New MSN Spaces, Messenger 7 Launch
Concluding four months of beta testing, Microsoft has launched final versions of both MSN Messenger 7 and its "Spaces" blogging service. The new releases bring tighter integration and more communication options for Messenger users, including full-screen video and PC-to-PC audio.
To enable MSN Video Conversations, Microsoft announced at CeBIT in March a partnership with Logitech, which provides the technology. MSN Messenger will also connect with mobile phones using SMS text messages, much like recent versions of AOL Instant Messenger.
MS: Windows Cheaper than Linux, Apache
Microsoft has launched a new campaign to promote Windows as a more reliable and less costly platform for businesses than Linux. The company is citing a report it commissioned from VeriTest, which found that Windows Server 2003 prevented more downtime and was better at resolving issues than Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0.
To help back up its claims, Microsoft has enlisted three companies who switched from Red Hat Linux to Windows. National Enterprise Systems issued the strongest warning against using the free open source UNIX platform.
IBM, Nokia, Red Hat Join EU Against MS
A technology lobby group, backed by IBM, Nokia and Red Hat, has asked to join the European Commission in its fight against Microsoft. According to the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), its goal is show there is still support for the EU's antitrust battle with Redmond.
The ECIS, which also includes RealNetworks and Oracle, has asked the European Court of First Instance to let it refute claims by Microsoft that technology companies do not support the Commission's ruling against it and subsequent penalties.
Google Drops Search Hardware Prices
Hoping to attract more small and medium sized businesses, Google is dropping the prices of its search hardware while also boosting document capacity. The Google Mini now costs $2,995 USD - 40 percent cheaper than its previous $4,995 price tag. The Mini can also search twice as much content with support for 100,000 documents.
Google launched the Mini in January as a low cost alternative to its enterprise offering. For businesses needing more capacity or instant indexing, Google's Search Appliance is now available for $30,000 USD with support for 500,000 documents to start. However, the device can be licensed to search up to 15 million files or Web pages.
MCI Rejects Revised Qwest Offer
The saga over who will acquire long distance provider MCI took another twist early Wednesday, as MCI announced a revised offer from Qwest is not superior to its already-established merger agreement with Verizon, despite a higher payout to shareholders. But MCI says it "has the right" to continue talks with Qwest.
On Monday, Verizon threatened to withdraw its bid for MCI if the company found Qwest's offer, which totaled $9 billion, superior. Verizon remains adamant that "numbers in the Qwest proposal mask a myriad of financial and operational risks" and warned MCI against making a deal that benefits only short-term investors.
Yahoo Extends Toolbar for Firefox
Yahoo has fulfilled promises to bring its full range of toolbar features to Firefox, releasing an updated beta with spyware protection. Yahoo Toolbar provides bookmarking and search capabilities, along with translation, mail notification and built-in safeguards against malware.
The new Firefox version also works on Mac and Linux, making Yahoo the first major search provider to support a full range of platforms. According to the company, Yahoo Toolbar was the top Web browser add-on for conducting search queries, overtaking toolbars from competitors Google and Ask Jeeves. Yahoo Toolbar for IE was also updated Wednesday.
Apple to Sell Mac Mini at Best Buy
Apple on Tuesday confirmed that its $499 Mac Mini has begun shipping to Best Buy retail outlets nationwide. The move exposes the new Mac, which is targeted at Windows users, to a wider consumer base the same way Apple has done with its iPod. Best Buy previously sold Macs in 2003, but the program was ended.
"We are pleased to offer Mac Mini at Best Buy stores nationwide," Apple said in a statement. Mac enthusiast sites first reported on the Mini's retail appearance last week. However, it's not clear whether Apple will wait to push the low-cost Windows alternative until Mac OS X 10.4, known as Tiger, makes its debut later this month.
Google Adds Satellite Imagery to Maps
Google quietly updated its Maps service late Monday to include satellite imagery, a first in the industry. With images provided by DigitalGlobe and EarthSat, users can now zoom in on homes and businesses across the United States and Canada, even charting out directions over actual streets.
The latest update to Google Maps comes only two months after Google launched the service, in a similarly silent fashion.
Mozilla Testing Block for New Popups
Mozilla developers have begun testing a patch for Firefox that blocks a new breed of pop-up advertisements that bypass traditional pop-up blockers. Instead of being spawned by JavaScript code, the new pop-ups load from within third-party plug-ins such as Macromedia Flash or Sun's Java.
Although Firefox has had the capability to block such ads since 1.0, no option existed to enable it. The beta patch, which loads as a Firefox extension, changes that and includes a whitelist for sites that require pop-ups from plug-ins. Mozilla developer Asa Dotzler announced the patch in his Web log, asking for feedback from users.
Verizon Threatens to Withdraw MCI Bid
Visibly annoyed with the ongoing discussions between MCI and Qwest, Verizon has threatened to withdraw its offer for the long distance company, which was previously approved by MCI's board of directors. "Qwest has submitted what we believe to be an inferior offer," Verizon said in a statement late Monday.
Late last week, Qwest upped its offer for MCI to $9 billion, a half-million more than its previous bid and $1.4 billion more than Verizon's latest offer.
Hitachi: 1 Terabyte Hard Drives Coming
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies on Monday announced plans to build hard drives using perpendicular recording technology that it says could allow for 1TB desktop drives and 20GB microdrives. The terabyte milestone is still a ways off, however, as Hitachi estimates the new drives won't reach consumers until 2007.
Currently, hard drives use a recording method that stores magnetic particles for data in parallel to a disc's surface. Drives using parallel recording can store about 100 to 120 gigabits per square inch. With the new perpendicular method, Hitachi claims drives can store 230 gigabits in the same space.
Gmail Storage Continues to Creep Up
Slowly but surely, Google has honored its promise to take Gmail storage beyond 2 GB. As of Monday morning, Gmail users found 2057MB of e-mail capacity, and the number continues to march upwards according to a counter on the free Web mail service's homepage.
Google heralded 2GB of storage on Friday, exactly one year after the service initially launched, saying it doesn't want people to worry they will run out of space. Gmail remains in beta, but an abundance of available invites and random signup links on Google's homepage have already opened the door for nearly everyone.
Adobe Introduces Creative Suite 2
As expected, Adobe announced on Monday version 2 of its Create Suite software line, which will begin shipping in May. Adobe CS2 brings with it new releases of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and GoLive. Details of Photoshop CS2 leaked out last week in an accidental early posting of a press release.
Creative Suite 2 also includes a new release of Version Cue, Adobe's file-version manager and collaboration tool, along with the previously released Acrobat Professional 7.0.
Amazon Buys On-Demand Book Printer
Amazon.com announced Monday it has acquired BookSurge, an on-demand book printer that specializes in out-of-print and foreign language titles. BookSurge boasts a library with thousands of books that are printed to order and already available for sale from Amazon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"BookSurge makes it possible to print books that appeal to targeted audiences, whether it's one copy or one thousand," said Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of media products. "Our new relationship with BookSurge will provide Amazon customers an ever-expanding selection of titles that are not available through other channels."
Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' Goes Gold
According to a report in AppleInsider, development of Mac OS X 10.4 is complete. Sources say that build 8A428 of the new operating system, known as "Tiger," has been declared gold master and Apple is expected to make an announcement soon. A final candidate of Tiger was released to developers earlier this week.
Although a few minor issues may remain in Tiger's final bits, the problems will likely be corrected in a free downloadable update. Although Apple has yet to comment on Tiger's scheduled release date, rumors have placed a public debut sometime this month. Amazon.com recently began taking pre-orders for the new Mac OS X release, which has shot to #1 on the online store's best seller list.
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