» Vista availability update straight from the horse's mouth | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

Almost endgame 

Brad Goldberg, General Manager of Microsoft’s Windows Client Business Group, would, no doubt, prefer not to be called a horse.

But Goldberg did say on September 29 that Microsoft has “one more EDW” (External Developer Workstation) build of Vista slated before the product RTMs (releases to manufacturing). That means one more fairly widescale test release. Then it's soup, Goldberg said.

Source: » Vista availability update straight from the horse's mouth | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

The New York Review of Books: Books@Google

Useful review of a gaggle of Google books 

In 1998 two Stanford graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founded Google.com, a search engine that uses a better technology than had previously existed for indexing and retrieving information from the immense miscellany of the World Wide Web and for ranking the Web sites that contain this information according to their relevance to particular queries based on the number of links from the rest of the Internet to a given item.

Source: The New York Review of Books: Books@Google

Scott Prather's The People Generation: Is $600 gaming consoles = Jumping the Shark?

Okay, now Sony is really in trouble, if Scott Prather is shorting his bet on PlayStation 3.  Read the full post...

I am not sure I would take a $.07 bet on this one because things have surprised me before in this space. What I would take a $.07 on is that Nintendo gains market share, Microsoft stays the same and Sony is the big loser. MS might be the big surprise just because I think they are the only ones focused on the next gen of gaming (look at the stuff they are doing with Peter "he is the king" Jackson).

Source: Scott Prather's The People Generation: Is $600 gaming consoles = Jumping the Shark?

Reuters.com: Technical hurdles delay mobile Skype: CEO

Problems for mobile Skype on platforms other than Windows Mobile:

[Skype chief executive and co-founder Niklas Zennstrom] said: "We have no publicly available products yet to offer and I can't give you a timetable."

"When we begun developing the mobile phone version we didn't realize the number of technical obstacles. It is challenging and is taking much longer than expected," he added in an interview with the daily.

Source: Reuters.com Technical hurdles delay mobile Skype: CEO

Toshiba Announces Recall Of Sony Laptop Batteries - WSJ.com

More bad news for Sony -- Lenovo and Toshiba are added to the recall list 

The move follows an announcement from Sony earlier in the day asking manufacturers using its problem batteries to carry out exchanges.

The latest announcement brings the tally of recalled batteries to about seven million world-wide.

Source: Toshiba Announces Recall Of Sony Laptop Batteries - WSJ.com

MySpace's New Rivals Are Winning Friends - WSJ.com

Okay, so maybe not $15B for Myspace, and perhaps Facebook should sell sooner rather than later... 

The rise of these social-networking sites is another sign of the shifting tastes on the Internet, as niche audiences flock to new alternatives to MySpace and Facebook. That potentially spells trouble for those two incumbents, as fickle online audiences can increasingly divide their time between more sites. Indeed, the social-networking space already has shown itself to be vulnerable to the latest fad. Four years ago, Friendster pioneered social networking but was quickly overtaken by rivals as it suffered from technical problems. The new sites -- and their investors -- could benefit if young people similarly get tired of MySpace and Facebook and start to drift away.

Source: MySpace's New Rivals Are Winning Friends - WSJ.com

PBS | I, Cringely . September 28, 2006 - The Buck Stops Where?

More insightful analysis from Cringely 

The whole point of Zune is to stay in the game and to position Microsoft for future success. Remember, it takes Microsoft three tries to get almost anything right, so maybe this time they are actually counting on that. But if Zune is an eventual financial success for Redmond, it won't be through hardware OR music sales, but probably through location-based marketing.

Also in this week's summary:

1.  The HP way -- long gone, apparently, or at least mutated

2.  Verizon's unlimited wireless broadband -- which isn't unlimited (read the fine print)

Source: PBS | I, Cringely . September 28, 2006 - The Buck Stops Where?

Microsoft Launches Forefront Security for SharePoint Beta

The scope of competition in the enterprise collaboration/content server/services market continues to expand...  See the full press release for details. 

