AME Info Corporate Blog

Internet Advertising up 26% to almost $5bn in Q1

2007-06-08T12:54:00.000+04:00

Revenue from online advertising grew sharply in the first quarter of this year, according to data released Wednesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Internet advertising revenue rose to $4.9 billion in the quarter, a 26% increase over the first quarter of 2006. The IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers' survey covered advertising on Web sites, email, and other online services, the IAB said in a statement posted online.

Source: IAB.net

Microsoft Surface

2007-05-30T09:39:00.000+04:00

I guess Microsoft really are innovative after all - check this out:

The launch of Microsoft Surface marks the beginning of a new technology category and a user-interface revolution. Surface, Microsoft’s first surface computer, provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday information — from photos to maps to menus.

More info from:
www.microsoft.com/surface/

Internet ad revenue up 35% to $16.9 billion

2007-05-25T13:50:00.000+04:00

The online ad segment last year soared 35% to set a record $16.9 billion in revenue, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. Strong fourth-quarter sales of $4.8 billion helped to push 2006 over the top, the IAB said.

You can read more on the SmartBrief site .

What is the name of that song ...

2007-04-20T12:55:00.000+04:00

We have probably all tried it - got this song in your head but don't know the name of it. Now, for the first time, you can use your voice to instantly connect to your favorite music, and to a community of people that share your musical interests. You can also listen to voices, see pictures, rate singers, send messages, buy music, and more.

Try it out at http://www.midomi.com/ - you don't even have to be any good at singing for Midomi to recognize the song.

Microsoft only sold 244 copies of genuine Windows Vista in China

2007-04-19T21:42:00.000+04:00

Microsoft spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS 'Windows Vista' in China, in fact the IT juggernaut threw up the biggest Vista Ad on the 421 meter high Jin Mao tower in Shanghai China.

However after 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere 244 copies of Windows Vista. Software piracy is rampant in the middle kingdom and a pirated version of Vista sells for a mere $1 on the streets. The following numbers are quoted by Windows Vista chief distributor in Beijing.

- They could at least have spelled "Ultimate" correctly on the right-hand side!

Source: Newlaunches.com

Google to acquire Doubleclick with $3.1bn

2007-04-14T07:33:00.000+04:00

Google announced on Friday that it is buying online advertising firm DoubleClick for 3.1 billion dollars.

The Mountain View, California-based Internet search colossus will combine DoubleClick's technology with its proven advertising platform.

Google and DoubleClick, which is based in New York City, will provide an efficient way to manage both search and display ads online, according to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"We've come to an agreement to purchase DoubleClick," Schmidt said in a conference call from Argentina, where Google is opening a new office.

"It is something we have thought about for a very long time."

Source: AFP

DRM-Free Music on the iTunes Store

2007-04-03T07:51:00.000+04:00

Apple has announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song.

In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.

More at source

$1B YouTube lawsuit

2007-03-13T20:47:00.000+04:00

According to MacWorld Viacom has sued Google, alleging copyright infringement from video-sharing site YouTube and seeking $1 billion in damages.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows a Digital Millennium Copyright Act request Viacom sent to Google last month related to the unauthorized posting of Viacom videos to YouTube.

At the time, Viacom demanded that Google remove over 100,000 of its clips from YouTube, which Google acquired last year for $1.65 billion. Google said it would comply with the request.

Yahoo! Pipes

2007-03-08T09:58:00.000+04:00

Pipes is an advanced tool for manipulating web data. A simple example would be fetching an RSS feed and returning the articles about a certain subject or written by a particular author. But Pipes can do much more. You can create a pipe that searches for pizza places in a zip code, automatically excludes the Dominos, and displays pictures of nearby parks (where you can eat the pizza) from Flickr.

There is an excellent little demo of Pipes at MurphyMac's - after watching that - go ahead and take Pipes for a spin or check out what other users are doing.

Why Viacom demanded its videos be removed from YouTube

2007-02-21T13:36:00.000+04:00

Turns out Viacom had other plans for its videos and films: tons of its content was on its way to another Internet video service: the hi-buzz peer-to-peer service called Joost. Suspicions arose when beta testers noticed a plethora of Viacom clips on the nascent Joost, the beta project with more clips than users thus far.

More at source

Windows Live Messenger ads serve up malware

2007-02-21T12:36:00.000+04:00

Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger client for several days has displayed banner ads that attempted to install malware on user's systems.

Microsoft has acknowledged the incident and has removed the offending advertisements.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and are reviewing our ad approval process to reduce the chance of an occurrence such as this happening again," Whitney Burk, a PR manager with Microsoft said in an emailed statement.

More at source

When you really want to pitch your idea

2007-02-17T09:42:00.000+04:00

Aaron has this great idea that he would like to pitch to Google - but how do you get a meeting with someone at Google?

On February 11th, 2007 I'm getting on a plane to fly to Mountain View, California, headquarters of Google, Inc. Once there, I'm going to try to pitch an idea to them that I think fits right in with the Google spirit and business model; catch is, I don't have an appointment, they don't know I'm coming, and I'm literally going to be showing up at their door and hoping they give me a meeting.

And if they don't give me one? Then I'm going to sit in their lobby like a spoiled child in hopes that they'll change their mind. :) Every once in a while you have to give an idea a shot, or you spend your entire life passing up ideas that seem just beyond your reach.

The story is really amazing - and you can follow it from Aaron's site - we wish him the best of luck with his venture.

Google Reader reveals number of subscribers

2007-02-16T23:22:00.000+04:00

Google now shows you the number of Google Reader subscribers to your RSS feed. They do that by adding a value to the HTTP user agent field when fetching your feed. You can find the number in your raw logs - it looks something like this:

72.14.199.72 - - [16/Feb/2007:08:44:34 -0600] "GET /feed/ HTTP/1.1" 304 0 "-" "Feedfetcher-Google; (+http://www.google.com/feedfetcher.html; 7 subscribers; feed-id=5769402134728990362)"

Microsoft's YouTube rival now in public beta

2007-02-16T10:05:00.000+04:00

Microsoft has unveiled a public beta of its MSN Soapbox video-upload service, its competitor to Google’s popular YouTube service.

The service, which Microsoft unveiled last September, has been available to beta testers only by invitation for several months. But now anyone can test out the service by going to this Web site, reports the the LiveSide blog, which tracks Microsoft’s Windows Live Internet services.

Here is an example (very cool advert by the way):

Video: Amazingly Cool Ad

Check out more video from MSN Soapbox - this story was found on MacWorld

Microsoft Windows 'Vienna' in two years

2007-02-14T16:25:00.000+04:00

Ben Fathi, corporate VP of Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division, is the suit with the wagging tongue and he says we can expect to see Windows ‘Vienna’ released by the summer of 2009.

“You can think roughly two, two-and-a-half years is a reasonable time frame that our partners can depend on and can work with" he said when pushed on the question by US publication (not store) PC World.

He went on to say the monstrous five year gap from XP to Vista had also changed Microsoft strategies for producing operating systems. “We realized that there were incremental things that we wanted to do, and significant improvements that we wanted to make in Vista that we couldn't deliver in one release," he explained saying that a shift to a more Apple-like incremental OS update system is on the horizon.

More at source

Podcasting to Generate $400 Mil. in Ads by 2011

2007-02-13T23:12:00.000+04:00

That’s according to a report to be released by eMarketer this week, which finds that spending on podcasting advertising will quintuple over the next five years, from a paltry $80 million base in 2006 to a $400 million market in 2011. (Granted, this is still on the small side, considering the $20 billion interactive ad market expected this year.)

eMarketer analyst James Belcher is betting that a familiar Web power player will spark much of that growth: Google.

