The mushrooming of video, media and social networking sites has led to this huge difference in the availability and demand for bandwidth and internet infrastructure.
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PC Advisor adds that none of Apple's Windows applications are yet compatible with Microsoft's Windows Vista OS (operating system), according to an Apple technical support document. News that iTunes for Windows isn't yet ready for Microsoft's new OS emerged earlier this week, with Apple warning PC users to hold off on a Vista upgrade pending the release of updates.
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]]>PC World adds that for business users who want Microsoft Office on their cell phones, Windows Mobile 6, the upcoming version of Redmond's mobile operating system to be unveiled next week, will be a must-have upgrade. Mobile 6 comes with mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
And Engadget did clarify that no carrier or manufacturer announcements have been made at this point regarding availability or upgrades -- all eyes are on next Monday for that.
]]>You can tag up to 200 books for free -- and as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life). And as the informative tour on the site says -- your profile connects you to people who share your books. With 50,000 users and 3.2 million books in the system, you'll find some "eerily similar" libraries.
The Wall Street Journal adds -- If bookcases are a way to casually display interests dear to the owner, the Internet throws open the doors on reading habits. Social-networking and book retailers' sites are already rife with lists of readers' favorite material, allowing people to compare notes on taste and compatibility. But for Tim Spalding, a computer programmer and bibliophile, listing a few titles in an online profile isn't enough. He sought a way to catalog his entire book collection -- and to check out what was lining other people's shelves.
I actually quite like what I see on the site -- as long as you are a Google member with a GMail account, it's super simple to sign in and start creating your spreadsheets. You can import your Excel spreadsheets, and save them too in Excel format. And the interface is great -- actually, it's more like a simplified version of the Excel 2007 interface -- you can't miss the fact that Google Spreadsheets has just one menu option (like the Office Button in Excel 2007), and everything else is accessible in tabs (again like the Excel 2007 ribbons). So is that where Google is trying to land its flight?
Elsewhere, Art. Lebedev Studio from Russia has created the Optimus keyboard -- just look at this stunner.
So is everyone excited about these devices? Yes and no -- there are many who will sing songs of praise but there's no dearth of skeptics as well. Everyone does agree though that there is so much more evolution down the road for these Origami PCs.
As CNET news says -- Bill Gates' vision of an ultramobile PC seemed like a winner: a device with all-day battery life, yet small enough to fit in a pocket and much cheaper than a laptop. But as devices begin to come out a year later, reality still trails Microsoft's ambitions. The first generation of devices, being announced Thursday and already featured on Microsoft's site, are bigger, pricier and more power hungry than the software maker had hoped.
Echoing in the same voice, Vnunet reported how the companies behind Microsoft's Origami ultra-mobile PC project were unable to demonstrate it successfully at a recent news conference in Seoul.
PC Magazine was not too much more enthusiastic in their review of Samsung's Q1, one of the first UMPCs released, but it did look at the good aspects as well -- at first glance, the Q1 looks like a pumped-up Sony PSP. Even the scroll button resembles the joystick on the PSP. The big difference, of course, is that the Q1 is a fully functional PC loaded with the Windows XP (Tablet Edition) operating system.
]]>Information Week said that Yahoo Inc. is set to allow users to embed in its instant messaging service formerly independent programs that help them collaborate on activities ranging from calendar scheduling to watching videos or even trading commodities. The company said it was introducing on Monday a handier way for tens of millions of users of Yahoo Messenger to share a variety of Web services, media or software created by independent software developers or by Yahoo itself.
MSNBC added that Yahoo's effort builds on the growing popularity of "widgets," or mini-applications designed to work on computer desktops. Yahoo is making it possible for developers of thousands of these mini-applications to be incorporated into instant messaging services instead of sitting static on PCs.
TG Daily provides even more details -- dozens of plug-ins ranging from extremely useful to utterly useless are already available. Users can install plug-ins for calendar sharing and viewing where friends live. Shoppers and online auction addicts can also install plug-ins for Amazon.com and Ebay.com services.
Redmongmag.com reports that the copyright licensing tool, which is free, will let Word, Excel and PowerPoint users choose among a selection of copyright licenses to address particular documents from within the Office applications, according to a joint statement by Microsoft and Creative Commons.
ZDNet was a little more euphoric when they gave kudos to Microsoft for making it possible for users of their Office suite (now numbering 400 million) to easily apply a Creative Commons license to the work they author using the applications in that productivity suite. ZDNet also adds that there is no word on whether this capability will be built into 2007 Microsoft Office system.
If these were the bouquets, then there are brickbats too. Tectonic says that Microsoft downplayed the links between Creative Commons and open source in its announcement, and everyone suddenly seems to be on friendly terms.
The Guardian reports that Apple, which already controls more than 75% of the music-download industry, hopes to introduce a service that would allow users to download films for $9.99 each by the autumn.
The International Herald Tribune adds that consumers have been willing to spend 99 cents to buy Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" or $1.99 for an episode of "Desperate Housewives" from iTunes. Now Steven Jobs is betting they will also pay $9.99 to download "The Godfather" to play on their iPods.
Not surprisingly, MSNBC doesn't agree. According to their Hollywood sources, Apple has hoped to get the store up and running within weeks. But the deal isn't yet done—and there's a chance it won't be any time soon. That's because Apple and the studios remain at loggerheads on a range of issues, from how much movie downloads should cost, to the degree of piracy protections they should carry. "This will take months and months to figure it out," says one source involved in the talks. "It may even be a 2007 kind of thing."
]]>Betanews adds that one of Microsoft's first partners in the field is Lego, whose Mindstorms NXT products will be able to take advantage of the new platform. With Robotics Studio, Lego robots would be able to perform more advanced functions.
The Inquirer quotes Microsoft sources -- according to the site, General manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group, Tandy Trower says that Microsoft wants to have its products in place by the time the market takes off in three to five years time.
ABC News found rivals to be quite skeptical of Microsoft's robotic ambitions -- according to the site, just hours after Microsoft announced the beta rollout of its DirectX, Aegia-based Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS), Evolution Robotics president and chief technical officer Paolo Pirjanian called the concept of building a software robotics standard, without heeding demands and costs of hardware, "a nice academic exercise." Although Pirjanian did not mention Microsoft by name, the implication was clear to the 750 or so attendees.
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According to the Washington Post, Adobe said it had begun distributing Google search software to new users of Adobe's Shockwave multimedia playback software, which plays interactive programs such as games, entertainment, business presentations, and advertisements in a Web browser.
eWeek adds that Google's deal with Adobe will help Google continue to spread its products to consumers and compete with Microsoft, which is planning to embed its new search tool in its Vista operating system, which should ship early next year.
And QCK.com reports that Google's share prices rose over 3.9 per cent to $402.50 at close on Nasdaq yesterday, in light of the company's new deal with software distributors Adobe.