Microsoft Corp. today is launching the public beta of Forefront Security for SharePoint^® (http://www.microsoft.com/forefront). This latest release of Microsoft^® Forefront security products for businesses is based on Antigen for SharePoint Server, the multi-engine security solution acquired by Microsoft as part of the acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. in 2005.

Source: Microsoft Launches Forefront Security for SharePoint Beta

Microsoft to Put Zune Experience in Consumers’ Hands on Nov. 14: Zune device to retail for $249.99.

Looks like the prices are in the same zone as Apple devices and music purchases, and as Real (or Yahoo! Music Unlimited with the "to-go"/non-PC device option) for the subscription option (see the full press release for pricing details along with a long list of options etc.); that tells me Microsoft is pretty confident it won't have to compete by being the low-price/loss-leader disruptor.

Microsoft Corp. is putting the social into digital music, starting this holiday. Today the company announced that the Zune™ digital media player and online service will be available to consumers in the U.S. on Nov. 14, 2006, just in time for the holidays. The Zune device will retail for $249.99 U.S. (ERP) and will create new ways for entertainment fans to connect and share media experiences device-to-device through the use of wireless technology and new software scenarios.

Source: Microsoft to Put Zune Experience in Consumers’ Hands on Nov. 14: Zune device to retail for $249.99.

PRAGMATECH SOFTWARE (more Kubi Software morphing)

Hmm -- more potential clues about what happened to Kubi; today the Kubi Software home page redirects to Pragmatech, another North Bridge investment portfolio company.

Pragmatech is the worldwide leader in improving Sales Effectiveness through personalized communications. Find out how Pragmatech solutions can fundamentally transform the effectiveness of your Sales & Marketing teams.

Source: PRAGMATECH SOFTWARE (more Kubi Software morphing)

Fast Company Now: Apple's World Power in Question

 An unnatural monopoly?...

The accusations against Apple were led by French legislators who promote “interoperability” in music –- they feel that music should not legally be sold if it is compatible with only one product. Legislators from several European countries are seeking to stop the sale of Apple-exclusive iTunes and promote music and videos that can be enjoyed on any digital device.

Of course, Europeans aren’t the only ones angered by Apple’s monopoly; many in the United States feel strongly about the universal exchange of music, and for the past two years, the European Commission has investigated inflated prices of iTunes in the United Kingdom.

Source: Fast Company Now: Apple's World Power in Question 

Red Hat plummets on 2Q billing shortfall - Boston.com

Curious contrast, e.g., to Oracle's recent earnings

Shares of Red Hat Inc., the largest distributor of the open source Linux operating system, plummeted Wednesday, as disappointing second-quarter results, including a slowdown in billings, triggered analyst and investor alarm.

[...]

Red Hat told analysts in a conference call that billings, or revenue plus change in deferred revenue, grew 23 percent year-over-year; last year, management said billings grew 58 percent year-over-year.

Source: Red Hat plummets on 2Q billing shortfall - Boston.com

MySpace may be worth $15 billion | CNET News.com

We're definitely not in Kansas anymore... 

MySpace, the social-networking Web site, could be worth around $15 billion within three years, measured in terms of the value created for shareholders of parent company News Corp., a Wall Street media analyst forecast Wednesday.

Source: MySpace may be worth $15 billion | CNET News.com

Three Systems, One Goal: See Your Favorite Shows Anywhere - New York Times

See the article for details

The original Slingbox — the set-top device from Sling Media that pipes programs from your home television across the Internet to your computer screen — is getting some siblings. The company announced three new versions this week, each intended for a different technological need of the television-obsessed public.

Source: Three Systems, One Goal: See Your Favorite Shows Anywhere - New York Times

80 Years of a Magazine on a Hard Drive? It’s the Talk of the Town - New York Times

 Sign of the times -- $299 for all of The New Yorker content since 1925, along with a handy 80-gigabyte carrying case...