Belcher expects that by 2008, the 800-pound algorithm gorilla will develop a version of AdSense that can be easily adapted to podcasts, theoretically allowing any Joe Schmoe podcaster to implement advertising. “That should help grow the market,” he said.

More at source

Adobe to Release PDF for Industry Standardization

2007-01-31T15:07:00.000+04:00

Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced that it intends to release the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for the purpose of publication by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

PDF has become a de facto global standard for more secure and dependable information exchange since Adobe published the complete PDF specification in 1993. Both government and private industry have come to rely on PDF for the volumes of electronic records that need to be more securely and reliably shared, managed, and in some cases preserved for generations.

Full story

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Limited Numbered Signature Edition

2007-01-21T09:43:00.000+04:00

According to Engadget Microsoft is releasing a special edition of Windows Vista for die-hard fans:

You have to be seriously freaking into Vista if you're even thinking about the Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Limited Numbered Signature Edition (seriously, we didn't even think Microsoft was capable of a title like that), but at least the price is on target ($259) and they claim it's signed by the man himself, Billy G. Something tells us it's just an embossed signature print or something along those lines, but either way it's down to you and 19,999 others prepared to get their fanboy on with the latest, greatest version of Windows.

Trouble accessing some sites in the UAE

2007-01-14T14:06:00.000+04:00

As many of you have probably noticed, a number of sites (including ameinfo.com) are not reachable from the UAE (outside the freezones) including at the moment due to the earthquake near Japan.

For some reason the problem seems to sort of solved by entering the proxy information into your browser as follows:

Internet Explorer 7
Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN settings
- and enter "proxy1.emirates.net.ae" and port "8080"

Safari
Safari > Preferences > Advanced > click Proxies: "Change Settings..."
- Tick "Web Proxy (HTTP)" and enter "proxy1.emirates.net.ae" and port "8080"

iPhone euPhoria

2007-01-10T04:03:00.000+04:00

Well, Apple finally unveiled its iPhone at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. For some odd reason Steve Jobs won't allow a video stream of his keynote (even through paid subscription), so "watching" the keynote has to be done via an irc chat channel or auto-updating website. Sharing in the sense of international buzz is still a real trip, perhaps more so as watchers are effectively "blind" - though rapid photo uploading by sites such as MacRumors and Engadget made the experience considerably more visual.

As AME Info readers will know, Klaus our CEO recently switched to Mac, so like me he is salivating over the iPhone to the point of hijacking Apple HQ, kidnapping Steve Jobs, and demanding the prototypes in exchange for his release. So why are we so excited? In brief, because among its many features, which you can read about on Apple's site, I won't go into full detail here, the iPhone:

1. Is unbelievably tiny and beautiful in its form
2. Has a fully functional version of Safari to browse the web
3. Runs widgets, meaning it will have loads of applications
4. Will play videos
5. Has an inbuilt camera
6. Amazing bluetooth headset

On the downside, the American version isn't out until June, and the European one (which should include the Middle East, seeing as Apple Middle East is run under Europe) in Q4 2007. The rest of Asia has to wait until 2008 - though doubtless they won't, and there will be grey market ones coming out of Hong Kong all over eBay by May.

But for a few months at least, the world will have to sit and wait. Hopefully over time more details will emerge, as I have many questions about the device:

- what processor will it have?
- how will it handle Flash-heavy websites that cause Safari to chug in my 800mhz TiBook?
- will the camera have macrofocus so it can be used as an emergency "scanner", like my old Palm Zire 71?
- can the camera record video or just stills?
- will video chat be possible, either in future models or via peripherals?
- will it easily accommodate peripherals, particularly a dock-with-proper-keyboard?
- how much will the Euro-model be, for those buying it without a mobile phone contract?
- as well as syncing, will it be mountable as an external Flash drive?
- will the Bluetooth headset allow listening to music, unlike on the Motorola iTunes RAZR where this function has been deliberately crippled?
- and how useable will it be for people with really fat, clumsy fingers?

Test Windows Vista - without installing it

2007-01-07T09:29:00.000+04:00

The test drive requires IE 6.0 or better.

Try it out here

Just ask Ms Dewey

2006-12-31T14:26:00.000+04:00

In yet another attempt to compete with Google - Microsoft has launched www.msdewey.com - quite entertaining results sometimes - although way slow for notmal search use.

Try for example: "about ms. dewey"

Let us know if you find some interesting or surprising results

PayPal Virtual Debit Card - Beta

2006-12-25T09:53:00.000+04:00

Paypal has launched a beta version of a new Virtual Debit Card. It generates a virtual card number every time you shop, everywhere you shop – so you never have to give out your credit or debit card number again!

You get all the convenience and security of PayPal, with a special advantage: Now, you can pay with PayPal anywhere MasterCard® is accepted online.

Check out all the benefits:
Fraud Site Alert: Warns you if you land on known or potentially fraudulent websites.

Privacy and 100% Protection: Financial information you provide is never shared with any merchant. And you get 100% protection against unauthorized payments sent from your account.

Faster checkout: The Form Fill feature automatically completes shipping and billing details.

The service currently only works with Windows and Internet Explorer (version requirements does not appear)

Check it out (you have to be logged in to view the page)

Pluggd to make podcasts chunkier, searchable

2006-12-19T12:19:00.000+04:00

Seattle based podcast discovery and management service Pluggd is unveiling a major new feature at DEMO this weekend that combines speech recognition and semantic analysis to let users search for and skip to parts of an audio file that are related to topics of interest to them. It’s more than just speech recognition.

This is one of the most compelling examples I’ve seen lately of a growing trend: making multimedia content more granular and letting users take even greater control over the media we consume. We don’t just want to consume what we wish, we want to consume it in the way we wish.

Try it out

Skype founders to launch P2P IPTV

2006-12-18T13:33:00.000+04:00

According to the Financial Times report, Janus Friis and our man Niklas Zennstrom -- whom you may know from a little company called Skype -- are supposedly developing a peer-to-peer IPTV service with the intention of distributing video online the same way Skype and its P2P approach distributed VoIP calling online. Supposedly some six thousand users have already been in on beta testing (what, none of you thought to ping your old pals at Engadget?) this service, aptly codenamed the Venice Project probably after the community of streams.

The system is intended for use by copyright-holding content owners who no doubt intend to advertise on this new network; their video data is encrypted so the P2P here isn't the same kind of P2P you might be thinking of. Friis apparently demonstrated full quality full motion video to the FT at a local Starbucks -- where all new internet projects shown off before launch -- but there's no way of knowing how real world use will clog the proverbial tubes; right now P2P video TV might not work the smoothest considering that no matter what upstream bandwidth will never equal the downstream bandwidth necessary to sustain millions of viewers, but that will begin to change in the coming years.

Source: Engadget

Hotmail used to launch extortion scam

2006-12-15T13:44:00.000+04:00

Hotmail user logged into their account this week to find that scammers had deleted all their e-mails except for one, which was from a hacker demanding cash in exchange for restoring the lost information, according to Websense.

Websense said this scam is a variant of ransomware, which is a malicious program that encrypts documents on the victim's computer and asks for a payment in order to decrypt the files. Had this been the owner or an employee of a small business, the company's intellectual property (IP) would have been at risk.

