OtherThings

Microsoft rushes to fix IE kill-bit bypass attack

2009-07-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

Of course real people use a real browser but for those that don't there is a fix coming today. Here is some detail from computerworld on why Microsoft is patching this

Microsoft has been forced to issue emergency patches for its Windows operating system after researchers discovered a way to bypass a critical security mechanism in the Internet Explorer browser.

During a Wednesday talk at this week's Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, researchers Mark Dowd, Ryan Smith and David Dewey will show a way of bypassing the 'kill-bit' mechanism used to disable buggy ActiveX controls. A video demonstration posted by Smith shows how the researchers were able to bypass the mechanism, which checks for ActiveX controls that are not allowed to run on Windows. They were able to then exploit a buggy ActiveX control in order to run an unauthorized program on a victim's computer.

More here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135950/Microsoft_rushes_to_fix_IE_kill_bit_bypass_attack?taxonomyId=17

New IBM Technologies Help Developers Build Safer Software

2007-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software that takes the complexity out of complex systems development and improves developer productivity. The new offerings allow developers to more easily adhere to protocols, standards and code review to ensure the quality of products before they hit the market.

Complex systems development brings hardware and software components together to create systems such as modern cellular phones and treadmills. Airplanes, space craft, missile defense systems and automobile anti-lock braking systems are also examples of complex systems with more severe consequences if they fail to function properly.

IBM Rational software provides an integrated approach to architecting, building and delivering complex system of systems. IBM software helps customers manage requirements and provide better traceability in systems, develop full systems models, increase predictability and reliability of systems, and improve development team collaboration. With today's announcement, developers of complex systems can better ensure the quality and reliability of complex systems software, while adhering to important industry standards.

Industries, from automotive to aerospace and defense, have long operated under a proprietary set of technologies. With increased competition and software and services driving innovation and differentiating the market, a concentrated push for adopting standards in these industries has been underway for nearly a decade. In some cases, standards are designed to simplify, save money, and capitalize on shrinking markets. In other scenarios, the standards are created to increase reliability, levels of precision and effectiveness, and higher degrees of error free code.

"Undoubtedly the stakes are raised," said Dr. Danny Sabbah, general manager, IBM Rational software. "There is no acceptable margin of error for military defense systems, automobile safety, and space exploration -- and increasingly these customers are turning to IBM to help them make certain that all systems are a go."

The new offerings help developers of complex systems meet specific industry standards to help ensure the quality and reliability of complex real-time and embedded software. This class of software developer faces monumental challenges -- not only getting the job done, but doing so in a manner that doesn't risk lives at the end of the day. The IBM software helps systems developers adhere to protocols, standards and code review -- ensuring that the lines of code they are writing are in line with broader project goals and helping to deliver higher quality final products.

New enhancements in complex systems development

IBM Rational Test Real-Time is a comprehensive testing solution which provides capabilities to help developers meet specific industry standards, such as DO-178B, MISRA and Defense Standard 00-55, and ensure the quality and reliability of real-time and embedded solutions. Unlike other industry offerings, IBM Rational Test Real-Time offers a complete testing solution which incorporates static analysis with component testing and runtime analysis in one product leveraging Eclipse. Additionally, each of these capabilities is available on multiple host and target platforms including C, C++, Ada and Java J2SE.

IBM Rational Systems Developer and IBM Rational Software Modeler are design and development tools that leverage model-driven development with the UML 2.1 for creating well-architected, quality software products and systems. IBM Rational Systems Developer and IBM Rational Software Modeler have been updated to support the new UML Profile for DoDAF and MoDAF (UPDM) standards defined by the Object Management Group (OMG) to describe enterprise architectures in such a way that the architectures can be exchanged, compared and analyzed. IBM Rational Systems Developer and IBM Rational Software Modeler are built on the open, modular, and extensible Eclipse platform.

"It's no secret that software systems are getting more and more complex, even as they are embedded into smaller and smaller devices. The only hope to control this complexity is to move to a model-driven, services-focused approach to software development, deployment & maintenance," said Richard Mark Soley, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO, Object Management Group. "Offerings like IBM Rational Systems Developer make it possible to deliver, support & maintain better software, faster and cheaper. Modeling standards make it possible to deliver high-quality systems over and over in the face of constantly changing requirements and infrastructure; and standards supporting consistent development methodologies like DoDAF/MoDAF in the defense industry lower initial cost, mitigate development risk and lower long-term project maintenance as well."

For more information, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/software/rational/systems

Sun Showcases Next Generation Open Petascale Computing and Storage at Supercomputing 2007

2007-11-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) today announced two new systems designed to address the extreme computation, scale and storage requirements of today's HPC customer. The Sun Constellation System - the world's first open petascale computing environment - combines ultra-dense, high performance compute, networking, storage and software into an integrated general purpose system. Running the Solaris Operating System (OS), Linux and Windows, the Sun Constellation System is capable of scaling from departmental clusters to the largest supercomputer configurations to help customers to solve complex computational problems. The Sun StorageTek 5800 System is designed to help ensure long-term preservation, protection and integrity of massive data stores with extensive metadata facilities.

"With today's announcements, we've designed and are delivering the next big thing – open compute and storage platforms in an extremely scalable architecture that brings the power of industrial grade computing to department level clusters and all the way up to the petaflop environments," said John Fowler, executive vice president, Systems Group, Sun Microsystems.

Sun will demonstrate a range of HPC products, services and solutions from servers to software to file systems to storage and archival tape at the Supercomputing 2007 conference in Reno, NV, as well as the systems announced today:

Sun Constellation System

The Sun Constellation System is the world's most scalable HPC computing architecture based on open standards and industry standard components. Scaling from departmental level clusters to systems capable of petascale level computing, the system features ultra-dense compute nodes, ultra-dense Infiniband switching and high performance storage.

Sun Constellation System comprises the following innovative components, bringing production-ready capabilities to petascale computing:

Sun Blade 6048 Modular System - An ultra dense blade server platform which supports SPARC, AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon processors and runs industry standard OS'es including Solaris and Linux.
Sun Datacenter Switch 3456 - world's first single chassis switch designed for petascale, delivers 12x the capacity of the largest Infiniband switch available today, enables the Sun Constellation System to require 1/6 the number of cables of competitive systems and simplifies the design and management of high performance clusters by reducing the number of Infiniband switching elements by up to 300:1.
High-throughput, high-density storage and high capacity tape archive in a unique end-to-end hierarchical storage solution with automated and seamless transfer supporting optimal placement of data.
New Sun Datacenter Express Services for HPC that can be combined with factory integration services and design through Sun's Customer Ready program provide a comprehensive, all-in-one systems and services solution that takes the cost and complexity out of HPC infrastructure procurement and management.
To learn more about the Sun Constellation System go to: www.sun.com/sunconstellationsystem

The Sun Constellation System will be demonstrated on-stage at the Sun Microsystems booth 514 at 11:00 a.m. PST on both Tuesday, Nov. 13 and Thursday, Nov. 15.

Sun StorageTek 5800 System

The Sun StorageTek 5800 System is a new category of storage system designed for large-scale storage of fixed data. The first commercially available fixed content storage system with a commitment to open source its code, the Sun StorageTek 5800 System helps ensure long-term accessibility to data and delivers simpler deployment and management capabilities than traditional file/block-based storage. The Sun StorageTek 5800 System allows customers to scale seamlessly, saving millions in administrative costs. Designed for long-term preservation and protection of data assets, the system helps protect against data corruption and loss with advanced data integrity functionality and assurances.

Check out the market's positive response to the Sun StorageTek 5800 System: http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/pr/2007-11/sunflash.20071112.2.xml

To learn more about the Sun StorageTek 5800 System: http://www.sun.com/storagetek/disk_systems/enterprise/5800/index.xml

The Sun StorageTek 5800 system will be demonstrated on-stage at the Sun Microsystems booth 514 at 3:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

Sun at Supercomputing 2007

For more information on Sun Constellation System and the other innovative products that Sun is showcasing at Supercomputing 2007, including ROCKS on Solaris, Solaris for HPC, the Lustre Parallel File System and the new HPC Developer Community on OpenSolaris.org, visit: www.sun.com/hpc or visit the Sun booths# 514 and #2840 at Supercomputing 2007 for live demonstrations. Sun's Supercomputing 2007 online press kit can be found at: www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/2007-1112/index.jsp.

ESPN and Microsoft Offer Sporting Events and Programming On Demand for Xbox 360

2007-11-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

ESPN and Microsoft Corp. today announced an agreement that will add high- and standard-definition full-length games, television shows and video game programming to Xbox LIVE, the online games and entertainment network on Xbox 360. Effective immediately, fans of all ages can access a growing catalog of marquee sporting events and timely programming, including full-length NCAA college football and basketball games, Summer X Games 13, “World Series of Poker,” “The Contender,” “Madden Nation” and much more on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, the leading high-definition video download service.

“Establishing this relationship with Microsoft on Xbox 360 provides an innovative way to reach our target demographic through this dynamic next-generation entertainment console,” said Matt Murphy, senior vice president, Digital Video Distribution, Disney and ESPN Media Networks. “This agreement embodies our mission to deliver the best sports content to fans, and does it through an exciting and robust platform that reaches millions of people.”

Through this agreement, Xbox LIVE users can download a variety of popular events and shows available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace each week, highlighted by the best matchups from the world of college football and basketball.

For video gamers, ESPN content on Xbox LIVE will include the 2006 and 2007 seasons of “Madden Nation,” an ESPN reality series taking fans inside the world of Madden NFL football competitive gaming. Additional programming will include the 2007 “World Series of Poker,” the 2007 season of “The Contender,” the full-length high-definition surfing documentary “Down the Barrel” and some of the best college football bowl games.

“This is a natural fit for us, as so many Xbox 360 owners are huge sports fans,” said Ross Honey, senior director of the media and entertainment group at Microsoft. “We are dedicated to providing our diverse community of Xbox LIVE users the premium entertainment content they want, and partnering with ESPN is a great example of our continued dedication in the video-on-demand space, especially in high definition.”

Currently offering more than 3,200 hours of premium entertainment content from more than 30 studios and networks, Xbox LIVE Marketplace is the only online service offering downloadable movies and TV shows in high definition. More information about the great ESPN content being offered on the service is available at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/moviestv/?WT.svl=nav.

About ESPN

ESPN, Inc. is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company with over 50 business entities. Sports media assets include ESPN on ABC, six domestic cable television networks, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and other growing businesses, including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Products (wireless), ESPN On Demand, ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV.

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is a superior video game and entertainment system delivering the best games, unique entertainment features and a unified online gaming network that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 will have a portfolio of more than 300 games and will be available in nearly 40 countries by the end of 2007. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects millions of members across 25 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, TV shows and movies in the United States as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favorite retail games. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

Verizon Redefines 'Fast' With Groundbreaking FiOS Internet Service Featuring 20 Mbps Download and Upload Speeds

2007-10-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Verizon has changed the definition of "fast" with the introduction of a new, symmetrical Verizon FiOS Internet service for consumers, featuring an upload and download speed of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps).

The groundbreaking new service - delivered straight to customers' homes on the nation's most-advanced all-digital, all-fiber network - is the first of its kind commercially available to U.S. consumers on a mass scale. It is available, starting today, in parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Verizon plans to offer similar symmetrical services soon in the 13 other states where the company offers FiOS Internet service, and to introduce a similar small-business offer.

"Verizon's new 20/20 FiOS service blows cable away. Their upload speeds don't even come close," said Susan Retta, vice president, Broadband Solutions for Verizon.

"For more than a decade, the Internet has been defined by how quickly you can download content," Retta said. "Our 20/20 FiOS service changes everything by creating an entirely new category of U.S. broadband where 'fast' means fast in both directions. FiOS customers don't have to wait for a new technology standard that's years away to fully participate in today's interactive Web. Our new FiOS service will encourage applications developers to create even more ways for consumers to benefit from immense upstream connectivity."

Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a consumer could upload a 250 megabyte (MB) file of 200 photos in about 90 seconds, compared with about 47 minutes over a 768 kilobits per second (kbps) upstream connection. A 500 MB file, such as 400 digital photos or a medical imaging data set, could upload in less than four minutes, compared with about 90 minutes over a 768 kbps connection. A 3 gigabyte (GB) file, such as a one-hour family video shot with a high-definition video camera, can be uploaded in around 20 minutes, compared with more than nine hours with 768 kbps upstream.

The equally fast upload and download speed of the new symmetrical FiOS service also enhances interactive services like video conferencing, online multi-player gaming, telemedicine, electronic home monitoring, online work collaboration, data backups and more.

"Verizon's new symmetric service is a smart response to the changing usage patterns of high-speed Internet subscribers," said Vince Vittore, senior analyst with Yankee Group. "We believe that as user-generated content continues to expand and telecommuting increases in popularity, upstream speed will become just as important as downstream for all users."

The new FiOS service is available in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for as low as $64.99 a month. Because consumers with ever-growing collections of photos, music, video and other data want to quickly and easily store and protect their files, the symmetrical FiOS service includes a comprehensive Internet security suite plus 1 GB of network-based backup at no additional charge. Customers who subscribe to the new Internet service can upgrade their backup to as much as 50 GB at competitive rates. More information is available by calling 888-GET-FiOS (888-438-3467).

About Verizon's FTTP Network and Verizon FiOS Services

In May 2004 Verizon became the first large U.S. company to launch mass-scale deployment of fiber-optic connections all the way to customers' homes. In addition to offering the fastest broadband speeds available in the United States today, Verizon also became the first major telecom company to utilize a hybrid RF (radio frequency) overlay and IP (Internet protocol) approach to deliver a robust video service to consumers. This provides a highly competitive alternative to services offered by incumbent cable TV companies.

At the end of the second quarter 2007, well over 1 million Verizon customers received their broadband service over Verizon's all-fiber network, and more than half a million customers have subscribed to FiOS TV.

Verizon offers FiOS Internet service in nearly 2,000 communities in 16 states, offering downstream speeds ranging from up to 5 Mbps to up to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds ranging from up to 2 Mbps to up to 20 Mbps. The company's all-digital FiOS TV service was available to nearly 3.9 million premises in 12 states at the end of the second quarter. FiOS TV delivers hundreds of digital video and music channels, high-definition programming, video-on-demand content, a robust interactive program guide and other innovative features.

FiOS Internet was named to the top five of PC World Magazine's 100 Best Products of 2007 - a roster of what the magazine called "the finest products and services of the past 12 months," selected "based on exemplary design, features, performance and innovation." Readers of PC World and Computerworld magazines have recently ranked FiOS Internet No. 1, with top scores across the board in overall satisfaction, connection reliability, download and upload speeds, customer service, and technical support. Additionally, Verizon is the only major telecom company whose network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.

Microsoft Research Reveals New Trends in Cybercrime

2007-10-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. today released research showing an acceleration in the number of security attacks designed to steal personal information or trick people into providing it through social engineering.

Microsoft’s most recent Security Intelligence Report, a comprehensive analysis of the threat landscape, shows that attackers are increasingly targeting personal information to make a profit and are threatening to impact people’s privacy. The report found that during the first half of 2007, 31.6 million phishing scams were detected, an increase of more than 150 percent over the previous six months. The study also shows a 500 percent increase in trojan downloaders and droppers, malicious code used to install files such as trojans, password stealers, keyboard loggers and other malware on users’ systems. Two notable families of trojans detected and removed by the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool are specifically targeted at stealing data and banking information.

Microsoft also released findings from a recent survey of more than 3,600 security, privacy and marketing executives across a variety of industries in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, including financial services, healthcare, technology and government. Conducted by the Ponemon Institute LLC, the study found that as security threats increasingly target personal information, more collaboration among security and privacy officers is critical to avoid costly compromises or breaches of personal information.

The study for the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Group, titled “Microsoft Study on Data Protection and Role Collaboration Within Organizations,” found that organizations with poor collaboration were more than twice as likely as organizations with good collaboration to have suffered a data breach in the past two years.

Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development for the Windows Core Operating System Division at Microsoft, presented the research in a keynote address to information security professionals at the RSA Conference Europe in London. Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, will also share the results in his keynote address at the International Association for Privacy Professionals Privacy Academy in San Francisco later today.

“As a company committed to providing privacy and security solutions for our customers, we will continue to evolve our products, practices and processes as security and privacy become increasingly interdependent and as threats evolve,” Charney said. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for organizations looking to effectively collaborate and protect data, but we hope this research will be a good resource for companies thinking about how to approach this.”

Security and Privacy Threats Converge Under New Attacks

As more people communicate, access and share information online and the delivery of services and information becomes more personalized, organizations are collecting larger amounts of personal information to provide services to customers. Increasingly, organizations need to share information and conduct business across borders and devices, and with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. For cybercriminals, these factors represent greater opportunities to steal personal information.

“As the security of the operating system improves, we are seeing cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated, diverse and targeted in their methods of stealing personal information,” Fathi said. “Personal information is the currency of crime, and malicious attackers are targeting it to make their cyberattacks and other scams more authentic, credible and successful, and to make a profit.”

Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report provides customers and partners with a comprehensive understanding of the types of threats Microsoft customers face today so they can take appropriate action to help ensure they are better protected both now and in the future. According to the latest report, released today, during the first half of 2007, there was a growing number of security attacks by trojans, which often target personal information, and an upward trend in the use of malware to compromise the privacy and security of user machines. In that same time period, backdoors, a category that includes bots, posed the most significantly increasing threat to instant messaging users as attackers continue to use them to control systems and violate user privacy.

The Relationship Between Security, Privacy and Data Use Functions

With security threats increasingly posing a greater threat to privacy, data protection requires involvement from several groups within an organization that typically have different objectives and responsibilities. The research conducted by the Ponemon Institute showed that where the collaboration between security and privacy functions is good, the risk of a data breach is lower. Seventy-four percent of companies that admitted to poor collaboration said they had experienced one or more significant data breaches in the last two years. However, only 29 percent of companies that claimed to have good collaboration reported one or more breaches in the same period.

The research indicates there are tensions within organizations over how data should be managed. Security and privacy professionals see customer data as an asset to protect, while in functions such as marketing where personal data is collected and used, employees are more likely to see it as a resource to achieve business objectives. Conversely, representatives from all three functions agree that the theft or loss of customer data has a potentially damaging impact on brand value and organizational reputation.

“A lot of companies are struggling with approaching data protection holistically, because security and privacy people often don’t even speak the same language and often report to different parts of the company,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. “Understanding the issues and getting security, privacy and business leaders together to discuss ways to approach this collaboratively is a good first step for organizations.”

One finding in particular from the survey provides evidence that some organizations struggle to align security, privacy and marketing functions. According to the research, 78 percent of security and privacy executives said they were confident that their marketing colleagues consult them before collecting or using personal information. However, only 30 percent of marketers said they actually do so.

Another key finding from the research found that preserving or enhancing an organization’s reputation and trust is important, especially for marketing professionals. More than 65 percent of marketers who collect and use data reported that preserving or enhancing the organization’s reputation and trust was among the most important business drivers for data protection. Avoiding threats is the top business driver for security professionals, and regulatory compliance is the top driver for privacy and compliance professionals. This finding suggests that when approaching data protection issues with marketers, security and privacy professionals will benefit from communicating the reputation and trust impacts associated with a lack of focus on avoiding threats of managing compliance.

openSUSE 10.3 is Now Available

2007-10-04T07:31:00.001-07:00

Novell today announced the availability of openSUSE® 10.3, the newest version of the award-winning community Linux* distribution. Available for free download or in a convenient packaged retail edition, openSUSE 10.3 provides everything a user needs to get started with Linux. To improve the user experience, openSUSE 10.3 includes a flexible Linux-Windows dual-boot configuration, improved user interface, Microsoft* Office file compatibility with the latest OpenOffice.org office productivity suite, and enhanced multimedia support.

“The openSUSE community continues to deliver innovations and has created a new version of openSUSE that will excite a wide range of computer users,” said Andreas Jaeger, director of the openSUSE project. “OpenSUSE 10.3 provides a stable and state-of-the-art operating system based on Linux kernel 2.6.22, and it contains a large variety of the latest open source applications for desktops, servers and application development.”

Enhancements to openSUSE 10.3 include the newest versions of the GNOME* and KDE desktop environments, including a KDE 4 preview. OpenOffice.org 2.3 makes sharing files with Microsoft Office users easy, and the newest version of AppArmor™ protects the Linux operating system and applications from attacks, viruses and malicious applications. OpenSUSE 10.3 also now includes MP3 support out of the box for Banshee™ and Amarok, which are the default media players in openSUSE. In addition, openSUSE 10.3 offers the latest open source applications for developing applications, setting up a home network and running a Web server, as well as the latest virtualization software such as Xen* 3.1 and VirtualBox 1.5.

Version 10.3 makes openSUSE the first Linux distribution to take full advantage of the “1-Click Install” option, which gives openSUSE 10.3 users easy access to many more software packages residing on the openSUSE Build Service. Contributed by a single openSUSE community member, the one-click install is an example of the value openSUSE's strong community of developers, testers, writers, translators, artists and users bring to the distribution. OpenSUSE 10.3 was created by the openSUSE project, the community initiative sponsored by Novell that promotes the use of Linux everywhere. The openSUSE project has more than 54,000 registered members.

Availability and Pricing
OpenSUSE 10.3 is now available for free download at www.opensuse.org. The retail edition of openSUSE 10.3 is available on www.shopnovell.com as well as in select retail locations. It delivers the same packages as the downloadable version on an installable DVD for 32- and 64-bit architectures, and it is accompanied by a second DVD containing a large selection of additional software available at the release date. Also included are a comprehensive user manual and 90 days of installation support, all for a suggested $59.95. For retail locations and more information, visit www.novell.com/products/opensuse/resellers/index.html. For more on openSUSE 10.3 and the openSUSE project, visit www.opensuse.org and news.opensuse.org.

Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ Processors To Play a Lead Role In Lucasfilm's Datacenter

2007-09-12T07:23:00.001-07:00

At the launch of the new Quad Core AMD Opteron™ processor at Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Letterman Digital Arts Center (LDAC) today, AMD (NYSE: AMD) and Lucasfilm announced an expansion of the companies' relationship focused on building the world's most advanced and energy-efficient datacenters for producing digital arts and entertainment. Lucasfilm's global operations at the LDAC and in Singapore are currently powered by AMD Opteron processors to help create and render stunning visual content for dozens of major motion pictures, including the three most recent box office champions, among many others. Lucasfilm also uses AMD technology to create digital content for television programs and next-generation interactive games.

“We look forward to introducing Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors into production here at LDAC. AMD is a great technology partner for Lucasfilm in that they continue to innovate and push the boundaries of energy efficient processing power," said Kevin Clark, Director of IT Operations for Lucasfilm. "We are consistently required to raise the bar by producing cutting edge imagery, and AMD’s Quad Core technology has the potential to make a substantial impact on our capabilities going forward. Coupled with our requirements of high-performance is our desire to become a model of energy efficiency, and this is in lock-step with AMD's focus on delivering powerful yet energy-efficient processors."

With the introduction of the world's first native quad-core server processors, Lucasfilm looks to take advantage of the increased computing performance while maintaining the same thermal and cooling requirements as dual-core AMD Opteron processors.

"The Letterman Digital Arts Center forms the epicenter where next-generation movie-making meets next-generation interactive gaming. No other studio in the world has this capability or charter," said Charlie Boswell, director of Digital Media and Entertainment for AMD. "AMD and Lucasfilm share a vision of enabling the ultimate visual experience for consumers first by providing artists with technology that supports the creative process at the speed of inspiration and without hindrance."

Halo 3 Becomes Fastest-Selling Pre-Ordered Video Game in History, Soaring Past 1 Million Milestone

2007-08-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

As the countdown continues for the entertainment event of the year — the launch of “Halo® 3” — the video game continues to set records and establish new precedents for an entertainment launch. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced that preorders in North America for the exclusive Xbox 360™ title have exceeded the 1 million milestone. In addition, Microsoft unveiled the first exciting details of upcoming promotions from leading consumer brands, including Mountain Dew, 7-Eleven, Pontiac, Comcast and Burger King Corp.

In a strategy utilized in other big entertainment launches, retailers around the world have begun taking preorders, enabling consumers to order one of the three versions of “Halo 3”: Standard Edition, Limited Edition and the ultra-collectible Legendary Edition. In fact, demand has been so strong for the Legendary Edition of the game that it is expected to be sold out by the time the game launches on Sept. 25. Retailers have also noted that the presales for “Halo 3” are the fastest in video game history.

“What we’ve experienced is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. “‘Halo 3’ has eclipsed many previous records and will prove to be one of the must-have items of 2007.”

“The excitement for ‘Halo 3’ is incredible,” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy. “From our preorders online and the buzz we’re hearing in our stores, we know this release is going to be one of the biggest entertainment events of the year. We’re thrilled to be able to bring it to our customers.”

For the first time in video game history and on par with the scope of major movie releases, some of the world’s biggest consumer brands have aligned to support the launch. Many plan to offer a variety of promotions that give consumers the opportunity to obtain unique “Halo 3”-branded products and prizes and participate in one-of-a-kind “Halo 3”-themed events.

“This September, ‘Halo 3’ will push video game entertainment into the forefront of mainstream culture,” said Chris Di Cesare, director of creative marketing at Microsoft. “Teaming up with some of the world’s strongest and most recognizable brands is trailblazing new paths and cementing video games as big entertainment on par with major event films, and is a testament to the excitement and anticipation intrinsically linked to ‘Halo 3.’”

Mountain Dew will unveil the first beverage co-branded with a video game, Mountain Dew Game Fuel. Game Fuel has the same great taste of Mountain Dew with an invigorating blast of citrus cherry flavor and added caffeine for maximum intensity. Game Fuel will come in 20-ounce bottles, 2-liter bottles and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans and will be available nationwide for a limited time starting Aug. 13, 2007.

7-Eleven today confirmed its plans to support the launch of “Halo 3” through a variety of in-store promotions, including three “Halo 3”-branded collectible Slurpee cups. In addition,7-Eleven will run a “Halo 3” promotion with Mountain Dew Game Fuel and Doritos, with thousands of “Halo 3”-themed prizes, including, as grand prize, a chance to win a role as a voice actor in the upcoming Xbox 360 video game, “Halo Wars™,” by Ensemble Studios. In a few select markets, Mountain Dew will offer a special-edition aluminum bottle of Mountain Dew Game Fuel with an exclusive design created by Bungie Studios, the developers of “Halo 3.” This bottle will be available in very limited quantities, making it a highly sought-after collector’s item.

