Toshiba Adds HD DVD to 'Satellite' Line
Toshiba on Monday announced the availability of a new model in the manufacturer's Satellite series of laptops, the A205. This is the fulfillment of a statement the company made in March promising to make HD DVD more widely available in its more popular lines of computers.
The Satellite A205 equipped with HD DVD carries with it a retail price of $1,149.99 USD, approximately 30 percent higher than the Satellite model without the high-definition format, and the two share very similar specs.
There's Still No Next-Gen DVD Winner Yet
Despite what fans of either format may be telling you, don't expect a winner in the next-generation DVD battle for at least a year if not more, say analysts.
The battle itself seems to be doing the most damage, with a majority of customers opting to wait it out for a clear leader. Price of the players is also a major deterrent, research firm Forrester said in a report last week.
Microsoft Offers 'Office Live' Storage to Office Users
Twenty months after the company first brought forth its vision of Web-driven applications, Microsoft announced this morning a re-targeting of its Office Live approach, spinning off "Office Live Workspace" as a free service centered around individuals who already use Microsoft Office.
The new service opens up storage space for as many as "1,000+ documents" (the exact specifications have never been released) to users of the conventional Office suite. Meanwhile, the existing Office Live services become rebranded as "Office Live Small Business," with some upgrades to its options. Free users of the Basics tier will now have access to 500 MB of online storage, while $19.95 per month buys users a second half-gigabyte and professional Web site generation capabilities.
Microsoft to Debut Zune 2 on Tuesday
Microsoft will hold a event on Tuesday in Redmond to herald the second generation of Zune music players, BetaNews has learned.
According to sources close to the situation, both Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Design and Development chief J Allard will be on hand for the event. The main part of the announcement will center around the players, which will include the first flash memory based Zunes.
Skype Founder Zennstrom Out As CEO
With eBay still not seeing much benefit from its 2005 acquisition of VoIP provider Skype, the company said Monday that it would shake up management and take some charges related to its operations.
Founder Niklas Zennstrom is stepping down as CEO, and will be replaced by eBay Chief Strategy Officer Michael van Swaaij on an interim basis. Henry Gomez, Skype's president, will also step down. He will take a position with eBay -- where he worked before Skype -- as senior vice president of corporate affairs.
Adobe Builds Support for its Media Player
Adobe this morning is building support for its multilingual AIR Web services platform (formerly code-named Apollo) by unveiling a new version of its service-driven Adobe Media Player (AMP) for deployment by some major players, including CBS, Yahoo, and PBS.
"We think that Adobe Media Player is the next generation of media player because it doesn't just play files, and it isn't just a closed, walled garden of content," remarked Deeje Cooley, AMP's product manager, in an interview with BetaNews. "We are really trying to embrace the ecosystem and the open standards that are emerging out on the Internet, such as RSS. By leveraging RSS, we're able to support a wide ranging and ever growing body of video podcast content, so anybody can publish a video podcast and will now be able to make that content available in Adobe Media Player."
Nokia Acquires Navteq for $8.1 Billion
Nokia said Monday that it had agreed to acquire navigation software company Navteq in an $8.1 billion acquisition, one of its largest in company history.
The move is likely aimed at giving Nokia a strong presence in the increasingly lucrative mobile navigation market. The mobile phone maker would also gain an instant customer base, which it said it would continue to support after the acquisition.
DigitalLife 2007: Photos from Day 2
When the buzz starts to die down, the diehard electronics fans come out of the woodwork to enjoy the scene Friday afternoon at DigitalLife 2007 in New York City. Tim Conneally found some Day 2 surprises on the show floor, including some really high-tech goofing off, an attempted robbery (no kidding), and what the fans truly thought were the hits of the show.
Microsoft and the EU's Experiment in Socialism
European lawmakers are now considering sweeping and unprecedented proposals for regulating Microsoft's future behavior that could have immediate ramifications on the global PC industry. One is the possibility of having PC makers stop installing any operating system on the machines they sell in Europe. How serious are these proposals, and does the EC have enough backbone to enforce them? BetaNews discussed the possibilities with industry analyst Carmi Levy.
It was a rare and captivating moment in history, to witness Microsoft - the modern symbol of American capitalistic prowess - literally speechless as an organization in the wake of the European Court of First Instance's decision on September 17. To this day, it isn't exactly clear what the company intends to do at this point - rather than deflect attention away from the topic - in response to the CFI's ruling that Microsoft abused its dominant position by producing a server operating system without fully publishing its interoperability protocols.
Five More Months Tacked Onto XP Availability Roadmap
Apparently bending to pressure from partner OEMs who continue to report customers continuing to demand Windows XP, Microsoft decided this morning to extend the availability of the older operating system series to the retail channel and to partners from January to June 2008, as it maintains availability to system builders clear through to January 2009.
The move comes several months after Dell reported it would continue offering Windows XP as an option for its systems as long as it could. However, another possible contributing factor could be the company's plan for XP Service Pack 3. A check of the company's service pack roadmap today shows the company has only tentative faith in its ability to produce SP3 by as late as next June.
Disney Shutting Down Phone Service
A year after it ended service for its ESPN Mobile service, Disney said Thursday that it would also be closing Disney Mobile, however it gave no specific reasoning for closing down. Like it did for ESPN, Disney will now sell its content and services through carriers. The deal would likely work the same as that for the sports network. Service would be provided to current customers through December 31.
Content and applications would no longer be available for purchase, however. It would also reimburse certain customers for handset and accessory purchases, which it said it would provide further information by October 8. Early termination fees would be waived for those wishing to leave the service early. Disney will honor number porting requests, although it asked customers to port their numbers by November 30.
ITunes Update Makes Some Legit Phones 'iBricks'
While Apple has warned those who have unlocked the iPhone that the latest update would likely break their phones, some users are finding their locked phones broken by the update.
Reports first began surfacing on the website Twitter among users who had a locked iPhone and experienced problems after the update. The issues ranged from a loss of all data on the phone to 'bricking' of the device.
3Com Sold for $2.2 Billion Cash
3Com said Friday that it had reached a deal to be acquired by private equity firm Bain Capital and former partner Huawei Technology for $2.2 billion USD in cash. Huawei would gain a minority stake in the 3Com as part of the transaction. The former big name in networking has lost traction in recent years as competitor Cisco has rapidly gained market share.
Shareholders would receive $5.30 in cash per share of 3Com stock they own. The deal has already been approved by the company's board of directors, and it asked that shareholders approve the deal. ""We believe that this agreement better positions 3Com to establish itself as a global networking leader, which will benefit our employees, our customers and our partners," president and CEO Edgar Masri said in a statement.
XM-Sirius Deal Approval Still Not a Sure Thing
FCC chairman Kevin Martin seemed to lend some support to a merger between XM and Sirius on Thursday, while at the same time another commissioner seemed to suggest he would be voting against it.
Martin made his comments at a conference of broadcasters, and said he doubted that the combined company would cause local advertising revenue to fall, one of the industry's complaints over the merger.
No Vote On Internet Tax Ban Yet
Bush Administration officials are urging lawmakers to make the ban on taxing access to the Internet permanent, however a vote on the matter was struck down Thursday.
Earlier in the week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Commerce Secretary Carlos Guiterrez issued a joint statement saying that preventing taxation would "help sustain and environment for innovation" and would "strengthen the foundations of electronic commerce."
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