Source: ZD Net

Chat With Santa on Windows Live Messenger

2006-12-14T14:48:00.000+04:00

Microsoft connects you straight to Santa from your Messenger:

Ho, ho, ho! This year there is another way for kids to share Christmas wish lists with Santa Claus. Using Windows Live™ Messenger, parents can spend time with their kids chatting in real time with Santa online. Customers can simply add Santa’s address, Northpole@live.com, to their Windows Live Messenger contact list and instantly open a conversation window to communicate with Saint Nick.

Kids will enjoy immediate responses from the jolly big man himself through an interactive online chat, and they can even visit Santa’s page on Windows Live Spaces at http://santaonspaces.spaces.live.com. Filling Santa in on Christmas wishes and asking all about how the reindeer are doing or what’s new at the North Pole are a few of the things kids can talk to Santa about. Santa can even tell kids where they stand on his list: naughty or nice.

Source: Microsoft

Half of American Business PCs Can't Run Microsoft Windows Vista

2006-12-07T13:55:00.000+04:00

About half of the average business PCs in North America are unable to meet the minimum requirements for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, while 94 percent do not meet the system requirements for Vista Premium.

Within these figures, 41 percent and 78 percent, respectively, require RAM upgrades to meet the minimum and premium system requirements of Vista, says a new study by Softchoice Corp., which is expected to be released later this week.

In comparison, when Windows XP was released, some 71 percent of the PCs met its system requirements, Softchoice services consultant Dean Williams said in an executive summary of the report.

Source: eweek

Clearification

2006-12-07T09:49:00.000+04:00

Microsoft has created a really hip site - there is so much content on this site. I strongly recommend you look around - if nothing else just open the front page and listen - it is really entertaining and very well done!

http://clearification.com/

iPhone 2.0

2006-12-06T09:56:00.000+04:00

Yes that's right - Apple seems to already be working on the second version of iPhone despite the fact that the first one has not even been revealed to the public (which is expected to happen in Q1 2007).

The new Microsoft site

2006-11-30T11:58:00.000+04:00

In just a few hours, the business launch of Windows Vista will take place at the NASDAQ headquarters. At launch, Micosoft will unveil the new site: http://msnewday.com/ - intro by Steve Ballmer

Source: Blink.nu

Consumers Uninterested in Zune

2006-11-29T10:14:00.000+04:00

To hear Microsoft tell the story, you'd think its recently released Zune MP3 was doing just fine: Sales of the widely-reviled device were "exactly within our expectations," a Microsoft spokesperson said recently.

Reality, however, is a bit more cruel: After appearing in the top 10 on Amazon.com's list of best-selling electronics devices for about a week after its debut, the highest-charting Zune model today can only be found if you scroll quite a ways down the list: The black Zune is currently nestled at number 95. The white and brown models, even more embarrassingly, can be found at numbers 866 and 687, respectively. Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research refers to Amazon's sales list as "a pretty good indicator of consumer interest."

So what went wrong? Just about everything, actually.

Read more at WindowsITPro

Apple teams up with airlines to deliver iPod integration

2006-11-17T17:01:00.000+04:00

Apple® has announced it is teaming up with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to deliver the first seamless integration between iPod® and in-flight entertainment systems. These six airlines will begin offering their passengers iPod seat connections which power and charge their iPods during flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the seat back displays.

“There is no better traveling companion than an iPod, and now travelers can power their iPods during flight and even watch their iPod movies and TV shows on their seat back displays,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “We’re excited to work with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to offer iPod users an even better in-flight experience.”

Source: Apple.com

Google Positioning For Move Into U.S. Radio

2006-11-08T15:30:00.000+04:00

"Web search leader Google Inc. is hiring scores of radio sales people and is spending heavily in a bid to expand its position in the $20 billion radio industry.

Google spokesman Michael Mayzel said this week that the company will begin a public test of Google Audio Ads by the end of the year. Advertisers will be able to go online and sign up for targeted radio ads using the same AdWords system they use to buy Web search ads."

Source: Reuters

Gmail java app on for your mobile

2006-11-08T12:39:00.000+04:00

Get Gmail on your mobile phone

It's new and it's fast. To try it for yourself, point your phone to gmail.com/app (this must be from your phone)

Download it once, and start accessing Gmail on your phone with just a click or two. You'll also like it because:
It has the same Gmail interface you know and love

Your account stays synchronized whether you access it from your computer or the phone

You can easily view attachments such as photos, documents and .pdf files

Learn more about Gmail for mobile devices.

UTube Sues YouTube

2006-11-03T09:21:00.000+04:00

A dealer of used tube and pipe equipment has filed a lawsuit hoping to strip YouTube of its domain name.

Universal Tube and Rollform Equipment Corp, based Ohio, says that confusion between its website, utube.com, and youtube.com is damaging its reputation and costing the company thousands of dollars.

Since Google announced in early October that it plans to purchase YouTube, visitors to utube.com have skyrocketed, from a few thousand per month to more than 70,000 per day, Universal Tube said in its suit.

That extra traffic has crashed Universal Tube's servers several times forcing the company to switch Internet service providers, at an additional monthly cost, in order to handle the increased traffic.

Source: PC Advisor

Web Reaches New Milestone: 100 Million Sites

2006-11-02T09:57:00.000+04:00

There may be a reason. Netcraft, an Internet monitoring company that has tracked Web growth since 1995, says a mammoth milestone was reached during the month of October.

"There are now 100 million Web sites with domain names and content on them," said Netcraft's Rich Miller. (Watch as the Web gave birth to the virtual self -- 2:44)

"Within that, there are some that are busy and updated more often, and that represents the active sites, which are at about 47 or 48 million," he said.

Bloggers, small businesses, and simplicity have combined to create the dramatic growth of sites, much of it just in the past two years.

"The bottom line is it's much easier to create a Web site nowadays, and it's much easier to make money with a Web site," said Miller.

Source: CNN

Microsoft push Vista RTM back to Nov. 8 following critical bug find

2006-10-26T15:52:00.000+04:00

PC manufacturers that expected to get their hands on the final version of Windows Vista on Wednesday have to wait a couple more weeks for the OS, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.

Microsoft Corp. originally targeted Wednesday for Vista's release to manufacturing, but a last-minute bug that "took most of the Vista team by surprise," caused an unexpected delay, said Ethan Allen, a quality assurance lead at a Seattle high-tech company that tests its products for Vista. Allen also oversees TheHotFix.net.

Allen said the Vista team discovered the bug, which "would totally crash the system, requiring a complete reinstall," in Vista Build 5824 on Friday, Oct. 13. The team fixed the bug a week later in Vista Build 5840, he said, but it delayed the delivery of the OS to PC makers.

Source: Infoworld

Yahoo announces upport for NOODP meta tag

2006-10-26T09:33:00.000+04:00

Yahoo will now recognize the following META tags:
META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP"

or

META NAME="Slurp" CONTENT="NOODP"

If these are found on your pages Yahoo will not consider ODP titles or abstracts as candidates for your URL in search results.

So, if you want to use this tag, get those changes uploaded quickly as Yahoo has stated it is "reindexing content on the web" to adopt this capability.

Google Q3 Profit Nearly Doubles

2006-10-21T07:44:00.000+04:00

Google's third-quarter profit nearly doubled from a year ago as sales of keyword-related advertising continued to grow for the world's top Web search engine.

"Business is very, very good here at Google. We had an excellent quarter in all respects, especially in international," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a conference call Thursday after the results were released. During the quarter, Google saw strong user growth and improvements in search quality and ad sales, Schmidt said.