If E. B. White and Joseph Mitchell had known that their essays would end up on metal platters spinning at 5,400 r.p.m., they would probably have asked for a bit more per word. Their writing — along with articles by hundreds of other contributors to The New Yorker — is now collected on one 3-by-5-inch portable hard drive.

Source: 80 Years of a Magazine on a Hard Drive? It’s the Talk of the Town - New York Times

Writer Beta 1 Update « Flying Upside Down

Upgrade today... 

Today we are shipping an update to Beta 1 of Windows Live Writer. Highlights include:

1. A new tagging feature which supports a handful of tagging services (and is user extensible to support additional services).
2. Support for the latest version of Blogger (Blogger Beta).
3. We fixed the top 20 customer issues/bugs to smooth out some early rough edges.
4. Writer now has its own space on Windows Live Gallery where a bunch of 3rd party extensions are available (with more to come). Highlights include “Blog This” extensions for both IE and Firefox as well as a Flickr plugin.
5. An Event plugin that we developed in collaboration with Eventful. This plugin highlights Writer’s ability to publish microformats and to use Live Clipboard to flexibly translate structured data into presentation.

Source: Writer Beta 1 Update « Flying Upside Down

The Ascent of Wind Power - New York Times

Great use of technology

Wind power may still have an image as something of a plaything of environmentalists more concerned with clean energy than saving money. But it is quickly emerging as a serious alternative not just in affluent areas of the world but in fast-growing countries like India and China that are avidly seeking new energy sources. And leading the charge here in west-central India and elsewhere is an unlikely champion, Suzlon Energy, a homegrown Indian company.

 

Source: The Ascent of Wind Power - New York Times

Verizon Says TV, High-Speed Web Services on Track - WSJ.com

 Tenacious...

The company, of New York, said it expects to reach its goal of passing six million homes with a new fiber-optic network by the end of the year. Verizon expects to have signed up 500,000 broadband-Internet customers on its fiber-optic network and 100,000 TV customers by the end of the third quarter, on track to meet year-end targets of 750,000 and 175,000, respectively.

Verizon estimated the network upgrade will take a net investment of $18 billion through 2010 and predicted the project will generate positive operating income beginning in 2009.

Source: Verizon Says TV, High-Speed Web Services on Track - WSJ.com

In court, blogs can come back to dog the writers - The Boston Globe

Interesting reality check 

First came the hard-learned lesson that e-mail can be used as evidence in legal proceedings. Now blogs -- basically, continuous public Internet journals -- are emerging as fair game in civil disputes, criminal cases, and government investigations, where they are used as evidence with growing frequency.

Source: In court, blogs can come back to dog the writers - The Boston Globe

Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Timely and interesting checkpoint 

Amazon.com is selling the computing resources originally developed to handle its own business. CEO Jeff Bezos explained why, after his keynote at the Emerging Technologies Conference yesterday.

Source: Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Gear Factor: Virgin Atlantic Revises Laptop Ban

 Of course, this won't do you much good if your new Apple laptop, like Dave Winer's, won't run without rebooting every 10 minutes... 

According to the airline's Web site, travelers may use their Dell and Apple notebooks "once the laptop serial number has been checked by a member of the cabin crew." If the unit is not on the recall list, the owner may use it without restriction.

Source: Gear Factor: Virgin Atlantic Revises Laptop Ban

Microsoft Monitor: What Is Wallop's Punch?

I guess WPF/E didn't make it in time...  Read the full post for more Wallop details. 

Wallop's approach is unique from the MySpaces of the world, and this uniqueness is both compelling and disconcerting. Uniqueness numero uno is Microsoft, which is a Wallop financial and technology backer. Wallop licenses technology developed by Microsoft Research, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Another uniqueness is Flash. Unlike the plethora of HTML-based social networks, Wallop uses Adobe's Flash to create fluidity, motion and, well, neatness. Wallop sites (hereafter referred to as Wallops) are refreshingly clean compared to the garish pages socialites post on some other social networking services. Individual Wallops are cleanly laid out, with content above the fold (or scroll). The approach allows for much cleaner navigation than some other social networking sites, where too much important stuff (how about "friends") is accessible only by scrolling the browser window.