Pontiac will provide consumers with several exclusive “Halo 3”-related opportunities. It will host Pontiac Gamers Garage events in select locations, providing consumers with a chance to play the game for the first time before its release. In addition, in support of the launch of its upcoming high-performance G6 GXP Street, Pontiac will provide 1,000 consumers with a copy of the game, and one lucky gamer will win a limited-edition “Halo 3” G6 GXP Street car.

Burger King Corp. will continue its sponsorship of Xbox 360 with national, in-restaurant support from Sept. 24 through Oct. 22. “Halo 3”-themed packaging will offer customers access to exclusive content by logging on to http://www.bk.com/halo3 beginning Sept. 23. Graphics will be featured on select packaging, including the 42-ounce cup and King FRYPOD™.

Comcast has also joined the “Halo 3” campaign and will host exclusive video content, including user-generated movies and machinima, on its Web sites http://gameinvasion.net and http://www.ziddio.com. Comcast will also feature standard- and high-definition “Halo 3” videos on its signature ON DEMAND service.

“Halo 3” is also the official sponsor of the Projekt Revolution tour this summer, which includes bands Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. Exclusive “Halo 3” VIP events will take place in select cities on the tour, where attendees will receive “Halo 3”-themed merchandise and have an opportunity to meet the members of Linkin Park.

More About Halo

“Halo 3,” the final chapter in the groundbreaking “Halo” trilogy, is set to shatter day-one entertainment sales records when it is released worldwide beginning Tuesday, Sept. 25. Created by legendary developer Bungie Studios and exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, “Halo 3” will set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in the epic battle of Master Chief™ to save humankind.

In November 2004, the world’s view of video games changed forever with the release of “Halo 2,” which generated a record-setting $125 million (U.S.) in sales within the first 24 hours and changed the way people think about interactive entertainment. Three years later, it remains the most-played game on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE® online gaming and entertainment network, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to date.

About Bungie Studios

Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy” and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.8 million units worldwide, logging nearly 1 billion hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel and more. Bungie is currently at work on “Halo 3,” which represents the third chapter in this “Halo” trilogy and is slated for release in 2007. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®”; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport®”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”

Pre order now!
Halo 3
Halo 3 Limited Edition
Halo 3 Legendary Edition

Time Warner and IBM Enter Patent Cross-License Agreement

2007-08-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Time Warner Inc. and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the companies have entered into a long-term patent cross-license agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Patent cross-licenses support one of the basic reasons for granting patents -- sharing information about new inventions -- and give companies greater freedom to innovate.
According to Chuck Fish, vice president and patent counsel at Time Warner, "Time Warner recognizes IBM's record of sustained innovation. A license to IBM's broad portfolio of patents is a valuable asset for Time Warner."

Dan Cerutti, IBM's general manager of software intellectual property, said, "IBM and Time Warner have rich histories of pioneering innovation in online and networked systems dating back to before the development of the World Wide Web. We are pleased to be able to share our innovations through a patent cross-license."

Time Warner is a leading media and entertainment company, whose businesses include interactive services, cable systems, filmed entertainment, television networks and publishing.

IBM has earned the most U.S. patents for 14 consecutive years and is the world's largest holder of U.S. patents. The company has a strong global focus on the media and entertainment industry across all of its services and products, serving all the major industry segments -- entertainment, publishing, information providers, media networks and advertising. For more information on IBM, please visit www.ibm.com.

YSlow: Speed up your web pages

2007-07-25T09:08:00.001-07:00

YSlow analyzes web pages and tells you why they're slow based on the rules for high performance web sites. YSlow is a Firefox add-on integrated with the popular Firebug web development tool. YSlow gives you:
Performance report card
HTTP/HTML summary
List of components in the page
Tools including JSLint

Learn more and download YSlow here: http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/

Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child

2007-07-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Intel and One Laptop per Child (OLPC) today announced they have agreed to work together to bring the benefits of technology to the developing world through synergy of their respective programs. Under the agreement, Intel and OLPC will explore collaborations involving technology and educational content. Intel will also join the board of OLPC.

OLPC is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to bring learning opportunities to the most remote and poorest children of the world by providing connected, low-cost and rugged laptops to each and every child in their daily lives.

"Intel joins the OLPC board as a world leader in technology, helping reach the world's children. Collaboration with Intel means that the maximum number of laptops will reach children," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child.

"Joining OLPC is a further example of our commitment to education over the last 20 years and our belief in the role of technology in bringing the opportunities of the 21st century to children around the world," said Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel.

Intel currently invests more than $100 million per year in over 50 countries to promote education, including efforts through the Intel Foundation, and has been developing products for the educational marketplace. Intel's focus on education for emerging markets is part of the Intel World Ahead program, the company's comprehensive approach to bring technology to everyone, anywhere in the world.

About One Laptop per Child
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a non-profit organization created to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. These machines will be rugged, Linux-based, and so energy efficient that hand-cranking alone will generate sufficient power for operation. Mesh networking will give many machines Internet access from one connection.

OLPC is based on constructionist theories of learning pioneered by Seymour Papert and later Alan Kay, as well as the principles expressed in Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital. The corporate members are AMD, Brightstar, Chi Lin, eBay, Google, Intel, Marvell, News Corporation, Nortel Networks, Quanta Computer, Red Hat and SES Astra. More information is available at www.laptop.org.

VMware And Intel Capital Announce Investment

2007-07-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for virtualization solutions today announced that Intel Corporation, through its global investment arm, Intel Capital has agreed to become an investor in VMware. VMware's base virtualization platform virtualizes the Intel architecture. Intel microprocessors comprise the majority of the systems on which VMware's virtualization products are deployed.

Intel Capital will invest $218.5 million in VMware's Class A common stock subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions including Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) review. At the completion of VMware's planned initial public offering and upon closing of the investment, Intel will own approximately 2.5 percent of VMware's total outstanding common stock (less than one percent of the combined voting power of VMware's outstanding common stock). Pursuant to the investment, an Intel executive is expected to be appointed to the VMware Board of Directors.

Intel's investment is intended to foster strengthened inter-company collaboration towards accelerating VMware virtualization product adoption on Intel architecture and reinforcing the value of virtualization technology for customers.

In addition, VMware and Intel have entered into a routine and customary collaboration partnering agreement that expresses their intent to continue to expand their cooperative efforts around joint development, marketing and industry initiatives.

About VMware, Inc.
VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. The world's largest companies use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit www.VMware.com.

About Intel
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

half of the people who bought iPhones have had activation trouble

2007-07-02T03:20:00.000-07:00

Thomas Hawk writes

"Unfortunately it appears that some activations of Apple's new iPhone have gone
badly. After waiting in line 36 hours I'm still unable to activate my phone. I'm documenting
the AT&T circus call by call on my blog. I've had my hold calls dropped,
been patched into other users unable to activate their phone instead of AT&T
customer service reps, been told that my wife must get a new phone and that the
family plan can't work for me. I've been told that the problem is that I'm not
putting a new chip into my iPhone in the slot on the left side of my phone when
no slot there exists. PR Blogger Steve Rubel has also been documenting his problems on his
Twitterstream. According to an unscientific poll being conducted by Engadget about
half of the people who bought iPhones have had activation trouble with about
38% of problems still unresolved."

Sun Donates High Availability Cluster Code to the Open Source Community, Enables Accelerated Innovation In Scale Out Architectures

2007-06-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW), announced it will release the Solaris Cluster source code through the HA (High Availability) Clusters community on the OpenSolaris community. For the first time, developers will be able to participate in the evolution of the software itself, as well as leverage the open source cluster technology to develop and support highly available application services.

"Sun is releasing this code to the community to accelerate innovation around clustered solutions, in a world moving quickly to scale-out architectures. When applied to Solaris or other technologies, the Solaris clustering code is a great base to support clustered and HA systems innovation throughout the community," said Rich Green, executive vice president, Software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The Open HA Cluster code allows open source developers to use the same Solaris HA infrastructure that powers enterprises' most mission critical applications with their open source and network facing applications and services."

Sun's first contributions are application modules, or agents, which enable open source or commercially available applications to become highly available in a cluster environment.

The Open HA Cluster code will be made available in three phases, beginning at the end of June and continuing over the next 18 months. In the first phase of Open HA Cluster, Sun will deliver code for most of the high availability agents offered with the Solaris Cluster product. Solaris Cluster's high availability agents allow developers to cluster-enable applications to run as either scalable or failover services. Sun is also making available the source code for the Solaris Cluster Automated Test Environment (SCATE) along with agent related documentation, to assist in testing new agents. The test framework and first test suite will be contributed at the end of June 2007. Among these agents are the Solaris Containers agent, the BEA Weblogic agent, and PostgreSQL.

Agents written using Open HA Cluster will also run on Solaris Cluster version 3.2 on the Solaris 10 OS. Subsequent phases of Open HA Cluster will include delivery of the code for the recently released Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition - software that enables multi-site disaster recovery by managing the availability of application services and data across geographically dispersed clusters. Later, Sun will release the code for the core Solaris Cluster infrastructure, again with SCATE infrastructure tests and documentation.

To learn more about Open High Availability Cluster and the HA Clusters community on OpenSolaris, and to review a complete list of the high availability agents offered with the Solaris Cluster product, please visit: http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ha-clusters/

In the two years since Sun first opened the source code of the Solaris software development build, the OpenSolaris project community has grown worldwide. More about the achievements of the OpenSolaris community can be found at http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/entry/opensolaris_at_two

Sun offers a tiered set of support services for its software offerings, ranging from single incident to comprehensive developer plans. In addition, with a broad portfolio of training and certification offerings, developers can enhance their skillsets to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies. To learn more, please visit http://developers.sun.com/services

Apple and AT&T Announce iTunes Activation and Sync for iPhone

2007-06-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Apple® and AT&T Inc. today announced that iPhone™ users will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple’s popular iTunes® software running on a PC or Mac® computer in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated. Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their service plan, authorize their credit and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts, TV shows and movies just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

“Users will be able to activate their new iPhone in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “There are tens of millions of people in the US who already know how to sync their iPods with iTunes, and syncing their new iPhone with iTunes works the same way.”

“iPhone’s user-driven activation is another example of how AT&T and Apple have partnered to bring innovative new features to our customers,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO, AT&T. “iPhone’s innovative activation and sync is just one example of how this is going to be a real industry game-changer.”

iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a revolutionary multi-touch display and pioneering new software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. iPhone combines three products into one small and lightweight handheld device—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the Internet in your pocket with best-ever applications on a mobile phone for email, web browsing and maps. iPhone ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone goes on sale at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 29 and will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores. iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac.

System Requirements
iPhone activation requires an Internet connection; an iTunes Store account or a major credit card; a valid Social Security number (as required by AT&T); the latest version of iTunes available at www.itunes.com and a PC or Mac with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems: Mac OS® X v10.4.10 or later; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later; or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition. iPhone requires a new two-year AT&T service plan. Customers with existing AT&T accounts will have the option of keeping their existing phone number and upgrading their account to work with iPhone.

AT&T and Apple Announce Simple, Affordable Service Plans for iPhone

2007-06-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

AT&T Inc. and Apple® today announced three simple, affordable service plans for iPhone™ which start at just $59.99 per month. All three plans include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. With everything else already included, iPhone customers can easily choose the plan that’s right for them based on the amount of voice minutes they plan to use each month. In addition, iPhone customers can choose from any of AT&T’s standard service plans.

“AT&T has the largest voice and data network in America, the largest mobile-to-mobile calling community and the fewest dropped calls,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO, AT&T. “AT&T has invested more than 16 billion dollars in its wireless network between 2005 and 2007, and iPhone customers will enjoy the best voice and data network in the nation.”

“We want to make choosing a service plan simple and easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to experience all of iPhone’s revolutionary features at affordable and competitive prices.”

All iPhone plans include Visual Voicemail, an industry first, which allows consumers to see a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without listening to previous messages. Just like email, Visual Voicemail on iPhone enables users to immediately and randomly access the messages that interest them most. Unlike most wireless plans that charge additional fees for new features, there are no additional fees for Visual Voicemail.

iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a revolutionary multi-touch display and pioneering new software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. iPhone combines three products into one small and lightweight handheld device—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod®, and the Internet in your pocket with best-ever applications on a mobile phone for email, web browsing and maps. iPhone ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone goes on sale at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 29 and will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores. iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®. All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36. Family plans are also available.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com

About Apple
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Yahoo! Co-Founder Jerry Yang Named Chief Executive Officer

2007-06-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder and long-time board member, as Chief Executive Officer. Terry Semel, current Yahoo! Chairman and CEO, will assume the position of non-executive Chairman and serve as an advisor and important resource for the company's senior management team, while also working closely with the Board. The Board also named Susan Decker, formerly Executive Vice President and Head of Advertiser and Publisher Group, as President of the company.

Terry Semel said, "The Board and I have long talked about the importance of ensuring a smooth succession in Yahoo!'s senior leadership – and more recently, about the need for a leadership team committed to carrying Yahoo! through its multi-year transformation. As we discussed my future goals and plans, I was clear in telling the Board of my desire to take a step back sooner rather than later. I believe Jerry and Sue, with their superb talents and intense dedication to Yahoo! and its people, are the perfect combination to carry us forward. This is the time for new executive leadership, with different skills and strengths, to step in and drive the company to realize its full potential – it is the right thing to do, and the right time is now."

Semel continued, "Jerry and Sue will make an unbeatable team. Jerry has long been recognized as an Internet visionary. His incredible experience and close involvement since founding the company 12 years ago have given him tremendous strategic, technical and industry insight as well as unparalleled knowledge and understanding of Yahoo! and its great potential. We are equally fortunate to have Sue Decker, one of the most talented executives in the industry, as our new President. Sue has played a broad and important role in driving our strategy over the years, and has shown even greater skills and leadership with the success she's had in taking on more operating responsibilities. Both Jerry and Sue have been great partners to me and I am looking forward to collaborating with and supporting them both, as well as the Board, in any way that I can as Chairman. I'm proud of all that we've accomplished over the past six years during this exciting, still early stage of the Internet's development, and my single goal is to ensure that Yahoo! achieves its full potential."

Director Ed Kozel, speaking on behalf of the Board, said, "The entire Board appreciates the vital role Terry has played in making Yahoo! the Internet leader it is today. After joining the company in 2001, Terry helped refocus Yahoo! on key strategic priorities and execute clear plans for growth, while building and acquiring world-class products and properties. Under his leadership, we have delivered great value to Yahoo!'s users, advertisers and shareholders – increasing our revenues nearly nine-fold since 2001 to $6.4 billion for 2006, boosting our operating income from a loss in 2001 to nearly $1 billion last year, and creating more than $30 billion in shareholder value during his tenure. We've also built our industry-leading audience from 170 million users in 2001 to more than 500 million this year, and significantly expanded our strong and talented employee base from 3,500 to 12,000. All of us on the Board and throughout the company thank Terry for his many contributions over the years and for his willingness to stay on to assist Jerry, Sue and the Board as we drive Yahoo! forward."

Kozel continued, "We believe there is no better person in the world to run Yahoo! now than our visionary co-founder Jerry Yang, who has helped build and run this company over the past 12 years. Jerry provides phenomenal strategic, technical, product and market leadership, has developed important relationships with major business partners, and has defined and nurtured Yahoo!'s unique, winning culture. As the public face of Yahoo!, Jerry has been instrumental in attracting world-class talent to the company at all levels. In our new President Sue Decker, Jerry has the perfect partner. Sue was an outstanding CFO, has played a key strategic role as part of our senior management team, and in her growing operational role, has had enormous success as well. We are confident we have the right team in place to realize the enormous opportunities ahead."

Jerry Yang said, "I'm delighted to assume this leadership role at the company David Filo and I started 12 years ago. I want to thank Terry for his many contributions to Yahoo! and for giving the company six of its best years. He has been not only a strong leader, but a consummate partner. And, Sue and I look forward to working with him to build on our firm foundation for future success and improved financial performance. Sue has been an integral part of the management team and knows the company incredibly well. She has demonstrated her ability to build successful teams, drive critical partnerships, and lead some of our most important business initiatives. And she has proved herself to be adept in an increasingly broad range of complex operational responsibilities.

"I am very excited to be leading our exceptional team of 12,000 Yahoo!'s around the world," Yang continued. "It's an honor and a great responsibility, and I look forward to the challenge. My immediate and overarching priorities are to realize Yahoo!'s strategic vision by accelerating execution, further strengthening our leadership team and fostering an even stronger culture of winning."

Sue Decker said, "It is an incredibly important time for Yahoo! and I am thrilled to be partnering with Jerry to execute on our strategic vision. We have a terrific opportunity to build upon the benefits that we are already realizing from the recent reorganization around our core customers: hundreds of millions of users, hundreds of thousands of advertisers, and tens of thousands of publishers all over the world. It has been a great privilege to work with and learn from Terry and his leadership team over the past six years and that foundation will serve us well as we focus on the great opportunities and challenges ahead."

As part of this management change, Sue will assume leadership of Yahoo!'s business operations, which include the Advertiser and Publisher Group along with the Yahoo! Network, Connected Life, and our International operations. The Technology Group as well as all Corporate Functions will report to Jerry. David Filo will continue to play an important role in our management team by overseeing the company's strong technology organization as Yahoo! searches for a new Chief Technology Officer.

Because Mr. Semel resigned as CEO and will continue on as non-executive Chairman, the Company said there will be no separation agreement with him.

Analyst Conference Call

Yahoo! will host an analyst conference call to discuss the management changes at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time today. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the Company's Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/index.cfm. In addition, an archive of the webcast can be accessed through the same link. An audio replay of the call will be available following the conference call by dialing (888) 286-8010 (Primary) or (617) 801-6888 (International), reservation number: 14345291.

About Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with David Filo and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company in June 2007. Mr. Yang, a leading force in the Internet media industry, has been instrumental in building Yahoo! into the world's most highly trafficked Web site and one of the world's most recognized brands. Since the company's founding, Mr. Yang has been a key member of the executive management team. His focus at Yahoo! over the years has included corporate strategy, Yahoo!'s technology vision, strategic business partnerships and international joint ventures, and recruiting key talent. In addition to serving on the Yahoo! Board of Directors, Mr. Yang also currently serves on the boards of Cisco Systems, Yahoo! Japan, and Alibaba, and is a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Mr. Yang holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford's electrical engineering Ph.D. program.

About Susan Decker

Sue Decker, most recently head of Yahoo!'s Advertiser and Publisher Group and previously Chief Financial Officer, was instrumental in developing the Company's recent reorganization plan and strategy. She also played a leading role in two of the Company's key strategic initiatives announced in 2006, the formation of a strategic partnership with eBay making Yahoo! the exclusive provider of graphical advertising and complementary search advertising on eBay's U.S. website; and the formation of a strategic partnership with a consortium of more than 150 daily U.S. newspapers to deliver search, display and classified advertising to consumers in the communities where they live and work. Prior to joining Yahoo! in June 2000, Ms. Decker was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for 14 years - most recently as the global director of equity research. She currently serves on the board of directors for Berkshire Hathaway, Intel Corporation and Costco Wholesale. Ms. Decker holds a bachelor of science degree from Tufts University and a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School.

iPhone Delivers Up to Eight Hours of Talk Time

2007-06-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Apple® today announced that iPhone™ will deliver significantly longer battery life when it ships on June 29 than was originally estimated when iPhone was unveiled in January. iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback.* In addition, iPhone will feature up to 250 hours—more than 10 days—of standby time. Apple also announced that the entire top surface of iPhone, including its stunning 3.5-inch display, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass to achieve a superior level of scratch resistance and optical clarity.

“With 8 hours of talk time, and 24 hours of audio playback, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other ‘Smartphone’ and even longer than most MP3 players,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity. There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can't wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today.”

iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a revolutionary multi-touch display and pioneering new software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. iPhone combines three products into one small and lightweight handheld device—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the Internet in your pocket with best-ever applications on a mobile phone for email, web browsing and maps. iPhone ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

Pricing and Availability
iPhone will be available in the US on June 29, 2007 in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through AT&T’s select retail stores.

*All Battery claims are dependent upon network configuration and many other factors; actual results may vary. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; actual capacity varies by content.

IBM and Red Hat Achieve Highest Security Certification for Linux on IBM Servers

2007-06-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a new security certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 that is expected to further drive the adoption of Linux among businesses and governments worldwide. With the certification, no mainstream operating system in the world offers a higher level of security certification.

Today's announcement confirms that Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM servers now meets government security standards allowing Linux to be used in homeland security projects, command-and-control operations, and throughout government agencies that previously were limited to a select few other operating systems. This latest certification ensures that Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on IBM servers is now second to none in security among mainstream operating systems.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM systems, supporting applications such as those developed by Trusted Computer Solutions, Inc., a leading supplier of cross domain solutions for industry and government, has been approved by the National Information Assurance Partnership for Common Criteria Evaluation & Validation Scheme at Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4+) for Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP), Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP), and Role-Based Access Control Protection Profile (RBAC).

This marks the first Common Criteria certification for a Linux distribution at this globally recognized advanced level of security and assurance, which means Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM systems now meets government security standards for assured information sharing within and across government agencies. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is now positioned to provide best-of-breed security capabilities for commercial operating systems, offering government agencies and businesses alike an unprecedented choice for secure applications.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, which was released for general availability earlier this year, contains kernel and Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) policy features developed through a significant open community effort with IBM, and the participation from other key contributors, including Red Hat, Trusted Computer Solutions, and federal government representatives.

"NSA is pleased that the work of its research organization in the area of secure computing is being used as the foundation for secure solutions in the open community," said Richard Mathews, Chief of NSA's National Information Assurance Research Laboratory. "We are committed to focusing on new technology research and promoting transfer of those technologies to the private sector to improve assurance of NIAP certified commercial products."

The Common Criteria is an internationally recognized set of standards used by the federal government and other organizations to assess the security and assurance of technology products. Under Common Criteria, products are evaluated against strict standards for various features, such as the development environment, security functionality, the handling of security vulnerabilities, security related documentation and product testing.

Wide Range of Choice for Linux Solutions

IBM and Red Hat have collaborated to ensure certification of RHEL 5 on multiple platforms to maximize choice and value for customers. RHEL 5 is certified on several IBM server brands, including System x, System p, System z, and BladeCenter. IBM's server product line offers customers industry-leading performance together with application flexibility, solution choice, and outstanding scalability, reliability and security.

"Today's announcement marks another significant milestone in the evolution of Linux, which is already established as a true enterprise-class system that routinely handles mission-critical applications," said Dave McQueeney, IBM Vice President, U.S. Federal. "In our federal government environment, we have the additional requirement for certifications to confirm the integrity of software for the most sensitive applications. We all recognize that Linux is a rock-solid system, with a vibrant and innovative development community, eclipsing many other offerings in common use across federal. Now, by achieving EAL4+ with multilevel security capability, we have further confirmation of the robustness and trustworthiness of Linux, and we expect its impact across federal to accelerate rapidly."

"Systems security is top of mind for enterprise customers, and especially in the government sector," said Paul Cormier Executive Vice President of Engineering at Red Hat. "Red Hat, IBM and TCS have partnered for years to ensure that Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a leading distribution that customers can trust with their most critical and private data."

About IBM

For more information on IBM and Linux, please visit www.ibm.com/linux

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat, the world's leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 50 satellite offices spanning the globe. CIOs have ranked Red Hat first for value in Enterprise Software for three consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat provides high-quality, low-cost technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including the JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com

Safari for Windows Public Beta Downloads Top 1 Million in First 48 Hours

2007-06-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

Apple® today announced that more than 1 million copies of Safari™ for Windows were downloaded in the first 48 hours since the free public beta was made available on Monday. Safari 3 is the world’s fastest and easiest-to-use browser, and is available as a free download at www.apple.com/safari

Safari 3 is the fastest browser running on Windows, rendering web pages up to twice as fast as IE 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2, based on the industry standard iBench tests.* Safari 3 supports all modern Internet standards including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SVG and Java. Safari updates are delivered seamlessly through Apple’s Software Update, and the first update for Safari for Windows Public Beta which fixes some early reported bugs was released last night.

Safari 3 for Windows requires Windows XP or Windows Vista, a minimum of 256 MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. Testing conducted on an iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Windows XP, with 1GB of RAM.

Groundbreaking Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Concludes; Official Countdown for Launch of Game Begins

2007-06-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

The countdown has begun for the biggest entertainment event of 2007 with the close of Bungie Studios’ massively successful “Halo® 3” multiplayer beta. A first for the acclaimed “Halo” franchise, the limited public beta was an overwhelming success, seeing more than 820,000 unique participants and more than 12 million hours of online gameplay in its short test period, equivalent to more than 1,400 years of continuous play by one person.

Now that the beta has closed, consumers worldwide can gear up for the game’s release with a variety of new merchandise, including two new Xbox 360™ Limited Edition “Halo 3” Wireless Controllers designed by Spawn and McFarlane Toys creator Todd McFarlane, as well as an Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Halo 3” Wireless Headset, which lets gamers talk with friends over Xbox LIVE®. The controllers and headset will be available starting in early September and can be preordered at select retailers today, allowing “Halo” fans everywhere to prepare for the launch of this year’s biggest game.

“The participation in the ‘Halo 3’ beta was staggering,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “Witnessing such a great reaction to a small portion of the game has been inspiring. It’s a testament to the fervor and anticipation that surrounds ‘Halo 3.’ We’re confident that on Sept. 25 Halo 3 will drive an unprecedented wave of new gamers to the Xbox 360 platform and Xbox LIVE.”

The “Halo 3” beta, an early look at parts of the multiplayer gameplay of “Halo 3,” debuted to Xbox 360 owners worldwide via Xbox LIVE on May 16. The more than 820,000 users who played the beta resulted in more than 350 terabytes of data downloaded from Xbox LIVE, equivalent to more than 82 million digital music downloads from the Internet.* Also telling was the players’ response to an exciting new saved-film feature, which provided them with the unprecedented ability to record their games and share them over Xbox LIVE with friends for the first time on Xbox 360. The feature, which was unveiled in the beta, saw more than 580,000 saved films created by users, representing more than 2.7 terabytes of data. Because of the tremendous participation in the beta, Bungie now has an exhaustive amount of data that will be used to improve the overall game experience.

Fans looking to immerse themselves in the “Halo” universe before the game’s epic launch this September will be able to dive into “Halo” through a variety of new merchandise and accessories:

• Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Halo 3” Wireless Controllers. Two new Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 3 Wireless Controllers will be available starting Sept. 18 and can be preordered today at select retailers. Designed with original artwork by legendary Spawn artist Todd McFarlane, they will be available in either the Covenant Brute or Master Chief themes. Each controller will be packaged with a limited edition “Halo 3” collectible figurine created by McFarlane Toys will sell for an estimated retail price $59.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Halo 3” Wireless Headset. For the “Halo 3” enthusiast who enjoys wireless mobility while playing with friends on Xbox LIVE, the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 3 Wireless Headset will sport the Spartan green and gold and provide high-quality voice connections over Xbox LIVE for an estimated retail price of $59.99 (U.S.). Available in early September, this accessory can be preordered today at select retailers.

