Samsung and Microsoft are close to unveiling a hybrid hard drive that will enable Vista-based laptops and desktop PCs boot much faster than is now the case, The Korea Times has reported.
The drive combines flash memory with standard hard drive technology and is designed to work specifically with Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista operating system, the Korean publication reported. The publication said the drive will be introduced at Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, which starts on May 24 in Seattle.
An upcoming version of the IEEE 1394 specification--which everyone except Microsoft refers to as FireWire--will provide increased transfer rates between PCs and devices at speeds of up to 3.2GB per second, far faster than the current speeds of 400 and 800Mbps that today's FireWire devices attain. Although Microsoft plans to support the new spec, dubbed 1394b, it won't do so until after Vista ships. Microsoft says it might add 1394b support to Windows in a Vista service pack or in a future version of Windows.
Looking for Anna Kournikova? Want to bump into Alex Rodriguez, or spy Eva Longoria?
Microsoft on Friday launched a service that provides information and maps to the favorite haunts of eight celebrities, including the tennis player, the baseball star and the actor.
CelebFavorites is part of Windows Live Local, an online local search and mapping service. The new site offers a list of favorite places, such as museums, parks, restaurants and theaters, of each celebrity. Choosing an item gets more information, a road map and driving directions.
A number of beta testers reported to me this morning that Microsoft has issued 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista build 5381.1, which is a preview of the Beta 2 version of Vista the company intends to ship later this month to millions of users worldwide. I first reported that Microsoft would ship a variant of build 5381 as Beta 2 earlier this week when rumors surfaced that the software giant would delay Vista further into 2007.
Windows users who are eager to test Windows Vista don't have much longer to wait: Microsoft will ship Beta 2 to millions of consumers sometime in late May. Currently, the company still plans to ship Beta 2 on May 22.
The new generation of video game consoles from Sony, Nintendo Co. and Microsoft have more than zippy processors and flashy graphics in common: They're also getting serious about online services.
Although earlier models also provide the necessary plugs to enter most online worlds, they've done little to capitalize on them.
That's changing with the upcoming PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Wii from Nintendo, as well as the Xbox 360 released by Microsoft late last year.
All three contenders in this round of console wars have announced broad plans to turn their systems into networked hubs that deliver an array of content and services beyond just games - features like videoconferencing and downloadable movies.
A new Microsoft patent is causing a little heartburn in some quarters, but the patent for a so-called "super cookie," may have come so long after Microsoft's application that it's been superceded by newer technologies.
U.S. Patent 7,039,699, or '699, will provide developers with a permanent cookie that can contain bits, counters, dates and strings and can be accessed via an API that can be called from JavaScript, ASP and VBScript.
Microsoft has been rolling out Windows Live services in a breakneck and seemingly haphazard way. Is there a method to Redmond's services madness? Windows Live Platform Group head Blake Irving says yes.
When it comes to Windows Live, there are a lot more questions than there are answers (or at least public ones). Is there any rhyme or reason as to what Microsoft is launching as an add-on service, versus a bundled feature? Is there any intentional order in the rollout of Windows Live services? When will these services move from beta to final status?
Since the Microsoft Live strategy rollout on November 1 last year, Microsoft has provided very little detail on the company's high-level thinking about Windows Live. In February, we had a chance to ask some of our many Windows Live questions -- via a one-way e-mail interview only, unfortunately -- of Blake Irving, corporate vice president of the Windows Live Platform Group at Microsoft.
After already making a big bet on advertising, Microsoft on Thursday made a Massive one.
As expected, the software maker announced it is buying Massive, a company that serves up advertising into video games.
"That Massive team will be joining Microsoft and the MSN group," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices group, speaking at the MSN Strategic Account Summit here. "They will become a key part in what we are doing in this space."
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday detailed just how much of Microsoft's extra spending will be devoted to bulking up its Internet services business.
Ballmer, acknowledging that Microsoft's stock has plunged over the uncertainty created by Microsoft's investment plans, said the MSN unit plans to spend $1.1 billion next fiscal year on research and development, up from $700 million in planned spending this year and $500 million in the prior year. The online unit also plans to spend $500 million on capital expenses in fiscal 2007, up from $100 million in fiscal 2005 and an estimated $300 million this year.
Product life-cycle management applications vendor UGS and Microsoft announced this week a multi-year alliance through which they will collaborate to host the smaller companys suite of products entirely on Windows -- a first, they say.
Plano, Texas-based UGS, whose products are widely used in manufacturing enterprises, has announced previous collaborations with Microsoft. Last summer, UGS announced it will add Microsofts eXtensible Application Markup Language
as one of its supported data formats. XAML is the format used by Windows Vistas Windows Presentation Foundation, previously codenamed "Avalon".