Source: Microsoft Monitor: What Is Wallop's Punch?

John Battelle's Searchblog: Google Clarifies Philosophy Re: Content

 John Battelle gets an update from a Google rep:

Because we don’t own this content, over the years we’ve come up with three primary principles to ensure that we respect content owners and protect their rights:

* we respect copyright;
* we let owners choose whether we index their content in our products;
* we try to bring benefit back to content owners by partnering with them.

Battelle's book is an excellent review of Google history and strategy -- recommended reading.

Source: John Battelle's Searchblog: Google Clarifies Philosophy Re: Content

Deal to Put Live Concerts on Internet Is Dissolved - New York Times

Small world... 

AOL and a group of entertainment entrepreneurs who created a venture to produce and distribute live concerts on the Internet and elsewhere have dissolved their partnership after just 14 months, executives in the venture said yesterday.

The move to unwind the venture, which was called Network Live, came as its co-founder and chief executive, Kevin Wall, announced that he had struck a new deal to produce live events to be distributed through Microsoft’s online service and, potentially, through products like Xbox. The venture with Microsoft will be called Control Room, he said.

Source: Deal to Put Live Concerts on Internet Is Dissolved - New York Times

MSN and Control Room Team to Bring Music’s Biggest Performances to Fans Worldwide

 Relentless...

With this agreement in place, MSN and Control Room will embark upon a deep, exclusive content collaboration, combining Control Room’s expertise in creating and delivering live music events for cross-media distribution with the feature-rich video programming of MSN and its global reach and branded entertainment appeal to advertisers. Further, through this agreement, Microsoft Corp. may stream Control Room shows to other platforms, including Xbox Live^®, MSN Messenger, Microsoft^® Windows Media^® Player and Windows^® XP Media Center Edition.

Source: MSN and Control Room Team to Bring Music’s Biggest Performances to Fans Worldwide

New flash hard drive competes with notebook drives

I'm ready... 

Are you ready for laptop storage with no moving parts to spin up, break, drain your battery, add weight, or make noise? That's what you get with Samsung's new 32GB (Solid State Drive (SSD). Built using NAND flash memory, the SSD is the first consumer unit with enough capacity to compete against standard notebook drives; 32GB may not satisfy multimedia addicts, but it's plenty for average business users.

Source: New flash hard drive competes with notebook drives

Microsoft Spinoff Launches Social-Networking Site - WSJ.com

 Now in test mode at http://www.wallop.com/

Wallop, a startup spun out of Microsoft Corp.'s research lab, is launching the test version of an online social-networking site with the premise that people will want to pay extra to look good.

The company, which aims to compete with established brands like MySpace and Facebook, plans to sell graphics and other features people can use to decorate their personal profile pages.

See the About Wallop page for more details

Source: Microsoft Spinoff Launches Social-Networking Site - WSJ.com

New drives let you make any computer your own - The Boston Globe

Interesting permutation 

``By the end of 2008, people will install software on their smart drive, and not on their hard drive," said Kate Purnal, chief executive of U3 LLC in Redwood City, Calif., which markets one of the new smart drives.

If the new technology catches on, companies would have greater flexibility in assigning computers to employees.

Each machine could contain only an operating system, such as Windows software. All other programs would be loaded onto a smart drive, which the worker would keep at all times and use on any computer in the office.

Source: New drives let you make any computer your own - The Boston Globe

The Four Tiers of Vista's UI

Handy comparisons 

Just in case you didn't already know this, Windows Vista is shipping with four tiers of user interface experience, from the new Aero Glass to Vista Standard, Vista Basic and Windows Classic. The istartedsomething blog has 28 screenshots that compare the four different interfaces.

Source: The Four Tiers of Vista's UI

Michael's Thoughts: Kubi with Joomla?