• “Halo: Contact Harvest.” “Halo” fans can look forward to the latest book in the “Halo” saga, “Halo: Contact Harvest,” published by Tor Books and due Oct. 2, 2007. Written by Joseph Staten, the Bungie Studios cinematic and writing lead for the first two “Halo” games, the newest piece of fiction precedes the current New York Times’ best-selling book series, telling the tale of the first encounters between UNSC forces and the alien Covenant race that threatens to destroy all humanity. The trade paperback will cost $12.95 (U.S.).

• Marvel Comic miniseries. Bungie Studios has teamed up with Marvel Comics to release the monthly miniseries “Halo: Uprising.” The four-issue miniseries, featuring original storylines and artwork from the Eisner Award-winning team of superscribe Brian Michael Bendis and artist extraordinaire Alex Maleev, will launch with issue one on July 25, 2007 and cost $3.99 (U.S.) per issue.

• Zune™-Halo 3 edition. Encased in collectible packaging, the Zune-Halo 3 edition digital media player comes preloaded with artwork, trailers and music from all three “Halo” games, as well as an exclusive new episode of “Red vs. Blue” from the fan-adored machinima creator Rooster Teeth Productions LLC. The Zune-Halo 3 edition will be available exclusively at GameStop starting June 15 for an estimated retail price of $249 (U.S.).

About Bungie Studios
Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy” and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.7 million units worldwide, logging nearly 1 billion hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel and more. Bungie is currently at work on “Halo 3,” which represents the third chapter in this “Halo” trilogy and is slated for release in 2007. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

About Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online
platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®”; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport®”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”

SUNW: Sun Tunes Solaris Express Developer Edition for Enhanced Multicore Development

2007-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW), today announced new functionality for Solaris Express Developer Edition, including new compilers and development tools, to help application developers create better applications faster. The OpenSolaris-based distribution offers developers for the Solaris Operating System (OS), Java platform, and Web 2.0 applications a new set of products which are optimized for the newest multicore architectures. Solaris Express Developer Edition was created using the most current OpenSolaris community source code contributions and includes Sun Studio 12 software to accelerate application performance by parallelizing C, C++, and Fortran applications.

"Software developers increasingly demand innovative platforms and tools to allow their applications to take maximum advantage of multi-core chip architectures, such as the market-leading 32-thread Sun UltraSPARC T1. The new threading tools and compiler optimizations in Sun Studio 12 provide an advanced suite of tools and libraries that ease the development of applications on the newest multi-core SPARC and x86-based systems," said Marc Hamilton, vice president of Solaris marketing for Sun. "Coupled with the advantages of the underlying platform, the Solaris OS provides leadership in the development and deployment of next generation multicore applications."

The new release of Solaris Express Developer Edition offers a modern GNOME-based desktop including Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 beta 2, and StarOffice 8 update 6 software. In addition, this update includes NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 5.5 for the development of desktop, web, and enterprise Java applications. Sun Studio 12 includes auto parallelizing compilers and support for the OpenMP 2.5 API, and has a new feature that identifies at runtime many common but difficult-to-detect multithreading issues, such as race and deadlock conditions. Combined with a next-generation IDE, Sun Studio 12 software offers a complete, integrated, easy-to-use toolchain for those that develop for the most advanced OS on the planet.

Sun Studio 12 software uses innovative optimization techniques on x86 systems to deliver up to 25% better performance on compute-intensive benchmarks, and up to 80% better performance for memory-intensive, industry-recognized benchmarks.

Additional functionality includes new wireless drivers, the first phase of a project to automatically configure network interfaces, new Xorg server enhancements and new X windows libraries, plus a DTrace provider to allow tracing X client applications.

Solaris Express Developer Edition supports a wide variety of common x86-based desktop and laptop hardware, and has been optimized for servers being developed based on Sun's 64-thread Niagara 2 processor. The Sun Blade 6000 blade server supports SPARC, AMD Opteron and Intel processors running Solaris Express Developer Edition, the industry leading developer OS for those processors.

Solaris Express Developer Edition 5/07 is available to download today at www.sun.com/sxde and is the second iteration of a new distribution based on the OpenSolaris project, providing developers with a fully integrated environment for developing applications for Solaris, Java technology, and Web 2.0. Solaris Express Developer Edition offers simplified installation so developers can get Solaris up and running more easily, saving time and effort, and Sun Developer Expert Assistance is available for developers to can get coding advice and learn best practices for development. Solaris Express Developer Edition is being developed in the OpenSolaris community, and Sun plans to release regular updates with additional capabilities and ease of use enhancements.

AOL Launches Open APIs for Xdrive Allows Developers to Enhance Their Websites with Online Storage, Rich Media Management and Sharing

2007-06-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

AOL today announced the availability of Open Xdrive (available at dev.aol.com), a free, publicly available API that allows developers to create rich media management and sharing experiences for their Website users. With Open Xdrive, consumers can upload, organize, and share all file types – photos, videos, music, and documents – from any Website. All files are stored to and accessed from the consumer’s personal Xdrive online storage account.

Xdrive®, a free service available to all Web users at Xdrive.com, manages an online storage platform that provides consumers with 5GB of free storage without limiting file size or bandwidth consumption. Upgrades to 50GB accounts are available for $9.95 per month. Xdrive is a Verisign Secure Site, and provides password protection for all sessions and stored assets. Xdrive’s high volume network and horizontally scalable processor complex provide the performance and reliability that consumers demand.

“Rich media management and online storage increases engagement. Giving consumers the ability to share their media assets help Website owners build awareness and increase their audience,” said David Liu, Senior Vice President of AOL Portals. “By utilizing each consumer’s complimentary 5GB Xdrive account, a Website owner can benefit from these capabilities without incurring the usual infrastructure, operations, and development costs.”

Open Xdrive® APIs have been created for rapid application development. The JSON-based interface can be accessed by both Web and desktop applications. Open Xdrive has the native capabilities to perform the full range of functions that an application requires to deliver rich media and sharing capabilities. Full documentation, an interactive development environment, and a set of reference applications allow developers to rapidly become proficient with Open Xdrive.

The AOL Developer Network provides third-party developers with direct access to AOL’s technology platforms and open APIs. For more information about available open APIs, tools and documentation for services such as Open AIM®, Web AIM®, Open Xdrive®, AIM® Pages, AOL® Video Search powered by Truveo®, MapQuest®, Winamp® and others, please visit http://dev.aol.com/

Apple Unveils Near Final Mac OS X Leopard

2007-06-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

Apple® today unveiled a near final version of Mac OS® X Leopard, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Scheduled to ship in October, Leopard introduces over 300 new features, including a new Desktop and Dock with Stacks, an intuitive new way to organize files; an updated Finder featuring Cover Flow™ and a new way to easily browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to rapidly preview most files without opening an application; Time Machine, a new way to easily and automatically back up and restore lost files or a complete Mac®; Spaces, a powerful new feature to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and enhanced iChat and Mail applications, which easily allow users to communicate even more creatively.

“Leopard is the best release of Mac OS X to date, surpassing even Tiger, and will further extend Mac OS X’s leadership as the most advanced and innovative operating system in the world,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think current and prospective customers are going to love Leopard, and that it will help make the Mac even more popular.”

Leopard includes a completely new Dock featuring Stacks, which can help manage a user’s desktop clutter caused by browser and email downloads. With the click of a mouse, users can instantly fan out the contents of a stack to easily see each item. Leopard’s Finder has been completely redesigned, adding Cover Flow as an innovative way to quickly browse and locate files and applications. Finder’s new Sidebar simplifies the organization of files on a Mac, and adds easy access to shared Macs and PCs on a home network. Subscribers to .Mac can also use the new “Back to my Mac" feature to browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet. Also new in Leopard is Quick Look, an innovative new way for users to instantly preview almost any file, and even play media files, without opening an application.

With its unique ability to let users travel back in time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media, Time Machine is a revolutionary way to protect your digital life. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, users can use Mac OS X’s Spotlight™ to search back through time to find and then instantly restore the file. Time Machine can automatically back up a Mac to an external hard drive connected with a FireWire® or USB cable, to a server, or wirelessly to an AirPort Extreme® base station with an attached hard drive.

Leopard also includes three new technologies that take full advantage of the latest developments in processor hardware: full native 64-bit support to enable applications to take complete advantage of 64-bit processing while still running side by side with existing 32-bit Mac OS X applications and drivers; easy multi-core optimization and scheduling to take advantage of the latest Intel hardware; and Core Animation, helping developers easily create animated user experiences as amazing as Leopard’s Spaces and Time Machine in their own applications.

Other new features in Leopard include:

Leopard Mail, offering more ways to customize and add personal style to email than ever before, with more than 30 beautiful stationery designs and layouts that look great on a Mac or Windows PC; Notes, making it as easy to take and organize notes as it is to compose and read emails; To Dos, for creating lists viewed directly in Mail and automatically sync them with iCal®; and data detectors that automatically sense phone numbers, addresses and events so they can be easily added to Address Book or iCal;

Leopard iChat with iChat Theater, letting users present photos, presentations, videos and files in a video conference; Photo Booth effects, enabling users to transform their iChat video in real time with fun distortion and color effects; and video backdrops that allow users to choose any photo or video that makes them appear to be anywhere in the world, or out of it;

Leopard iCal, introducing powerful group calendaring features based on the open CalDAV standard that make it easy to organize and coordinate schedules with other people;

Spaces, giving users a powerful new, clutter-free way to create customized spaces on the desktop with only the applications or files needed for each project, and the ability to quickly switch between them with one click of a mouse or keystroke;

Web Clip, bringing anything that a user wants from a web page to Dashboard as a live widget;

Boot Camp, making it possible to run Windows natively on Intel-based Macs*; and

new development tools, including Xcode® 3 with a next generation editor; an all new Interface Builder for easier integration of advanced animation effects into an application; simpler debugging; and support for Objective-C 2.0; DashCode, a better way to create new Dashboard widgets without writing a line of code; and Xray, a new application for optimizing application performance.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard is scheduled to ship in October and will be available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com ), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license. The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-residence, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple.

*Copy of Windows XP or Vista required.

Apple Introduces Safari for Windows

2007-06-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Apple® today introduced Safari™ 3, the world’s fastest and easiest-to-use web browser for Windows PCs and Macs. Safari is the fastest browser running on Windows, based on the industry standard iBench tests, rendering web pages up to twice as fast as IE 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari joins iTunes® in delivering Apple’s legendary user experience to both Windows and Mac® users as well as full support of open Internet standards. Safari 3 features easy-to-manage bookmarks, effortless browsing with easy-to-organize tabs and a built-in RSS reader to quickly scan the latest news and information. Safari 3 public beta is available today as a free download at www.apple.com/safari.

“We think Windows users are going to be really impressed when they see how fast and intuitive web browsing can be with Safari,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Hundreds of millions of Windows users already use iTunes, and we look forward to turning them on to Safari’s superior browsing experience too.”

Safari has always been the fastest browser on the Mac and now it’s the fastest browser on Windows, loading and drawing web pages up to twice as fast as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Mozilla Firefox 2.* The speed of Safari combined with its intuitive user interface lets users spend more time surfing the web and less time waiting for pages to load. Other Safari features now available to Windows users include SnapBack™, one-click access to an initial search query; resizable text fields; and private browsing to ensure that information about an individual’s browsing history isn’t stored.

Safari 3 supports all modern Internet standards so users can view websites as they were meant to be seen, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SVG and Java. Safari software updates are delivered seamlessly through Apple’s Software Update application, which automatically checks for updates.

Pricing & Availability
The free public beta of Safari 3 is available immediately as a download at www.apple.com/safari, and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time. The final version of Safari 3 will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS® X version 10.5 Leopard, and will be available as a free download to Mac OS X Tiger and Windows users in October.

System Requirements
Safari 3 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.9 or later, a minimum of 256MB of memory and is designed to run on any Intel-based Mac or a Mac with a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor and built-in FireWire®. Safari 3 for Windows requires Windows XP or Windows Vista, a minimum of 256 MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. Testing conducted on an iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Windows XP, with 1GB of RAM.

iPhone to Support Third-Party Web 2.0 Applications

2007-06-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

Apple® today announced that its revolutionary iPhone™ will run applications created with Web 2.0 Internet standards when it begins shipping on June 29. Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.

Apple Announces New Mac OS X Server Leopard Features

2007-06-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Apple® today announced groundbreaking new features of Mac OS® X Server version 10.5 Leopard that make it even easier for users to set up and manage. Scheduled to ship in October, Leopard Server is the most significant improvement to the server operating system since Mac OS X Server was launched, introducing new features such as a wiki server, making it easy to connect groups over a shared intranet; Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automatically produce and publish podcasts to iTunes® or a blog; and Spotlight™ Server to quickly find content stored on other servers. Leopard Server also includes the new iCal® Server, based on the CalDAV open standard that works with Leopard’s new iCal application.

“Only Apple can deliver an advanced server operating system packed with over 250 new features on the same day as our client OS,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With no client access licenses, Leopard Server is the most affordable way to bring innovative server features, such as group calendaring and a wiki server, to everyone from small businesses to large educational institutions.”

Small businesses and workgroups without an IT department can take advantage of Leopard Server’s ability to automatically configure Leopard clients for use on the server, including file sharing, Mail, iCal, iChat, Address Book and VPN. Leopard Server also includes a new setup interface with a built-in Network Health Check, a new Server Preferences application and a server status Dashboard widget.

With the wiki server, groups can easily create and edit collaborative web pages, called wikis, with a few clicks of a mouse. The wiki server also maintains a complete history to restore previous entries and merge or compare different versions. Podcast Producer is the easiest way for anyone to record content, automatically upload it to the server and convert it into a podcast. Using Xgrid™, Podcast Producer can leverage Macs on the network to encode the video, and the podcast can then be delivered over the Internet to a blog, iTunes, or even to multimedia enabled mobile phones over high speed wireless networks using QuickTime® Streaming Server.

Apple has made scheduling across different calendar programs simple with iCal Server to coordinate events, schedule meetings and track time more effectively. iCal Server uses the open CalDAV standard for integration with leading calendar programs, including iCal 3 in Leopard, Mozilla’s Sunbird and OSAF’s Chandler. In addition, Apple's Directory makes it easy to search for people in an organization and view their contact information, picture, colleagues, groups and even see a location map.

Spotlight Server takes Spotlight’s lightning-fast desktop search capability to the network server level. Designed for workgroups with shared documents, projects and files, Spotlight Server delivers search results of content stored on mounted network volumes. Content indexing is done automatically and transparently on the server so searches are always fast and up-to-date.

Leopard Server’s core services, including Apache 2, MySQL 5, Postfix, Cyrus, Podcast Producer and QuickTime Streaming Server are 64-bit, allowing users to take full advantage of their 64-bit hardware’s performance and processing power and work with larger data sets. Since Leopard Server is fully 32-bit compatible, users can run 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively side-by-side. Leopard Server is also optimized to take full advantage of Intel’s latest multi-core processors.

Other new features in Leopard Server include:

Server Admin 4 with new file sharing and permission controls, tiered administration, and options for organizing servers into smart groups;

iChat Server 2 to securely communicate over instant messaging with others on different systems outside an organization’s firewall;

External Accounts to enable Leopard users to store their home directory on an external FireWire® or USB portable drive;

a new System Imaging Utility that uses a workflow-based editor to create customized images that can include Boot Camp® partitions;

Xgrid 2 featuring GridAnywhere for ad hoc distributed computing in environments without dedicated controllers, and Scoreboard for prioritizing job distribution to the fastest available CPU; and

QuickTime Streaming Server 6 with support for 3GPP Release 6 bit rate adaptation for smooth streaming when delivering content to mobile phones regardless of network congestion.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard is scheduled to ship in October and will be available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com ), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for a 10-client edition and $999 (US) for an unlimited-client edition.

Me.dium Secures $15 Million Investment Round Led by Commonwealth Capital Ventures

2007-06-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

Me.dium, a consumer software company, today announced that it has secured $15 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Waltham, MA-based Commonwealth Capital Ventures. Existing investors, Spark Capital, Appian Ventures, and noted investor Brad Feld also participated in this funding round. Commonwealth Capital Ventures also joins original Me.dium investor, Paypal Founder, Elon Musk.

This latest round raises Me.dium's total funding to $20 million since being founded in June of 2006. Me.dium reveals the hidden world of people and activity behind the browser, building a new Social Exploration Environment (SEE) for the Web. The funding will be used to build out the infrastructure to support its launch to the general public later this year.

"We believe Me.dium is pioneering the next phase of social interaction on the Web," said Elliott Katzman, general partner with Commonwealth Capital Ventures, who will join the Board of Directors at Me.dium. "With a proven technology and a world-class management team, Me.dium is well-positioned to lead this exciting new category."

"Me.dium has tremendous potential to change the way people experience the Internet, and the response from the private beta was phenomenal." said Santo Politi, General Partner with Spark Capital. "We are very excited to be a part of Me.dium."

"Commonwealth Capital Ventures clearly shared our vision on the evolution of how people will interact online," said Kimbal Musk, CEO, Me.dium. "We are excited to have them lead this round and join our existing investor team. Their proven understanding of the consumer was critical in our financing decision and was a clear value Commonwealth brought to the table."

Along with closing this funding round, Me.dium recently rolled out a major upgrade. The new version helps bring the social and contextual value people expect in the real world into their online experience. Me.dium's new user- interface, built by famed designer Neville Brody, combines two of the most often requested features into one interface. Now, Me.dium allows you see what your friends are doing online and truly surf together, as well as meet and interact with other people doing the same things as you.

As always, Me.dium gives the user complete control over where, when and with whom they share their information, as well as the ability to turn Me.dium on and off quickly and easily. By giving the user easy and obvious control, Me.dium puts the power in the users' hands for the first time to decide when they would like to share their information in return for clear and unique value.

About Commonwealth Capital Ventures

Commonwealth Capital Ventures (Waltham, MA) is a venture capital firm focused on software and services, communications technology, and instruments and systems investments in the Northeastern United States. The Partnership's collaborative, team-based investment approach brings the deep venture and operating expertise, experience, and contacts of the entire firm to bear to help every portfolio company be successful throughout all stages of their company's lifecycle. Since its inception in 1995, Commonwealth's partners have invested in more than 130 high-growth companies, many of which are leaders in their respective industry categories. The Partnership's limited partners are highly sophisticated venture investors and include leading endowments, foundations, family offices, and financial organizations. The firm currently manages over $580 million of committed capital across four funds. For more information, visit www.commonwealthvc.com

About Spark Capital

Spark Capital is a venture capital fund investing in ideas, entrepreneurs and companies building businesses that transform the distribution, management and monetization of media and content. Spark's General Partners are successful natives of the media and technology industries and have proven track records identifying and actively building market-leading companies in sectors including infrastructure (Qtera, RiverDelta, Aether Systems, Broadbus and BigBand), networks (College Sports Television, TVONE and XCOM) and content delivery systems (Akamai). With deep relationships in technology and media, investing and operations, Spark Capital is uniquely positioned to provide world-class entrepreneurs and revolutionary companies with the intelligence, network and resources needed to succeed in today's marketplace. With $260 million in funding, Spark Capital is focused on investment strategies that are at the nexus of content, distribution and technology. To learn more, visit www.sparkcapital.com

About Appian Ventures

Appian Ventures is a Denver-based venture capital firm that invests in "Applied Connectivity" -- software and technologies that exploit network connectivity to improve business performance. Investing at seed, early and growth stages, Appian's practice is to connect with entrepreneurs by treating them respectfully and their ideas thoughtfully. The firm's whole-company investment method sharpens a company's business focus and connects industry resources to help accelerate success. Active portfolio companies currently span six Western U.S. states and include Auctionpay, Carefx, Collective Intellect, ETI, IP Commerce, Me.dium, OpenLogic, Oxlo Systems, Me.dium, Ping Identity, Selero, Skyetek, Tendril, Valen Technologies, and Thought Equity Motion among others. For more information, please visit www.appianvc.com

About Me.dium

Founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colorado, Me.dium reveals the hidden world of people and activity behind your browser. Me.dium is a consumer software company offering an Internet browser extension that allows the user to see what other people are doing online and to interact with these people in real time. By revealing this new Social Exploration Environment TM (SEE), Me.dium graphically connects users with others doing similar things, allows them to browse the Internet with their friends and enables users to interact with others in their community, similarly to how one interacts with people in the real world.

Paris surrendered in just three days, proving she is French

2007-06-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Got this from a friend:

Paris surrendered in just three days, proving she is French.

IBM Boosts Support for Developer and Business Partner Communities

2007-06-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

As part of its commitment to the software development community, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new programs and offerings that make it even easier for software developers and IBM Business Partners to work with IBM. The new resources provide the tools needed to help customers more quickly and effectively deliver software to the market and remain competitive.

More than 1,600 developers around the globe join the IBM community every day, and hundreds of IBM Business Partners have validated and integrated their offerings on the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform. Just this week, more than a dozen ISVs are announcing new solutions validated on the new IBM Rational offerings, while business partner attendance at the IBM Rational Software Development Conference is up 50 percent -- with attendance at Rational Business Partner Day more than doubling last year's participation.

"In response to growing customer demand for reliable, secure and integrated software development, business partners and developers are turning to IBM Rational software to help them grow their businesses," said Scott Hebner, vice president of marketing and strategy, IBM Rational software. "IBM's vast library of tools and resources cannot be matched. Whether online, in virtual worlds such as Second Life, or at local enablement and sales events, IBM is helping our extended community of developers and business partners drive innovation in software development."

The new programs, resources and offerings include:

Rational Software Comes to You -- Business partners can bring the experience and education of the Rational Software Development Conference to their local markets. With 20 events planned in emerging markets in 2007, Rational Software Comes to You gives business partners the tools, support and guidance needed to provide customers with an in-depth educational experience while networking with peers in their own markets. With a successful 2006 pilot of the program and 1,400 registrants, Rational Software Comes to You will help business partners bring their solutions to more than 5,000 attendees at 150 events around the globe. For more information or to sign up, IBM Business Partners can visit: www.ibm.com/software/rational/rsdc/2u/

New Software Trials Available on developerWorks -- Further enabling its six million member community to broaden and grow their skills on the IBM Rational software delivery platform, IBM developerWorks offers a wide range of technical resources and best practices, free of charge. In support of community-driven innovation for IBM Rational developers, developerWorks has added several new software trials to the Rational zone, including resources for IBM Rational ClearCase and IBM Rational Portfolio Manager, a revamped "Ready for Rational" portal and new IBM Rational Method Composer (formerly the Rational Unified Process) plug-ins. For more information and to access these resources, please visit: www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational

IBM Rational Business Partner Community Portal -- The new community portal provides a simple interface for business partners to access resources and information designed to build their technical skills, create sales opportunities and close business. The portal features access to special business partner-only education, market intelligence, and community tools that drive collaboration between IBM Rational Business Partners and sales teams. The portal can be accessed at www.ibm.com/software/rational/businesspartners

CODESTATION -- As part of its commitment to the developer community, IBM is broadening the experience for avatars visiting CODESTATON, an island in the developer archipelago of virtual world Second Life (http://slurl.com/secondlife/IBM%20CODESTATION/124/159/25/ ). During the IBM Rational Software Development Conference, visitors can chat with fellow avatars while viewing the General Sessions, catch IBM Rational product demonstrations and interact with IBM Rational experts. To attend the Conference in Second Life, please visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/IBM%205/17/22/23. In the coming months, users will also have the opportunity to compete for prizes against fellow Second Life coders in the first CODESTATION "Coders Challenge" -- an LSL scripting challenge.

developerWorks Live! Technical Briefing in Second Life -- On June 21, IBM will host its first-ever developerWorks Live! technical briefing in Second Life to help developers get up-to-speed on the latest industry trends. Aimed at bringing together developers, IT directors and administrators from around the world, the briefing will help users understand what they need to do to make Web 2.0 a reality for their business. Attendees will see a flash presentation of the hottest technologies and interact with experts. For more information and to register, please visit: www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/techbriefings/details/web20sl.html

Software Value Incentive (SVI) -- This program allows IBM Business Partners to earn up to 35% in incentives when identifying, selling or fulfilling IBM Rational software sales. The introduction of four new Rational Technical Sales Mastery exams at this year's Rational Software Development Conference makes it easier for partners to satisfy SVI's certification requirements and recent enhancements to the Global Partner Portal. The portal allows partners to register SVI leads and request sales support, as well as helps partners manage and close deals more quickly. For more information, visit: www.ibm.com/software/rational/businesspartners

IBM Rational Quality Management Initiative -- New resources are now available to help IBM Business Partners evolve their technical and selling skills to address their customers' quality management issues. Business partners can now access education and training materials, executive and technical sales presentations, white papers, demonstrations, migration kits and other resources focused on quality management. Registered PartnerWorld IBM Business Partners can access these resources at: www.ibm.com/software/rational/businesspartners

Ready for IBM Rational Business Partners can now qualify for IBM PartnerWorld Advanced-level member benefits -- Ready for IBM Rational business partners will now have access to IBM's Advanced-level IBM Business Partner resources including access to IBM's field teams through sales connections and value marketing resources. The Ready for IBM Rational software validation program helps ISV business partners develop solutions that work with IBM Rational offerings. Completion of the initiative offers Business Partners the opportunity to differentiate themselves with the Ready for IBM Rational mark. For more information, visit: www.ibm.com/isv

For more information about IBM Rational and the benefits IBM Business Partners receive, please visit: www.ibm.com/software/rational/businesspartners

NextBio Announces $7 Million Series B Financing for Life Sciences Search Engine

2007-06-06T09:47:00.001-07:00

NextBio (www.nextbio.com), a Cupertino-based company that has developed the first search engine for life sciences data, today announced the closing of a $7 million "Series B" financing led by Newbury Ventures (www.newburyven.com), with participation by existing investors.

The new funds will be used to further expand NextBio's industry-leading content, scale its technology infrastructure to handle millions of queries, and build its community collaboration and data sharing features. Bruce Bauer, Senior Managing Director of Newbury Ventures, will join NextBio's Board of Directors.

"We believe there is a tremendous market opportunity for a search engine that fundamentally changes the way life science researchers find and share information," stated Bruce Bauer of Newbury Ventures. "NextBio's outstanding customer traction and feedback makes this an especially exciting investment for us. We believe that NextBio has the seasoned team, technology, and long-term vision to transform an entire industry."

