News

Microsoft Releases Silverlight Plugin

September 5, 2007
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Microsoft Silverlight logo
Silverlight, Microsoft’s Flash competitor, is out of beta as of today! According to a PCWorld article:

The 1.0 version of Silverlight, which is being released to the Web, is geared to providing video. Accessible at the Silverlight Web page, it has been available in a beta release. A more potent successor, Silverlight 1.1, will provide for more interactive content, including support for .Net development and transactional capabilities. It remains only available in an early alpha release format.

While Silverlight currently works with Windows and Macintosh, Microsoft is endorsing Novell’s plan to make Silverlight run on Linux clients via the Moonlight project.

[...]

Microsoft cites several differentiators between Silverlight and Flash. Silverlight, Deshpande said, offers high-definition video at a lower cost and functions with Microsoft’s developer tools. The company also is offering a SaaS-based component, Silverlight Streaming by Windows Live.

Read more at article source.

Whether or not Silverlight will pose a threat to Macromedia’s ubiquitous Flash player remains to be seen, although Microsoft could have the advantage of being able to push Silverlight to Windows users through Microsoft Update (assuming such a move wouldn’t cause antitrust concerns).

Apple’s New “iPod Touch”: A Phoneless iPhone

September 5, 2007
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Yes, they did it. Many of us figured this was coming. And wow, is it amazing.

The thing that blew me away the most is that the “iPod touch” has Wi-Fi web browsing using the same Safari browser found in the iPhone. And it has other iPhone features like the touch interface, the YouTube browser, and Cover Flow (the last of which has also been ported to the “iPod classic,” as it’s now called, and the iPod nano).

It has just about everything the iPhone has except the phone functionality. Which would work for me, since I already have an existing cellphone and cellular plan. However, public Wi-Fi is pretty scarce where I live, and of course I wouldn’t be able to browse the Internet with AT&T’s EDGE network.

One more gripe about the iPod touch: its maximum storage space of 16 GB looks wimpy compared to the cheaper iPod classic’s 160 GB. I know, I know, it’s because it has flash memory, but would it really be worth it to get an iPod that’s more expensive and has one tenth the storage space of another iPod? I guess those iPod touch features come at a high premium.

But still, if I were to get a new iPod, it would probably, just barely, be the iPod touch. 16 gigs would be a tight fit for my music, photos, videos, and podcasts, but it sure would be nice to be able to browse the web, assuming I could find a hotspot.

And plus, the iPod touch is just cool.

iPhone Hacked

July 23, 2007
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According to a “Today @ PC World” blog post:

In an article published in today’s New York Times researchers using WiFi connection say they can gain access to an iPhone ceding control of the device. Researchers also say the hack can be achieved by tricking iPhone users into visiting a Web site with malicious code. The hack, ISE researchers say, can give intruders access to “any file” on the iPhone and allow a remote user to “make calls… or even turning it into a portable bugging device.”

A bugging device! Yikes!

I guess this is what happens when any technology product becomes popular, be it the Apple iPhone or Microsoft Windows.

I wonder if this is due to a flaw in the iPhone’s Mac OS X version, the Safari browser, or some iPhone-specific hardware or software issue.

Microsoft Starting to Abandon the “Live” Brand?

March 7, 2007
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Microsoft may have finally seen the light, and is killing the Live name in many products, and also jettisoning the honchos who oversee the brand.

Windows Live WiFi, for example, has been renamed MSN WiFi, and Windows Live Shopping, which was once called MSN Shopping, is back to being called MSN Shopping again. Then there’s the MSN Soapbox product, which used to be called Windows Live Video until it was renamed in September.

[Read more at source]

I agree, Windows and Office Live really are a mess. What Microsoft needs is some organization.

Coming Up Next: Office “14″

February 15, 2007
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According an FAQ on the SuperSite for Windows:

Office 14 is the next version of Office 2007 (or what Microsoft calls the 2007 Microsoft Office System). [...] 14 is the version number. Office 2007 was called Office 12 internally at Microsoft. The company skipped 13 for superstitious reasons.

Superstitious silliness if you ask me. I did wonder though how they were going to handle this, but I didn’t think they’d actually skip the version number!

