Verizon to Ship Phones with Flash
Verizon Wireless will become the first mobile operator in the United States to include Adobe's Flash animation software on its phones, thanks to a deal signed between the companies Wednesday. The idea is to give customers more options for viewing graphics on a small screen.
Adobe first detailed its plan to expand Flash to mobile devices when it purchased Macromedia for $3.4 billion last year. The company already ships Flash on phones in Japan, but the United States could prove a big market for the technology, analysts say. Flash is commonly used for Web graphics, animations and even video.
Microsoft Inks Large Windows Mobile Deal
Microsoft on Wednesday won its largest contract to date for smartphones using its Windows Mobile operating system. The U.S. Census Bureau has requested a half-million phones through manufacturer HTC that would be used for the 2010 Census. According to press reports, the deal was one of the largest ever covering smartphones.
The agency has made the move in order to speed up the data collection process. Previously, employees would digitize the paper forms filed out by the Census Bureau's workers in the field. The contract was part of a larger $600 million deal with Harris, a company that is working to automate the entire census-taking process.
Disney to Launch Mobile Cell Service
As expected, Disney announced Wednesday at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas plans to launch its own cellular service in June utilizing Sprint Nextel's network. The company would sell phones with GPS functionality that would enable parents to locate their children using their cellphone or the Internet.
Disney Mobile will target the growing "tween" segment of the market, which covers children between the ages of 8 and 12. Two phones will be offered initially with features such as built-in cameras, text messaging, ring tones and exclusive Disney content for kids and their parents. Parents will be able to control how much their kids can talk, and give priority to family messages and phone numbers.
Creative Expects Loss of $60 Million
Creative disclosed Wednesday that it expected to report a loss for the quarter ending March 31, which it blamed on falling prices of flash memory. The Singapore-based electronics marker will post a loss of between $55 to 65 million on revenue of $220 to 230 million. The company said the loss figures did not include a non-cash impairment charge of $25 million and $9 million to refocus its graphics business during the quarter.
Creative has struggled to stay competitive with Apple in digital media, and that has taken a toll on the company's bottom line, say analysts. "The sharp drop in memory prices had a significant negative impact on sales in March and resulted in lower revenues and gross margins and inventory write-downs in the period," Creative said in a statement.
Microsoft Releases Storage Server R2
Microsoft on Tuesday made available through OEMs Windows Storage Server 2003 R2, a special version of the company's operating system optimized for file and print servers that comes with the Microsoft Distributed File System. The new release brings 64-bit support and other advanced management features that shipped in Windows Server 2003 R2.
Dell, IBM, HP and Fujitsu are among those OEMs who have deployed Windows Storage Server in their devices. Microsoft also announced on Tuesday support in R2 for the iSCSI standard, which was co-developed by the Redmond company and IBM. The technology will allow for software-enabled Storage Area Network (SAN) booting of Windows Server 2003.
blinkx Tunes In MTV Programming
Media search company blinkx bolstered its arsenal of searchable video content Tuesday, inking a deal with MTV Networks to add programming from CMT, COMEDY CENTRAL, Logo, MTV and VH1 television channels. Users can pull up through blinkx shows such as VH1's "Web Junk 20," MTV's "Real World" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
"This agreement represents another step forward in making culturally relevant programming even more accessible on the Web, allowing audiences to find and watch inspiring entertainment as well as create their own at www.blinkx.tv's site," said Suranga Chandratillake, blinkx founder and CTO. blinkx had previously signed content deals with NBC, ABC and HBO. Video content is streamed in Windows Media 9 format.
NTL Buys Virgin Mobile for $1.67 Billion
Virgin Mobile said that it had accepted a takeover offer from British cable provider NTL on Tuesday, which would create a telecommunications powerhouse combining high-speed Internet, mobile and landline phone service, and cable television. The company would use the Virgin brand name under a 30-year licensing deal.
NTL paid 962.4 million pounds ($1.67B USD) for Virgin Mobile after a four-month pursuit of the cellular service provider. NTL previously offered 817 million pounds ($1.4B USD) for the company, however shareholders rejected the deal. Virgin Mobile would continue to be based in the U.K., NTL said.
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.4.6
Apple on Monday released the sixth major update to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, fixing a number of minor bugs and making improvements across its operating system. Spotlight's ability to search documents made in iWork and Microsoft Office has been bolstered, along with improved Bluetooth functionality. iSync 2.2 is also included in the update.
Mac OS X 10.4.6 additionally enhances 802.1x login authentication, and corrects bugs in FileVault, Mail, iChat, Terminal and Disk Utility. iDisk and WebDAV performance have been improved, as well as automatic proxy configuration files. Mac OS X 10.4 users can download the release, which weighs in between 45MB and 108MB, from the operating system's Software Update feature.