"We are excited to bring on board an experienced investor that shares our passion for revolutionizing life sciences research and drug development," said Saeid Akhtari, NextBio's co-founder and CEO. "We will utilize this significant capital infusion to accelerate our innovation, expand our content, and rapidly globalize adoption of the NextBio search and collaboration engine."

NextBio is a life sciences data search engine and community data sharing platform that introduces the web 2.0 paradigm of instant access, user-generated content and collaboration to life scientists and clinicians worldwide. Launched just eight months ago, NextBio's search engine has rapidly gained traction with users in over 60 academic institutes and pharmaceutical/ biotechnology companies that have endorsed its visionary approach to data search and sharing.

About NextBio

NextBio is the world's first data search and collaboration engine for life scientists and clinicians. Founded by a team of visionary innovators, NextBio addresses a fundamental need within R&D to effectively leverage vast quantities of internal and public life sciences information by connecting millions of researchers and clinicians through its search and share engine. NextBio's value in improving research efficiency and effectiveness has already been validated at the world's leading research organizations. For more information, visit www.nextbio.com.

About Newbury

Newbury Ventures is an international venture capital group focused on investing in and growing entrepreneurial companies in the technology, communications, information technology, and health care industries. Founded in 1992, Newbury is known for its insight, integrity and global approach to the business of venture capital, and has successfully managed investments of over $500 million in North America and Europe. Newbury's partners have financed well over 100 successful emerging growth technology companies, including Okena, Netro, Precise Software, Corvis/Algety, nCipher, and ACC. Newbury has offices in Redwood Shores, California; Ottawa, Canada; and Paris, France. www.newburyven.com

Sun Introduces The Most Open And Versatile Enterprise Blade Platform

2007-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today introduced the Sun Blade 6000 Modular System, which redefines the datacenter lifecycle with up to double the memory and double the I/O capacity of competing blades and rackmount servers. The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System offers a choice of blades powered by the UltraSPARC T1 processor with CoolThreads technology, Intel Xeon processors or AMD Opteron processors, allowing customers to deploy the industry's broadest range of applications ranging from virtualization, database, web tier and high performance computing (HPC) on a single common modular design.

The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System provides customers the most versatility of any blade platform. It uses the industry's highest performing microprocessors from Sun, Intel and AMD, and provides support for Solaris, Windows and Linux operating systems. Its increased memory capacity and I/O bandwidth makes Sun Blade 6000 the optimal virtualization platform, enabling it to support large memory configurations at half the cost. In addition, the new systems have been designed to maximize customer investment by supporting microprocessors with four and eight cores. All this enables the Sun Blade 6000 Modular System to run virtually any enterprise application.

"With the three fastest processor platforms, three operating systems, the most memory and I/O bandwidth, Sun is delivering a system that enables customers to upgrade to virtualized blade platforms without the expense or technical compromises presented by all our competitors," said John Fowler, executive vice president, Sun Systems Group. "We are now offering the broadest support of volume architecture and operating systems in the industry - combined with the energy efficiency. The Sun Blade 6000 can be anyone's universal deployment platform."

As the industry's most open blade platform, the Sun Blade 6000 easily integrates into existing datacenter infrastructure and management systems, without requiring proprietary I/O, proprietary management or hidden licensing costs. System features and support for the Solaris 10 OS, Windows and Linux ensure optimal performance today, while allowing customers to scale for future growth without forklift upgrades.

The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System includes the following components and features:

Sun Blade 10 RU chassis: Supports up to 10 blades per chassis with up to four chassis per rack for a full capacity of to up to 320 cores, 2.5 terabytes (TB) of memory and five Tbps usable I/O throughput per rack

Sun Blade T6300 Server Module: 1-socket blade powered by an UltraSPARC T1 processor with CoolThreads technology

Sun Blade X6250 server module: 2-socket quad-core ready blade powered by Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series, representing Sun's first Intel Xeon-based product since Sun and Intel announced their strategic alliance last January, and Sun's first quad-core based product.

Sun Blade X6220 Server Module: 2-socket blade powered by Second-Generation AMD Opteron processors

No-compromise power and cooling technology: Delivers optimized cooling and airflow, resulting in higher systems reliability and power efficiency

Open industry standard I/O: Leverages industry standard PCI-Express I/O architecture and adapters, allowing customers to install or replace an I/O module without interfering with systems operation

Open transparent management: Supports the most standard interfaces to facilitate fast and easy integration into customers' existing blade or rackmount management infrastructure, whether those management tools are from Sun or other vendors

Early access and beta customers such as College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and the University of Notre Dame have begun to test and implement Sun Blade 6000 Modular Systems in their datacenters. For quotes and more details on customer and ISV support of the Sun Blade 6000, please visit: http://sun.com/servers/blades/perspectives.jsp

Sun Blade Server Modules Set Multiple New World Records on a Broad Range of Industry Standard Benchmarks

The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System also packs a performance punch with its comprehensive choice of versatile server modules. Regardless of the underlying microprocessor architecture, the innovative system design combined with the latest capabilities of the Sun Studio 12 software running on top of the Solaris 10 OS propelled these new blades to the top of industry-recognized Java, HPC and compute-intensive benchmarks. Additional details on these record-breaking results can be found at: http://www.sun.com/servers/blades/6000/benchmarks

Sun Refresh Service: Build an "Always Fresh" Datacenter

The Sun Refresh Service now includes the Sun Blade X6220 Server Module, allowing customers to reach maximum performance and efficiency from their datacenters on an ongoing basis at half the cost of traditional acquisition methods. Future support is planned for the other server modules. The subscription service program includes installation of the Sun Blade 6000 Modular System with server modules, plus three refreshes of server modules over a 42-month period. Customers receive automatic upgrades to the latest blade architecture as soon as it becomes available. For more information on the Sun Refresh Service, please visit: http://www.sun.com/refreshservice. For information on additional Sun services and solutions that help datacenters and Sun Blade servers optimize their performance and efficiency, please visit: http://www.sun.com/services

Availability and Pricing

The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System is available now, with entry-level pricing starting at $4,995 for the Sun Blade 6000 Chassis; $5,995 per server module for the Sun Blade T6300; $3,695 per server module for the Sun Blade X6250; and $3,995 per server module for the Sun Blade X6220. For more information on the Sun Blade 6000 Modular System, including pricing, availability and promotions, please visit: http://www.sun.com/servers/blades/6000/

Original Pac-Man Creator Surprises World With First New Mazes in 26 Years — Only on Xbox 360

2007-06-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

The year was 1981: Big hair, high-waisted jeans and popped-up collars were popular fashions, “Bette Davis Eyes” topped the charts, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” hit theaters, and everyone was saving up quarters to play the latest video games. Also that year, a new video game by game designer Toru Iwatani at NAMCO LTD. (currently NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.) hit arcades around the world and would soon become a pop- culture phenomenon and one of the most beloved games of all time.

That game was “Pac-Man®,” and today Microsoft Corp. and NAMCO BANDAI Games made video game history by unveiling the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” — featuring the first new Pac-Man mazes in more than 26 years — available only on the Xbox 360™. This brand new game was introduced today in New York City at the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship, presented by Quiznos. As a special surprise from Iwatani and NAMCO BANDAI Games, the 10 tournament competitors became the first in the world to play and compete on the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” before its launch at 9 a.m. GMT (5 a.m. EDT) on June 6, 2007, only on Xbox LIVE® Arcade on the Xbox 360.

The “Pac-Man Championship Edition” is the same beloved “Pac-Man” game played in pizza parlors and arcades of the ’80s but is updated with new features that former “Pac-Man” fanatics and new generations of fans alike will love. It includes new mazes that dynamically change shape during gameplay, six new timed game modes, new soundtracks and high-definition (HD) graphics. Details include the following:

• Classic 2-D “Pac-Man” presentation with a new, modern look in HD

• Six new, timed game modes:

• The Championship Mode. This is the main game mode designed by NAMCO BANDAI Games and Iwatani specifically for the championship round of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. This mode — as well as all others within the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” — features redesigned mazes with wide maze walls and a widescreen configuration to better enable high-speed game play. Timed limit of five minutes.

• Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course). This mode is an evolution of the Championship Mode. Patience mazes strategically offer fewer Power Pellets, and Reward mazes provide a large number of Power Pellets —providing unique challenges and rewards for the player. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

• Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course). In this mode, only the area directly around Pac-Man and the ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

• Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course). An extremely high-speed mode for advanced players, this mode features warp-speed Pac-Man and ghosts and plenty of tunnels. Timed limit of five minutes.

• Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course). A mode inspired by the streets of Manhattan — the home of the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. Timed limit of five minutes.

• Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course). A mix of all other modes resulting in extreme mazes for the most devout Pac-Man fans. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

• Xbox LIVE leaderboards, Achievements and Gamerscore

• Rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board

• Costs 800 Microsoft® Points

• Available for download only on Xbox LIVE Arcade on the Xbox 360 starting at 9 a.m. GMT (5 a.m. EDT) on Wednesday, June 6, 2007

“Pac-Man Championship Edition” made its official debut during today’s New York City finals for the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship, presented by Quiznos. The 10 participants from four continents and eight countries around the world — Austria, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — competed at The Supper Club in New York City’s Times Square. To advance to the championship finals, each participant had to earn the highest “Pac-Man” score in their respective home country during the qualifying rounds that took place from May 4 through May 10, 2007. In an exciting finale, these top players competed on the new “Pac-Man Championship Edition” several hours before its upcoming launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade — the online games service exclusively for the Xbox 360 that today offers more than 60 downloadable game titles, including well-known arcade classics, card and puzzle games, and innovative original titles. The event was capped off with Iwatani crowning the first Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion — Carlos Daniel Borrego, a 27-year-old man from Pachuca, Mexico.

“It feels great to be the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion,” said Borrego, who has been playing “Pac-Man” since 1985 and achieved a score of 222,160 on the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” during the final match. “It is a thrill to hold the title and to have won it by playing on the new game. This is amazing, and I want to dedicate it to my family and Mexico!”

Along with the distinction of being the first in the world to play the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” and the international acclaim for being the first Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion, Borrego was awarded other great prizes, including 26 years of free Quiznos toasted subs (one sandwich a week for 26 years, a $13,520 [U.S.] value); 100,000 Microsoft Points for games, movies and other fun content available on Xbox LIVE; and a one-of-a-kind Xbox 360 signed by Iwatani and featuring a special design inspired by “Pac-Man.”

“I’m deeply honored that people view ‘Pac-Man’ as my lasting legacy and am so excited to come full circle by releasing the ‘Pac-Man Championship Edition’ with its exciting new mazes and modes on Xbox LIVE Arcade on the Xbox 360,” said Iwatani, creator of “Pac-Man” and currently a professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University. “It gives me great joy to know that my final contributions in my corporate career were to crown the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion and to leave the world with an amazing new ‘Pac-Man’ game for generations to enjoy.”

Since launching in 1980 in Japan and in 1981 around the world, “Pac-Man,” its host of ghosts and its famous “wakka wakka wakka” sound have become global pop-culture icons. This arcade game played an instrumental role in establishing the video game industry in the 1980s, while the launch of Xbox LIVE in 2002 was a key factor behind the rapid growth in popularity of online gaming. Today, Xbox LIVE Arcade is the premier online destination for digitally distributed HD games offering fans around the globe a great opportunity to connect, compete, and enjoy the fun.

“‘Pac-Man’ was the game that ignited the world’s passion for video games, with every member of the family hooked on avoiding Clyde and eating up all the Power Pellets,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “It is a tremendous honor that NAMCO BANDAI and Toru Iwatani are going to use the power of the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE Arcade platform to deliver the next evolution of ‘Pac-Man’ to the world.”

“We would like to tip our hats to the players who traveled from far and wide to display their ‘Pac-Man’ talent to the world and to congratulate Carlos from Mexico on his victory,” said Steve Provost, executive vice president and chief marketing executive for Quiznos. “There couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate the 26-year anniversary of Quiznos’ chef-inspired toasted sandwiches than to help make the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship into a reality.”

About Pac-Man

As the story goes, one day in 1979, Namco developer Toru Iwatani removed a single slice of pizza and, after looking down upon the rest of the pie, saw what was to become one of the most popular characters in gaming history. The release of Pac-Man to arcades a year later (1980) lead to the beginning of “Pac-Mania,” in which over the next few years would yield everything from character-based board games and breakfast cereal to a top 40 song and popular Saturday-morning cartoon. Namco Bandai Games estimates that the original Pac-Man arcade title has been played more than ten billion times in its 27-year history.

About Toru Iwatani

Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1955, Toru Iwatani joined Namco in 1977. As a game designer, he created “Pac-Man” in 1980. Among its many achievements, “Pac-Man” was recognized in “Guinness World Records 2005.” As of April 2007, Iwatani serves as a professor of a game course in the Faculty of Arts at the Tokyo Polytechnic University. Iwatani also acts as a fellow (special advisor) for NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

About Quiznos

Celebrating its 26th anniversary in 2007, Denver-based Quiznos is a national chain designed for today’s busy consumers who are looking for a tasty, fresher alternative to traditional fast food restaurants. Using only premium quality, real ingredients, Quiznos restaurants offer creative, chef-inspired recipes for sandwiches, soups and salads. With more than 5,000 franchise restaurants, Quiznos is one of the fastest-growing quick service restaurant chains.

In June 2006, Nation’s Restaurant News ranked Quiznos in its Top 100 Restaurant Chains as the #1 restaurant chain in growth in number of units – five years in a row. Entrepreneur magazine in January 2006 ranked Quiznos in its annual Top Franchise 500 as the #2 Best Overall Franchise and QSR magazine ranked the chain in its Top 50 Chains in August 2005 as #3 by change in system wide sales. For more information, visit http://www.quiznos.com

About Xbox LIVE Arcade

Xbox LIVE Arcade on Xbox 360 is the premier destination for digitally distributed high-definition games. Xbox LIVE Arcade is a fast-growing phenomenon with more than 25 million game downloads and a diverse library of original development and classic titles from the world’s best independent and established developers and publishers. With a dynamically updated library and free* trials for every title, Xbox LIVE Arcade makes it easy for every type of gamer — from casual to hard-core — to get instantly immersed in the fun. Xbox LIVE Arcade also lets friends connect and play these incredible games either from the same room or from around the world via the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/livearcade

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox LIVE online gaming network and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a catalog of more than 160 high-definition games and is available in 37 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360

New Intel Products Simplify and Speed Software Development for Multi-Core Processors

2007-06-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Intel Corporation today announced the availability of two software products that help developers efficiently create more reliable, high-performing applications that speed up a computer's responsiveness. The Intel® C++ Compiler and Fortran Professional Editions bring together a unique combination of highly optimizing compilers, performance libraries and the Intel® Threading Building Blocks.

The products feature new automatic support for accelerating program performance on Intel's latest multi-core processors. Applications containing 3-D graphics or video are automatically accelerated through the use of vectors via Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), including the latest SSE 4 instructions. Application performance is also accelerated by multi-core processors through the use of multiple threads. Combining the use of vectors and threads and integrating them with a technology known as loop transformation generates greater performance on multi-core processors without requiring developers to rewrite their code.

"Combining these capabilities in a cooperative and coordinated manner brings our customers added performance benefits and compiler reliability, which in turn gives greater PC responsiveness for gamers and everyday PC users," said Kevin J. Smith, director of the Intel Compiler Products. "This project has undergone extensive validation and application testing with Intel customers and we're excited about the results our customers are seeing in their applications."

The combined capabilities also provide benefits that extend beyond multi-core optimizations by assisting developers in locating vulnerabilities that would otherwise go undetected, such as uninitialized variables and possible buffer overruns.

The Intel® C++ Professional Edition for Windows*, Linux* and Mac OS* X combines the Intel compiler with the Intel® Math Kernel Library, the Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives and the Intel® Threading Building Blocks.

The Intel Fortran Compiler Professional Edition for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X combines the Intel compiler with the Intel Math Kernel Library. For the first time, the Intel® Visual Fortran Compiler 10.0 now includes Microsoft Visual Studio, which provides the visual development environment to create, edit, build and debug Fortran applications.

The new products are all available today with suggested prices ranging from $599 to $1,599. Upgrades to the Professional Editions from the prior version of Intel compilers or libraries are available for limited time through resellers worldwide.

Intel also announced a new package for students that include all of these products as well as Intel® VTune Performance Analyzer, Intel® Thread Checker and Intel® Thread Profiler in one discounted package for students who qualify.

Intel® Software provides resources, technologies, products and services developers need to create innovative products and industry-leading software solutions with enhanced business value and are designed to run best on Intel platforms. For more information, visit www.intel.com/software/products

Dell Sets Goal Of Becoming Greenest Technology Company

2007-06-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Dell today launched a long-term, global effort to partner with its customers to become the greenest technology company on Earth for the long-term. The new Zero Carbon Initiative will continue to maximize the energy efficiency of Dell products and over time offset their carbon impact. The initiative includes the efforts of Dell, its employees and its suppliers and will reflect the direct feedback of its customers.

The company also committed to reduce the carbon intensity of its global operations by 15 percent by 2012 and extended its " Plant a Tree for Me" program to Europe, allowing computer users to offset the emissions associated with the electricity their computers use.

" We often characterize a certain age group as typifying a generation, like the ‘Me Generation,’ ‘Gen X’ or ‘Gen Y,’ but it’s clear today that we’re living in the ‘Re-Generation,’ which includes people of all ages throughout the world who want to make a difference in improving the Earth we all share," said Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell in comments marking World Environment Day. " Our goal is simple and clear. We’ll take the lead in setting an environmental standard for our industry that will reflect our partnership with, and direct feedback from, our customers, suppliers and stakeholders, and we intend to maintain that leadership."

In his remarks Mr. Dell also announced that Dell is asking customers for their ideas in building the " greenest PC on the planet." Dell’s call for ideas and more information is on its IdeaStorm site (www.ideastorm.com) today.

The zero-carbon initiative will include IT lifecycle assessments, management of Dell’s direct and indirect climate impacts, reduction of the company’s carbon intensity and partnership with customers.

“Our effort to drive IT simplification from desktop to data center will identify efficiencies that help reduce the carbon impact of our products,” Mr. Dell added. “Dell will do its part to protect the Earth’s climate, from providing energy-efficient IT products, to using environmentally responsible practices we hope others will embrace.”

The efforts are a part of Dell’s drive to reduce complexity for customers and partner with them to protect the environment. Dell will undertake a lifecycle assessment of the carbon impact of an IT product through its supply chain and with input from environmental stakeholders.

Customer Use

Dell’s “Plant a Tree for Me” program is now available in Europe. For £1 per notebook or £3 per desktop (€1.50 and €4.50 respectively), customers can offset the emissions associated with the electricity that their computers use. One hundred percent of those funds will be donated to plant trees in professionally managed reforestation projects. The trees absorb the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere when electricity is generated to power a computer over its average three-year life.

Dell will continue to work with The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org to manage the European program. Carbonfund.org is supporting a tree planting project in Hungary developed by KlimaFa Kft., a subsidiary of Planktos Corp. Planktos is an ecosystem restoration company working to improve the health of natural habitats on land and in the open ocean. Donations from European customers will be directed to European planting operations. Dell launched the U.S. version of the Plant a Tree program in January. The European program is available at www.carbonfund.org/dell

Mr. Dell also committed today to personally match donations to the program received during the next three months.

Design for Environment

Dell has requested that its primary suppliers begin reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data. Suppliers risk having their overall scores reduced during Dell quarterly business reviews for not identifying and publicly reporting GHG emissions. A supplier’s volume of Dell business can be affected by the scores earned on reviews. Dell will work with suppliers on emissions reduction strategies once data is collected.

Dell takes a precautionary approach in designing products with the environment in mind.

Dell’s strategy is to deliver products that provide the maximum performance at the least amount of power required. Dell has introduced products with Energy Smart configurations across server, desktop and notebook product lines and introduced products meeting the latest Energy Star 4.0 requirements. Dell is also advising customers on data center design to help reduce power requirements.

Dell Operations

Dell recently completed a power-management pilot on more than 50,000 computers on the company’s internal network. The pilot resulted in the savings of about 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity, equivalent to avoidance of 8,500 tons of CO2 and savings of $1.8 million annually. Dell plans to identify ways to help its corporate customers achieve similar energy savings.

Dell also proposed today that the effectiveness of corporate climate policies be contrasted by a carbon-intensity measurement comparing the CO2 equivalent of total reported GHG emissions to annual revenue. By this carbon-intensity measurement, Dell’s GHG impact is among the lowest of those companies listed on the Fortune 50.1 The company also pledged to maintain leadership by reducing its own carbon intensity 15 percent by 2012.

Dell will meet its 15 percent improvement goal by driving additional efficiencies in its existing operations and ensuring new facilities are highly energy-efficient. Dell will also continue work to identify means to make an absolute reduction in emissions.

Recycling

Dell continues to offer consumers worldwide free recycling of used Dell equipment at any time, and free recycling of other branded equipment with purchase of new Dell equipment. The company regularly conducts third-party audits of recycling vendors to ensure responsible recycling of material collected. Details are available at www.dell.com/recycling

Microsoft Debuts Major Release of Web Conferencing Service Microsoft Office Live Meeting

2007-06-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today at Microsoft Corp.’s annual Tech•Ed conference, the company unveiled the 2007 release of Microsoft® Office Live Meeting, a new version designed to dramatically improve online meetings, events and training. New capabilities include a redesigned user interface and an integrated collaboration experience as well as support for live video, VoIP and rich media.

Scheduled for availability in fall 2007, the new version of Office Live Meeting will make it easier for organizations of all sizes to experience the benefits of Web conferencing, whether people are conducting simple ad-hoc collaboration sessions, formal Web-based meetings, advanced online training or large communication events.

The enhancements included in the 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting resulted from more than 10 years of Web conferencing operating experience and customer feedback.

The 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting helps organizations better connect internally with employees and externally with customers and partners through these features:

• A redesigned and simplified user interface that helps conferencing participants remain focused on core content

• Improved training and event features that give presenters the ability to offer handouts, public class and event listings, and advanced testing and grading

• High-fidelity shared and local recording capabilities that give organizations the power to archive a Live Meeting session for playback

The 2007 release also supports multiple communication channels to provide an engaging experience:

• Two-way phone or VoIP offers participants a choice for integrating conference audio

• Embedded flash, video and audio files help presenters deliver rich content to conferencing participants

• Live webcam video and 360-degree panoramic video with the Microsoft RoundTable™ system offers a virtual experience, bringing the active speaker to participants

In addition, it delivers enterprise-class reliability and security based on new virus scanning capability using Microsoft Forefront™ technologies.

For organizations seeking a conferencing solution that is deployed and managed on-premise, Microsoft will also offer conferencing capabilities — built on the same conferencing technology as those in the 2007 release of Office Live Meeting — in the upcoming release of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, now in public beta. This software-plus-services approach gives conferencing users a consistent user experience whether using the hosted Office Live Meeting service or Office Communications Server conferencing.

“The 2007 release of Office Live Meeting is a prime example of Microsoft’s software–plus-services in action,” said Kim Akers, general manager, Unified Communications Group, Microsoft Corp. “It’s important for us to offer our customers choice and flexibility between software that is hosted, such as the next release of Live Meeting, or software that is deployed and managed on-premise, such as the conferencing capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007.”

The 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting and the conferencing capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007 are integral components of Microsoft’s unified communications offering. Both conferencing solutions enable businesses to connect with and engage audiences of all sizes through a reliable enterprise-class collaboration solution and to help meet the challenges they face in today’s increasingly dynamic and distributed work environment.

Customers can access video demonstrations of Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 and materials about other products such as Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 at http://www.microsoft.com/uc. Current Office Live Meeting customers can also register on the site for a private preview of Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007, which will be available later this month.

Intel Introduces '3-Series' Chipsets at Computex

2007-06-05T04:03:00.000-07:00

In his opening keynote at the Computex computer trade show, Intel Corporation Executive Vice President Sean Maloney unveiled the new Intel® 3 Series Chipset family along with several other technology plans that surround the company's popular Intel® Core™ 2 Duo and Quad processors for home and business PC users.

The products enable a number of innovative features for today's PCs such as greater PC performance, clearer definition video and storage technologies that help better protect valuable data. Maloney, also Intel's general manager, Sales and Marketing Group, and chief sales and marketing officer, said the chipsets are also designed to be used with the company's upcoming Intel 45 nanometer (nm) "Penryn family" processors expected later this year. More than 100 motherboard designs are underway, and he expects the new chipset family to be the fastest growing in Intel's history.

"There is a tremendous amount of excitement and anticipation for our forthcoming 45nm Hi-K processors based on the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture," Maloney said. "The Intel 3 Series chipsets lay the foundation for an exciting, media-rich experience for today's systems and those that arrive later this year."

Maloney also said that Intel and Asustek are working together to offer a family of education focused, low-cost mobile PCs, with one model below $200. Asustek's mobile PCs will play a key role in Intel's World Ahead program that aims to accelerate access to fully featured computers and technology for anyone, anywhere around the world.

Maloney also disclosed plans for an Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile processor product to be released by Intel in the third quarter of this year. The plan follows the company's Extreme Edition brand introduced for desktop PCs in 2003 and extends it to laptops, which continues to be the fastest-growing computing market segment. The upcoming chip is targeted to be the company's highest-performing mobile dual-core processor that still includes energy-saving power features for notebook-friendly designs.

New Chipsets Advance Consumer, Business Experience
The Intel® 3 Series Chipsets, formerly codenamed "Bearlake" enable exceptional PC performance while helping to enable improved energy efficiency, system design and quietness. Computers with these chipsets can deliver CE-like video and sound quality and new data security and manageability features for business users and will be the foundation for Intel's next-generation Intel® Viiv™ processor technology and Intel® vPro™ processor technology, codenamed Salt Creek and Weybridge, respectively.

The Intel 3 Series Chipsets support DDR2 up to 800MHz, or DDR3 memory with data transfer speeds up to 1333 MHz, enabling speedy access to files and a more responsive PC. The chipsets also support PCI Express* 2.0, which doubles the available bandwidth for graphics cards and are engineered to support Intel® Turbo Memory which enables faster application loading and boot times.

The Intel 3 Series Chipsets also includes versions with integrated graphics called the Intel® G33 and G35 Express Chipsets. These products will include Intel® Clear Video Technology which can enhance video playback and supports the High Definition Media Interface (HDMI). System manufacturers can also support HD DVD* and Blu-ray* disc playback with these chipsets at a lower system cost than most discrete graphics cards. Additionally, the G35 integrates hardware support for MS DX10 for smoother, more realistic 3D applications.

