Items tagged with Micro
Microsoft continues to push its Open XML standard, the default file format of Office 2007, as an alternative to the Open Document Format. This week, it met a setback in a vote by the INCITS. The executive committee of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) fell one vote shy of the nine required to...
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Microsoft has released a new DirectX redistributable package into the wild for virtually all versions of Windows, including 64-bit versions of Vista and XP. This is a DirectX9 and 10 end-user runtime update that's not going to show up on the Windows Update website. It is an official release, however. "This download provides...
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Pirate sites are here and Microsoft might have a new scheme to make use of them. The idea is that Zunes transfering pirated files to others will give them only 3 plays before the song has to be purchased: “The technology proposed by Microsoft would essentially allow them to capitalize on this by "encrypting" songs transferred offline (in...
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Project Falcon is the codename for Microsoft’s latest plan to change the architecture of future Xbox 360s such that they are less prone to overheating problems as their contemporary brethren. After a recent investigation by Microsoft, the company has been plagued with a $1 billion check to extend the warranties of red ring sufferers and other...
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A Microsoft investigation of the Xbox has turned out to be favorable to existing owners of the system, and to those who wish to grab one in the future. In light of the results of the inquiry, which revealed a number of factors that contribute to the infamous overheating problems of the Xbox, Microsoft today announced that it will extend the...
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Google just won an argument with Microsoft before their lawyers even got to deliver an opening statement; Microsoft decided to take the high road and allow users to decide which desktop search program to use. If you select Google for all your desktop searching needs, then the Vista seach engine will be disabled, thus no longer causing the...
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The Department of Justice has been hounding Microsoft for years over anti-trust issues of one sort or another, not to mention the major case in the late '90s that had people wondering if MS was going to be broken into several smaller operating units. Apparently that's all changed: "Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark...
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Microsoft has released a new DirectX redistributable package into the wild for virtually all versions of Windows, including Vista. This is a DX9.0c update that's not going to show up on the Windows Update website, but it is an official release. "This download provides the DirectX end-user multi-languaged redistributable that developers...
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Today Akustica unveiled the world's first high definition microphone that allows users to experience high definition voice quality in various mobile devices, including laptops. These HD microphones are protected from electromagnetic interference and radio frequencies, reassuring users that they can safely place such devices in close proximity...
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XBox Live allows users to connect their systems to the Internet and play games online. Apparently some systems have been banned in the recent past due to "hardware modifications" that violate certain agreements. But that hasn't stopped crafty modders from going about their business. In fact, the development of new firmware allows one's XBox...
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Steve Jobs wowed everybody with a demonstration of his multitouch screen iPhone. The little buttonless screen appeals to the touchy-feely instinct in all of us. You can't call anyone with it, but Microsoft's "Surface" multitouch tabletop PC takes the whole concept to an enormous other level. On Tuesday, Microsoft took the wraps off...
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According to a story on EETimes, rumors were circulating last week that claimed AMD and Micron (among others) were planning to go private. We don't know how much truth there is to this rumor, but considering AMD's current financial situation, it's likely the company is exploring a number of possible routes and going private is just one of...
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Microsoft is alpha testing an interesting website mashup creator using drag and drop for the HTML-phobic. It's called Popfly. It's got a handsome interface. And ducks. Michael Calore over at Wired describes it wittily as: "Oh, it's what Yahoo Pipes would look like if it was on the Xbox." Microsoft will be the free to the user,...
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In a lengthy interview in Fortune magazine, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith outlined Microsoft's contention that they can prove 235 patent violations by open source software. And they'd like to be paid royalties, please. Smith broke down the alleged patent violations during the Fortune interview, saying the Linux kernel violates...
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Dell became the darling of the Open Source crowd -temporarily- by announcing an option to purchase computers loaded with the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Windows. Things are getting ugly over there again on the news that Dell has decided to offer a version of Linux (there are many)supplied by a partnership of Microsoft and Novell....
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According to a story reported by the New York Times, Microsoft and Yahoo! have re-entered negotiations for a proposed takeover. Microsoft wants to acquire Yahoo! to better compete with Google in a number of on-line arenas. "Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit...
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Microsoft is no longer the most visited website or the most valuable global brand. Google is: Google had 528 million unique visitors in March, up 5 percent from the previous month, according to comScore. Microsoft had 527 million visitors during the same month, up 3.7 percent. Popular in the...
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Microsoft has teams of engineers working on all kinds of interesting projects. Some are never meant see the light of day; others have to be seen to be believed, like Photosynth. Photosynth is a technology that takes multiple pictures and not only stiches them together (with angle correction) but also allows the construction of 3D environments...
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Microsoft has an application to deliver rich media on the Web, designed to go head-to-head with Adobe's popular Flash program. They call it: Silverlight. Key [A manager at Microsoft]said Microsoft is targeting three core audiences with Silverlight, formerly code-named WPF/E: content providers that want to distribute video and rich...
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Chip sales are usually slow in the first quarter of any year. But 2007 is shaping up to be a blah year in the microprocessor business all the way through. What's the problem? But what makes 2007 special? At least one reason is the transition to the Windows Vista...
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Say what you want about Microsoft, but they sure pick out big game to hunt. Now they've announced they want to kill the JPEG format, using their HD Photo format. That's like replacing running water at this point. Microsoft claims that "this new, next-generation digital image format...
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Thankfully the collaboration between Ford Motor Company and Microsoft is only for the entertainment system- "Initially to be made available in twelve 2008 models across the Ford family and across the entire 2009 lineup from FoMoCo, the service will be a fully-integrated, flash memory-based system that enables drivers...
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