 Michael Sampson notices an apparent stage change at Kubi

... and speaking of Kubi Software, its home page says "KubiSoftware.com is offline. Please check back again soon", and there's a Joomla! logo prominently displayed. Joomla! says it is "one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications." What's going down guys? Kubi Software

Source: Michael's Thoughts: Kubi with Joomla?

The Space Craft: Get the Inside Scoop on Xbox 360 with AceyBongos’ Space

 Live integration...

If you’ve got an Xbox 360, did you know that you can hook up your Windows Live Space with your Xbox Live account? We’ve got a number of modules that actually pull information in real-time from your console and display it on your space. You can add your GamerCard so everyone can see your GamerScore and Reputation, and the Last Played Games module shows the world which hi-def Xbox 360 games you’ve been spending your time with. There are also Xbox 360 Themes to give your Space that complete Xbox look.

Source: The Space Craft: Get the Inside Scoop on Xbox 360 with AceyBongos’ Space

NewsGator Go! for Windows Mobile

The unread mark sync service is key 

If you spend a lot of time on the go and are looking for a way to keep up to date with all the latest news and information, then NewsGator Go! is just what you are looking for. NewsGator Go! gives you the ability to track and manage all your RSS content on your Windows Mobile device. Best of all, when you read something on your mobile device or clip an article from your mobile device that action is then synchronized with all NewsGator products.

Source: NewsGator

Fans say Playstation 3 lacks the 'wow' factor - World - Times Online

More bad news for Sony 

But fans and analysts were united in the view that the PS3, despite the superiority of its technology, has failed to demonstrate its “wow” factor.

It will be an expensive, complicated machine, and must make early gains before Christmas to win over the Japanese market, where it will be sold for 50,000 yen (£226). Britain will not get any PS3s until March.

Source: Fans say Playstation 3 lacks the 'wow' factor - World - Times Online

Learning How to Read Slowly Again - New York Times

I only had time to skim this, but it looked like an interesting review... 

It’s a Malthusian problem. The amount of printed material increases exponentially, but the time available for reading remains static or, in many cases, decreases arithmetically. So once we have decided what to read, the question then becomes, How to read? And the paradoxical answer is, Much more slowly.

Source: Learning How to Read Slowly Again - New York Times

Google Defies Order That It Publish Adverse Belgian Ruling - New York Times

More like Microsoft every week... 

The earlier decision required Google to stop displaying summaries of French- and German-language articles from Belgian newspapers. Google faces a fine of 500,000 euros ($640,000) for every day it fails to comply with the order to publish the decision. It said it planned to fight the order, issued Friday, as part of a broader argument, set for November, in which it will seek to overturn the initial ruling.

“We will now further appeal this measure because we believe it is disproportionate and unnecessary, given the extensive publicity the case has received already, especially while its substance has yet to be debated in court,” Google said in a statement.

Source: Google Defies Order That It Publish Adverse Belgian Ruling - New York Times

» The pundits are wrong: Vista is moving full-steam ahead | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

I agree 

For better or for worse, Windows Vista is moving full-steam ahead toward a fall release-to-manufacturing and November business availability.

Source: » The pundits are wrong: Vista is moving full-steam ahead | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog

Interesting historical recap -- but I think this paradoxical press-bashing by someone in the press conveniently ignores some realities: Apple was essentially dead a decade ago, and the picture was very stark even after Steve Jobs returned (see, e.g., the August, 1997 MacWorld keynote). 

Many of the modus operandi that got Apple c1996 into such deep trouble are being repeated today.  I don't think we've seen the last Apple roller coaster ride.

Nowadays, Apple is a media darling. The critics like the company’s direction, and so does Wall Street.

But it wasn’t always so. This summer marked the tenth anniversary of Apple’s lowest point–a time in 1996 when the company’s profits and products were hitting bottom. (Steve Jobs’s return to the company he founded was still a year away.)

