Microsoft has finally put to rest months of speculation, announcing official pricing and models for its upcoming Xbox 360 home entertainment console. The basic version of the Xbox 360 will run $299.99 USD, will a premium edition priced at $399.99 USD. The core Xbox 360 model includes only the console without hard drive, wired controller and standard AV cable. For an extra $100, gamers receive a special console with metallic detailing, 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, remote control,...
From Betanews: "Microsoft revealed Tuesday afternoon what many had expected for months -- consumer availability of Windows Vista has been delayed until 2007. While businesses would be able to get their hands on the finished product in November, consumers would not find the operating system on new machines until January. The delay also throws a wrench into the holiday marketing plans of many PC manufacturers this season."
Despite the callings for Microsoft to delay Vista, it seems Microsoft is still pushing forward. A posting on the Vista Team Blog states that RC1 is coming, and that this next release will open sign-ups again for testing. Users who tested Beta 2 will automatically be able to test RC1 when released. Read the Vista Team Blog for more information.
Microsoft recently invited hackers and "security professionals" at the Black Hat convention in Las Vegas to "test" Vistas security measures. Even giving out beta releases of Vista to attendees. It didn't take long for one researcher to bypass Vistas security. " Joanna Rutkowska, a Polish researcher at Singapore-based Coseinc, showed that it is possible to bypass security measures in Vista that should prevent unsigned code from running. And in a second part of her talk, Rutkowska expla...
For the last couple of months rumors have been propogating over the net that Google will launch a Music service. One of the more creative names floating around was GMusic. Most of the speculation came from the reported meetings between Google and music industry executives, and job postings from Google related to music. At a recent event here in Florida, Googles head of development said " We are not going to be selling music. " He went on to say that "the big opportunity in digital music...
MicrosoftsPhotosynth Project Not many things fromMicrosoft excite me too much anymore, but this is something I havefound very interesting. It's almost hard to describe so thewords from Microsoft Live Labs sums it up. "Photosynthtakes a large collection ofphotos of a place or object, analyzes them for similarities, anddisplays them in a reconstructed 3-Dimensional space." There is a video on thepreview site which shows how they use this to "construct" a 3Denvironme...
A man in Florida was sentenced to six-years in prison after being convicted of several conspiracy and copyright infringement charges. The man made millions off his website selling software titles such as Adobe and Macromedia. The FBI is currently investigating where he obtained the serial numbers which he sold with the software. Prosecutors say the man cost the industry more than 20 million dollars, but some say it could be more.
When Microsoft revealed the next version of Office, one of the most talked about upgrades was the "ribbon" menu system. I personally liked the ribbon interface, but Microsoft was hit with many complaints about it. In the next technical refresh of Office 2007 the ribbon menus will be set to automatically minimize when not in use. This is very similar to auto-hiding your taskbar in Windows. There will also be other menu improvements in the next beta scheduled to be released to testers soon...
Microsoft tech specialists recently revealed a little more information about their upcoming online storage service called "Live Drive". While details about the new service is still sketchy, Microsoft gave a few hints at a recent "bloggers breakfast" event in Australia. The Microsoft rep mentioned that the service could include as much as 2 gigs of memory, with more being available for purchase. It's also rumored that you will be able to directly map the service from Windows Vista.
And so it continues..... Apple today announced the recall of 1.8 million batteries, mainly affecting iBook G4 and Powerbook G4 laptops sold between October 2003 and August 2006. While no reports of laptops catching on fire, as with Dell, users have complained of minors burns and excessive heat from their computers. Sony has confirmed the batteries used in the Apple laptops are the same faulty battery cells that were used in the Dell batteris. If you have one of these Apple laptops ...
Microsoft has released RC1 of IE7. Download The release notes for this build can be found at the link below. Link
A Microsoft Senior Desing Anthropologist said job seekers will think twice about working for a company who locks down the internet during work hours. She says, "These kids are saying: forget it! I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to work at a place where I can’t be freely online during the day." I'm sure people will take different stands on this issue because businesses say that allowing open internet will cause less work to be done throughout the work period. Others seem to sa...
When I first read this story I really thought it was a joke. AOL is going to dig up the garden of the parents of a convicted spammer in search of gold and platinum. I can just see the next AOL contest now. Win free gold bars with your new subscription! "After threatening to get tough on serial junk e-mailers three years ago, AOL intends to show its conviction has not wavered by digging up the garden belonging to the parents of a convicted spammer--in pursuit of buried gold and platinum. ...
Yes you have read it before. Dell laptops having been caught on camera catching fire because of the extreme heat from the battery. Well Dell and the U.S. government came up with a solution. Recall them! This is one of the largest recalls ever negotiated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you have a Dell laptop, click the link below to see if you are eligible for this recall.
Microsoft plans to roll out its "Office Live" service in mid-November. Office Live, which doesn't include any online Office programs, is a set of online business services such as e-mail and web hosting. Over 100,000 people have enrolled in the beta which was unveiled earlier this year. Office Live Basics (free) will include 500MB's of storage, and 25 e-mails accounts with 2GB of storage available. There are also several other paid plans which include extra services such as a business conta...