Gmail is Now Invite-Free

February 15, 2007
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Google announced yesterday that its free email service is now open for registration. From a post on the Official Google Blog:

Gmail sign-ups are now open worldwide! No more waiting for someone to invite you—just create an account directly at www.gmail.com

Read more, or go to Gmail.com to register.

Windows Vienna Coming in 2009?

February 11, 2007
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According to a PCWorld article:

With Vista just out the door, Microsoft Corp. is now drawing up plans to deliver its follow-up client operating system by the end of 2009, according to the executive in charge of building the product’s core components.

It looks like they also have a name for it besides “Vienna”:

Last year, Microsoft said that the code name for this Vista follow-up is Vienna, but Fathi said he could not disclose the current name. “We’ve been told not to use it publicly,” he said.

[Read More]

Apple Sued Over iPhone Name

January 11, 2007
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Here’s the scoop from a PCWorld article:

Cisco Systems sued Apple today [January 10, 2007] to prevent it from using the name iPhone for the new smart phone that it introduced yesterday at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.
[...]
The name iPhone is a registered trademark of Linksys, a division of Cisco. Linksys picked up the iPhone name when it bought a company called Infogear Technology in 2000. Cisco’s iPhones are telephone handsets designed for use on a VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) network.
[...]
Apple and Cisco have been in negotiations for about two years over Apple’s desire to license the iPhone trademark, according to Cisco spokesman John Noh. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at Macworld, Cisco had not yet received a signed trademark licensing agreement from Apple, though the two companies had been negotiating terms as recently as last Monday night.
[...]
In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPod marketing, pointed out that Cisco’s iPhone brand applies to a line of voice-over-IP products, whereas Apple’s iPhone is a cell phone. “They’re different products,” Joswiak said.

“Yeah, but they’re both phones,” is what I have to say to that. Cisco seems to agree:

“Today’s iPhone is not tomorrow’s iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone, and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand,” Chandler [senior vice president and general counsel for Cisco] said.

Cisco seems to be pretty upset, but I’m sure they’re loving this publicity for their product!

Apple TV: Coming to a Living Room Near You

January 10, 2007
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Apple announced yesterday the Apple TV, the new name for what was previously codenamed “iTV.”

Apple TV has found a web home under the “iPod + iTunes” category of the Apple website. From the Apple TV homepage:

Say you’ve just downloaded Cars from iTunes. Instead of huddling around your computer to watch, you pop some popcorn while your computer wirelessly syncs your new flick to Apple TV. [...] Apple TV connects to your TV via an HDMI port or component video and audio ports. Its built-in, superfast 802.11 wireless capability syncs your iTunes library to any Mac or PC in the house.

I think this is a really cool thing, even more so because it works with PCs, meaning us Windows users aren’t left out. I think this will also be really neat for podcasters in particular, as Apple TV users will be able to watch video podcasts from their televisions. Now how cool will that be?

The Long-Awaited iPhone

January 10, 2007
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The much-anticipated iPhone was released yesterday. From a CNET News.com article:

The Mac OS X-based iPhone is most akin to an iPod in design, but allows users to listen to music, make phone calls, send text messages and e-mail, surf the Web, and take and upload photos, all using a wide touch screen and a single button. Apple plans to make the device available in the United States in June, with a 4GB model going for $499 with a two-year service contract, and an 8GB model with the same contract for $599.

My thoughts:

For one, it seems very expensive (as seems to be typical with quite a few Apple products). Though I’m guessing the price will likely decrease as time goes on.

Second, I’m not sure if dropping the keyboard is such a good idea. I understand there’s some sort of touch-screen equivalent, but I’m not clear on how that’ll work.

The iPhone does have a lot of the “cool factor” though: for example, it has a sensor that detects when you hold the iPhone up to your ear and turns off the touch screen, turns off any music, and switches the iPhone to calling mode.

Very cool, but I have a few questions: How does that work anyway? Is it simply a proximity sensor? Does this sensor use radiation that might revive the cellphone radiation concerns? And what do you call this feature anyway? I vote for “sonear” ;-) (that is, “sonar” with an “e” in just the right spot).

So in summary, the iPhone is cool … but it’s way beyond my budget. :-)

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