The news sent Google's stock up shares rising nearly 8 percent to $459.51 in after-hours trade, after closing at $426.06. The earnings announcement was made right after the market closed.

Source: ZD Net

IE 7 Fails Its First Security Test

2006-10-21T07:38:00.000+04:00

It seems that Microsoft's brand-new Internet Explorer 7 browser, which was just released Oct. 18 for Windows XP, has already failed a security test.

An advisory from Secunia, released Oct. 19, says the gold version of IE 7 was shipped with an information disclosure flaw that could be used in spoofing attacks.

The vulnerability is caused by an error in the handling of redirections for URLs with the "mhtml:" URI handler. "This can be exploited to access documents served from another web site," Secunia warned.

Source: Microsoft Watch

Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion

2006-10-10T07:24:00.000+04:00

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it agreed to acquire top video entertainment site YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in stock, the highest price yet paid for a consumer-generated media site.

The first deal to value one of the new generation of user-participation Web sites at more than $1 billion combines two of the most popular Internet brands: Google, synonymous with Web search and rapid innovation, and YouTube, a Silicon Valley upstart that has spearheaded the video-sharing craze.

YouTube, which grew in 19 months from a start-up in a garage to now serve 100 million videos daily, has drawn scrutiny from major media companies for copyrighted television and music videos that users post without owner consent.

Source: Reuters

Times Reader Beta Launches

2006-10-09T13:22:00.000+04:00

The Times Reader beta is now open to everyone. To participate, go to the Times Reader page on First Look and click the “Download” button. You will be asked to register for Times Reader and then invited to download the software.

Times Reader runs on Microsoft’s new Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), which is built into the new Vista operating system and is included in the .Net 3.0 Framework service pack for Windows XP. If you are using Windows XP, the installer application will first install Net 3.0 Framework, a process that takes about ten minutes, and then install Times Reader, a process that takes about two minutes.

What is Times Reader?
Times Reader is a new, downloadable software application that lets Windows XP and Vista users read The New York Times electronically, online or offline, in a paginated format as opposed to scrolling down a Web page. Times Reader lets users retrieve all the latest news and photos (a process that takes about a minute) and read the content offline. It also let’s you check to see how much of the paper you have read and easily navigate to articles of interest that you may have missed.

Microsoft Releases Vista Release Candidate 2

2006-10-07T20:32:00.000+04:00

Microsoft released the second version of its Vista Release Candidate on Friday, called Windows Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2).

RC1 was released in early September and RC2 was developed according to feedback the company has received over the last few weeks.

"RC2 reflects that feedback and includes important improvements in performance, application compatibility, and fit and finish work," said a statement released by Microsoft on Friday afternoon. A Microsoft representative was not available for comment to discuss the specific changes.

Source: ABC News

Google code search launched

2006-10-05T21:32:00.000+04:00

Google Code Search helps you find function definitions and sample code by giving you one place to search publicly accessible source code hosted on the Internet. With Google Code Search, you can:

* Use regular expressions to search more precisely
* Restrict your search by language, license or filename
* View the source file with links back to the entire package and the webpage where it came from

Source: Google

Try it out:
http://www.google.com/codesearch

Microsoft to lock pirates out of Vista PCs

2006-10-05T12:27:00.000+04:00

Windows Vista will have new antipiracy technology that locks people out their PCs if the operating system isn't activated within 30 days after installation.

If Vista is not activated with a legitimate product registration key in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode" until it is activated, said Thomas Lindeman, a senior product manager at Microsoft. In this mode, people will be able to use a Web browser for up to an hour, after which time the system will log them out, he said.

Source: Cnet

Google Gadgets on your website

2006-10-04T18:41:00.000+04:00

Google Inc. said on Tuesday it is making it easier to add hundreds of miniature programs to independent Web sites, in a move that brings handy features to users instead of making users rely on Google.com.

The Web search leader has jumped ahead of rivals -- such as Apple Computer Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. -- who offer mini-applets or "gadgets" when the user has installed special software on individual computer desktops.

Google Gadgets, which have previously been available for users to add to a Web user's personalised Google homepage or their own computers via Google Desktop software, are now available for Web page owners to add to their own sites.

Source: Reuters

Try it out:
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open

Google's launches test site - SearchMash

2006-10-03T22:43:00.000+04:00

Google's gained a new unbranded site called SearchMash where it plans to test user interface ideas without Google's brand somehow skewing the tests. Below, more about the site and comments from Google about it.

Currently, SearchMash allows you to perform a search and get web and image results presented side-by-side. It's similar to how A9 has long allowed side-by-side results, ironically a feature that A9 has made much harder to implement after a recent redesign over there.

Web results are presented in the main left-hand column after a search and seem ranked the same as at Google. Unlike Google, presentation is different. Results are numbered. Clicking on the URL line makes a box pop-up with options to:

* open the listing in the current window
* a new window
* to see more pages from that web site
* to find similar pages.

After the first ten results, there's a "more web pages" link at the bottom. Click on this, and you get another 10 results magically appearing on the same page, inserted below the first 10. You can keep going, adding 10 more results at a time.

Source: SearchEngineWatch

Try it out for yourself: http://www.searchmash.com/

Microsoft to Launch Digital Advertising Solutions

2006-09-29T11:01:00.000+04:00

At Advertising Week 2006, Microsoft Corp. will announce the worldwide launch of Microsoft® Digital Advertising Solutions in a move that combines the company’s broad set of global advertising products and services into a unified offering for advertisers. Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is designed to connect advertisers with their target audiences across such devices as PCs, Xbox® video game systems, Web-enabled mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president of global sales and marketing and chief media revenue officer at Microsoft, said Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is a response to one of advertisers’ key challenges. “As today’s consumers spend more and more time online across various digital devices like mobile phones and video games, advertisers are finding they can no longer reach their entire target audience by advertising on a single medium,” she said.

“Microsoft is uniquely positioned because of our extensive global audience, high level of consumer engagement, and engaging ad opportunities across Microsoft’s platform to connect advertisers with a million different audiences of one. We’re addressing the reality of media fragmentation and enabling advertisers to get back to what they do best: creating engaging and creative ads.”

http://advertising.microsoft.com/

US Internet ad revenue up 37% in first half of 2006

2006-09-26T12:56:00.000+04:00

U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose 37 percent in the first six months of the year, hitting a record of nearly $8 billion, according to a study released on Monday.

The study, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, comes just days after a revenue warning by Yahoo Inc. raised concerns that ad spending in new media could be slowing.

In warning about its revenue, Yahoo pointed to weakness in advertising from automobile and financial firms, two key sectors in marketing. Since the disclosure, analysts have been divided over whether the issue is solely Yahoo's or signals a wider slowdown in online ad spending.

Source: Reuters

Microsoft to put Works Suite online

2006-09-23T16:09:00.000+04:00

In the clearest sign yet that the big guns are preparing to step up the battle for Web Office, Microsoft has said it is considering releasing a version of Microsoft Works (the poor cousin of Microsoft Office) as a web suite. The desktop version of Works retails for $50 and includes a calendar, word processor, spreadsheets, Web Browser and e-mail. While its currently positioned as a home productivity toolset (to do your accounts, write letters, etc), it could pretty easily be re-positioned as a (small) business web office suite.

In any case - because Works includes basic word processing and spreadsheet software, to web-enable that and bundle it as a suite would be a step above what both Microsoft and Google currently offer. Right now Microsoft has Office Live (web hosting, email, project collaboration) and Google offers Apps For Your Domain (email, IM, calendar and website creator).