Intel® graphics fully support Windows* Vista Home Premium and the Windows* Aero interface. All of the Intel 3 Series Chipsets enable users to add up to six external drives to a PC for extra data protection and performance, Intel® High Definition Audio for up to 7.1 theater-like surround sound quality and Intel® Quiet System Technology to help enable reduced system noise and heat for a much quieter, yet high-performing PC.

The Intel® G33 and P35 Express Chipsets have been shipping since April, while the Intel® Q33 and Q35 Express Chipsets are shipping now ahead of their Q3'07 introduction. The Intel® G35 Express Chipset and the advanced Intel® X38 enthusiast chipset with dual graphics support will ship within 90 days.

Microsoft, Xandros Broad Collaboration Agreement Extends Bridge Between Commercial Open Source and Microsoft Software

2007-06-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today Microsoft Corp. and Linux platform provider Xandros Inc. announced a broad collaboration agreement based on a set of technical, business, marketing and intellectual property commitments. These commitments provide customers with enhanced interoperability, more effective systems management solutions, and intellectual property assurances, all of which extend a bridge between open source and commercial software and deliver customers real value in mixed systems environments.

For Xandros, the agreement marks a major milestone in its vision of delivering end-to-end Linux desktop and server solutions as well as Windows® and Linux cross-platform management and interoperability tools.

“Companies today are running a mixture of Linux and Windows systems,” said Andreas Typaldos, chief executive officer of Xandros. “Cross-platform data centers are a reality. To meet evolving customer needs, vendors need to recognize the value of sharing intellectual property, developing more interoperable solutions, and providing management tools that are familiar and easy to use.”

For Microsoft, the agreement is the latest in a series of collaborations with Linux platform and open source software providers. This list of collaborators includes Novell Inc., JBoss, XenSource Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Zend Technologies Inc. and others.

“Customers win when their platform providers build collaborative relationships,” said Bill Hilf, general manager of Platform Strategy at Microsoft. “We have been working with commercial open source companies to deliver better value to our customers in areas like server interoperability, systems management and office document formats. We believe in and encourage respect for all licensing and development models, and intellectual property is an important component in this environment. Our announcement with Xandros is an exciting step to deliver what our mutual customers have been asking for.”

Over the next five years, Microsoft and Xandros will focus on five primary efforts:

Systems management interoperability. Xandros and Microsoft believe advances in system management technology can significantly reduce the cost of operating large computer networks running diverse platforms. Xandros will partner with Microsoft to deliver value-added heterogeneous management capabilities that will work with the next generation of Microsoft® System Center and Xandros Systems Management products, which provide end-to-end service management. Xandros will also join Microsoft and other management vendors in implementing the WS-Management set of protocols in Xandros BridgeWays cross-platform management products and in various systems management standardization efforts.
Server interoperability. Xandros will license a broad set of Microsoft server communications protocols. Xandros will develop enhancements to Xandros Server, allowing it to interoperate more smoothly with Windows Server® in a network setting.
Office document compatibility. Xandros and Microsoft share the view that competing office productivity applications should, by design, make it easy for customers to exchange files with one another. To that end, Xandros will join Microsoft and other companies that are building open source translators fostering interoperability between documents stored in Open XML and Open Document Format. Xandros will ship the translators in upcoming releases of its Xandros Desktop offering.
Intellectual property assurance. Through the agreement, Microsoft will make available patent covenants for Xandros customers. These covenants will provide customers with confidence that the Xandros technologies they use and deploy in their environments are compliant with Microsoft’s intellectual property. By putting a framework in place to share intellectual property, Xandros and Microsoft can speed the development of interoperable solutions.
Microsoft sales and marketing support. The companies are committing to a set of sales and marketing efforts to promote the output of their technical efforts. As part of this effort, Microsoft will now endorse Xandros Server and Desktop as a preferred Linux distribution due to Xandros’ efforts to establish rich interoperability and deliver IP assurance to its customers. In addition, a specialized team of Microsoft staff will be trained on the value propositions of this collaboration to customers and channel partners. Xandros will also become a member of the Microsoft Interop Vendor Alliance.

About Xandros

Xandros, Inc. is the leading provider of award-winning, intuitive, end-to-end Linux solutions, including desktops, SMB and enterprise servers, and mixed-environment, cross-platform management tools. Xandros pioneered low cost, graphical operating systems that leverage existing skill sets and provide seamless Windows-Linux interoperability. It has since extended its Debian-based consumer and business desktop line with SMB and enterprise servers and management software, featuring workflow automation and “single pane of glass” remote deployment and administration. The company is headquartered in New York with research and development facilities in Ottawa and Mumbai, and sales and support offices worldwide. For more information, please visit www.xandros.com

Siemens Corporate Technology have set a new record for data transmission in optical polymer fiber cables

2007-06-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Researchers at Siemens Corporate Technology have set a new record for data transmission in optical polymer fiber cables. Thanks to a new data transmission technique, they have succeeded in sending one gigabit per second down the plastic fibers – ten times more than with products currently on the market. This should finally enable polymer fibers to become established in the home entertainment sector and in factory automation.

Polymer fiber cables enable every layman to set up high-speed data links in their home network. Small converter boxes convert the electrical signal from the copper cable into an optical signal. The thin cables made of plastic that transport the optical signal to receivers anywhere in the home can be easily connected to these boxes. Because of the very high transmission rate of these polymer fiber cables, television signals with high data volumes could also be transmitted within the home in this way in the future.

Up until now, however, polymer fibers have suffered from the crucial disadvantage that their transmission capacity has been limited to 100 megabits (Mbit) per second. Although that is sufficient at the present time for DSL, Internet telephony and Internet TV, experts are certain that one gigabit (1000 Mbit) will be required soon with the rapidly increasing transmission capacity in the Internet. The future for user-friendly, low cost polymer cables therefore looked bleak for a time. But now researchers at Siemens Corporate Technology have broken the sound barrier and set a new record worldwide. Thanks to a new technique for data transmission, they have actually succeeded in transmitting one gigabit per second over a 100 meter long test route in the laboratory – without errors or flickering on the screen. This would be long enough for application in the household.

The trick for getting optical polymer fiber cables to operate at gigabit speeds is that the bits are not sent as usual light pulses as in the past. Instead, the Siemens researchers applied a special algorithm that changes the light signals in such a way that more information fits into the available bandwidth of the polymer fibers. The researchers have adapted the familiar multicarrier modulation technique used in DSL and WLAN so that it is also applicable to light signals. “Thanks to quadrature amplitude modulation with up to 256 signal states, the so-called bandwidth efficiency measured in bits per second and hertz can be increased significantly,” explained Sebastian Randel, project manager at Siemens Corporate Technology. Thanks to their algorithm, the researchers could finally transmit exactly 1008 megabits per second through a polymer fiber cable.

This not only makes the polymer fiber suitable for the future in private homes but also especially for industrial automation applications where these rugged, low cost cables have long been established as the standard. They are used to connect machine tools or robots together and to link them to the central control unit. In the same way as in the private sector, ever higher data rates are called for in industry, which is also aiming to attain the gigabit mark. Randel sees even more potential applications for high-speed polymer fibers, for example in the automotive industry, in the controlling of wind turbines, or particularly in medical technology where data volumes are growing at a rapid pace due to the constant increase in the resolution of imaging processes such as computed tomography. Now nothing stands in the way of a successful future for low-cost polymer fiber cables.

Oracle Files Amended Complaint Against SAP

2007-06-04T02:14:00.000-07:00

Oracle filed its First Amended Complaint in federal District Court in San Francisco in its lawsuit against SAP. Oracle added federal Copyright Infringement claims and Breach of Contract claims to many of the original claims asserted, including violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, violations of the state Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, Unfair Competition, and Intentional and Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.
Oracle alleges that SAP engaged in a deliberate, systematic and illegal scheme to access, copy, use and distribute Oracle's copyrighted software products and related materials, in violation of federal and state law. The suit seeks to stop SAP's unauthorized and illegal activity and prevent future violations and to recover damages related to the violations. A copy of the amended complaint can be located at: www.oracle.com/sapsuit.

Who is the noob, student or teacher?

2007-06-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

The teacher is a noob. The battle to keep geek-speak out of standard English is being lost in the classroom.

HTML Girl Earings

2007-06-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Got this in the mail today. you can order them here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6045947

CB2 Child Robot The Most Disturbing Machine Ever Built?

2007-06-03T04:47:00.001-07:00

Imagine if someone, somewhere managed to find the exact formula for producing the most perfectly awful example of the uncanny valley (say, for a horror movie or something). Now, accept the fact that this organization is the Japanese Science and Technology Agency, and that they managed to produce the most disturbing machine you've ever seen, without even realizing it. Read the rest here: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/03/cb2-child-robot-is-possibly-the-most-disturbing-machine-ever-bui/

Serenity 0.3.3.0 released

2007-06-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Serenity - The Next Evolution of Web Server Technology
Serenity is a free, shared-source web server built on the .NET platform.

Project Goals
Providing an easy-to-use alternative to Apache, IIS, and other web servers.
Creating a stable and structured base to build high- or low-level web applications on.

Features at a Glance
Run it as a stand-alone application, or embed it into your own.
Web applications can be written with any .NET language.
Designed to be both highly structured and flexible.
Can be easily extended to work with any stateless protocol.
Developer-friendly API.
Always free, and released under the Microsoft Community License (Ms-CL) shared source license.

Download the latest release here: http://www.codeplex.com/Serenity/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=3796

Halo 3 to Make Entertainment History on Sept. 25

2007-05-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

In a year when Hollywood is launching its biggest blockbusters ever, a video game is set to conquer them all. “Halo® 3,” the final chapter in the groundbreaking “Halo” trilogy, is set to shatter day-one entertainment sales records when it is released worldwide beginning Tuesday, Sept. 25. Created by legendary developer Bungie Studios and exclusive to the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, “Halo 3” will set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in Master Chief’s epic battle to save humankind. “Halo 3” will be available to audiences around the world starting Sept. 25 and will release in Europe on Sept. 26.

“‘Halo 3’ is much more than a video game release; it’s the biggest entertainment event of the year,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “On Sept. 25, we intend to deliver a finale that will go down in entertainment history and leave people around the world with an experience that will be shared and enjoyed for years to come.”

Fueling the early buzz around “Halo 3”, Microsoft unveiled the multiplayer beta on the eve of its release at a star-studded event in Hollywood. Beginning tomorrow, May 16, Microsoft Game Studios will kick off the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which provides audiences worldwide with an exclusive, early look at some of the multiplayer elements of “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE®. Adding to the excitement, Microsoft is also announcing a special edition Zune™ digital media player inspired by the hugely successful “Halo” franchise. On shelves next month, the Zune-Halo 3 edition comes loaded with a collection of “Halo” content, including videos, soundtracks, trailers, ads and artwork.

In November 2004, the world’s view of video games changed forever with the release of “Halo 2,” which generated a record-setting $125 million in sales within the first 24 hours and changed the way people think about interactive entertainment. Three years later, it remains the most-played game on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE online gaming and entertainment network, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to date.

The unveiling of the “Halo 3” launch date comes on the eve of the release of the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE on May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.* The “Halo 3” multiplayer beta will provide audiences worldwide with an exclusive early look at some of the multiplayer elements of “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE. Gamers who are interested in experiencing the multiplayer beta of “Halo 3” can still participate through the purchase of the critically acclaimed, Xbox 360-exclusive title “Crackdown™,” which was launched in February. Starting May 16, the specially marked copies of “Crackdown” will act as a key for gamers to participate in the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta. In addition to giving gamers their first opportunity to get their hands on the new levels, weapons, vehicles and game types, the multiplayer beta will also provide valuable data that Bungie will use in continued development.

The “Halo” franchise has expanded beyond video games into The New York Times’ best-selling books, graphic novels, collectible merchandise and now a new, special edition Zune digital media player. Encased in collectible packaging, the Zune-Halo 3 edition digital media player comes pre-loaded with artwork, trailers and music from all three “Halo” games, as well as an exclusive new episode of “Red vs. Blue” from the fan-adored machinima creator Rooster Teeth Productions LLC. The Zune-Halo 3 edition (estimated retail price $249) will be available exclusively at GameStop starting June 15.

About Bungie Studios
Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy” and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.7 million units worldwide, logging nearly 1 billion hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel and more. Bungie is currently at work on “Halo 3,” which represents the third chapter in this “Halo” trilogy and is slated for release in 2007. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

About Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®”; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport®”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”

PC Ecosystem Gears Up for the ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series from AMD

2007-05-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series of graphics cards is garnering great support from the PC ecosystem, with 26 power supply vendors already signing up for certification of their products by AMD (NYSE: AMD), and more are expected to follow. They are partnering with AMD to launch the next generation of graphics processing units, which give gamers superior DirectX® 10 performance at every price point, as well as the ultimate HD experience. Coolmax, Corsair, Enermax, Enhance, FSP, Hiper, Mushkin, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling Inc., Seasonic, Silverstone, Sintek, Solytech, Tagan, Thermaltake, Topower/ePower, Ultra, Zalman, and others are together now offering 110 certified models of power supplies certified for use with ATI Radeon™ HD 2900 XT products.1

“The ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series is broadening the high end gaming market by making an immersive HD gaming experience accessible to more hardcore gamers”, said Godfrey Cheng, director, Platform Marketing, AMD Graphics Products Group. “With 26 of the world’s top power supply vendors jumping in to develop customized chassis and power supply units, our customers will have tremendous choice when it comes to building their ultimate custom PC.”

Consumers can also enjoy ultra quiet gaming and multimedia systems thanks to the array of acoustic options, including better cooling, insulation and thermal handling. As well, with the option of six or eight pin connectors, the graphics cards provide a greater margin for performance tuning, resulting in a better game playing experience. Partner power supplies, starting at USD $80 (SEP), are now available from online retailers.2

For more information on the ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series, visit http://ati.amd.com. For more information on pricing related to the new AMD family of graphics cards, see the relevant press release.

ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series Ecosystem Support

PC Power & Cooling Inc.
“PC Power & Cooling Inc. will continue to support AMD’s ability to exhibit outstanding value to the mainstream consumer. Even when AMD’s cutting-edge ATI Radeon HD™ 2000 Series graphics cards are rendering the most demanding graphics, our Silencer 750 Quad power supply never breaks a sweat,” said Doug Dodson, CEO, PC Power & Cooling Inc.

Enermax
“ENERMAX applauds AMD’s world leading graphics processing platform by providing a broad range of products to accompany this launch”, said Steven Su, founder & CEO, ENERMAX. “As part of our ‘DXX ready’ campaign, all our products 400 Watts or more have been upgraded so consumers around the world can enjoy this unprecedented era of gaming performance assured of the renowned durability of our power supplies.”

Silverstone
“AMD provides some of the most powerful graphics cards in the market and now, with the ATI Radeon™ HD 2900 XT, even more enthusiasts will be able to experience 3D graphics at its best. Silverstone is partnering with AMD to provide power supplies and chassis that support the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT with ease,” said Joe Lee, president, Silverstone Technology.

Thermaltake Technology
“By working side by side with leading graphics and media processing chip manufacturers such as AMD, Thermaltake’s ability to cool this multi graphic card configuration helps create the ultimate gaming platform” said Johnny Hsu, product manager of power supply division, Thermaltake. “Consumers craving both flexibility and energy efficiency will see that the combination of ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series with one of our power supply units is the right choice.”

Topower/Epower “The ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series is highly stable, and serves as one of the best graphics experiences we’ve seen to date”, said Kent Chou, president, Topower/Epower group. “Epower is welcoming the ATI Radeon HD 2000 family with the launch of ten power supplies that will undoubtedly augment the performance tuning experience for gamers”, said Don Lee, general manager, Epower USA.

FSP
“AMD’s new ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series redefines digital imaging and graphics beyond imagination. Driven by AMD’s technological achievement, FSP’s Kingcraft 1000W and the ATI Radeon HD 2000 family pair perfectly to deliver the ultimate value package for PC graphic enthusiasts and PC gamers everywhere,” said Joseph Huang, director vice president of operations, FSP.

Seasonic
“Seasonic Electronics is committed to providing our customers with the latest technology and integration solutions,” said Cathy Chang, marketing manager, Seasonic. “We are enthusiastically supporting the ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series platform, as we believe these graphics cards deliver strong promise to our consumers.”

Tagan
“The ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series, paired with Tagan’s low noise power supply units, delivers superior value to users. The performance exhibited from the new AMD graphics family compliments our continuous drive for advanced technology,” said Naninni Yu, USA branch manager, Tagan Technology Co.

About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

1. For the complete list of AMD certified power supply products, visit http://ati.amd.com/certifiedpsu
2. SEP stands for suggested e-tail price

CBS, Viacom, Others Invest $45 Million in Internet TV Service Joost

2007-05-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

A group of five prominent media and venture capital companies, including CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., have invested $45 million in Joost, a company attempting to broadcast television over the Internet, they said Thursday

Joost -- pronounced "juiced" -- was co-founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the entrepreneurs who upset the music industry with the Kazaa file-sharing service and then developed Skype, the Internet telephone system that was bought by eBay Inc. for $2.6 billion in 2005.

"We've carefully selected these investors from a variety of interested parties," Friis said in a statement. They "bring unique assets to Joost that will enable us to significantly accelerate growth and development of the Company."

The other investors were one each from North America, Europe and Asia: Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, Europe's Index Ventures and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded by the chairman of Asian conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. All received stakes of an undisclosed size in Joost for their investments, Joost said.

Viacom's participation is especially noteworthy: It struck a deal to supply content from Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures to Joost earlier this month, shortly after it filed suit against Google Inc. for alleged copyright infringement by YouTube, Google's free online video service.

Joost markets itself as a way for media companies to retain control and receive payment for video when they distribute it over the Internet.

Unlike YouTube, Joost does not allow users to upload videos, and it distributes only professional content. While YouTube pulls down videos only when copyright holders complain of infringement, Joost promises to actively fight piracy of the shows on its system.

Like regular TV, Joost is ad-supported and free for viewers.

While not yet fully open to the public, the company has advertising trials with Coca-Cola Co., Nike Inc., Microsoft Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., Sony Corp. and Visa.

Roelof Botha, a partner at Sequoia, said in a statement he was betting on Joost because it offers something to media companies, viewers, and advertisers.

It "allows content owners to reach audiences of any size at any time," he said, while viewers can watch shows whenever they want, for free. Advertisers get "precisely targeted and measurable advertisements."

"This ability poises the company to expand the video distribution business and capture an enormous market opportunity," he said.

To use Joost, viewers have to download and run its software, which is free, but for now only available on invitation from existing members. It appears on the computer's screen as an interface that resembles a TV remote control.

The service increases speeds and saves on bandwidth costs by using a decentralized distribution system that streams videos from user to user over the Internet -- technology similar to that underlying Kazaa and Skype.

Joost is majority-owned by Friis and Zennstrom via their Luxembourg-based Joost Operations SA, but it has offices in New York, London and Leiden, Netherlands, and expects to incorporate under the Joost name globally.

http://www.joost.com

Sun Microsystems Announces OpenID Program

2007-05-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) announced a new initiative around support for OpenID, a decentralized, web-friendly single sign-on mechanism that allows consumers to reuse a single login across different websites. Through this initiative, Sun will explore the changes needed to make OpenID applicable to a broader spectrum of business and technical challenges.

This initiative is designed to aid in solving the proliferation of login challenges and expand OpenID beyond low-risk transactions such as blog comments. As part of this program, Sun will invite participation from customers and technology partners interested in combining and converging OpenID with enterprise-ready technologies like SAML and Liberty Alliance's Identity Web Services Framework.

"We're excited about finding ways to augment the use of OpenID with technologies that meet web users' needs for autonomy and convenience while making it easy to meet stringent security and privacy obligations," said Jim McHugh, vice president of software infrastructure marketing, Sun Microsystems. "Sun has been participating actively in the community dialogue around OpenID and related technologies, and sees great potential for OpenID's use alongside enterprise-ready software infrastructure."

In order to explore the boundaries of OpenID as a trust system, Sun is offering an OpenID Provider service to its 34,000 employees. Using Sun-based OpenID identifiers at an OpenID-accepting website can convey in this simple and secure manner that the user is a Sun employee, a piece of information that can enable access to employee discounts and unlock other special services all across the web. Sun will work with partners to extend special services on this basis.

The Sun OpenID Provider is built using OpenSSO, the open-source project that is providing the basis for the Sun Java System Access Manager and Sun Java Federation Manager products, as well as OpenDS, the open-source project that is providing Sun's next-generation directory services. Both of these projects now include OpenID extensions.

Sun will also determine how to OpenID-enable its own websites in an appropriate manner, as well as how best to add valuable OpenID support to additional products and platforms, such as the Sun Web Developer Pack.

To obtain more information on Sun's OpenID initiative, please visit http://developers.sun.com/identity.

For more information about Sun's Identity Management offerings, please visit http://www.sun.com/identity.

Sun Unleashes Java Technology Innovations to Accelerate Network Growth, Accessibility and Vibrancy at Annual JavaOne Conference

2007-05-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Today at the 2007 JavaOne conference, Sun Microsystems Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW) previewed JavaFX, a new family of Java technology-based products. The first of these, JavaFX Mobile, is a complete mobile phone software system available via OEM license to carriers, content owners and consumer electronics manufacturers. JavaFX leverages the security and ubiquity of the Java platform and will support all content and applications currently available across the billions of Java technology-based devices in the world today. Sun today also previewed JavaFX Script, a new scripting language targeted at creative professionals, which will help to radically simplify the process of creating and distributing interactive content that spans all Java technology enabled platforms, from handsets to set tops, laptops to dashboards (see separate announcement). All JavaFX software, like all Java software at Sun, will be available to the free and open source community via the popular GNU General Public License (GPL) license.

"With JavaFX, Sun is leveraging the security and pervasiveness of the world's most widely deployed technology platform to allow creative professionals to easily author and deliver on any device," said Rich Green, executive vice president, Sun Software. "This is a major step towards helping consumers access the best content on the Internet from every device and a significant opportunity for Sun and its partners to deliver a whole new line of products."

With the pervasive distribution of the Java platform and the assets Sun recently acquired from SavaJe Technologies, JavaFX Mobile will be enhanced to provide a unified runtime environment that provides the flexibility and freedom for wireless carriers and mobile device manufacturers to develop innovative consumer electronics featuring rich, dynamic content with the "write once, run anywhere" power of Java technology. More information about JavaFX Mobile can be found at: http://www.sun.com/javafx

"We continue to see remarkable opportunity in delivering compelling content to the hundreds of millions of consumers on Vodafone's global network," said Alan Harper, Vodafone group strategy and new business director. "The Java platform's ubiquity and security have clearly amplified Vodafone's opportunity through our Vodafone live! services, and shoulder to shoulder with Sun Microsystems, we've relied upon open platforms, free markets and competition to drive innovation and value. We are enthusiastic about Sun's new JavaFX product family and the opportunity it presents to Vodafone and the global community to drive deployment of a unified Java solution on mobile devices."

Making a special appearance at JavaOne, Dr. Djibril Diallo, director of the United Nations New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace, and chair of the UN Youth Summit series, offered his support for Sun's technology for developing countries. "Bringing the Internet to people through mobile handsets can greatly expand access, and it is imperative that the technology industry continues to innovate to make that a reality worldwide. The challenge for the entire industry and Sun is in making new technology accessible in developing countries, leveraging its power to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

Sun will deliver additional JavaFX products for the manufacturers of set top boxes, navigation devices and automobile dashboards - answering the market's demand for an open, secure, unified platform that drives rich interactivity with consumers wherever they are on the Network.

More information on this week's JavaOne announcements and Sun's eco-responsibility activities at JavaOne, is available at: http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/javaone2007/index.jsp

MySQL AB and IBM Announce Open Source Database Support for the IBM System i Platform

2007-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

MySQL Conference & Expo 2007 -- MySQL AB and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a joint technology and reseller agreement to bring support for the MySQL open source database to the IBM System i business computing platform.

The two companies will work together to offer the MySQL Server for i5/OS, the flagship operating system for System i, and plan to deliver DB2 for i5/OS as a certified MySQL storage engine on the System i platform. This will allow System i customers to implement online and transactional MySQL applications while storing all data in a single, easy-to-manage DB2 database.

In addition, MySQL Enterprise subscriptions -- a comprehensive offering of MySQL database software, services and support -- will be made available to IBM clients worldwide through IBM's reseller network and System i sales team. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

This morning's announcement was made at the 2007 MySQL Conference & Expo, being held this week at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

"IBM continues to innovate the System i platform with new investments in cutting-edge, open-source solutions. Today's news will make thousands of open source MySQL and PHP applications available to System i clients, helping them respond more quickly to business needs as they arise," said Mark Shearer, general manager IBM System i. "In addition, our customers will not only be able to deploy these applications with the support of IBM and MySQL, but -- thanks to the planned integration with our DB2 database storage engine for MySQL -- customers will continue to benefit from the integration and simplicity that System i consistently delivers."

"We are very pleased to work with IBM to bring two large, active hardware and software communities together around System i and MySQL," said Marten Mickos, MySQL AB's CEO. "As an IBM Business Partner, we hope this will open up an exciting new generation of online applications to take advantage of all the corporate data stored on one of the most reliable and secure platforms in the IT industry."

IBM becomes a member of the MySQL Certified Storage Engine Program (http://www.mysql.com/engines). With the planned DB2 storage engine for MySQL, System i customers will be able to run MySQL applications while continuing to manage their DB2 for i5/OS databases. It will plug into the MySQL Server and be managed as any other storage engine within the database server. The DB2 storage engine will provide superior storage management, transaction support, and database management for MySQL developers and DBAs -- and enable sharing of data between MySQL and DB2 applications.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com. For more about System i, visit www.ibm.com/systemi

About MySQL

MySQL AB develops and supports a family of high-performance, affordable database products. The company's flagship offering is 'MySQL Enterprise,' a comprehensive set of production-tested software, proactive monitoring tools, and premium support services.

MySQL is the world's most popular open source database software, with over 11 million active installations. Many of the world's largest and fastest-growing organizations use MySQL to save time and money powering their high-volume Web sites, business-critical systems and packaged software -- including industry leaders such as Yahoo!, Alcatel, The Associated Press, Suzuki and NASA.

With headquarters in the United States and Sweden -- and operations around the world -- MySQL AB supports both open source values and corporate customers' needs in a profitable, sustainable business model. For more information about MySQL, please visit www.mysql.com

Sun Launches Online Sale to Celebrate 25 Years of Innovation

2007-04-23T03:31:00.000-07:00

In celebration of its 25-year anniversary, Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) is offering exciting deals on its most popular and innovative products to help customers quickly and securely build, develop and deploy network computing solutions. For two weeks starting today, limited quantities of select award-winning products will be available at discounts of up to 65 percent as an anniversary gift to customers in the U.S. and U.K. Sale offerings include UltraSPARC and industry-standard Sun Fire servers, Sun StorageTek systems, services and software.

