology patented covers how streaming media is allowed to play before the entire file is downloaded to the computer. The patent specifically references media that is initiated from a Web browser, multimedia advertising, and network-enabled software media players.

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Microsoft said Friday that it has hired away InterActive Corp search head Steve Berkowitz to lead its Online Business division, which includes MSN and Windows Live. The hiring continues the leadership shuffle at the Redmond company in an effort to make it more competitive against rivals such as Google.

Berkowitz would replace David Cole on May 8, who announced he would be taking a leave of absence in March. In an e-mail to the Microsoft Platforms and Services Division Friday, Berkowitz's new boss Kevin Johnson told employees that he had the right mix of experience and a "deep functional knowledge of the search."

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Microsoft and Universal Studios announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas Monday a collaboration to use Microsoft technologies in upcoming HD DVD discs. The Redmond company is a strong supporter of the next-generation DVD technology.

Universal has agreed to use iHD, an interactivity feature for DVDs, in its upcoming titles. Additionally, it will use VC-1, a compression protocol recently approved as a standard for use in HD DVD discs. Both technologies were developed in part by researchers at Microsoft.

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As expected, Apple on Monday debuted a 17-inch MacBook Pro, the second model in its high-end Intel-based notebook lineup. The system, which will retail for $2,799 USD, includes a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor.

All features save the screen size are identical to the 15-inch model, including a built in iSight camera, iLife '06, Front Row, and MagSafe power adapter. The laptop itself is one inch thin, and weighs 6.8 pounds, Apple said.

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