Sony will delay the launch of its much-anticipated PlayStation 3 console until November, prolonging the agony not only for itself but also for many others in the video game industry.
Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony's video games division, said Sony is still trying to finalize the copyright-protection technology and other standards for the Blu-ray DVD disc, the high-definition video format for PlayStation 3 and other next-generation DVD players.
The PlayStation 3 is critical for Sony's profits and brand image, so the delay from its promised "spring" debut is a major setback for the Japanese electronics and entertainment company as it struggles to mount a recovery after several years of poor earnings.
Microsoft said March 15 that it is suing seven U.S. residents and a New York-based company, for allegedly using Internet auctioneer eBay to sell pirated Microsoft software.
Customers suspecting something was wrong with what they bought tipped off Microsoft to all but one of the alleged offenders, the company said.
The lawsuits, filed March 10, only target the individuals or the company using eBay in order to sell the goods. eBay is not named as a defendant in any of the suits.
"Online auction sites are an excellent way for people from around the world to buy and sell goods," Microsoft attorney Matt Lundy says, in a press release.
According to my sources, Microsoft will soon ship an unexpected "refresh build" of Windows Vista to its technical beta testers and some corporate customers. Previously, the company had been shipping only semi-monthly Community Technical Preview builds of Vista to testers and other audiences, including MSDN subscribers. The refresh build could be build 5340 or 5341, I'm told.
"Microsoft is considering releasing updated Windows Vista code to TAP [Technology Adoption Program] customers in the coming weeks," a Microsoft represented confirmed. "Microsoft regularly provides our TAP customers with regular Windows Vista code releases and this upcoming code release is consistent with our past engagement with this group. The Windows Vista code will not be a CTP release.
Microsoft Wednesday delivered the first Community Technology Preview of Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2005, including the data mirroring technologies that missed last fall?s release of the big update to Microsoft's flagship database product.
But just as important, a leader of the SQL Server team says, are fundamental changes they are making to improve the collaboration between customers and Microsoft developers ? and the CTP process is key to that shift.
At the core of the shift is the realization that long deep beta test cycles have been increasingly frustrating to developers and testers alike. The CTP process has the benefit of releasing a lot more builds which gets customers more involved.
Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer, has some no-nonsense advice for small-business owners who find that a technology consultant they hire isn't working out.
Taken in a broader sense, it might also be instructive to Microsoft employees, Wall Street analysts and others looking for clues about how Turner will approach his role at the company.
"Don't ride a horse too long if it's not going to get you to where you need to get to," Turner said Tuesday to a group of small-business owners. "Change it out."
That homespun wisdom was part of a wide-ranging address that offered the first public hints of Turner's management philosophy since the Wal-Mart veteran was named seven months ago to one of Microsoft's highest-ranking executive positions.
Redmond's Software Assurance program is focused on luring customers with a couple exclusive-to-the-program benefits. Will customers take to the latest crop, including two operating system exclusives?
Microsoft this week rolled out expected enhancements to its Software Assurance annuity-licensing program.
Microsoft announced the planned changes to the SA program in September 2005.
The changes include new planning, deployment, migration and legacy services designed for volume licensees. Two of the new benefits ? new Windows releases -- are exclusive to Software Assurance customers and aimed at mid- to large-size enterprise customers. These two releases are the Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs "lean client," due to ship in May, 2006, and the Windows Vista Enterprise version, expected in November, when the full Vista family is expected to ship.
Microsoft today began testing displays in Microsoft Office Live, Windows Live Mail and MSN Spaces, a move that might give the company some footing in its competition with Google.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company said the ad testing will help generate revenue to provide consumers with a wide array of free and low-cost online services, such as Web-hosting, e-mail and Web services.
Windows Live, which is a collection of personal Internet services and software such as e-mail and news, will display ads in MSN Spaces in Australia and Italy. The company will test Windows Live Mail display ads in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
How does Windows Vista love thy computer? Let it count the ways.
Microsoft is building into the new operating system a tool that will rate a PC based on how well it is running and on how much it can take advantage of Vista's capabilities.
News.context What's new:Vista, the next version of Windows, will grade a PC based on how well it is running and on how much it can take advantage of Vista's capabilities Bottom line: While it could help out retailers, the benefits for buyers are not so clear-cut.
Microsoft has pushed back plans to support of UEFI, a new type of PC firmware, in its forthcoming Windows Vista for PCs. Where the move isn't likely to disrupt the PC market, it shows the software maker continues to pare down Vista features as it works to roll out the OS this year.
Microsoft has pushed back its plans to support a new type of PC firmware, called UEFI, or United Extensible Firmware Interface, which has begun working its way into the PC market.
Microsoft said in a presentation during last week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco that the software giant would not roll out UEFI support -- adopting the new firmware, which was created for Itanium servers but then repositioned to take over for PC BIOS or basic input output system software -- in its Longhorn server, due in 2007.
Some of Microsoft's investors are betting the shares of the world's largest software maker are poised to gain after languishing for five years.
"We expect revenue growth to accelerate, margins to expand and earnings to grow faster than revenue," said Mark Lebovitz, who is buying more shares for his technology fund at Munder Capital Management in Birmingham, Mich. The firm has owned the stock since 1991 and manages $41.4 billion.
The shareholders argue the next version of the Windows software that runs 95 percent of the world's personal computers will spur sales growth, 20 years after Microsoft first sold stock to the public. Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s Rick Sherlund expects sales to rise more than 10 percent for the next three years. Microsoft sales gained 8 percent in the year through June 2005, after rising 14 percent the previous year and 13 percent the year before.