Microsoft is taking a leaf from Apple’s playbook and re-organizing its major online services division to create a tighter link between hardware and software.
Microsoft has reorganized it’s Platforms and Services Division, responsible for products like online search and Internet Explorer, to more closely follow Apple’s “whole widget” approach of closely tying hardware to software and online services.
In a memo to employees, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer explains:
“In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience. Today, we’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.”
It sounds like Microsoft is going to try and replicate what it’s done with the XBox and the Zune — exert more control over hardware, software and cloud services.
For decades, Microsoft has thrived by selling its software to third-party vendors who build with commodity components and compete fiercly on price. This model works well when selling to businesses, whichare concerned with price and interopability, but increasingly, ordinary consumers are the grwoth market for the PC industry, and consumers care more about ease-of-use, reliability and good design. These of course, are Apple’s strengths.
Ballmer doesn’t seem to be suggesting that Microsoft bring hardware in-house, but rather initiate a tighter pairing between Microsoft’s software and the company’s third-party hardware partners. Examples of this kind of hardware/software alliance include Real Networks and Sandisk, which have teamed to make MP3 players; and Netflix and LG, which are collaborating on an online movie service integrated into LG’s TVs.
Ballmer specifically mentions phones, which are increasingly becoming mobile computing devices that could threaten Microsoft. Microsoft is rumored to be working on a Zune phone to rival the iPhone (and soon, Google’s Android).
Written by Lonnie Lazar on July 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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Written by Chris on July 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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Windows XP and Vista users who update to iTunes 7.7 — the version required to access the App Store — receive a complimentary control panel applet for Apple’s MobileMe online sync and storage service, and some are not happy about it.
Some PC users have been surprised to notice a “MobileMe Preferences” panel in their new version of iTunes, which makes no mention of installing additional software in the Software Update notice used to download iTunes. Users who are not already MobileMe subscribers are taken to an Apple marketing site with details about the service when they click on the “Learn More” button under a “Try MobileMe” heading in the control panel.
Apple’s decision to include the MobileMe pitch with iTunes without telling users caught the attention of Stopbadware.org, an anti-malware advocacy group founded by Google Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Sun Microsystems Inc., which complained in April when Apple bundled Safari 3.1 into a Software Update notice to Windows users who had not previously installed the browser on their systems. Apple subsequently agreed to separate updates for already-installed programs from offers to install new software.
Maxim Weinstein, manager of Stopbadware.org., stopped short on Monday of calling Apple’s newest move a repeat of the Safari incident. “We haven’t had an opportunity to look at it, so we don’t have a formal evaluation,” he said. “But our guidelines require and the [user] community expects that when an application installs new or different functionality that users are notified and able to consent to that.”
Via Computerworld
Written by Lonnie Lazar on July 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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The most significant issue with the iPod Touch compared to the iPhone — as with any iPod — is its lack of speakers, and the portable speaker solutions have so far been pretty lackluster; they’ve tended to be rather bulky, and being powered by the headphone jack or dock connector, they end to be a bit on the quiet side.
Korean manufacturer Neoneco seems to understand this, so they have not only devised a set of speakers that are actually portable to a realistic degree, and rather attractive to boot, they’re powered. The iPod Swing Speakers are effectively Crystal-style cases with attached speakers and have their own rechargeable Lithium Ion battery pack that Neoneco rates at about 10 hours of play time (though they don’t say at what volume level this rating is based on). Aesthetically they’re actually rather nice looking — despite my objections to plastic cases, which don’t really count since these needn’t be used specifically as your every-day protection.
They’re available for the Nano, Classic and Touch. Their product page has approximately zero information (other than an image of the Nano version) but the good folks at Aving have managed to squeeze a few more details.
The good news is that they are quite inexpensive, setting you back a mere 29,000KRW (US $29) for the Nano version, 32,000KRW (US $32) for the iPod Classic, and 35,000KRW (US $36) for the iPod Touch. The bad news is that they’re currently only available in Korea, and there is currenrtly no word if we’ll be seeing them on this continent soon — but here’s hoping. Check the article image for a larger preview.
(via Aving USA)
Written by Eric March on July 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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It's been a couple of days now that we have had the chance to play around with the NOR dump. All of us, and I believe the Dev Team as well, have one issue: the stupid 3G Infineon Chip. I am glad Geohot decided to talk about it, I was afraid no one was going to speak on the chip. Yes, the chip is as complicated as he says it is. And yes, without access to it an unlock is basically impossible.
The 3G bootloader is sig checked by the bootrom. So even removing the NOR and patching the bootloader(to remove main fw sig checks) and main firmware doesn't work for an unlock. Big thanks to TA_Mobile for dumping the NOR and confirming this. You have some real skills.
The X-Gold 608 is the chip used. The lame "datasheet" infineon gives us shows the hardware RSA and the secure bootrom. So we have a real problem. Even if we find an unsigned code exploit, which wasn't done for the previous two bootloaders in software(we found tricks to play with the nor), we still can't unlock.
Written by -Administration- on July 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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