Source: ZDnet

Microsoft to launch YouTube "rival"

2006-09-19T14:05:00.000+04:00

Soapbox starts testing on Tuesday and will launch within six months as part of current service, MSN Video.

"It's really early days in online video; this is still act one," said MSN's Rob Bennett.
"We're definitely not blind to the fact that YouTube has a big lead right now," said Mr Bennett, general manager of MSN's entertainment and video services.

"Microsoft is jumping on this bandwagon with some uncertainty with where it's going, but the company believes it needs to be on board," Joe Wilcox, an analyst at Jupiter Research, told Reuters news agency."

Source: bbc.co.uk

Google.org, a for-profit charity

2006-09-18T09:23:00.000+04:00

Google has set up a subsidiary, Google.org, a for-profit philanthropy with initial capital of a billion dollars. Not being organized on a tax-free basis carries both advantages and drawbacks.

From the article: "Unlike most charities, this one will be for-profit, allowing it to fund start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress.

It will also pay taxes." One of Google.org's first projects is the development of a plug-in hybrid vehicle that achieves a mileage rating equivalent to 100 MPG.

Source: News.com

New Internet Explorer vulnerability posted on web

2006-09-17T14:59:00.000+04:00

Computer code that could be used to hijack Windows PCs via a yet-to-be-patched Internet Explorer flaw has been posted on the Net, experts have warned.

The code was published on public Web sites, where it is accessible to miscreants who might use it to craft attacks on vulnerable Windows computers. Microsoft is investigating the issue, the company representative said in a statement Thursday.

Microsoft says that Windows users should disable ActiveX and active scripting controls.

Source: Cnet

The Zune Is Official

2006-09-15T23:24:00.000+04:00

Microsoft's official announcement of its much-hyped Zune music player came today, just 48 hours after Apple released its updated arsenal of iPods, a new version of iTunes, and a movie download service. So what's new and what does it all mean?

First off, the details of the Zune are basically as expected—30GB hard drive, video playback, wireless sharing, and a 3-inch screen. But Microsoft filled in a blank (or at least part of it) as regards the rest of the platform; namely, the Zune Marketplace and the Zune management software.

Read More

MySpace and YouTube to go head to head

2006-09-13T17:09:00.000+04:00

News Corp. chief operating officer Peter Chernin told investors at an industry conference Tuesday that the media giant was considering creating a video component to its MySpace social-networking Web site that could rival the wildly popular YouTube.

“If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, whether its YouTube, whether it’s Flicker, whether it’s Photobucket or any of the next-generation Web applications, almost all of them are really driven off the back of MySpace,” Chernin said at the conference. “There’s no reason why we can’t build a parallel business.”

Source: MultiChannel

Live.com is now live

2006-09-13T10:54:00.000+04:00

Microsoft's New Internet Search Software Is Officially Launched

Microsoft officially started its new Internet search engine crafted to compete with offerings from rival online powerhouses Google and Yahoo.

Microsoft announced that its "Live Search" online portal was opened in 47 markets worldwide to complement MSN and Windows Live Internet-scouring services that attract an estimated 465 million visitors monthly....

Source: Microsoft

Windows Media Player 11 beta 2 released

2006-09-11T09:49:00.000+04:00

What's new in this beta release compared to the first beta release of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP?

The following list highlights some of the major changes since the first beta release of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP.

Fixing issues. Fixes have been made for issues that occurred in the first beta release of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP.

Additional online stores are now available. More online stores are available in this beta release of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP. For a listing of online stores that are now available, see Availability of online stores.

Changes to sharing digital media content. The functionality of Windows Media Connect is now integrated into Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP as the new Media Sharing feature, which lets you enjoy the contents of your Windows Media Player library from anywhere in your home.

If you have a home network (wired or wireless), you can use Windows Media Player 11 to stream the contents of your library to networked devices such as Xbox 360 or other digital media receivers. For more information, go to Digital Media at Home.

Note that digital media sharing is targeted for home users; therefore, computers that are joined to a domain might experience issues when trying to share digital media.

Try it out on http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/

Internet Advertising up 18.9 Percent

2006-09-08T09:55:00.000+04:00

Ad Spending By Media
...Internet display advertising, riding five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, rose 18.9 percent to $4.69 billion for the half-year....

Local Newspapers, confronted with over $600 million in reduced automotive spending year-to-date, saw total expenditures erode by 3.9 percent to $11.65 billion. Radio media also lagged, down a combined 1.4 percent to an aggregate of $5.26 billion.

Source: Businesswire

Help Google

2006-09-04T21:59:00.000+04:00

In a drive to improve the relevance of image search results Google just launched "Image Labeler" which allows users to help tag images.

"You'll be randomly paired with a partner who's online and using the feature. Over a 90-second period, you and your partner will be shown the same set of images and asked to provide as many labels as possible to describe each image you see.

When your label matches your partner's label, you'll earn some points and move on to the next image until time runs out. After time expires, you can explore the images you've seen and the websites where those images were found. And we'll show you the points you've earned throughout the session."

Try it out

It's Official: Windows Vista RC1 Is Complete

2006-09-02T12:26:00.000+04:00

"To the TechBeta community:
It’s official — Windows Vista RC1 is done!

We could not have achieved this milestone without your support. The quantity and quality of feedback and data we received from you has been essential to helping us progress. Thus we wanted you to be the first customers outside of Microsoft to get access to the bits. Next week, a broader set of technical customers will get them via MSDN and TechNet. But you’re the first! We wanted to get it into your hands asap so you can start giving us feedback right away.

You’ll notice a lot of improvements since Beta 2. We’ve made some UI adjustments, added more device drivers, and enhanced performance. We’re not done yet, however — quality will continue to improve. We’ll keep plugging away on application compatibility, as well as fit and finish, until RTM. If you are an ISV, RC1 is the build you should use for certifying your application.

The operating system is in great shape with RC1, but there’s still a lot of testing to do. You’ve come through for us so far, and I’m asking you to once again put the pedal to the metal and send us feedback. Windows Vista is going to touch hundreds of millions of lives all around the world. Thanks for everything you’re doing to help us give them the best experience possible."

Source: Windows Vista Team Blog

SMS adoption sky rockets in USA

2006-08-31T19:55:00.000+04:00

"After years of lagging behind Europe and Japan in the adoption of mobile text messaging, US subscribers have finally caught the SMS (short messaging service) bug.

A total of 48.7bn SMS messages were sent in the last six months of 2005, up 50 per cent from 32.5bn in the first six months of last year, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA)."

Source: FT

Google expands into business software market

2006-08-28T09:46:00.000+04:00

"Google Inc. is making a concerted move beyond search and advertising into the business software market, starting with a set of Web programs for e-mail, scheduling and communications, it said on Sunday.

The online search leader said it has created a software platform to run basic business activities -- based on programs it already offers separately. The move marks a stepped up challenge to rival Microsoft Corp. as the software giant prepares to upgrade its Windows and Office franchises.

The free set of Web-based programs for small businesses, universities and nonprofit businesses goes by the mouthful "Google Apps for Your Domain" (http://www.google.com/a). "

Source: Reuters

Coming Zune

2006-08-22T15:20:00.000+04:00

The Microsoft answer to Apple's iPod - Zune - should be in the market before end of the year. The first picture of the proposed device just "slipped" to the internet as you can see here on the right.