"Over the past 25 years, thousands of customers have built their businesses on Sun because of our exemplary value and investment protection," said Marsha Cavanagh, vice president of Lifecycle Marketing at Sun Microsystems, Inc. "On our 25th anniversary, we're further lowering the barriers to entry by featuring great promotional prices on some of our hottest products, offering them online where many of our customers prefer to purchase. In addition to rewarding our loyal customers, we want to introduce the next generation of companies to the innovation that has made Sun a leader in network computing."

Sun technologies—offering customers excellent value as well as processor platform and Operating System (OS) choice—will be available at unprecedented promotional prices online at http://www.sun.com/25thsale. The promotion enables both new and existing customers to quickly and easily engage with Sun's most powerful technologies, including the Solaris OS. Sale highlights include:

Systems: 50 percent off the Sun Fire x4500, the industry's first data server; up to 50 percent off the Sun Fire x4600, the world's first 16-way modular x64 server; up to 60 percent off Sun Fire CoolThreads systems, the most energy-efficient, high-performance systems on the market; and up to 50 percent off high-performance x64/x86 and SPARC workstations.
Storage: Up to 65 percent off leading NAS systems such as the Sun StorageTek 5320 and 5220 NAS Appliances.
Services: Sun offers lower-cost training and high-quality services, including Solaris Subscriptions priced less than commercial Linux; 40 percent off a service plan with the SunSpectrum Instant Upgrade program; and 25 percent off most Solaris support subscriptions.
Software: Sun's Solaris OS is available free at anytime and is supported on the broadest set of x86 and UltraSPARC platforms, making it the strategic OS of choice. Customers can easily develop applications with free Sun development tools such as Sun Studio and NetBeans software.
"Sun is always looking for creative ways to reach new and existing customers, through programs such as Try and Buy and Sun Startup Essentials," said Cavanagh. "Our anniversary sale is intended to attract new customers, encourage migration off competing platforms, and expand our footprint into broader markets."

Sun also launched a Web site (http://www.sun.com/25years) honoring the company's quarter-century of innovation, with videos from CEO Jonathan Schwartz and Chairman and Co-founder Scott McNealy; historical timelines; photos; a virtual scrapbook of memories from Sun's 25 years; and more.

Founded in 1982 and led throughout its history by the guiding principle "The Network is the Computer," Sun has pioneered an abundance of technologies that have helped customers grow their businesses on the network: from Java and Solaris to ultra-thin clients; from network storage to open source software. Now Sun is poised for another 25 years of innovation, delivering new open, eco responsible network computing technologies to help empower the people that will push the boundaries of participation on the network.

During its 25 years in business, Sun has built a massive network of customers, partners, developers, employees, alumni and other advocates. Sun now operates in more than 100 countries around the world and supports an ecosystem of more than 20,000 channel partners, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). More than 5 million developers code in Java, supporting more than 4 billion personal computers, mobile phones and other devices worldwide that run Java applications.

New Intel Tools Help Developers Create, Debug And Tune Applications For Windows Vista And Latest Multi-Core Processors

2007-04-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Intel Corporation today announced the availability of new versions of its Intel® Thread Checker, Intel® Thread Profiler, Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer and Intel® Threading Building Blocks. These software development products enable developers to create more reliable, scalable applications, and have now been enhanced for the latest multi-core processors – Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6800 and Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 – and newest operating systems - Microsoft Vista*, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise*, Red Hat Enterprise Linux* and Fedora Core*.

"Our Intel Core 2 processors have essential new profiling capabilities we're taking advantage of for the first time in our VTune Analyzer 9.0. Since nearly all systems shipping with Windows Vista will be multi-core systems, developers targeting Vista have been asking us for these parallelism tools," said James Reinders, director of marketing for Intel's Developer Products Division. "Developers on all operating systems want their move to parallelism well supported by development tools and we're committed to keeping up with our aggressive pace of supporting developers in as many ways as possible."

Performing multiple tasks simultaneously is referred to as "running in parallel." Parallelism is accessed in hardware and operating systems with the concept of threads of execution that are easier to program when abstracted into the software concepts of data and task parallelism. Intel Software Development products are the latest example of the company's commitment to simplify parallel programming and represent an efficient way for development teams to prepare applications for multi-core processors. These products ensure threaded applications are scaleable, reliable and optimized for current and future processor innovations.

Intel Thread Checker 3.1 for Windows and Linux detects errors in the coding of parallelism so that developers can introduce threading more safely and quickly. With its patented advanced error protection engine, the product provides "thread safety" by identifying the most obscure threading errors in 64-bit applications. This tool is enhanced with optimized performance for lower instrumented image size and runtime overhead, which gives developers even faster analysis.

Intel Thread Profiler 3.1 for Windows provides developers with insight into how application threads behave and pinpoints parallel performance issues such as bottlenecks. It allows developers to measure the number of cores that are effectively utilized by the application and indicates the percentage of the code that is not optimally parallelized for the hardware platform on which the application is running. This updated version now offers selectable stackwalking for much faster analysis and display, and is easier to use repeatedly through support for automatic recall of custom configuration settings within an activity. This updated product increases consistency and saves developers time on repetitive tasks.

Intel Threading Building Blocks 1.1 for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X is a C++ template library that simplifies introducing threads to an application, making performance gains possible while shielding software developers from the low-level complexity of assigning threads to processor cores. It enables developers to write an application once that automatically recognizes the number of available cores and scales performance appropriately. This enhanced version includes an automatic grain size calculator for optimal algorithm parallelization.

Intel VTune Performance Analyzer 9.0 is a solution that helps developers run their software faster on single and multi-core systems. Vista users now have full support, including Intel's new signed driver, which will install without Vista blocking for security concerns. Intel Core 2 Duo and Quad processors have significantly enhanced performance analysis capabilities and support more events, higher precision in event location correlation and an innovative new pipeline stall accounting. The stall accounting features radically improve tuning by focusing the user on instances of possible issues, such as cache misses.

VTune 9.0 for Linux offers a new connection between the Intel compiler's analysis and VTune run time analysis of hotspots. This new version contains an intuitive hotspot navigator that enables developers to scroll to the source from hotspot to hotspot. This allows users to identify hotspots and benefit from the knowledge built into the Intel compiler.

Pricing and Availability

Intel VTune Performance Analyzer 9.0, Intel Threading Building Blocks 1.1, Intel Thread Checker 3.1 and Intel Thread Profiler 3.1 are available today. Suggested pricing for the products: Intel VTune 9.0 $699; Intel Threading Building Blocks 1.1 for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems $299; Intel Thread Checker 3.1 for Windows and Linux $999 and $499, respectively; and Intel Thread Profiler 3.1 for Windows $299.

Intel provides software products, training, resources, technologies and services software developers need to create innovative products and industry-leading software solutions that run best on Intel platforms. Intel offers a complete line of software development products, including compilers, libraries and analysis tools, which enable developers to get more performance out of their systems and applications. Intel software developer products offer industry leading support for parallel programming for systems of all sizes. For more information, visit www.intel.com/software/products.

Sun Microsystems Announces OpenSolaris as Industry's Most Comprehensive Multi-Vendor Storage Operating System

2007-04-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced it is donating storage technologies for storage developers within the OpenSolaris community. This will enable community members to combine OpenSolaris with hardware from any source to create compelling storage solutions at a fraction of the price of traditional proprietary storage vendors. This combination of open source and commodity hardware heralds a new stage in the storage industry.

Sun is taking the lead in creating a community-driven software development platform that speeds time-to-market for storage application development and which better addresses customers' ever-evolving data management and archiving needs. Sun is donating the source code to the Storage community at http://opensolaris.org/os/community/storage/ which will feature email forums, design documents and open source code.

"Just as free and open source code has changed the way server and desktop operating systems are developed, evaluated and deployed, today marks a big step in repeating this model for storage software technology," said Rich Green, executive vice president, Software, Sun Microsystems. "Sun is taking the lead in changing the market by enabling the creation of compelling low-cost storage solutions via the free and open availability of open source software, including Solaris, on commodity hardware from a wide-range of vendors including HP, Dell, IBM, and Sun."

Today Sun also announced the previously Sun-only flexible administration features of Solaris ZFS will be donated to OpenSolaris. ZFS is a dynamic file system which simplifies management and adds functionality. The features donated include:

ZFS Clone Promotion feature, which allows storage users to turn a clone back into the active file system;

Recursive Snapshots feature, which automatically creates snapshots for all descendent file systems.

Double Parity RAIDZ, a data protection enhancement to that provides storage users with enough protection so that no data will
be lost if up to two devices fail

Hot Spares for ZFS Storage Pool Devices, data protection disks that can replace failed or faulted devices, eliminating downtime
after disk failure.

Sun and its partners are also introducing the following storage technologies into the OpenSolaris Storage community:

Point-in-Time Copy data service and Remote Mirror data service - allows volumes and their snapshots to be replicated between physically different servers. Includes filter-driver framework and utilities. This is the first commercial version of replication software that has been open sourced;

NFS v4.1 (also known as parallel NFS) -- provides scalable parallel access to files distributed among multiple servers;

YANFS (formerly known as WebNFS) - Java implementation of the client side of the XDR, RPC, NFSv2, and NFSv3 protocols;

iSCSI device drivers -- provides both the initiator and target support for the IETF iSCSI protocol which allows the use of the SCSI protocol over TCP/IP networks;

OSD device drivers and related software -- provides both initiator and target support for storage devices that adhere to the SCSI Object-Based Storage Device (OSD) command protocol;

QLogic Fibre Channel HBA driver – The QLogic QLC driver enables booting from internal and external Fibre Channel devices and are now a part of OpenSolaris, making Sun’s stack of drivers which facilitate I/O activity to host bus adapters open from top to bottom – a first in the world of open storage;

OpenSolaris already provides an extensive array of storage software including a native CIFS client, UFS, Solaris Volume Manager, Traffic Manager (multipathing I/O support), a complete Fibre Channel framework with drivers, as well as traditional target drivers. Please see http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/storage/ for the entire list. Sun also has plans to open source the following technologies in the coming months: Sun StorageTek QFS shared file system, Sun StorageTek Storage Archive Manager, Sun StorageTek 5800 client interfaces and simulator/server and other storage-related technologies.

OpenSolaris Launches The First Open Source Storage Development Community
The new Storage community on OpenSolaris.org will help give developers a quicker way to deploy data-intensive applications. The community includes developers adding data management functionality and customizing the storage stack for new applications and platforms; system administrators implementing Solaris technology in data centers; educators and students researching data management in universities; and new users exploring the technology and discovering that OpenSolaris offers new opportunities. Application developers that adopt OpenSolaris as a storage platform can now utilize and enhance their existing data services and have the means to develop their own data services.

Further details on Sun's Storage family can be found at http://www.sun.com/storage.

Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Hits Xbox LIVE Worldwide on May 16

2007-04-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of “Halo® 3” will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE® on May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Coming exclusively to the Xbox 360™ console this fall, “Halo 3” is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking “Halo” trilogy from legendary developers Bungie. “Halo 3” lets gamers experience Master Chief’s greatest battle as he launches an epic mission to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat and ultimately save mankind.

Made possible through Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox LIVE gaming and entertainment network, which provides a robust online service for more than 6 million gamers worldwide, the multiplayer beta for “Halo 3” will give anxious Xbox 360 gamers their first opportunity to get their hands on the new levels, weapons, vehicles and game types, as well as a chance to provide valuable data that Bungie will use in continued development. Starting May 16, gamers who secured their admission to the multiplayer beta either through the “Rule of Three” promotion or by purchasing a specially marked copy of “Crackdown™” for Xbox 360 will be able to don their Spartan armor, download the beta on Xbox LIVE, and jump online using their Xbox LIVE Gold account* to battle other gamers from around the world.

When gamers gather online to play the multiplayer beta via Xbox LIVE in May, they will be treated to three richly detailed, action-oriented maps: Snowbound, High Ground and Valhalla, which represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments and are brand-new to “Halo 3.” Each map will test gamers’ mettle as they are placed behind the controls of new “Halo 3” vehicles such as the agile Mongoose all-terrain vehicle, and armed with deadly weapons such as the new and improved Assault Rifle, the ferocious Brute Spiker, the devastating Spartan Laser and the treacherous new Spike Grenades. This is just a taste of what gamers will experience later this fall when “Halo 3” goes on sale.

“‘Halo: Combat Evolved’ and ‘Halo 2’ changed the face of console gaming forever,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “Gamers from around the world have logged more than 800 million hours on Xbox LIVE playing ‘Halo 2,’ and years after its launch it remains the No. 1 title on our Xbox LIVE network. Bringing an early look at the multiplayer elements of ‘Halo 3’ to our passionate fan base is tremendously exciting for us.”

Gamers worldwide who did not participate in the “Rule of Three” promotion but are interested in joining the multiplayer beta of “Halo 3” can still participate through the purchase of the critically acclaimed Xbox 360 title “Crackdown,” which was launched in February. “Crackdown” sets players loose in a free-form, persistent city for action-packed crime fighting that requires a bigger, faster and stronger hero that evolves as a more efficient weapon through continued gameplay. Each copy of “Crackdown” has been specially marked with a “Halo 3” beta sticker prior to the beta period, and starting May 16 the game will act as a key for gamers to download and participate in the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta.

In addition, gamers who can’t wait for the multiplayer beta this May can get an even earlier look at “Halo 3” with a new, behind-the-scenes video feature available at http://www.bungie.net and in high definition over Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Starting today, viewers can go behind the scenes at Bungie Studios to learn about the people, technology and process that are making “Halo 3” an unforgettable multiplayer experience, and to get a taste of what to expect from the upcoming “Halo 3” multiplayer beta. The latest multiplayer video documentary, titled “Is Quisnam Protero Damno!,” will offer a glimpse at how “Halo 3” multiplayer maps are being designed, built and architected, and how these amazing spaces are converted into fun places in which to play. Gamers can also catch the first-ever glimpse of brand-new “Halo 3” multiplayer levels in their early stages of evolution and construction.

About Bungie Studios

Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy” and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.7 million units worldwide, logging over 800 million hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel and more. Bungie is currently at work on “Halo 3,” which represents the third chapter in this “Halo” trilogy and is slated for release in 2007. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®”; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport®”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”

Intel Delivers Its Fastest Enthusiast Quad-Core Processor

2007-04-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Intel Corporation today advanced its enthusiast-level quad-core processor family with the introduction of the Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme processor QX6800, the company's twelfth quad-core processor offering. Running at 2.93 GHz -- the fastest native clock speed yet reached with the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture for the quad-core desktop -- this addition to Intel's innovative processor family sets new standards for desktop PC performance. The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800 is ideal for those gamers, digital design professionals and enthusiasts who crave the highest performing computers they can get their hands on.

At the recent Game Developer's Conference* in San Francisco, several software developers demonstrated new games that have been "threaded" to take advantage of multiple processor cores and threads. This increased performance can help deliver smoother gameplay, more realistic game effects and more lifelike artificial intelligence. Some of the most exciting titles of the year such as Crytek’s Crysis*, Gas Powered Games’ Supreme Commander* and Flagship's Hellgate London* have undergone substantial joint engineering efforts with Intel to use more than two processing threads to their advantage.

One of the first games ever developed for the PC is also entering the quad-core era. "The latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator* X, Service Pack One (SP1), due out later this month, is a great match for the extreme multi-core processing delivered by the new Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor," said Phil Taylor, Flight Sim Program Manager, Microsoft Game Studios. "Flight Sim X SP1 greatly increases multicore utilization and will scale as more threads are available leading to reduced load times as well as frame rate improvements and greater visual complexity during flight. The Flight Simulator team at Microsoft is pleased to work with Intel to provide our end users with a great gaming experience."

In addition to delivering adrenaline to hardcore gamers, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800 is also being embraced by media users and developers. Adobe*, Cakewalk*, DivX*, Sony Creative Software* and dozens of other developers have delivered applications that use all four cores, enabling media professionals to do what they do best-- capture creativity quickly and reliably. For example, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6800 is up to 65% faster1 than the Intel Core 2 Extreme dual-core processor X6800 on video encoding. This is a key capability as more households are recording and editing high-definition video to capture, preserve and share memories.

"The performance and technology leadership we are delivering with our enthusiast quad-core processor lineup is a direct result of the reliability provided by Intel's manufacturing and engineering strength," said Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group. "This translates to user benefits such as better gameplay with more intelligent computer-generated opponents and less wait time for demanding high-definition media editing."

The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800 is produced on Intel's industry-leading 65 nanometer process, key to enabling the large 8 megabyte cache. A 1066 MHz system bus is supported and the processor is available now at a cost of $1,199.

* Other brands may be claimed as the property of others.

1 1 MainConcept* H.264 Encoder v2.1 using input file 30sec long, 1920x1080 HD mpeg2 video clip with a bitrate of about 18000kpbs. Output is H.264 format video encoded at 6000 kbps. Details and system specs at http://www.intel.com/performance/desktop/extreme/video_encoding.htm

100 Million iPods Sold

2007-04-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Apple® today announced that the 100 millionth iPod® has been sold, making the iPod the fastest selling music player in history. The first iPod was sold five and a half years ago, in November 2001, and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPod models, including five generations of iPod, two generations of iPod mini, two generations of iPod nano and two generations of iPod shuffle. Along with iTunes® and the iTunes online music store, the iPod has transformed how tens of millions of music lovers acquire, manage and listen to their music.

“At this historic milestone, we want to thank music lovers everywhere for making iPod such an incredible success,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPod has helped millions of people around the world rekindle their passion for music, and we’re thrilled to be a part of that.”

“It’s hard to remember what I did before the iPod,” said Mary J. Blige, GRAMMY Award-winning singer. “iPod is more than just a music player, it’s an extension of your personality and a great way to take your favorite music with you everywhere you go.”

“Without the iPod, the digital music age would have been defined by files and folders instead of songs and albums,” said John Mayer, GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist. “Though the medium of music has changed, the iPod experience has kept the spirit of what it means to be a music lover alive."

The iPod has also sparked an unprecedented ecosystem of over 4,000 accessories made specifically for the iPod that range from fashionable cases to speaker systems, and more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles currently offer iPod connectivity.

“I take my running shoes and my iPod with me everywhere,” said Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion. “I listen to music when I run. Having my music with me is really motivating.”

Every iPod features seamless integration with iTunes 7. The iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) features the world’s largest catalog with over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 400 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies, making it the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store.

IBM and Covalent Contribute JBoss-to-Apache Geronimo Migration Tool to Apache Software Foundation Open Source Community

2007-03-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Covalent Technologies™, today announced they have contributed technology to the Apache Geronimo community to help enterprise customers easily migrate from the JBoss Application Server to the open source Apache Geronimo application server, which is free to download and use.

The new migration tool being contributed to the Apache Geronimo community converts applications built for JBoss to Geronimo by generating the appropriate configuration files.

The Apache Geronimo Application Server is the lightweight J2EE-compatible pure open source application server project of the Apache Software Foundation. The easy-to-configure application server is built using open source components to help Java developers, small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) and departmental users reduce the complexity of application development by pre-integrating the most common services for building mainstream Java applications.

Apache Geronimo and other application servers based on the open source software have been demonstrating tremendous growth. According to a recent report from Evans Data Corporation, in a single year, IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition, which is based on Apache Geronimo, gained 16 points of market share with Eclipse developers, versus only a 6.6 share gain for JBoss. Additionally, more than 600 independent software vendors and systems integrators have joined IBM's WebSphere Application Server Community Edition partner initiative in just six months. As a direct result of that initiative, more than 200 ISVs have developed and introduced new software applications that support WAS Community Edition. Customers are using WAS Community Edition to provide departmental and small and medium-sized customers with an open source foundation for a service oriented architecture (SOA) that can scale to meet business needs.

"Many customers are looking for alternatives to traditional J2EE application servers," says Jim Jagielski, CTO of Covalent and a director of the Apache Software Foundation. "We look forward to the development of additional tools that will help with the rapid adoption of Apache Geronimo in the enterprise."

"The contribution of this tool to the Apache Community is a direct result of feedback we are hearing from our customers," said Paul Buck, Director of IBM WebSphere Open Source. "The recent momentum behind products based on Apache Geronimo is indicative of customers' desire to use collaboratively built open source technology backed by commercial support to meet business goals."

The tool will be available soon for download free of charge under the Apache license at http://geronimo.apache.org/

About IBM

For additional information please visit www.ibm.com

About Covalent Technologies

Founded in 1998, Covalent Technologies is the most trusted source for complete enterprise open source solutions. The leading provider of products and services for the Apache Tomcat Application Server, Apache Geronimo Application Server, Apache Axis Web Services Framework, and Apache HTTP, the world's leading Web server, Covalent is one of the few sources for full commercial support for Apache, Tomcat, Geronimo and Axis on a global basis. Covalent has been the trusted source that Fortune 1000 enterprises turn to when migrating to open source and when deploying new open source initiatives. Covalent currently supports more than 50% of Fortune 500 and 70% of Fortune 100 companies. Customers include, among others: AT&T, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Johnson & Johnson, British Telecom, NASA, Hallmark Cards, 3M, Siemens, General Electric, and Bear Stearns. Covalent has assembled the deepest talent pool of Apache experts in the industry and is proud to be one of the most distinguished supporters of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the dominant community for usable open source, and the open source community in general. For more information, visit http://www.covalent.com/

iTunes Introduces Complete My Album

2007-03-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Apple® today announced Complete My Album®, a groundbreaking new iTunes service that allows customers to turn their individual tracks into a complete album at a reduced price by giving them a full 99 cent credit for every track they have previously purchased from that album.

“Music fans can now round out their music collections by upgrading their singles into complete albums with just one click, and get full credit for those songs they have previously purchased from iTunes,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “Complete My Album is a wonderful new way that iTunes helps customers grow and enjoy their music collections.”

“iTunes continues to revolutionize the digital music industry by offering music fans innovative ways to explore and enjoy new music,” said Thomas Hesse, president, Global Digital Business and US Sales, Sony BMG Music Entertainment. “With Complete My Album, iTunes is giving music fans the best of both worlds—the ability to discover great new music by buying just the single and a credit toward the purchase of the complete album.”

Complete My Album offers customers up to 180 days after first purchasing individual songs from any qualifying album to purchase the rest of that album at a reduced price. When users buy any song on iTunes the corresponding album will immediately appear on their personalized Complete My Album page with the reduced price listed. For example, a user who’s already purchased three 99 cent singles and decides to buy the corresponding $9.99 album would be able to download the remaining songs to complete the album for just $7.02, without having to buy the singles again.

With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod®, groundbreaking personal use rights and the ability to turn previously purchased songs into complete albums at a reduced price, the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com ) is the best way for PC and Mac® users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Microsoft Unveils Xbox 360 Elite, Premium black console includes 120GB hard drive and line of new accessories

2007-03-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. today announced the upcoming availability of Xbox 360™ Elite, a new model of the video game and entertainment system that will include a 120GB hard drive, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a high-definition cable, and a premium black finish for the console, wireless controller and Xbox LIVE® headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games and thousands of songs, as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The new 120GB hard drive also will be sold as a stand-alone accessory to give current Xbox 360 owners greater choice and flexibility in their games and entertainment experience. Additional Xbox 360 Elite accessories, such as the black Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit and the Xbox 360 rechargeable battery, will be available separately. The Xbox 360 Elite and its accessories are expected to begin arriving in U.S. stores on April 29.

“Today’s games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Xbox 360 Elite’s larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer.”

Distinguished by its black finish and signature metallic detailing, Xbox 360 Elite will have an estimated retail price1 of $479.99 (U.S.) and will come packed with components and accessories for the ultimate high-definition entertainment experience:2

• Xbox 360 Elite console. The console is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.

• Xbox 360 120GB hard drive. The 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.3 The hard drive is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black). This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller, now in black, features the Xbox® Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 headset (black). Now available in black, the headset lets gamers strategize or trade taunts while playing games and send voice messages to friends on Xbox LIVE.

• Xbox 360 HDMI cable. New to Xbox 360, HDMI allows consumers to get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.

• Xbox LIVE Silver Membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox LIVE Arcade.

• One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. An Xbox LIVE Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Those who subscribe to this premium service can engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor their matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Xbox LIVE Arcade.

The following accessories for the Xbox 360 Elite console will only be sold separately:

• Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit. Complete with a charging cable and a black rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit allows gamers to recharge their Xbox 360 Wireless Controller without interrupting their gameplay. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 rechargeable battery (black). The rechargeable battery pack provides more than 25 hours of gameplay per charge. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $11.99 (U.S.).

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox LIVE online gaming network and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a catalog of more than 160 high-definition games and is available in 37 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360

.

1 Prices stated are estimated retail prices; actual retail prices may vary.

2 Total retail value: more than $600 (U.S.)

3 TV and movie downloads available only in the U.S.

IBM Helps Developers Form Social Networks

2007-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new resources designed to help developers form social networks to work together more collaboratively and accelerate the software development process.

The new developerWorks Exchange provides a venue for developers to share resources, such as code, plugins and ideas with the large software development community. Effective immediately, the new program will enable users to share and browse code submissions related to the Lotus Sametime 7.5 platform by providing new plugins, graphics and other customized additions to extend the value of the application.

For example, developers and customers can download and further enhance a "buddy note" plugin that allows them to store comments and background information about business associates on their buddy list. Developers now have an easy way to share and collaborate on Lotus Sametime plugins with the 5.7 million members of IBM's developer community. All users can submit code to the exchange, download the resources, offer comments and feedback through online forums, and rate the available submissions.

Collaboration has always been a core component for software development. By giving developers the ability to rely on the collective intelligence of their peers, IBM is expanding the social computing capabilities of developers throughout the world. The Lotus Sametime 7.5 Exchange is the first example of the types of collaborative resources that will be available to the developer community through developerWorks Exchange. Additional venues for popular industry technologies, IBM products and curricula will also be available to help developers share ideas and resources.

As part of this initiative, IBM has also launched a 3-D area called "CODESTATION," which resides in the virtual world of Second Life. Through CODESTATION, IBM is allowing developers to explore how 3-D environments can revolutionize the software development process by encouraging developers to collaborate in a visual environment where they can share ideas and information for the betterment of the greater developer community. CODESTATION serves as a virtual forum for developers to share ideas, develop code and interact with one another to design new applications and improve upon existing ones.

For instance, IBM is inviting developers to the Labyrinth Beta within CODESTATION, a maze for users to test their scripting skills and navigate through the Labyrinth as quickly as possible using a demo bot. Once developers have mastered this task, they can design their own bots to challenge other coders, further exercising and deepening their skills.

