TigerDirect Sues Apple Over New OS
UPDATED Online computer and peripheral retailer TigerDirect has filed suit against Apple claiming Mac OS X 10.4, known as "Tiger," infringes on its trademarked name. According to court filings, TigerDirect is seeking an injunction to stop Apple from using the word "tiger" online or in printed materials immediately.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Florida, also claims that Apple engaged in deceptive and unfair trade practices. TigerDirect says Apple's use of Tiger "is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the general purchasing public."
CyberLink Previews Blu-ray Support
Software developer CyberLink, maker of the popular PowerDVD suite, has begun adding Blu-ray reading and disc burning to its applications.
The company previewed playback with navigation of video content at the Blu-ray Association's member seminar. "Attendees were shown navigation via thumbnails on a browser menu, access to playlists, and fast forward and fast rewind controls," CyberLink said in the announcement.
Fujitsu Delivers Serial ATA Laptop Drive
After being first unveiled in January 2004, Fujitsu's 2.5-inch Serial ATA hard drives are now ready to ship to computer makers and distributors, the company announced Thursday. The drives are among the smallest and fastest, boasting transfer rates of 150 Mbytes per second.
Serial ATA technology has seen rapid adoption in desktop PCs as a replacement to standard IDE due to its speed. The new 2.5-inch drives could bring the same throughput to notebook computers, where hard drives have become performance bottlenecks.
Revamped Yahoo News Site Goes Live
After just two weeks in testing, Yahoo has dropped the beta tag from its revamped news aggregator, officially replacing the old Yahoo News. The new site streamlines the Yahoo News interface to pack in more headlines and pictures, along with adding support for user-added news sources via RSS feeds.
Customization is at the forefront of the refreshed Yahoo News, and comes one month after Google News gave readers the ability to customize their headlines. But unlike Google, which has even begun including blog postings as news sources, Yahoo only pulls headlines from a limited number of major media outlets. To make up for the smaller pool of content, Yahoo members can add headlines from any RSS-enabled Web site.
Apple Retaliates for Steve Jobs Bio
Seemingly striking back for an upcoming biography of its chief executive Steve Jobs, Apple has pulled all books by tech publisher John Wiley & Sons from its stores. Wiley publishes the "Dummies" series of book and has enjoyed a long partnership with Apple, which was apparently not pleased by the biography.
"There were conversations with an Apple executive and following that the books were pulled," a Wiley spokesperson said. "It's an unfortunate decision for us, and we're clearly disappointed in their decision." The book, "iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business," is an update to a biography about Jobs written by Jeffrey Young 20 years ago. Young said he was surprised by the news, claiming his new book is "pretty positive."
Nokia Introduces 4GB Music Phone
iPod Mini, meet the Nokia N91. At a special event in Amsterdam Wednesday, Nokia rolled out a new line of multimedia mobile phones that bring together the latest technology with sleek styling. In particular, the N91 packs in a 4GB micro hard drive, USB 2.0, 3G network connectivity and stereo headphone jack.
Consumers more interested in photos than music can opt for the Nokia N90, which sports a 2-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens with VHS video capture support. The flip phone includes a "multi-hinge twist-and-shoot design" and integrated flash.
Microsoft Goes After PDF with 'Metro'
Longhorn may have taken center stage at WinHEC 2005 in Seattle this week, but perhaps the most important news coming from Microsoft is a new document spec known as "Metro." Metro encompasses a family of technologies covering document creation, viewing and printing, which could serve to replace Adobe's PDF platform.
At the core of Metro lies a specification for an XML-based "electronic paper" file format called "Metro Reach" that boasts portability for use with any application on any platform. Metro Reach uses XML to describe the layout of documents and how they should be rendered.
Microsoft, SAP Partner on 'Mendocino'
Microsoft is teaming up with German software developer SAP to create a new application, code-named "Mendocino," which enables Microsoft Office to hook directly into SAP's enterprise resource management tools. The goal is to diminish wasted time that is spent searching for information and switching between applications.
Specifically, Mendocino will integrate SAP processes such as time management, budget monitoring and travel and expense management into Office menus. Users will also be able to synchronize data between Exchange Server and SAP, retrieve SAP information from within Excel, and submit data via Microsoft's InfoPath forms.
European PSP Launch Pushed to Sept.
Eager gamers in Europe will have to endure a long wait to get their hands on Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld, which won't hit store shelves until September 1. Sony confirmed a delay in March citing allocation issues, but the PSP was still expected to launch in Europe this summer.
Stores in many European countries have been showing off the PSP in window displays for months and even taking pre-orders for the device. It's not clear how retailers will react to the new release date that is scheduled over five months after the PSP's debut in the United States.
IE7 Progressing With CSS, PNG Fixes
As Internet Explorer 7 marches its way towards Beta 1 this summer, Microsoft has said little about what exactly to expect. But details of IE7, code-named "Rincon," are slowly beginning to creep out of Redmond. Lead program manager Chris Wilson says requested changes from developers are already being implemented.
According to Wilson, PNG alpha channel support and fixes to address some CSS consistency problems are complete.
64-Bit Windows Editions Launch
At WinHEC 2005, Microsoft announced it is finally ready to bring 64-bit computing to the mainstream and is shipping x64 editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The 64-bit versions of Windows were released to manufacturing in late March and will now be available from PC vendors.
Microsoft has big plans for 64-bit computing, but moving towards the next-generation architecture won't be an easy transition. The new x64 Windows releases will not be sold on retail shelves - only as an option from manufacturers selling PCs with 64-bit processors from AMD and soon Intel.
WinHEC Brings Longhorn, Mini-Tablet
As the WinHEC 2005 developer conference kicks off today in Seattle, much of the focus will be on Longhorn, with Microsoft publicly previewing its next-generation Windows release for the first time since April 2004. But Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will also herald in the third decade of Windows, showing off a tiny tablet PC.
The prototype mini-tablet, which was commissioned by Microsoft, is as thin as 10 sheets of paper and weighs only 1 to 2 pounds with a built in camera and 6-inch screen. The device contains a battery that can last all day, and is priced between $500 and $800.
Official Xbox 360 Image Leaked?
Microsoft's second generation Xbox has been the subject of much speculation over the last few months, as the videogame console nears its mid-May unveiling. But Microsoft has successfully kept the new Xbox all but a mystery - until now. A seemingly official picture of the "Xbox 360" has made its way onto the Web.
The image initially surfaced on the SomethingAwful Forums late Friday, where it quickly gained attention as the first legitimate picture of Microsoft's next-generation Xbox. Sources have vouched for its authenticity, however enthusiastic gamers won't receive official confirmation from Microsoft until May 12, when the new Xbox debuts on MTV.
Microsoft Sued Over JPEG Patent
Scheduling software maker Forgent has filed suit against Microsoft for allegedly infringing on its patent that covers the technology behind JPEG image compression. But Microsoft has already made the first strike, filing its own lawsuit last week that asks the courts to nullify Forgent's patent.
Forgent says it was in talks with Microsoft over licensing the patent when Redmond made the first legal move. Forgent's lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas by the company's Compression Labs subsidiary.
Microsoft Slammed for Gay Rights Bill Reversal
While Microsoft prepares to "Start Something" next week at WinHEC 2005, the company is facing a heap of criticism that threatens to overshadow its biggest event in years. Microsoft is under fire from gay rights advocates and even its own employees for withdrawing support from a bill that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Although Microsoft has been a major supporter of gay rights in the workplace and has backed the antidiscrimination legislation for the last two years, the company recently reversed its stance on House bill 1515 to "neutral." The bill lost by one vote on Thursday in the Washington State Senate.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.