Some expected features:
- FM transmitter (also song info)
- Drive-based
- Wi-Fi
- Xbox 360 integration/link

For more info:
http://www.comingzune.com (not a lot there yet)

Source: Gizmodo.com

Google Opens Doors To Writely (BETA)

2006-08-22T09:23:00.000+04:00

"Five months after being bought by Google, the Writely online word-processing application is now open for anyone who wants to sign up and use it.

Writely has been closed to all but its existing members since its acquisition by search giant Google back in March. But last Thursday, Google allowed anyone to join up and make use of the hosted word-processing application."

Check it out:
http://www.writely.com/

Writely allows you to share and collaborate documents in real time, edit from any remote location simply using the web browser, offsite storage and backup, and, it's claimed to be easy to use.

Source: ZD Net

Ricky Gervais For Microsoft UK

2006-08-17T19:29:00.000+04:00

Two excellent training videos for Microsoft UK employees featuring Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in their roles from the BBC version of The Office.

Part 1:

Part2:

You can also download them:
video 1 (33.7 Mb, .mov)
video 2 (28.7 Mb, .mov)

Google plans free Internet access

2006-08-17T10:02:00.000+04:00

"Google on Wednesday plans to offer free, high-speed Internet access to everyone in its Silicon Valley home town — a hospitable gesture that the online search leader hopes to see spread to other parts of the country.

The new wireless, or "Wi-Fi," network, is believed to establish Mountain View, Calif., as the largest U.S. city with totally free Internet access available throughout the entire community, according to both Google and city officials.

St. Cloud, Fla., a suburb of Orlando with a population of about 28,000, had claimed that mantle earlier this year after it launched a free Wi-Fi network."

Source: USA Today

PRWEB sold for $28

2006-08-10T10:38:00.000+04:00

PRWeb - one of the long time Press Release services was sold on monday for a reported $28million.

"Vocus is paying $28 million in cash and stock for a company that develops technologies to help clients get their news to journalists and to the top of search engines.

Lanham-based Vocus, which make software for corporate communications and public relations, has acquired PRWeb of Ferndale, Wash., for $20.8 million in cash and 494,543 shares of Vocus stock. "

Source: Washington Business Journal

Redirect when logging in with IE

2006-08-10T09:39:00.000+04:00

In a recent update of Internet Explorer 6 (also in the upcoming IE7) the handling of https has been changed for security reasons.

The consequence for AME Info users resulted in a wrong redirect when logging in and user were redirected to http://www.ameinfo.com/news and not the page they logged in from as intended.

The issue has now been fixed - please do let us know if you face any problems.

Google partners with MySpace

2006-08-08T14:10:00.000+04:00

"SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. has been chosen by News Corp's MySpace to provide search listings for the social-networking site in a four-year deal that will give Fox Web sites at least $900 million in payments, the companies said Monday.

The agreement, announced after the market closed, also calls for Google to provide search-advertising services for the majority of Fox Interactive Media Web sites, which are owned by News Corp.

In winning the agreement, Google will replace Yahoo Inc. as the search provider now being used by MySpace, one of the Internet's most popular sites. "

Source: MarketWatch

AOL launches video

2006-08-07T17:37:00.000+04:00

"What sets AOL apart from its competition is the breadth and scope of its other channels. It is here that AOL video proves it isn't some fly-by-night startup, but a company with the backing of a media giant.

AOL also has content agreements with the likes of Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, TV Land, TV Guide, Sorpresa!, A&E, the History Channel, and TNT. "

http://video.aol.com/

Source: BusinessWeek.com

Google to start paying for content?

2006-08-05T09:39:00.000+04:00

"Recently completed deals, which include arrangements in which media organizations such as the Associated Press will be compensated on a pay-per-click basis, could herald a major shift in the relationship between the old media and new Internet gatekeepers."

Source: MercuryNews.com

Microsoft replaces MSN Spaces with Live Spaces

2006-08-03T21:33:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft has released Live Spaces, a social network with blog hosting and photo sharing. The new service replaces its existing offering, MSN Spaces.

Live Spaces combines social networking features with blogging and photo sharing."

Source: vnunet.com

Original content and press releases

2006-07-31T12:23:00.000+04:00

Some people perceive AME Info as doing press releases only which is not the case at all, however, I recently learned from a reader that it is very hard to distinguish which stories are original content and which are press releases - particularly for new users of the site.

We have as of today marked all press releases clearly on the site as indicated on the top right.

Trust that will also help our users notice how much original content we have on AME Info - not limited to audio and video.

Video Podcast and search based RSS

2006-07-26T21:35:00.000+04:00

We are pleased to announce that you can now subscribe to the latest AME Info Video features on you video iPod (or via iTunes and similar applications) in mp4 format:
http://www.ameinfo.com/rss/ame_video_mp4.xml

We also have an flv based version available:
http://www.ameinfo.com/rss/ame_video.xml

You can now also subscribe to a search based RSS feed from AME Info:
http://www.ameinfo.com/cgi-bin/cms/search.cgi?query=property;rss_feed=1;

There is a link on all search result pages to the RSS feed so you can easily generate query based rss feeds with the topics of your choice.

Google Q2 Profit Jumps 110%

2006-07-21T09:35:00.000+04:00

"Google reported revenues of $2.46 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, an increase of 77% compared to the second quarter of 2005 and an increase of 9% compared to the first quarter of 2006.

Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs, or TAC. In the second quarter of 2006, TAC totaled $785 million, or 32% of advertising revenues. "

- strange that their shares dropped though...

Official press release - and the Webcast version

Microsoft Makes Virtual PC Free

2006-07-18T13:36:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft said this week that it will make its Virtual PC software free -- not just the older Virtual PC 2004 version, but its upcoming software for Vista, too. Users can download the Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 software from the Microsoft web site.

The software allows users to run multiple instances of operating systems on a single computer, allowing users to test a new development environment or simply try out a new configuration without changing the underlying OS."

Source: PCMag.com

Microsoft Lifeline for Older PCs

2006-07-14T00:10:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft on Wednesday revealed software that turns older PCs into more modern and secure systems, but in the process also makes them less than full-fledged computers.

The software, known as Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, is designed as a stopgap measure for companies with a significant number of older Windows PCs that they aren't ready to replace and that can't be easily upgraded to Windows XP. "

Source: ZDnet

FireFox 2.0 Beta 1 Released

2006-07-14T00:01:00.000+04:00

There is a lot in Firefox 2 Beta 1 - get it from the link below:

Built in Anti-Phishing protection.
Search suggestions now appear with search history in the search box for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com
Changes to tabbed browsing behavior Ability to re-open accidentally closed tabs
Better support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds
Inline spell checking in text boxes
Search plugin manager for removing and re-ordering search engines
New microsummaries feature for bookmarks
Automatic restoration of your browsing session if there is a crash
New combined and improved Add-Ons manager for extensions and themes
New Windows installer based on NullSoft Scriptable Install System
Support for JavaScript 1.7
Support for client-side session and persistent storage
Extended search plugin format
Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
Support for SVG text using svg:textPath

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bonecho/releases/2.0b1.html

Microsoft pulls support for Windows 98 and Windows Me

2006-07-12T14:23:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft has ended its support for its older operating systems.

From today, the estimated 70 million users world-wide of Windows 98, 98 Se and Windows Me will not longer be provided with telephone help or security updates by the software giant. "

Source: www.pcw.co.uk

ebay bans Google Checkout

2006-07-08T11:50:00.000+04:00

eBay is banning sellers from requesting payment through Google Checkout. The online auction giant updated its Safe Payments policy this week to add Google's new payment service, Google Checkout to its list of online payment methods not permitted on eBay.

eBay's Safe Payments policy states that a payment service must have a "substantial historical track record of providing safe and reliable financial and/or banking related services."