There is also a repository for Second Life developers to download and upload code to share with others. Known as Code Library, it allows coders to share their knowledge and bot designs with other developers in the vast Second Life community. Software developers, computer science students and other technical professionals who wish to explore the strengths of virtual communities during the software development process are encouraged to participate.

"Code sharing, searchability and an interactive forum for discussing that code with a network of peers can dramatically improve the software development process," said Christopher Balz, an independent software developer. "With developerWorks Exchange, IBM is providing a unique opportunity for developers, businesses and others in the community to share technologies and ideas with one another."

Through developerWorks, IBM continues to build a thriving interactive community of developers around the world. developerWorks offers both online and in-person educational resources to help users build and deploy open standards based applications across heterogeneous systems, creating a foundation for skills and innovation among developers, independent software vendors (ISVs), VCs, faculty and students involved in software development within universities. Over 50 percent of the content on developerWorks is generated by the broad developer community, further demonstrating IBM's strong commitment to open source and exemplifying the powerful collective intelligence of the developerWorks community.

For more information on developerWorks Exchange, please visit: www.ibm.com/developerworks/exchange/

To access IBM CODESTATION, please visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/IBMCODESTATION/128/156/25/?x=400&y=400&img=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/377787488_b957acef84.jpg?v=0&title=IBM

Apple TV Now Shipping

2007-03-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Apple® is now shipping Apple TV™, an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favorite iTunes® content from your PC or Mac® on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts. With Apple TV’s stunning new interface, anyone can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the simple and intuitive Apple Remote. Apple TV easily connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions.

“Apple TV is like a DVD player for the Internet age—providing an easy and fun way to play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Apple TV allows you to wirelessly play your content from your PCs or Macs using your existing WiFi network as well as the newest and fastest version of WiFi—802.11n.”

The seamless integration of Apple TV and iTunes lets users choose from over 400 movies and 350 TV shows in near DVD quality; over four million songs; 5,000 music videos; 100,000 podcasts; and 20,000 audiobooks from the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com ). Users can also watch their favorite movie trailers right on their widescreen TV, listen to their favorite music on their home entertainment system, and view slideshows of their photo albums in high definition resolution. Apple TV makes it easy for users to explore their entire media collection with an easy to use and intuitive new interface. With the Apple Remote, consumers can easily browse through their favorite movies, TV shows, music and photos from up to 30 feet away.

Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output.* Apple TV is easy to connect to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort® 802.11** wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to your TV without any wires.***

Pricing & Availability Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, will be available beginning this week from the Apple Store® (www.apple.com ), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US). Apple retail stores will also offer hands on workshops and demonstrations of Apple TV’s features.

Apple TV requires iTunes 7.1 or later running on a Mac with Mac OS® X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional (SP2).

An 802.11b/g/n wireless network using AirPort, AirPort Extreme® or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking is required. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple TV requires an enhanced definition or high-definition widescreen TV. iPod® games will not play on Apple TV. The iTunes store is available in the US and select countries.

*Video playback based on 640x480 iTunes video content. Music capacity based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding. Photo capacity based on Apple TV viewable photos transferred from iTunes. Actual capacity varies by content.

**Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification.

***Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.

OpenAjax Alliance Welcomes Microsoft and Other New Members and Announces Interoperability Awards

2007-03-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

OpenAjax Alliance, an open industry collaboration dedicated to developing and expanding Ajax, today announced that its membership has grown to 72 with the addition of Microsoft Corporation and 30 other companies.

"Microsoft is joining the OpenAJAX Alliance to collaborate with other industry leaders to help evolve AJAX-style development by ensuring a high degree of interoperability," said Keith Smith, group product manager of the Core Web Platform & Tools to UX Web/Client Platform & Tools team at Microsoft Corp. "By joining OpenAJAX, Microsoft is continuing its commitment to empower Web developers with technology that works cross-browser and cross-platform."

The newest OpenAjax Alliance members include: 24SevenOffice, ActiveGrid, ActiveState, Appeon, Aptana, Arimaan Global Consulting, Custom Credit Systems (Thinwire), ESRI, Getahead (DWR), Global Computer Enterprises, GoETC, Helmi Technologies, HR-XML, iPolipo, Isomorphic Software, JSSL, Lightstreamer, Microsoft, MobileAware, NetScript Technologies, OpenSpot, OpenSymphony (OpenQA), OpSource, OS3.IT, Redmonk, Tealeaf Technology, Teleca Mobile, Transmend, Visible Measures, Visual WebGui and Volantis Systems.

The Alliance is also announcing that the following members have all been awarded OpenAjax Interoperability certificates: Apache XAP, Dojo Foundation, ICEsoft, ILOG, Isomorphic, IT Mill, Lightstreamer, Open Link, Open Spot, Nexaweb, Software AG and TIBCO. The interoperability certificates represent progress by both OpenAjax Alliance and its members towards defining and achieving industry support for OpenAjax Conformance.

The term OpenAjax Conformance is shorthand for the set of requirements that OpenAjax Alliance will be placing on Ajax technologies, products, and applications. These requirements focus on a small number of simple but important aspects of Ajax deployment, thereby providing the critical bits of Ajax interoperability that customers require. The conformance criteria are being designed in a manner that allows Ajax suppliers to continue to innovate and move forward with new technologies and products in an open platform.

OpenAjax Conformance will provide the following benefits to IT managers and the Ajax developer community:

-- Seamless integration of multiple Ajax products and technologies within
the same Web application, particularly with applications that use mashup
techniques
-- Greater certainty about product choices and reliability
-- Lower training costs, lower development costs, and faster delivery of
Web 2.0 innovations due to industry adoption of common approaches that
build from OpenAjax standards
-- Interchangeability of OpenAjax Conformant products, such that
customers can choose among multiple vendors (and change vendors in the
future)

"After only 10 months this organization has achieved significant milestones in defining interoperability standards for the industry, the membership has grown from 13 to over 70 and the alliance has published multiple white papers on the background technology and business benefits of Ajax," said David Boloker, OpenAjax Steering Committee Chairman. "The group has also established task forces to investigate possible areas of new activity in security, IDE integration, server integration and client-side server communications. Our end-goal with all of these activities is to increase adoption and provide value to the software community on both technical and marketing fronts."
OpenAjax Alliance recently published a revised set of white papers, including a new article titled -- When Does Ajax Make Business Sense -- which can be found at www.openajax.org. The new article states that the benefits derived from Ajax come from more interactive and productive connections between users and Web-based applications. Beyond better user interfaces for existing applications, Ajax enables new classes of applications that fall under the umbrella term "Web 2.0" and that also fit into a service-oriented architecture (SOA). According to the article, among the next-generation Ajax tools that will power the enterprise and the Internet of the future, include the following:

-- Users as co-developers - New Ajax-powered environments, such as
"application wikis," are empowering users to create their own customized
mashups that include personalized dashboards and situational composite
applications.
-- Collaboration - Ajax technologies are typically the centerpiece of Web
2.0 information collection and sharing environments that harness the
collective intelligence of disparate communities.
-- Software above the level of a single device - Web 2.0 is accelerating
the movement from installable desktop applications to Web-based
applications, thereby leveraging the advantages of networks and information
sharing.
-- Cross-device applications and mobility - Simultaneous with the
adoption of Web 2.0 is the growing proliferation of Web-capable mobile
devices. Ajax technologies enable Web 2.0 applications across both large-
screen desktops and small-screen mobile devices.

OpenAjax Membership Growth
The existing group of Alliance members include: Adobe, The Ajaxian, American Greetings, BEA, Curl, the Dojo Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, edge IPK, eLink Business Innovations, Finetooth, The Front Side, IBM, ICEsoft, Ikivo, ILOG, Innoopract, IT Mill, JackBe, Javeline, JWAX, Laszlo Systems, Mozilla Corporation, Nexaweb, Nitobi, Novell, Open Link Software, Openwave Systems, Opera, Oracle, SAP, Scalix, Seagull Software, Sitepen, Software AG, Sun Microsystems, Tibco, Vertex Logic, Webtide, XML11, Zend, Zimbra and Zoho.

Ajax Conformance Award Recipient Quotes

Apache XAP (at Apache Incubator)

"Apache XAP is the declarative Ajax runtime at Apache Software Foundation," says Robert Buffone, a committer at Apache XAP project. "Adding support for OpenAjax Hub brings XAP a step closer to its vision of enabling developers to plug in their favorite Ajax widgets and toolkits while utilizing a unified open declarative framework to dramatically simplify Ajax application development."

Dojo Foundation

"The open source Dojo Toolkit is one of the industry's most popular and comprehensive Ajax development platforms. The Dojo Foundation was a charter member of OpenAjax Alliance and serves on the OpenAjax Alliance Steering Committee. We are excited to demonstrate support for the OpenAjax Hub within Dojo," Dylan Schiemann, chief executive at Web application design and development firm SitePen and co-founder of the Dojo Foundation.

ICEsoft

"We are pleased to demonstrate ICEfaces compatibility with the Open Ajax Hub," says Ken Fyten, VP Product Development at ICEsoft Technologies. "This confirms our commitment to the Open Ajax Alliance and to our customers that want the flexibility to incorporate other Ajax libraries into their ICEfaces Ajax applications."

ILOG

"The approaching one-year anniversary of the OpenAjax Alliance is an important milestone for Ajax technology and the community. ILOG is proud to have been there from the start, and based on the overwhelming demand from our customer base for Ajax-enhanced graphical displays, we are excited to participate in the OpenAjax InteropFest and to continue to contribute to this flourishing ecosystem with open and interoperable technologies," said Jean François Abramatic, Chief Product Officer, ILOG.

Isomorphic

"Years before the term AJAX was coined, our customers demanded interoperability with other early AJAX technologies as part of the process of integrating SmartClient into commercial portal servers and other enterprise products," said Charles Kendrick, CTO of Isomorphic Software. "And we delivered. Isomorphic remains committed to AJAX interoperability, and we are excited to see the industry make strides toward interoperability standards. Our customers value Isomorphic's ability to immediately embrace emerging industry standards via SmartClient's flexible and extensible architecture."

IT Mill

"OpenAjax Hub is one of the key components that allow easier integration in future," said Joonas Lehtinen, CEO of IT Mill. "IT Mill Toolkit 4.0 enables Java programmers to create solid enterprise user interfaces on top of Ajax technologies and OAA Hub will help to integrate it better into other applications. We are excited that our product is one of the first ones to pass the compliance tests."

Lightstreamer

"We are pleased to have passed the InteropFest test and we are committed to further OpenAjax Hub specification adherence," said Alessandro Alinone, CTO at Lightstreamer. "Our goal is not to compete in the general AJAX toolkit market, but to remain focused on the delivery of a scalable and reliable Push Server that can work with any AJAX solution."

OpenSpot

"The technologies developed by the OpenAjax alliance let toolkit libraries from different vendors work together within a web application," said Gideon Lee, president of OpenSpot. "At a higher level, virtual desktop technologies such as our open source SameDesk environment let applications delivered from different sites interact across domain boundary at the browser. These two complementary types of technologies will help narrow the gap between desktop and web applications, thereby creating more flexible alternatives for the developers and the end users."

Nexaweb

"Nexaweb Universal Client Framework supports Ajax, Java as well as offline web computing for Enterprise Web 2.0 applications," said Coach Wei, CTO at Nexaweb Technologies, Inc. "As a key contributor to various open source projects and a member of the Steering Committee of OpenAjax Alliance, Nexaweb is excited to announce the support for OpenAjax Hub in its Universal Client Framework offering."

Software AG

"As a global provider of mission-critical software infrastructure solutions, we are very pleased to see the increasing momentum and the significant progress of the OpenAjax Alliance," said Dr. Peter Kuerpick, Member of the Board of Software AG and responsible for Crossvision. "We believe that businesses are expecting solutions that are manageable, interoperable and open. Already a leader in SOA Governance, Software AG is proud to be one of the first companies that have an OpenAjax conformant offering for building rich SOA front ends."

TIBCO

"Ajax interoperability standards are critical to our customers' enterprise Ajax implementations -- TIBCO's OpenAjax Conformance certificate reduces their technical risks and enables them to leverage existing skill sets," said Kevin Hakman, director General Interface product marketing, TIBCO. "Interoperability standards also open up the Ajax eco-system so anyone can create new components that can predictably work with literally dozens of OpenAjax Conformant toolkits. The OpenAjax Alliance provides developers and their management with a reliable way to mix and match Ajax pieces and parts from multiple projects and vendors to efficiently build and maintain their solutions."

About OpenAjax Alliance

The OpenAjax Alliance is an organization of leading vendors, open source projects, and companies using Ajax that are dedicated to the successful adoption of open and interoperable Ajax-based Web technologies. The prime objective of the group is to accelerate customer success with Ajax by promoting a customer's ability to mix and match solutions from Ajax technology providers and to help drive the future of the Ajax ecosystem. To learn more about OpenAjax Alliance, please visit: www.openajax.org

IBM and Red Hat Announce New Development Innovations in Linux Kernel

2007-03-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat, the world's two largest commercial Linux developers, today announced developers at the companies' world renowned Linux labs have collaborated to integrate new technologies in the Linux kernel that will help customers improve efficiency and gain a competitive edge in their industries.

Developers at IBM's Linux Technology Center, which has some 600 engineers in 40 locations worldwide, collaborated with Red Hat's Engineering team to integrate improved virtualization features, security enhancements, and "Real-Time Linux" capabilities into the Linux kernel. Hundreds of IBM and Red Hat developers work full-time on making Linux better as part of the open source community.

With today's announcement, the companies said new virtualization and security capabilities in the Linux kernel will also be available in the new release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. "Real-Time Linux" technologies are currently being incorporated into the kernel and will be extended to IBM and Red Hat customers in a future offering. The companies announced IBM is currently testing and certifying RHEL 5 across all of its standards-based middleware and servers and that IBM also plans to provide services and support for RHEL 5 as well.

IBM and Red Hat cited these three key Linux development innovations:

-- Xen Virtualization Optimizes IT Environments:

IBM, Red Hat and the open community have now integrated open source Xen virtualization software with the Linux kernel in addition to hardening the Xen hypervisor. Xen is open source virtualization software that helps customers increase server utilization and more efficiently manage Linux-based IT systems. The technologies will be incorporated into Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and supported by IBM's Virtualization portfolio of products running on Intel and Opteron processor-based servers and IBM BladeCenter systems.

IBM customer ServerCave, a website hosting and data center management company catering to individuals and SMB customers, expects to increase server utilization rates from 10 percent to nearly 80 percent running Linux-based IBM x3550 systems taking advantage of Xen virtualization capabilities. ServerCave expects to reduce new hardware acquisition for its hosted and managed customers by 75 percent. It expects to save nearly $60,000 in power and cooling expenses this year because by virtualizing its IT environment it doesn't need to run as many servers.

-- Security Enhanced Linux Offers Greater Data Protection:

Addressing customer demand for features that provide greater data protection, IBM and Red Hat developers collaborated with the open source community to build Security-Enhanced Linux into Red Hat's core operating system to provide Multi-Level Security capabilities. These capabilities enable enterprise customers, particularly those in the government sector, to create a mandatory access control policy that allows information to be classified as top secret, secret, confidential and unclassified. This security underpinning of the Linux kernel compartmentalizes applications and services into distinct security domains, providing a highly secure platform for applications or data for all types of customers. After testing and certification, these features will be available in RHEL 5, and supported by IBM software and systems.

The UK Cabinet Office, for instance, is currently running IBM WebSphere and Security Enhanced Linux, SELinux, together as part of a solution developed by Tresys and IBM aimed at creating a secure environment for Belmin Group's Automated Reconciliation & Invoice Creation Service, ARIES, eProcurement application which currently runs on RHEL 4 at a National Health Service hospital trust in England. SELinux provides customers the ability to contain hackers and provide confinement for its applications.

Additionally, IBM hardware and software products running on RHEL 5 are being evaluated at the Common Criteria Evaluated Assurance Level (EAL) 4+, Labeled Security Protection Profile, Role Based Access Control Protection Profile, and Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP). RHEL 4U1 has currently achieved CAPP EAL 4+ certification.

New encrypted file system capabilities developed by IBM have been adopted in the kernel to protect user identity by encrypting data at the file level in systems and on laptops. Red Hat plans to include these technologies in RHEL 5.1 as a technology preview.

-- Innovation for the Future: "Real-Time Linux" Application Development Platform

IBM and Red Hat are collaborating to deliver a new "Real-Time Linux" application development and deployment platform providing customers the ability to run systems that can perform at greater processing rates with high levels of reliability. The new platform includes IBM WebSphere Real Time, a real-time J2SE Java Virtual Machine, with a real-time version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 running on IBM System x and BladeCenter AMD and Intel-based servers. This new computing infrastructure also provides a broad community of Java programmers the ability to develop applications that can execute and provide predictable to millisecond granularity execution times.

The U.S. Navy is an early adopter of IBM's Real-Time Java technology running on a customized "Real-Time Linux" platform deployed by IBM, Raytheon, and Red Hat. It is taking advantage of a single and open standards-based computing environment for applications ranging from command-and-control, navigation, targeting, weapons control, and radar systems. The first-of-its kind deployment will aid the Navy's efforts to cut the cost of developing and maintaining traditionally expensive real-time applications so it can speed the development of mission critical combatant systems for its DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer Program. IBM is currently offering WebSphere Real-Time 1.0 running on a customized RHEL4 environment to customers in the government, financial, and telecommunications sectors.

IBM will continue to work with Red Hat and the open source community to offer performance tuning and system debugging features through a SystemTap toolkit. Additionally, the companies are also working on Samba, kernel scalability, customer testing, and numerous ongoing technology projects.

"IBM's Linux Technology Center is an incubator for technology innovation, and ultimately for business transformation," said Daniel Frye, vice president, Open Systems Development, IBM. "We're continuing to work with Red Hat and the open source community to drive innovative technologies into the Linux kernel to offer customers the efficient, cost-effective production environment they need to gain a competitive edge in their own industries."

"The upcoming release of our enterprise platform signifies much more that just an upgrade to Linux, it is the culmination of a complete enterprise architecture that includes a broad ecosystem of certified, reliable solutions from partners like IBM," said Paul Cormier, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Red Hat. "We continue our heritage of close collaboration with customers and partners to deliver a highly relevant technology platform that delivers on performance and value."

Microsoft Announces HD Photo, a New Imaging File Format With Advanced Features for Today’s Digital Photographers

2007-03-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

Today at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) 07 International Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. formally announced HD Photo, a new file format for end-to-end digital photography that offers higher image quality, greater preservation of data, and advanced features for today’s digital-imaging applications.

This new, next-generation digital image format offers the best solution for digital image editing and storage and unlocks the potential for digital photography on devices, applications and services. Microsoft also announced that it intends to standardize the technology and will be submitting HD Photo to an appropriate standards organization shortly.

HD Photo offers compression with up to twice the efficiency of JPEG, with fewer damaging artifacts, resulting in higher-quality images that are one-half the file size. In addition, HD Photo offers increased image fidelity, preserving the entire original image content and enabling higher-quality exposure and color adjustments in the image. This new format offers the ability to decode only the information needed for any resolution or region, or the option to manipulate the image as compressed data.

“With HD Photo, we’re taking a new approach to creating and editing photos that simply isn’t available to photographers with today’s formats,” said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Consumer Media Technology Group at Microsoft. “HD Photo fully preserves the original image fidelity with high dynamic range while still allowing for significant improvement in compression size.”

In addition, HD Photo offers both lossless and lossy image compression, and can retain the full dynamic range and color gamut data from a camera’s sensor. Also, because making adjustments to common color balance and exposure settings won’t discard or truncate data as other common bitmap formats typically do, it’s easier to “undo” those changes at a later time. As a result, significantly smaller files can be created while still retaining optimum picture quality.

Microsoft also announced the beta release of a set of HD Photo plug-ins for Adobe® Photoshop® software, developed with the help of Adobe Systems Inc. These plug-ins enable users to both read and write HD Photo files from within Adobe Photoshop software, and include support for high dynamic range pixel formats. The plug-ins support both the CS3 and CS2 versions of Adobe Photoshop software, and will be available for Windows Vista™ and Windows® XP, as well as Mac OS X (Universal Binary). A beta version of the Windows plug-in is available today for download at the Microsoft® Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. Microsoft expects to release finished plug-ins, which will be free of charge, in approximately 60 days.

The HD Photo Device Porting Kit is also available for download at the Microsoft Download Center, allowing manufacturers to add HD Photo support in devices and to other platforms.

HD Photo is natively supported in Windows Vista by a Windows Imaging Component (WIC) codec, and can be similarly supported in Windows XP and Windows Server® 2003 through a free WIC download. HD Photo is also included in Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0.

With support on popular platforms such as Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X, HD Photo will allow consumers to easily view, edit and share images without conversion or special applications. The format also allows for flexible metadata handling and supports industry-standard metadata formats.

Adobe Unveils Plans for Two Editions of Photoshop CS3

2007-03-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show that it will expand its digital imaging product line, offering two editions of Adobe® Photoshop® CS3. In addition to the highly anticipated Photoshop CS3 software for designers and professional photographers, Adobe will also deliver Photoshop CS3 Extended, a completely new edition of Photoshop which allows cross-media creative professionals to stretch the limits of digital imaging. Photoshop CS3 Extended includes everything in Photoshop CS3 plus a new set of capabilities for integration of 3-D and motion graphics, image measurement and analysis. Photoshop CS3 Extended also simplifies the workflow for professionals in architecture, engineering, medical and science.

Both Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended software will be formally introduced on March 27, 2007 - as part of the company’s launch of Creative Suite 3, where further details will be disclosed. The software is expected to ship in Spring 2007.

"We never imagined that Photoshop would someday help make major motion pictures, let alone save lives," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of the Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. "Whether it's a video producer texture editing the backdrop of a movie or a researcher counting hundreds of cancer cells, diverse industries are already relying on the professional standard in digital imaging."

Breadth of Advanced Features in Photoshop CS3 Extended
With Photoshop CS3 Extended, film, video and multimedia professionals, and graphic and web designers can leverage the power of the Photoshop image-editing toolset and paint engine when editing 3D and motion-based content. Film and video specialists can perform 3-D model visualization and texture editing, paint and clone over multiple video frames. Animators can now render and incorporate rich 3-D content into their 2-D compositions. Graphic and web designers can create an animation from a series of images - such as time series data - and export it to a wide variety of formats, including QuickTime, MPEG-4 and Adobe Flash® Video.

“The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is over 60,000 members strong and as it continues to grow, so do the variety of uses for Photoshop,” said Scott Kelby, president of NAPP. “Photoshop CS3 Extended will further redefine who the ‘creative professional’ is, allowing cross-media professionals to really push the limits of their craft, while also inviting engineers, scientists and architects to add the power of Photoshop to their arsenal.”

Photoshop CS3 Extended also enables users to extract valuable quantitative and qualitative data from images. In addition to measurement and analysis tools, architects, medical professionals and scientists will enjoy increased support for specialized image formats so they can easily view, annotate, and edit images in their native format. Radiologists can closely monitor a patient’s progress over time, scientific researchers can create animations from medical images for presentation purposes, and architects can make accurate measurements of objects in their 3-D images.

“With the release of two new editions of Photoshop, Adobe continues to push the boundaries with innovative tools that empower people to communicate visually in powerful new ways,” said Alexis Gerard, author of “Going Visual” and president of Future Image Inc., hosts of the 6Sight® Future of Imaging conference. “While Photoshop CS3 will remain the digital imaging standard for photographers, Photoshop CS3 Extended is bringing to new audiences the proven benefit of Photoshop, and also exploring feature sets that eventually may benefit a broader market.”

Availability
Announced in December 2006, a beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Macintosh and Windows is currently available for download for Photoshop CS2 users on the Adobe Labs Web site: http://labs.adobe.com

Both Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended software will be formally introduced on March 27, 2007. Available as Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform as well as for Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista® computers, the final shipping releases of Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended are planned for Spring 2007. For more information, please visit the Adobe Web site: www.adobe.com/go/photoshop

Adobe Photoshop Family
Adobe offers the right Photoshop for all types of users. Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family. The portfolio also includes Adobe Photoshop Lightroom™, which provides a complete digital darkroom for professional and serious amateur photographers; Adobe Photoshop Elements with editing and sharing options for photography enthusiasts; and the free Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition, which meets the needs of the casual photographer.

Massive Continues Strong Momentum, Adding 10 Xbox and Four PC Titles to Its Video Game Network

2007-03-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, shows strong momentum and continued leadership of the dynamic in-game advertising market by adding 14 titles since October 2006. This month, the Massive network will include more than 50 premier titles for the Xbox 360™ and Xbox® video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft and the PC platform. Massive’s reach of audience continues to increase. With new releases such as Microsoft Games Studios’ “Crackdown™,” EA’s “DEF JAM: ICON™,” “Major League Baseball® 2K7” from 2K Sports, and Ubisoft Entertainment’s “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™ 2,” the Massive network is projected to be live with more than 100 titles across the Xbox and PC platforms by the end of 2007.

Advertisers are embracing Massive’s ability to uniquely engage and target the growing gaming audience globally. More than 200 campaigns have run to date from a diverse roster of more than 100 advertising clients. Repeat customers include Dell Inc., the Discovery Channel, Intel Corporation, NBC Universal Inc., the U.S. Navy, and Verizon. Categories represented include automotive, entertainment, retail, apparel, consumer packaged goods, sports, technology, financial services and telecommunications.

“Our focus at Massive continues to be connecting blue-chip global marketing partners with the appropriate gaming audience through our relationships with major game publishers,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive. “During the past two years we’ve defined the dynamic in-game advertising business and continue to renew previous marketing partnerships as well as welcome new marketing partners and publishers to the Massive network.”

Recent and upcoming title additions to the Massive network include the highly anticipated “Crackdown,” Massive’s first partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, which launched Feb. 20 on Xbox 360; EA’s high-profile “DEF JAM: ICON,” which launched March 6; 2K Sports’ “Major League Baseball 2K7,” which launched Feb. 26 on both Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms; and the latest installment in Ubisoft’s best-selling Tom Clancy franchise, “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2,” on both Xbox 360 and PC. As of March 2007, the complete list of Xbox 360 titles live in the Massive network will include these:

• “Crackdown” (Microsoft Game Studios)

• “DEF JAM: ICON” (Electronic Arts)

• “Major League Baseball 2K7” (2K Sports)

• “NBA 2K7” (2K Sports)

• “Need for Speed Carbon” (Electronic Arts)

• “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2” (Ubisoft)

• “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas” (Ubisoft)

• “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent” (Ubisoft)

About Massive Inc.

Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. With 40 game publisher partners and more than 100 committed titles, the Massive Network offers advertisers the ability to reach an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 100 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive Network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive Network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to leverage the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com

2007 JavaOne Conference Profiles Latest Advancements In Java Technology, Dynamic Languages and Open Source Offerings

2007-03-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), today announced that more than 60 exhibitors and the following cosponsors will be participating in the 2007 JavaOne conference:

Platinum – Intel, Motorola, Oracle

Gold – BEA, NAVTEQ

Silver -- InterSystems, Parasoft

In addition, Sun announced that out of more than 1400 submissions, approximately 350 sessions have been accepted for the 2007 JavaOne conference. Details on all the technical and Birds-of- a-Feather sessions will be posted at: http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/sessions.jsp over the coming weeks. A sneak preview of some of the accepted sessions, includes:

Java Technology Libre Panel: Geir Magnusson, Jr., Apache Software Foundation, Tom Marble, Sun Microsystems, Dalibor Topic, Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, Tom Tromey, Red Hat, Inc. and Mark Wielaard, Free Software Foundation

Creating Amazing Web Interfaces With Ajax: Ben Galbraith, consultant

3-D Earth Visualization with NASA World Wind: Tom Gaskins, NASA

A Step Along the Way: Using Ajax, Portals and Services to Provide Better Network Management : Anton McConville, Nortel

Writing Java Platform Applications for Ubuntu: Jeff Bailey, Ubuntu, Etienne Goyer, Canonical and Sathyan Catari, Larry Freeman and Harpreet Singh, Sun Microsystems

JRuby on Rails: Agility for the Enterprise: Thomas Enebo and Charles Nutter, Sun Microsystems

Search Inside the Music: Using Signal Processing, Machine Learning, and 3-D Visualizations to Discover New Music: Paul Lamere, Sun Microsystems

jPDL: Simplified Workflow for Java Technology : Tom Baeyens, JBoss, a division of Red Hat

Top 10 Ways to Botch Enterprise Java Application Scalability and Reliability: Cameron Purdy, Tangosol

Developing Flashy Mobile Applications, Using SVG and JSR 226: Marin Brehovsky, Sun Microsystems, Andrei Mihaila, Nokia and Marc Verstaen, Hyperion

The Apache Harmony Project : Tim Ellison, IBM UK and Geir Magnusson Jr., Apache Software Foundation

Exploring the Deep with SONIA: Martin Morissette and Felix Pageau, SONIA AUV Team

What's Hot in BEA JRocket : Staffan Larsen, BEA Systems, Inc.

What's Hot in IBM's Virtual Machine for the Java Platform? - 2007 Edition : Trent Gray-Donald, IBM

Members of the Sun Developer Network (SDN Program) can start preparing for the 2007 JavaOne conference by reviewing the sessions from last year's conference. SDN Program members get full access to JavaOne conference multimedia sessions and PDFs. Information on the SDN Program is available at http://developers.sun.com/.

Java University Program
The Java University program is returning as part of the 2007 JavaOne conference and will be held on Monday, May 7, 2007. Only Conference Plus Pass and Java University Pass holders can participate in these sessions and all courses are created and delivered by Sun certified instructors. This year, the Java University program will kick off with a general session and then attendees have the option of taking one full-day course or a selection of two half-day courses. As the focus for the JavaOne conference is expanding this year, so will the number and focus of the Java University program offerings.

Full-day courses:

Using Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5) and SOA to Architect and Design Robust Enterprise Applications

Get eBusiness Solutions: Designing and Implementing Secure Java Web Services

Managing Complex Web Applications: Should I Use Apache Struts Framework, JavaServer Faces Technology, or Both?

Half-day courses:

Web 2.0: Building Dynamic Websites with Ajax and the Dojotoolkit

Filthy Rich Clients

Developing Portable Java EE Applications with the Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0 API

Developing Enterprise Applications with the Spring Framework

Web 2.0: Leveraging the Project jMaki and Google Web Toolkits for Rapid Website Development

Learning How Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) Development Works Best for Mobile Devices

Developing Java Technology Applications with the Java Persistence API

Rapid Website Development with Groovy and Grails

Bonus evening courses:

Turbocharging Application Performance with D-Trace

Deploying Collaborative Web sites to the Solaris Operating System using SAMP

Digital Identity Trends and How to Realize Rapid RBAC Deployment

Ruby on Rails for Java Technology Developers

About the JavaOne Conference
Located at Moscone Center in San Francisco, May 8-11, the annual JavaOne conference is one of the leading events for Java technology developers. Established in 1996, the Conference provides technology enthusiasts the opportunity to learn about the latest technology innovations with Java technology, scripting, Open Source, Web 2.0 and more. Developers get hands-on experience with the technology, can network with their peers, and have the opportunity to network directly with technology experts from technology industry leaders. For more information about the JavaOne conference, visit http://java.sun.com/javaone.

NetBeans Community Announces Support for Ruby and JRuby Programming Languages

2007-03-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) and the NetBeans Community, today announced an early access release of the NetBeans Ruby Pack which provides support for the Ruby programming language. The NetBeans plug-in offers developers added support for dynamic and scripting languages and includes editing features for both Ruby and JRuby - a 100% pure-Java implementation of the Ruby programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine.

The NetBeans Ruby Pack goes beyond basic editing, syntax highlighting, navigation outline, project support and unit test execution to provide developers with a rich set of features to enhance productivity. These features include: code completion for modules, classes, methods and escape codes within literal strings and regular expressions. The NetBeans Ruby Pack also offers extended features such as integrated documentation pop-ups for Ruby API calls, semantic analysis with highlighting of parameters and unused local variables, as well as occurrence highlighting.

"Developing these plug-ins for NetBeans is yet another demonstration of our commitment to support dynamic languages," said Jeet Kaul, vice president for Developer Products and Programs, Sun Microsystems. "NetBeans -- with its broad adoption -- now extends its reach into a new community of users while exposing the existing Java development community to the power of the Ruby language. Building this synergy is what makes open-source a powerful strategy for aligning and moving the technology industry forward."

Ruby support is available for NetBeans 6 Milestone 7 as a download from the Autoupdate Center. Additional support for Ruby on Rails is expected to be available mid-year 2007.

Make plans to join us on May 7th for the fourth annual NetBeans Day that will be held the day before the 2007 JavaOne conference event, speakers will include: Charles Nutter, Thomas Enebo and Tor Norbye.

New Vista Desktop Wallpapers

2007-02-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hamad Darwish has released some beautiful new desktop wallpapers for your Windows Vista desktop. Each of the wallpapers resolution is 1920x1200. Below are the pics (smaller of course)

Information Regarding Your PayPal Account Phishing Scam

2007-02-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

When you try to get people to click on your scams at least do some research and you would know that an IP address can never be 24.45.716.97
What a moron, here is the complete message

Information Regarding Your account:
Dear PayPal Member:

Attention! Your PayPal account has been violated!

Someone with ip address 24.45.716.97 tried to access your personal account!

Please click the link below and enter your account information to confirm that you are not currently away. You have 3 days to confirm account information or your account will be locked.

Click here to activate your account

You can also confirm by logging into your PayPal account at
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_home.

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.

PayPal Email ID PP059

The link goes to this address: http://ecoumene.org/https//paypal.com/webscr/

A quick WhoIs lookup returns this:
Domain ID:D103933426-LROR
Domain Name:ECOUMENE.ORG
Created On:03-Feb-2004 15:12:16 UTC
Last Updated On:31-Jan-2007 09:35:24 UTC
Expiration Date:03-Feb-2008 15:12:16 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:OVH SARL (R135-LROR)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:YWBEFW1110-OVH
Registrant Name:Le Goff Yvan
Registrant Organization:Ecoumene
Registrant Street1:5 allee Pablo Picasso
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:BETTON
Registrant State/Province:35
Registrant Postal Code:35830
Registrant Country:FR
Registrant Phone:+33.617585520
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:+33.299550445
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:yvan.legoff@ecoumene.org
Admin ID:CJPKFX8498-OVH
Admin Name:Le Goff Yvan
Admin Organization:Ecoumene
Admin Street1:5, allee Pablo Picasso
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Betton
Admin State/Province:35
Admin Postal Code:35830
Admin Country:FR
Admin Phone:+33.617585520
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:+33.299550445
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:yvan.legoff@ecoumene.org
Tech ID:CJPKFX8498-OVH
Tech Name:Le Goff Yvan
Tech Organization:Ecoumene
Tech Street1:5, allee Pablo Picasso
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Betton
Tech State/Province:35
Tech Postal Code:35830
Tech Country:FR
Tech Phone:+33.617585520
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:+33.299550445
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:yvan.legoff@ecoumene.org
Name Server:NS.OVH.NET
Name Server:DNS.OVH.NET
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:

The previous information has been obtained either directly from the registrant or a registrar of the domain name other than Network Solutions. Network Solutions, therefore, does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Show underlying registry data for this record

IP Address: 213.186.33.19 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: FR(FRANCE)-PAYS DE LA LOIRE-NANTES
Record Type: Domain Name
Server Type: Apache
Web Site Status: Active
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Secure: No
E-commerce: No
Traffic Ranking: Not available
Data as of: 14-Jun-2005

Battlestar Galactica as Simpsons Characters

2007-02-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Look how happy they are ;-)
To see more of these charaters visit this page: http://www.fantent.com/2007/02/10/battlestar-galactica-as-simpsons-characters/

Assicons Are Not Your Standard Emoticons

2007-02-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

We all know those cute little computer symbols called "emoticons,"
where:

:) means a smile and

:( is a frown.

Sometimes these are represented by

:-)

:-(

Well, how about some "ASSICONS"?
Here goes:

(_!_) a regular ass

(__!__) a fat ass

(!) a tight ass

(_*_) a sore ass

{_!_} a swishy ass

(_o_) an ass that's been around

(_x_) kiss my ass

(_X_) leave my ass alone

(_zzz_) a tired ass

(_E=mc2_) a smart ass

(_$_) Money coming out of his ass

(_?_) Dumb Ass

You have just been e-mooned!

(.Y.)
\./
( Y )

Cat And Dog Diary

2007-02-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary
Day 543 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.
Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 770 In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped
this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what
I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am? Bastards!

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer". More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." I Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 811 - Today I was almost successful in an attempt to
assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

DAY 953 - I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows available for pre-order on Amazon.com

2007-02-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca! Speculation continues as to which character will die in the seventh and final chapter of J.K. Rowling's wildly popular series, and you will surely want to find out.

The publishers, Scholastic in the U.S. and Raincoast in Canada, have announced a release date of July 21, 2007.

There is a deluxe edition and a standard edition

Windows Vista Speech Recognition Hole

2007-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders.
Vista can respond to vocal commands and concern has been raised about malicious audio on websites or sent via e-mail.

In one scenario outlined by users an MP3 file of voice instructions was used to tell the PC to delete documents.

Microsoft said the exploit was "technically possible" but there was no need to worry.

Read the whole article: Vista has speech recognition hole

KDevelop 3.4 has been released

2007-01-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

KDevelop 3.4 has been released, bringing many new features to KDE's Integrated Development Environment. The first major release in over a year closes more than 500 bugs.

KDevelop 3.4.x Features

Improved Qt4 support
- Specify Qt installation dir upon project creation
- Properly open the right designer for .ui files
- Call the right qmake in qmake projects
- Use Qt4 style includes
- New Options for Qt4's QT variable in the project configuration
- Handle Qt4 resource files in QMake Manager

Improved QMake Manager
- New Parser which doesn't replace the project file contents
- Parses and displays the Qt4 buildsystem properly
- Scopes
  - Display Scopes as tree nodes in the Overview
  - Add/Remove all types of Scopes (simple, Function and Include's)
  - Excluding files inside a scope is much easier
  - Support for disabling subprojects inside scopes, including proper display in the GUI
- File Handling
  - Support of relative filenames
  - Support for file paths containing variables
- Supports Subproject that are outside of the top-project dir
- Support for all documented and a couple of undocumented QMake Features
  - Supports SUBDIRS = somename, somename.subdir = the_real_dir
  - Supports SUBDIRS = somefile.pro
- New and Fixed Build options
  - Run qmake recursively
  - Dist-Clean
  - Build File

Improved debugger
- Brand-new memory viewer
- Project is automatically rebuilt with starting debugger
- Variables widget
  - Reliably work in presence of shadowed variables
  - New "format" menu, supporting extra "binary" and "character" formats, with keyboard shortcuts for each format.
  - Keyboard shortcut for deleting watches.
- Stack widget
  - The content is now split in columns
  - Stack frames are fetched incrementally, allowing to debug programs stuck in infinite recursion.
- Breakpoints improvements
  - Breakpoint types renamed for clarity
  - Watchpoints are now always set on address, not expression
  - On watchpoint hit, a message box is shown
  - Breakpoint conditions are correctly reloaded from session file
  - Breakpoints added manually are shown in breakpoint list too
  - Address breakpoints now work
- GDB output window allows to filter out "internal" commands.
- Face lift for "attach" dialog. Now it has search line.
- Fixes
  - Never disable the "Interrupt" action
  - Specify gdb location using full executable name, not just directory
- Uses GDB MI interface for faster and more robust operation.

Improved Ctags support
- It is now possible to have multiple tag files active at the same time, making it possible to do lightning quick searches in external sources.

Improved UI
- Simple IDEAl UI mode is now the default
  - It's faster and has less bugs
  - Takes less screen estate
  - The viewspace can be split, allowing KDevelop to show files side by side.
  - IntelliJ IDEA - alike toolview keyboard navigation (with <alt+1>, <alt+2>, etc.)
  - Better keyboard navigation and focusing

Improved Code Reformatting
- Less bugs (updated to AStyle 1.19)
- Support for all AStyle options
- Improved option settings dialog
- Global and per project settings
- Format multiple files at once

C++ Support
- switch header/implementation
  - works inside the single file
  - works correctly with methods with typedef'ed return values
  - works with constant functions
  - aware of using directives when locating the functions from the namespace
- Persistant Class Store (Code Completion databases)
  - KDE class importer correctly finds kdelibs location
  - Qt4 class importer added
  - autodetected paths now overrideable
- code hinting
  - status bar shows the type of the expression under the cursor
- c++ parser
  - Modify the parser to extract comments from the code, attach them to corresponding items, and store them into the AST
  - Fix a case where the cpp parser suddenly ate all RAM when facing macro-heavy files
- code model
  - make the code-model and repository store more information like templates and comments, and provide them.
  - the code-model now completely works with nested classes that are forward-declared in one file, and completely declared in another(file-groups are managed now, and code-model-items that are physically from one file, can now be attached to another, so some search-functions had to be improved).
- code completion
  - is much more reliable
  - was rewritten in big parts
  - works within template-classes
  - works within functions of classes that are imported by using-directives
  - can parse much more complex expressions and can easily be extended to understand additional operators(using an abstract operator-class)
  - supports class-templates, function-templates, and even implicit template-instantiation for function-templates
  - evaluates all types in the completion-entry-list and shows their template-processed(real) types
  - calltips and the completion-list show the corresponding comments
  - the completion-entry-list now shows the members sorted by their access-rights, and shows a note behind members that are protected/private
  - Fixes the bug of KDevelop crashing while completing a class which has itself as base-class and a few other little bugs
- new context-menus that evaluate the expression under the cursor and allow to browse the code and the code-model using all types and variables involved
- new class wizard
  - bug fixes
  - creation of headers only

Class View and Navigator
- Add function-name-highlighting to the class-view and navigator
- Make the navigator provide an own KCompletion so it is possible to write function-names without scope and get them completed
- Restore ClassView state after refresh. The ClassView will now no longer close after each successful build

QuickOpen
- Arbitrary parts of the scope can now be used as a filter while searching for classes or functions
- Quick open class has an additional selection dialog for cases when more than one class with given name exist

Ruby Support
- Rails application template
- The parser recognizes classes in the modules
- Use irb as a shell
- Fix documentation TOC links so they work correctly for Rails and QtRuby
- Use the Run menu option to start WEBrick.
- the parser
  - recognizes "self.method"
  - does not loop in certain cases

PHP Support
- New PHP Parser / code competition
- Fix bugs in the php support language that cause some crashes

Konsole
- Does not syncs with the active document dir anymore

Grep (Find in Files)
- Define more filetypes (incl. ruby) to search within
- allow pattern to be a regular expression

Outputviews
- Support for Intel Fortran Compiler and Portland Group's PGI Fortran compiler (pgf90/pgf95)

Application Wizard
- Uses utf8 for created files - no encoding problems anymore

Valgrind integration
- Use the environment variables as set in the run options

Misc
- Add toolbar and menu entry for "Goto Last Edit Position"
- Improved support for encodings
  - KDevelop will now obey the selected encoding in the File Open dialog
  - The OpenWith plugin now offers all available encodings in "Open As"
  - The encoding for each open file is saved with the session, and will be used to open that file the next time the project is loaded
  - Default encoding can be set per project in the Project Options - this will be the default when opening a file
  - File Open encoding will default to the open project's default
- Moved plugin selection dialog out of project setting dialog and into main menu Settings menu and made it profile-based
- Use profile engine to specify the default plugin set for a freshly created or imported project
- Honor the UI Designer embedding setting

Packages are available for Kubuntu and openSUSE with unofficial builds for several others on the download page

Paint.NET v3.0 Released

2007-01-28T04:45:00.000-08:00

Paint.NET is free image editing and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.
It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing.
The programming language used to create Paint.NET is C#, with a small amount of C++ for installation and shell-integration related functionality.

What's new in Paint.NET v3.0?
Simple and intuitive tab-based multi-document user interface

Now available in 8 languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish

Interactive Gradient Tool that makes it very easy to draw and then fine-tune placement and coloring of a gradient.

User-definable color palette (as opposed to just the color wheel)
New effects: Clouds, Median, Unfocus, Outline, and an improved Sharpen
More intuitive and more powerful toolbar
Generally improved and cleaner user interface
History files are now compressed to save disk space, reduce disk activity, and improve performance.
"Merge Down" layer command

Download it here

Vista Firefox 2 Theme Is Finally Here

2007-01-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

A decent theme for Firefox that integrates nicely to Windows Vista GUI. Here is the BETA release (v4.2). Below is a list of things to be done until a final version is acceptable:

THE UPDATE BUG HAS BEEN FIXED.
NEW WINDOW GLITCH HAS BEEN FIXED.

- New throbber (status indicator)
- Remove verticle line next to drop arrow in search bar
- Small icons mode
- Error console menu background
- New icons for options window
- New icons for bookmark manager
- Auto complete drop arrow background (next to go button on address bar)

Get it here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/44508564/

Nature's Porn

2007-01-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

No words necessary!

MSFT: Microsoft Reports Record Revenue

2007-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Corp. today announced record revenue of $12.54 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2006, a 6% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $3.47 billion, $2.63 billion and $0.26, respectively.

These results reflect the deferral of $1.64 billion of revenue and operating income, $1.13 billion of net income and $0.11 of diluted earnings per share from the second to the third fiscal quarter, due primarily to the technology guarantee programs that were announced on October 24, 2006 for Windows Vista™ and the 2007 Microsoft® Office release. Revenue growth over the same period of the prior year would have been 14 percentage points higher before the technology guarantee programs.

“Results this quarter exceeded our expectations across the board, with revenue growth at or above our high end guidance for all divisions,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Healthy PC and server markets as well as broad-based business and consumer demand for Microsoft offerings fueled revenue growth this quarter.”

The same period last year marked the launches of Xbox 360™, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, Visual Studio® 2005 and Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 3.0. One year later, these products have contributed over $1.0 billion of revenue growth.

“The execution of our field sales and marketing teams were a major contributor to this quarter’s extremely positive results,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Customers have responded positively with strong contract renewals and license sales. We are pleased with such strong financial results and look forward to making Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system widely available to all customers next week."

Business Outlook

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending March 31, 2007:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $13.7 billion to $14.0 billion, which reflects $1.68 billion of revenue recognition as noted below.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $6.1 billion to $6.3 billion, which reflects a $1.68 billion impact due to revenue recognition as noted below.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be $0.45 to $0.46, which includes a $0.12 earnings per share impact due to revenue recognition as noted below.

Note: The guidance above includes the impact of third quarter recognition of revenue deferred from the first and second fiscal quarters, primarily related to the technology guarantee programs.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2007:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $50.2 billion to $50.7 billion.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $19.3 billion to $19.7 billion.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.45 to $1.47.

Eclipse Foundation Launches Data Tools Platform 1.0

2007-01-25T03:58:00.000-08:00

The Eclipse Foundation, an open source community committed to the implementation of a universal development platform, today announced the release of the Eclipse Data Tools Platform (DTP) 1.0, a collection of extensible frameworks and exemplary tools for developing data-centric applications in the Eclipse environment. With DTP 1.0, developers can now easily leverage existing data sources, such as enterprise databases, within the extensible Eclipse Platform. Data-related applications are growing in significance, so this release meets an important development requirement in the software industry.

“DTP 1.0 provides a rich set of frameworks that solve real-world issues related to the development of data-centric applications, said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. “The growth and momentum of the Eclipse Data Tooling Platform project has resulted from the efforts of committers from the Eclipse community, including many from Sybase, IBM and Actuate.”

DTP 1.0 greatly simplifies development of data-centric applications in heterogeneous environments by offering a range of agile development tools. DTP 1.0 features three major components: model-driven development, connection management and data access framework, and SQL development tools.

According to an Evans Data survey, 53 percent of developers said data access and management tools are extremely important. “Developers see data access and management tools as an integral part of their arsenal in data centric application development,” said John Andrews, CEO of Evans Data. “Eclipse will meet an important requirement of developers by providing data centric tools and frameworks.”

“Sybase is leveraging DTP and the Eclipse Platform for Sybase's unified development environment, Sybase WorkSpace,” said John Graham, chair of the Eclipse Data Tools Platform Project, Sybase. “By incorporating DTP into Sybase WorkSpace, developers benefit by gaining developmental economies of scale, the flexibility that open source offers, and a high level of software quality that comes along with testing by an active community of users. Leadership in the Eclipse Foundation, especially with the DTP Project, addresses the needs of developers and this effort is a critical component of Sybase's overall vision for an end-to-end solution that supports information management, data integration and mobile application development.”

“Actuate has been pleased to benefit from, and be involved in DTP 1.0. We have long been champions of data-centric applications and believe that Eclipse provides the ideal framework for their development,” said Mark Coggins, senior vice president of engineering at Actuate Corporation. “DTP is used for data access within BIRT, an Eclipse Project Actuate co-leads, and the Open Data Access (ODA) portion of DTP was contributed by us. We look forward to further cross pollination in the future.”

“DTP's technologies are important components of IBM's tooling for information application development, and IBM is pleased to see this milestone release of the DTP project, said David Fallside, IBM Information Management Open Source Manage. “IBM has supported the DTP project from the beginning, and plans to continue its support in the future.”

For more information on the Eclipse DTP Project, please visit:
http://www.eclipse.org/datatools

About the Eclipse Foundation
Eclipse is an open source community whose projects are focused on providing an extensible development platform and application frameworks for building software. Eclipse provides extensible tools and frameworks that span the software development lifecycle, including support for modeling, language development environments for Java, C/C++ and others, testing and performance, business intelligence, rich client applications and embedded development. A large, vibrant ecosystem of major technology vendors, innovative start-ups, universities and research institutions and individuals extend, complement and support the Eclipse Platform.

The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the Eclipse projects. Full details of Eclipse and the Eclipse Foundation are available at www.eclipse.org

Investment tips for 2007

2007-01-17T07:14:00.001-08:00

Investment tips for 2007.... , be
aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the
ground floor and make some BIG bucks. Watch for these consolidations
in 2007.

1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and
W.R.Grace Co. will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.

2) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and
become: Poly, Warner Cracker.

3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood.

4.) Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will
merge and become: Zip Audi DoDa.

5.) FedEx is expected to join its major competitor, UPS, and become:
FedUP.

6.) Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell

7.) Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: Poupon Pants.

8.) Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will
become: Knott NOW!

And finally
9.) Victoria's Secret and Smith & Wesson will merge under the new
name: Titty Titty Bang Bang

The Pirate Bay Is Planning To Buy Sealand

2007-01-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

Notorious Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is planning to buy its own nation in an attempt to get around troublesome international copyright laws. The organization, the world's largest bit torrent tracker, has set its sights on Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea that has been designated a 'micronation' and claims to be outside UK jurisdiction.

From the Buy Sealand site:
"Recently it was made clear that this country is for sale. To make sure the owners will be kopimistic and that the country won’t be governed by people that do not care about it’s future, we have come up with a plan.

With the help of all the kopimists on Internets, we want to buy Sealand. Donate money and you will become a citizien."

Visit the Buy Sealand site.

iPhone will not allow third party applications to be installed

2007-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

Steve Jobs confirms reports that the recently-announced iPhone will not allow third party applications to be installed. According to Jobs, 'These are devices that need to work, and you can't do that if you load any software on them.' Jobs also said in a MSNBC article that, 'Cingular doesn't want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.'

Read the New York Times article here

Read the MSNBC article here

I didn't pull out in time...

2007-01-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

"Son, you're making the same mistake in Iraq that I made with your mother. I didn't pull out in time..."

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras Revealed

2007-01-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

This year's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas by Bill Gates showed off Microsoft's upcoming Ultimate Extras for consumers who purchase the Windows Vista Ultimate SKU. MS now has three Ultimate Extras lined up to hit Windows Vista Ultimate users on 30th January to coincide with Windows Vista's general availability date.

Windows DreamScene: Windows DreamScene gives users the ability to use a video as their desktop background, just as they would any stationary image background. DreamScene will consist of high-quality looped videos that make your desktop come alive. As a default, we've included a nice waterfall video (shown at the keynote) among several others. Better yet, you can even use your own videos. Want to know a little-known secret? For computers that don’t support Windows Aero, DreamScene offers enhancements to positioning of stationary images as wallpapers in Windows Vista.

BitLocker and EFS Enhancements: MS will provide enhancements to BitLocker in Ultimate Extras, including a tool called the Secure Online Key Backup, with which you can store your BitLocker recovery password on a secure MS website.

Texas Hold'em Poker Game: MS is bringing this popular poker game to Windows Vista. With this Ultimate Extra, you can add to your Windows gaming experience. Hold'em players: Windows Vista's DirectX improvements give you amazing graphics effects in the game -- you can play up to five computer players at once. We've also thrown in the ability to customize the table and cards, too.

Ultimate Extras are slated for release on 30 January, and this is just the beginning -- we're not stopping here. More Ultimate Extras are coming. You're going to want to pay special attention to the brand new Windows Ultimate Web site for updates and information on current and upcoming Windows Vista Ultimate Extras.