Microsoft Acquires ProClarity
Microsoft said Monday that it had acquired analysis and visualization software maker ProClarity. The Boise, Idaho based company produces software and technologies that are compatible with Microsoft's business intelligence (BI) programs. The Redmond company said it was investing a great deal in BI, including in its upcoming Office 2007 productivity suite, and this acquisition builds upon those efforts.
BI software helps companies sift through the multitude of electronic data they accumulate, allowing them to see trends and patterns and increase productivity. "This acquisition advances our BI strategy and our ability to deliver performance management applications to customers," Microsoft Business Division president Jeff Raikes said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
XM Passes 6.5 Million Subscribers
XM said Monday that it had added 568,000 new subscribers to the service during the first quarter, bringing its subscriber base to over 6.5 million. The company also reiterated its end-of-year target of 9 million subscribers. While the numbers may seem impressive, the leading satellite radio service is struggling to hold off surging competitor Sirius.
Buoyed by shock jock Howard Stern, Sirius was on track to add around 750,000 subscribers by the end of March. Sirius announced it had passed 4 million total subscribers on March 22. XM said its major initiatives through the summer include the broadcasts of Major League Baseball, radio hardware that adds MP3 player functionality, FIFA World Cup soccer coverage, and the premiere of a radio show featuring Bob Dylan.
Google Eyes Adding its Search to TVs
Google is remaining tight lipped about a job posting seeking out a product manager for its IPTV ventures. The company has declined to give further details beyond what the job description says about the new position, although it seems to be clear that Google is interested in taking its search technology beyond the computer.
"You will provide leadership on product vision and execution of projects that enable using Google's search and advertising technologies to enhance users' television-viewing experience," the posting says of the job's responsibilities. Additionally, the product manager would look into ways that Google's search and advertising technologies could "enhance [the TV] user experience." If the listing is any clue, the Mountain View, Calif., search company is interested in the areas of video-on-demand, DVRs and IPTV set-top boxes.
Final Cut for Mac Goes Universal
Apple announced Thursday that it had begun shipping Final Cut Studio 5.1, the first version of its video production suite to ship as a Universal Binary. The announcement follows February's release of Logic Pro 7.2 as a Universal application, and will be followed in April by Aperture 1.1, the company's photo editing tool. According to benchmarks by Apple, the new version runs up to two and a half times faster on MacBook Pro laptops.
"With the incredible performance of Final Cut Studio on a MacBook Pro, customers can work more efficiently wherever they are," Apple applications marketing vice president Rob Schoeben said in a statement. Current users of the PowerPC version of Final Cut Studio would be able to "crossgrade" for $49, while users of the standalone versions of applications could upgrade starting at $99. The full version of Final Cut Studio will retail for $1,299.
Google, Nike Open Social Football Site
Google took a step further into the content business on Thursday, kicking off a new community Web site dedicated to football, or soccer as it is known in the United States. The search engine joined up with Nike to build Joga.com, which is based on Google's Orkut social networking site. Users can add pictures, videos and blogs, and link up with friends.
Joga users can build their own football teams, find local fields and even play other nearby Joga teams. "Whether we've succeeded, of course, will be up to all of you to determine. We look forward to seeing football-crazy people from around the world playing as beautifully as possible at Joga.com," said Google software engineer Pedram Keyani.
USPTO Rejects 'Buy it Now' Patent
eBay disclosed Thursday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had ruled in its favor earlier this week, upholding an earlier decision that a patent awarded to MercExchange was "obvious" and should have not been issued. The two sides are currently facing off in the U.S. Supreme Court over eBay's use of the "Buy it Now" feature.
A District Court had found that the service infringed on patents owned by MercExchange. However, instead of issuing an injunction, the court awarded the company a monetary judgment. An appeals court later ruled an injunction was warranted. The rejected patent is central to the Supreme Court case, and eBay said its contents were referred to repeatedly during arguments Wendesday. While MercExhchange is permitted to respond, the auction site said it was unlikely any new arguments would change the USPTO's view.
Comcast Ups Cable Speed to 16Mbit
In an effort to fend off competition from Verizon's FiOS service, which offers download speeds of up to 15Mbit per second, Comcast has doubled the speed of its top-tier broadband service to 16Mbit. The change is currently being rolled out in a few markets, including Reston, Va.; Sarasota, Fla.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Howard County, Md.
Along with the faster downloads, users will now be able to upload at a speed of 1Mbit per second. The service costs $52.95 USD per month. Other cable operators such as Cox and Adelphia have taken a similar approach to Verizon encroaching on their territory. Comcast says its move was not made specifically in response to the competition, but simply to test new applications it can offer with such high broadband speeds.
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