Source: Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog

Adobe, Symantec Behind Complaints to EU About Vista

 More perspectives from Paul Thurrott

Here's the thing. Back in the bad old days a decade ago, when Microsoft was busy integrating Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) into Windows solely to harm the competition, one could easily make the case for anticompetitive behavior. There's room for debate about whether features such as Web browsers and IM applications need to be bundled and deeply integrated into an OS. Today, however, few could argue that improving the security of Windows is anything but a good idea. In fact, one might describe such changes as mandatory.

Source: Adobe, Symantec Behind Complaints to EU About Vista

Yahoo Woos a Social Networking Site - New York Times

 Strange days indeed...

To woo Mr. Zuckerberg, Yahoo has offered about $900 million for Facebook and says it will keep the company somewhat independent, with Mr. Zuckerberg in charge. This has been its model with other acquisitions like Flickr, a photo-sharing site, and Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking service that lets members share lists of their favorite Web sites.

Source: Yahoo Woos a Social Networking Site - New York Times

WSJ.com - Software Makers Complain to EU Over Microsoft's New Vista System

Um, isn't it sort of weird to have the company with a quasi-monopoly in electronic documents and a company that enjoys participating in a tight oligopoly in anti-virus software making this sort of complaint? 

Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has told regulators that Microsoft should be prohibited from building free competing software for reading and creating electronic documents into the operating system, called Vista, according to people familiar with the situation.

Meanwhile, officials from antivirus-software maker Symantec Corp. plan to travel to Brussels next week to brief journalists about Vista features that the Cupertino, Calif., company has told EU regulators will undercut rival computer-security-software makers. The briefings are intended to combat a similar public-relations effort by Microsoft, said a Symantec spokesman, Cris Paden.

Source: WSJ.com - Software Makers Complain to EU Over Microsoft's New Vista System

WSJ.com - Facebook, Riding a Web Trend, Flirts With a Big-Money Deal

Amazing... 

One popular use of social-networking site Facebook.com is to flirt with other members. As it happens, Facebook Inc., the start-up company behind the Web site, has been doing some serious flirting of its own.

People familiar with the matter say the company has held separate acquisition talks with Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Viacom Inc. over the past year. Now, say some of these people, the start-up is in serious discussions -- again -- to sell itself to Yahoo for an amount that could approach $1 billion.

 

Source: WSJ.com - Facebook, Riding a Web Trend, Flirts With a Big-Money Deal

SAP's Agassi Confirms Oracle Killer Plans, Dishes on SOA

 This just in from the wishful-thinking zone: SAP thinks DBMS is going away...

Do you see a scenario where you wouldn't need a database under SAP applications?

[Shai Agassi, president of the product and technology group and a member of SAP's executive board:] Long term.

How long? Five years? Ten years?

I don't want to speculate on that. We'll tell you when we're there. There is speculation, but I don't think we need to speculate on that. For the traditional transactional application right now you need a database. Down the road, you're right … But today? No.

Source: SAP's Agassi Confirms Oracle Killer Plans, Dishes on SOA

Windows Vista Team Blog : Is Windows Vista Ready? Scenario Voting Poses the Question

Interesting 

With the release of Windows Vista RC1, the product teams are eager to hear what you think.  Visit the Windows Vista Scenario Voting site to explore Windows Vista and let the teams know about your experience.  For RC1 users, we have created a special voting category called "Is Windows Vista Ready?"  Here you can provide your satisfaction on nine overall attributes of Windows Vista.  You can also vote on the same nine attributes for Windows XP to compare and contrast between the two.

Source: Windows Vista Team Blog : Is Windows Vista Ready? Scenario Voting Poses the Question

Amazon Business Solutions - Fulfillment by Amazon - An Amazon Fulfillment Services Group

Via Dave Winer 

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a new program that makes delivering your Pro Merchant Program and WebStore orders a snap. You send your new and used products to us, and we'll store them. As orders are placed, we'll pick, pack and ship them to your customers from our network of fulfillment centers.

Source: Amazon Business Solutions - Fulfillment by Amazon - An Amazon Fulfillment Services Group