Google's spokesperson said yesterday, "Google Checkout is not a beta product. Google has a long history in billing and payments for AdWords and for premium services, such as Google Video."

Google Payments appears on eBay/PayPal's list for un-safe methods for payments since they determined it "does not have a substancial track record".

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

YouTube Killer? (Media Portal w/ Revenue Sharing)

2006-07-03T17:44:00.000+04:00

"eefoof.com is a user-submitted content site similar to YouTube/Google Video which allows users to submit Videos, Images, Flash and Audio while receiving a share of the site's ad revenue.
For example, if someone uploads a really popular video that accounts for a lot of traffic in a given month, the user will receive a good portion of the video ad revenue for the month.

Could this be the YouTube killer?"

Source: Slashdot

IE7 Beta 3 released

2006-06-30T10:03:00.000+04:00

"Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 is now available for download and includes improvements in reliability, compatibility, user features, and security. Although Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 was layout complete, based on our customers’ feedback, we’ve made some additional changes to the look and feel of the browser. Beta 3 allows users to add the e-mail button back to the toolbar, enables users to reorder the tabs by dragging them to the left or right, and enables horizontal scrolling while zooming."

Try it out

Google Checkout goes live

2006-06-30T09:17:00.000+04:00

"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has announced the launch of Google Checkout (http://checkout.google.com), a checkout process that makes online shopping faster, more convenient and more secure for Google users. Google Checkout offers an easy and trusted checkout option that enables shoppers to purchase from participating stores with a single Google login. It also works with Google's search advertising program, AdWords, to help merchants acquire new customers and process all or a portion of their Checkout sales for free. "

Looks like a great service and they have furthermore tied up with CitiBank
to offer additional value.

Source: Google

Microsoft launches CodePlex open for source development

2006-06-28T08:09:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft has officially launched its open source developer website to promote the use of its software engineering technology among the development community.

The CodePlex website has been running in a trial beta format since May and has received more than 100,000 visits worldwide. The initial 12 projects being worked on by developers have grown to more than 30."

Microsoft + open source - two words that are usually not in the same sentence - have a look at Codeplex yourself.

Source: www.vnunet.com

Microsoft releases new Windows Live IM service

2006-06-22T10:31:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft Corp. has launched its newly branded instant messaging system, Windows Live Messenger, the first major release in a wave of online services Microsoft plans to offer to grab a larger share of Web advertising revenue.

Windows Live Messenger builds on top of Microsoft's MSN Messenger -- used by 240 million people worldwide -- and offers free PC-to-PC calls, inexpensive calls to ordinary phones from the PC and video conferencing using Web cameras."

The Live Messenger has been available in Beta for a while and there is not much visible change in the final version 8.0.0787.00 - but surely worth getting the final version.

According to the Windows Live Messenger site you will also soon be able to talk to Yahoo! Messenger users through voice.

Source: Reuters

HTC going solo and launches 3G Microsoft Windows based smartphone

2006-06-19T14:10:00.000+04:00

Taiwan's HTC has branched out into building up its own consumer brand, launching the world's first tri-band 3G Windows Mobile Pocket PC [TyTN] and 3G smartphone [MTeoR] under the new HTC brand identity. HTC will continue to support its operator-branded products and OEM partners as a key priority. At the same time, HTC will provide its new branded products to its existing Qtek channels, distributors, enterprise and operators, who do not carry operator-branded products.

HTC is well known in the industry as the company behind many of the most popular operator-branded devices.

The first devices to be offered with HTC brand are the HTC TyTN and the HTC MTeoR. These will be available from late July.

"We're thrilled to see HTC launching the TyTN and MTeoR under the new HTC brand, which further adds to HTC's stellar record of innovation on the Windows Mobile platform," said Pieter Knook, Senior Vice President, Mobile & Embedded Devices Division, Microsoft "These devices are defining a whole new category of phones with a range of entertainment and productivity options. An HTC brand also brings more choice to Windows Mobile customers in a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse mobile market."

The HTC TyTN features Direct Push email technology available with Windows Mobile 5.0, internet browsing, synchronization with Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Contacts and email, and the ability to work on applications in the Microsoft Office suite such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and viewing PDF documents. TyTN comes equipped with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and 2.8" colour display with touch-screen. It also features a jog wheel for easy, one-hand operation.

The HTC MTeoR, the world's first 3G Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone, is a slim-line candy bar device. It may be small, just 112.4 x 49 x 14.8mm and weighing a mere 120g, but this device is a powerful and "smart" phone. The HTC MTeoR features Windows Mobile 5.0 Direct Push technology for immediate synchronization of email, calendar and notes plus document viewers for PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Both devices will be available across Europe from late July.

News Source: www.cellular-news.com

Bill Gates' e-mail to employees

2006-06-18T11:42:00.000+04:00

From: MSBILLG
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 1:41 PM
To: Microsoft and Subsidiaries: All FTE
Subject: My Transition Plans

I wanted to take a moment to share some of my thoughts, as well.

As Steve's mail indicates, I've decided that two years from now, in July 2008, I want to devote more time to the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Right now and for the next two years, my full-time job is here at Microsoft, and my part-time job remains the Foundation. Beginning in July 2008, I will switch that, to be full-time at the Foundation, while remaining involved with Microsoft as Chairman and an advisor on key development projects on a part-time basis.

To prepare for this change, we have a well-thought-out transition process. Again, I will continue at Microsoft full-time for the next two years, but over the course of those two years, my day-to-day responsibilities will shift to a team of incredible technical leaders who are already doing amazing things at the company.

I feel very lucky that we've got extraordinary technical leaders at the company, like Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie, who can step up to assume the roles that I've played. I've known Ray for the last 20 years, and he has created some of the most important developments in the industry. Craig and I have worked together for nearly 14 years, and he's been a technical visionary and a leader on policy throughout his career. With Ray and Craig stepping up, I feel very confident that the technical stewardship of Microsoft is in very capable hands.

And I feel the same way about our business leadership. Our core businesses are strong and we have a clear vision for how we will meet new challenges and opportunities. We just had our first $12 billion quarter, and we continue to generate almost a billion dollars in profit every month. We are about to launch breakthrough versions of Windows, Office and Exchange, which are already generating a lot of excitement.

Six years ago, Steve and I made a major transition when he stepped up to be CEO. He's done a fantastic job by every measure, whether it's the people he's brought in, the new ways he's running the company, or just the objective results - like doubling our revenue in six years. Steve has driven us to make bold bets on things like Xbox, Real Time Communications, business applications, IPTV, and many others including the Live platform. Steve is the best CEO I could imagine for Microsoft - he is changing the company in ways it needs to be changed. He is bringing in new leadership at all levels. And, he is focused on the long-term - making Microsoft a great company not just today but for decades to come.

With Steve's organization of the company into three divisions led by our incredible presidents - Jeff Raikes, Robbie Bach, and Kevin Johnson - we've laid a solid foundation for greater autonomy, agility and entrepreneurial spirit in our product groups. And with the great addition of Kevin Turner as our COO, our leadership team has never been stronger.

Our deep technical strength is one of the key reasons I believe Microsoft is well-positioned for great success in the years ahead. I'm very pleased that in addition to Ray, Craig, David and Rick, Steve has asked J Allard, Bob Muglia, and Steven Sinofsky to play an expanded role in shaping the company's business and technology strategy. And when you consider all of our remarkable Technical Fellows, Distinguished Engineers, all of the brilliant researchers working at our MSR labs around the world, and all the technical people in the business groups, I can safely say that our technical talent has never been stronger or deeper.

