There's a multibillion dollar company moving into the chip business: Microsoft.
According to sources, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will more actively participate in the design of the brains for the next version of its Xbox gaming console, tentatively called Xbox Next. By switching from using relatively standard parts to more customized silicon, the company can better optimize its game console, due in 2005. At the same time, the move potentially gives the company a toehold in a completely new market.
Two days before key hearings, Microsoft said Monday it is still seeking a settlement of its antitrust case with the European Union. But the software giant struck a defiant tone in defending itself.
"Microsoft remains committed to finding a constructive resolution to the case that addresses any concerns of the (European) Commission while preserving the company's ability to innovate and to improve its products," the company said.
The company said it has submitted "a robust response" to allegations it is guilty of abusing its dominant market position along with "extensive evidence to illustrate that significant consumer choice exists in the server operating systems and digital media markets today."
Microsoft Longhorn is more important than you probably think. But its importance will probably take longer to emerge than Microsoft thinks. While Redmond takes its time with the next Windows, Cupertino keeps cranking out revision after revision of its flagship OS. Here's what we thought of the latest.
If Microsoft actually ships Longhorn--intended to be the company's next major OS release--in the late 2005/early 2006 time frame, it could still be 2008 before most users have it installed on their PCs.
That's what I'd guess, anyway, after chatting with Michael Cherry, ex-Microsoft developer and longtime contributor to the Directions on Microsoft newsletter. Cherry doesn't expect Longhorn until mid-2006 and says that, once it ships, it will take developers a while to do something interesting with it.
Microsoft faces a major showdown in Brussels this week when it gets a last chance to defend itself against European Union regulators' charges it abused its dominance of desktop computer operating systems.
A final decision is expected in the spring, unless Microsoft reaches a separate deal with the Commission first. An amicable settlement would help both sides by avoiding a long, expensive court challenge by Microsoft.
But it is unclear whether the company would be willing to accept the remedies and fine the Commission wants.
Microsoft Monday released the second in a planned series of Solution Accelerators for its Office product lineup. This offering, Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Proposals, takes aim at salespeople who want to more easily create sales proposals and reuse or repackage existing legal and product information in the process, Microsoft said in a statement. Several partners took part in the development, including Qiulogy, Pragmatech Software Wipro Technologies and Xerox Global Services, Microsoft said.
Microsoft on Monday will announce the release of its Virtual PC technology to manufacturing and that the final product will be available to customers by the end of this year at a lower price than the original Connectix product. Microsoft in February acquired the Virtual Machine assets of Connectix Corp., a privately held company in San Mateo, Calif., that has been involved in Virtual Machine (VM) technology since its inception in 1988.
Carla Huffman, Microsoft's product manager for the Virtual PC, told eWEEK that the software will be available by the end of the year, through Microsoft's existing retail and volume licensing channels, for an estimated retail price of $129, $100 less than the Connectix price of $229.
Engineered Intelligence Corporation (EI) today announced a new version of the popular GRID WARS parallel programming challenge, where competing programs written in CxC ("C by C") fight for survival of the fittest in a grid of processors, will be held live in EI's Booth #2019 at the SC2003 Conference in Phoenix, November 18-21. HP and Microsoft are sponsoring "GRID WARS Interactive" and are providing the computing platform and prizes. In EI's booth, attendees will select from warriors submitted through www.gridwars.com and have their choices loaded into a live GRID WARS Interactive battle, where they will fight for control of virtual parallel processors. Attendees who select winning warriors will be awarded prizes from HP and Microsoft. Those interested in parallel computing can enter warriors by downloading the Grid Wars Interactive challenge kit from www.gridwars.com, which includes ALL previously submitted warriors. Prizes will be awarded to those who submit the most winning warriors at SC2003. Details available on the web site.
Cellular carrier Verizon Wireless on Monday plans to begin offering a Samsung smart phone that uses an Intel processor and Microsoft software. The clamshell-style Samsung SCH-i600 will cost about $300, according to sources familiar with Verizon's plans. The combination cell phone and organizer includes a 200MHz Intel XScale PXA255 processor, at least 32MB of memory, a color screen, and runs on Verizon's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) cellular network.
The handset uses Microsoft's Windows Mobile Smartphone operating system. Samsung is the second major phone maker in the United States to use Microsoft's software. AT&T Wireless announced late last month that it would sell a Motorola phone that uses the Smartphone operating system.
Taiwanese chipmaker Silicon Integrated Systems will help create input/output chips for the Xbox, another significant step in the makeover of Microsoft's gaming box. SIS is one of the leading manufacturers of PC chipsets, which shuttle data between the processor and the rest of the computer. Although the announcement was slightly vague, the two companies said in their release that SIS would develop "advanced media input/output technologies for use in future Xbox products and services."
With the SIS deal, Microsoft seems to be on track to completely overhaul the significant silicon inside its gaming console. The first version of the Xbox came with a modified Pentium III processor from Intel, a graphics chip from Nvidia and an input/output chip from Nvidia.
Redmond's ability to offer standardised handsets which are easier for businesses to support and use will help the software giant win corporate approval, the market watcher predicted. Nick Jones, vice president and research fellow at Gartner, said that, while Microsoft did not have a good corporate smartphone today, he believed it would do by the end of 2004. The analyst predicted that Microsoft will ship a phone boasting strong integration of a range of packages, such as Exchange and Outlook.