Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's largest corporation, joined Microsoft on Monday in launching the first mobile phone in Asia and Europe to use high-speed HSDPA wireless technology.
The companies said the phone - the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 - was the world's thinnest 3G smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard. It is also the first smartphone that supports Web applications like podcasts and RSS Feeder, which scans Web sites for updates, the companies said.
The announcement was made in Hong Kong at ITU Telecom World 2006, a major convention for the telecommunications industry.
Microsoft is building a suite of products for Web designers and creative professionals that should step up its challenge to market leader Adobe Systems.
As a start, the company on Monday released Expression Web, a tool for designing user interfaces. It is offering the product as an upgrade to its Microsoft FrontPage Web authoring tool.
High ImpactWhat's new:Microsoft has released Web interface development tools and made progress on other parts of its Expression Studio suite, set for completion and shipping next year.Bottom line:The suite of products aims to boost Microsoft's presence among Web designers and creative professionals. It's a stepped-up challenge to market leader Adobe.
User interface design is tough work. It's a little science, a dash of art and lots of guesswork--all of which Microsoft applied to Office 2007's "ribbon."
Last week, I spoke with Julie Larson-Green, who joined Microsoft in 1993 and has worked on user-interface design for her career there. Larson-Green played a pivotal role in the development of the new Office user interface, which main element is the ribbon. Now as corporate vice president for Windows Experience Program Management, she is responsible for taking some of the concepts introduced in Office 2007 and applying them to Windows.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the expansion of its Global Libraries Initiative, a project that will invest $328 million over seven years to help developing countries plan and install free computer and Internet service in public libraries and reading rooms. According to the foundation, 87 percent of people worldwide have no Internet access. The Global Libraries Initiative aims to alleviate the problem of computer and Internet availability in 12 to 15 developing countries.
It sounded like a scam: visit this Web site, watch a few videos and get a free copy of Windows Vista or Office 2007.
Actually, the PowerTogether.com site was a legitimate Microsoft-run site. Aimed at software developers and architects, the site offered free copies of both titles to those who watched at least three Web-based seminars on each of the new products.
Unfortunately, for those looking to score their free copy, Microsoft said that it has already received sign-ups from the 30,000 people it had hoped to register for the program. The site now says "sold out" when people come to register for the giveaway.
update
Microsoft said Friday it has settled a lawsuit with Belkin after the peripherals maker agreed to license one of the software maker's technologies.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant sued Belkin in August, saying the company had refused to license Microsoft's U2 technology, which allows keyboard and mice to detect what type of connection is needed.
"We are pleased to announce that we have settled our dispute with Belkin and that they will be taking a license to use the U2 patents," Deputy General Counsel Tom Burt said in a statement provided to CNET News.com. Microsoft did not provide terms of the settlement.
Microsoft kicked off its fourth Strategic Architect Forum -- a gathering of 250 of the most influential software architects among the largest of its worldwide customers -- on the company?s sprawling Redmond campus on Wednesday.
Also attending the two and a half day event will be 100 of Microsoft?s most senior field architects.
The invitation-only event, which is fully attended despite a snow storm Monday that brought the Seattle area to an unseasonably icy halt, is meant to be ?a dialog between Microsoft and our customers on architectural topics that allows them to make the best technology decisions and helps us to deliver the best technology choices,? a company spokesperson said in an e-mail.
A former southwest Washington man was sentenced Wednesday to pay $9.4 million in restitution to Microsoft and serve five years in prison for illegal trafficking in the company's software.
Scott Laney, 35, pleaded guilty to money laundering and counterfeiting conspiracy charges. The scheme involved acquiring Microsoft programs at cut rates -- in some cases from employees who were abusing the company's internal ordering system -- and reselling them with falsified labels, documents and licenses that boosted their value.
Microsoft's Zune music player claimed a No. 2 spot among portable media devices in its first week on the U.S. retail market, according to preliminary data released Wednesday.
Market research firm NPD Group said sales of the Microsoft player edged out devices from previous second-place holder SanDisk in the week ended Nov. 18. But Zune was a distant second to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, and its second-place showing came amid widespread media attention and launch hype.
NPD said Zune won 9 percent of the U.S. market, measured by unit sales, and 13 percent of dollar volume in its first week in stores. Microsoft released the device Nov. 14.
How big are Office 2007 and Windows Vista? Apparently, they're big enough for three launches, one of them more unofficial.
It's hard to resist "how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb" jokes, with respect to the number of launches. Yesterday, Microsoft launched Windows Vista for businesses in New York.
An unofficial second launch will come next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The CES event, where Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will keynote, could be loads of competitive fun. Next year, CES and Macworld occur the same week, and it's a good bet Apple will reveal more about the next version of Mac OS X. It will be Vista versus Leopard week.