Obviously, this has been a very hard decision for me. Microsoft will always be a huge part of my life, and I'm lucky to have two callings that are so important and so challenging.

On a personal note, I know that my work on global health and education issues at the Foundation would never have been possible without the enormous success of Microsoft, so I want to thank you and all of the employees past and present who have contributed so much to this company.

For these last 31 years, I've had the best job in the world. I've worked with some of the brightest and most passionate people in the world. Together, we've built a great company whose products have empowered people around the world.

We're only at the beginning of what software can do, and I'm excited about the impact that Microsoft can have. I'm going to take an extended vacation this summer with my family, but I'll be back in late August and I look forward to working with all of you for the next two years and beyond, to make those dreams a reality.

Thanks.

Bill

Source: Seattlepi.com

Windows Live Favorites V1 released

2006-06-17T21:29:00.000+04:00

The Windows Live Favorites team just announced, on their team blog, that WL Favorites V1 has been released. Fresh out of Beta, WL Favorites is available in 37 countries and 11 languages.

Built to compete with such bookmarking services as Del.icio.us, Google's Toolbar 4 and Furl, Favorites boasts integration with Windows Live Messenger, Live.com, Toolbar, and other Windows Live Services.

As a part of the V1 release, the team has made a bookmarklet available, to make bookmarking with WL Favorites even easier. According to the team blog, other new features include:

Folder Support - See all of your favorites in folders! Click on the small Folder icon to switch between Top Favorites and Folder Views.

Favorite Count - See how many favorites you have stored.

Add Favorites - You can now add favorites directly from Messenger. Click the down arrow next to "Manage" to manage your favorites, add a favorite, or refresh Messenger's list of favorites.

World Cup Results In Google

2006-06-16T11:56:00.000+04:00

Do you want to know what are the latest results in the World Cup?

Now all you need to do is just type World Cup in Google and you’ll get the results right away..

Enjoy

Bill Gates retiring from Microsoft

2006-06-16T07:41:00.000+04:00

"Microsoft Corp. said its founder and longtime leader Bill Gates will step down from his day-to-day duties at the software giant in July 2008 to focus full-time on his nonprofit foundation. "

He will remain on the board as Chairman though.

Official press release

View a live webcast of the press conference: 56 Kbps, 100 Kbps, 300 Kbps

(1:30 pm PDT, June 15)

You can also view a more casual chat with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer about Bill's move from Microsoft

eBay scam

2006-06-15T11:58:00.000+04:00

eBay will investigate what it says is a not a ligitimate eBay website set up with a UAE domain (ae). AME Info contacted eBay about the site which uses similar look and feel as the original eBay service - and the response we got was:

"I was able to check the web site and I can verify that it is not a legitimate eBay web site - I assure you that we will be doing some actions regarding this matter"

The eBay logo is also copied - I doubt it is enough to shuffle the colors and turn the "e" a bit - but judge for yourself:

The orginal eBay logo:

- and the UAE version...

Check out the actual site:
www.ebay.ae

Google GBuy, set for release 28th June

2006-06-15T11:50:00.000+04:00

"Consumers using GBuy, which is set for release on June 28, will be taken off the merchant's site to complete the payment. This will enable Google to capture e-commerce transaction data, driving more precise targeting in future searches.

"If harnessed, the precision of this targeting could be revolutionary," wrote RBC analyst Jordan Rohan in a report Friday. "

Source: Forbes

Windows Vista CPP released

2006-06-08T11:32:00.000+04:00

Windows Vista Customer Preview Program has been released - you need to log in with your passport account to download it.

The download is an ISO file of Windows Vista Beta 2, which is about 3.5 gigabytes (GB) for the 32-bit edition or 4.4 GB for the 64-bit edition.

You will need:

Broadband Internet connection (highly recommended)
DVD burner and blank DVD media to convert the download into a bootable DVD that can be used to install the operating system

To begin, please select your country or region from the following list. Download times will vary based on your Internet connection speed. This table shows approximate download times at common connection speeds:

Connection speed:	Connection type:	Approximate download time:
32-bit edition (3.5 GB)
3.0 mbps	Fast Cable/DSL	4.5 hours
1.5 mbps	T1	9 hours
768 kbps	Cable/DSL	18 hours
256 kbps	Cable/DSL	54 hours
64-bit edition (4.4 GB)
3.0 mbps	Fast Cable/DSL	5.5 hours
1.5 mbps	T1	10.5 hours
768 kbps	Cable/DSL	21 hours
256 kbps	Cable/DSL	64 hours

download from here
(servers were busy at the time this was written)

Microsoft Egypt Nile Theme

2006-06-07T16:41:00.000+04:00

An Egypt Nile desktop theme with new wallpaper, animated cursors, new icons, new sounds, and a screensaver has been made available from Microsoft for free download

Google AdWords Editor (beta) released

2006-06-07T16:38:00.000+04:00

AdWords Editor is Google's free, downloadable account management application for your computer. Download your AdWords account to your computer, make your changes, then upload your revised campaigns. Benefits and features include:

• Navigate your account quickly and easily
• Make bulk changes to keywords and ad text
• Work offline, then upload your changes
• Copy and paste keywords and ad text
• Circulate proposed changes and get feedback

Download it from here

Google Spreadsheet

2006-06-06T16:49:00.000+04:00

"Google is today set to launch a Web-based spreadsheet program that will allow people to view and simultaneously edit data while conducting 'in-document' chat, a Google product manager said on Monday.

The launch of Google Spreadsheets puts the search engine in even more heated competition with Microsoft, whose desktop-based Excel spreadsheet program is a standard office tool. "

Limited test:
http://www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/try_out.html

Read more about it:
http://www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/tour1.html

Hotels.com credit-card numbers stolen

2006-06-05T17:20:00.000+04:00

"The names and credit-card numbers of 243,000 Hotels.com customers were on a laptop computer stolen from an employee of accounting firm Ernst & Young, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Hotels.com, which is owned by Expedia (Research) and Ernst & Young, its auditor, began notifying customers that their information was stolen last week.

Ernst & Young added that the computer was password-protected there was no indication the information had been accessed or misused."

Strange that E&Y decided to report this - perhaps we have not heard the last part of this story yet?

Source: CNN

Net advertising 'to overtake national newspapers'

2006-06-04T07:55:00.000+04:00

"The internet will overtake national newspapers in the battle for advertising spending in the UK by the end of the year, it was predicted yesterday. GroupM, which accounts for about 30% of global media buying, says in a report to be published next month that the internet will account for 13.3% of the £12.2bn UK advertising market this year, overtaking national newspapers with a share of 13.2%.

The figure for web advertising could be even bigger, because the report excludes the estimated £1bn a year spent on "affiliate advertising", which largely comprises adverts placed on smaller websites."

Source: Guardian

Yahoo launches new video site

2006-06-01T22:59:00.000+04:00

"The redesigned Yahoo Video page will include a search box at the top and editorially chosen feature videos that are topical, interesting or popular among viewers. Users can also browse for video by categories or user-generated tags. "

You can upload you own videos to Yahoo! Share original video content, create your own channels, browse media RSS feeds and direct feeds. Judging from the initial comments there most users does not seem too pleased though (the video seems to be Windows Media Player dependent mostly)

http://video.yahoo.com