The Technophilez

Today at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (eTech), Microsoft unveiled a new mobile technology, called Deepfish, designed to offer mobile users quick and convenient Web browsing that more closely resembles the experience of browsing the Web on desktop computers.

Microsoft is making a limited technology preview available to the public on a first-come basis.

Deepfish provides users with a full "as-designed" view of virtually any Web site on their mobile device and looks as you would expect it to on your desktop, allowing much more of the Web to be easily viewed on a mobile device than is possible today. The interface lets users zoom in and out on the parts of a Web page that interest them in an intuitive way, making it easy to use these large-screen formatted pages on a mobile device. On current mobile browsers, it can typically take up to a minute or more for a Web page to render, however the Deepfish architecture only loads the user-specified portion of the page, providing much quicker page-load times, as detailed information is only retrieved as needed or in the background.

To download the Deepfish technology preview and get updates from the Deepfish team blog go to, http://labs.live.com/deepfish/. Microsoft is providing limited access to the preview on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once the limit is reached, access will be closed.

At this time, Deepfish is currently a prototype technology, and there are no specific plans for making the product more widely available.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2007 — 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.).

AT&T announced Thursday that it would be offering a package of TV channels to be viewed by its U-verse subscribers on a PC. It said the service would be the first-of-its-kind by a television provider.
On a PC with a broadband connection, U-verse subscribers will be able to view as many as 30 channels, including news, entertainment, sports, and weather. Eventually, the company said, the service will be available for AT&T wireless devices as well.

The price will be an additional $10 per month for U-verse subscribers, excluding the cost of broadband. U-verse fiber optic service, in its basic form with a high-speed Internet connection, starts at $59 per month.

'Baby Step'

Channels will include A&E Broadband, The History Channel Broadband, Fox News, The Weather Channel, Bloomberg TV, and others. U-verse OnTheGo is being delivered through an existing agreement that AT&T has with MobiTV, a global provider of mobile broadband TV and music. Additional channels and content are anticipated, the company said, including on-demand movie trailers.

Despite AT&T's positioning, Bruce McGregor, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, called the announcement a "baby step."

"As best as I can tell," he said, "they're already offering this through their DSL service. And, at $10/month extra, it's weak, especially when there are other compelling entertainment and news packages on the Net, such as NetFlix, Amazon's 'Unboxed' service, Movielink, news sites, plus lots of free services."

'A Commodity Market'

At this point in the evolution of TV, cable, and phone, he said, it's rapidly becoming a commodity market. "You have the dynamic of cable getting into voice, and telcos getting into video. We now have a kind of parity. Customers are asking, simply, 'What is the price and what is the bundle? Is there voice? What's the speed of the Net connection? Number and kind of channels? How much is HD?' and so on."

AT&T has said that U-verse OnTheGo is part of its "three-screen integration strategy," providing services and programming for TV, PC, and cell phones. But it would be a more "compelling" offering, McGregor said, if it were actually a service that provided programming for all three, or if there were more than 30 channels offered on the PC, or if it actually did push content to the cell phone.

Presently, AT&T's video strategy is two-pronged, he said. There is AT&T HomeZone, for DSL customers, and there is AT&T U-Verse, an IP-enabled fiber optic service to the home that he said currently has only about 7,000 customers.

AT&T's U-verse service, launched in 2006, is presently available in 15 U.S. markets. Bundled packages include a high-speed Internet connection, a digital video recorder (DVR) that can record up to four channels, remote DVR management through the Web, and more. The company is actively building a fiber-optic network through its local telephone region, which includes 13 states.

A new plug-in online peer-to-peer calendar application, which enables users to view free blocks of time for contacts, is set to debut as a free beta. The online system called Tungle is currently only available for Outlook 2003 but will be expanded to include all versions of Outlook, as well as Google Calendar and Lotus Notes.

Tungle is downloaded and installed by the end user and integrates with a user's time management and calendaring system. The peer-to-peer nature of Tungle is designed to enable groups of users in organizations, such as small businesses, to easily build networks of users that can have a window into the schedule of peers on the network, without the need of employing groupware servers.

The meeting information remains within the application on the PC of each individual. The Free / Busy information is only shared with the friends, co-workers or business associates they invite. According to Tungle, its P2P network will enable users to access and use the applications even when they are not connected to the Internet and its architecture enables it to work across networks and firewalls.

The system will include a scheduling wizard and the ability to grant colleagues different levels of access, depending on the relationship.
"Tungle is powerful and unlike any other online calendar solution available to people today," said Marc Gingras, chief executive officer at Tungle Corporation. "Before a user sends a meeting request, our solution gives users a snapshot view of the times their friends, co-workers or business associates are free or busy. This makes it much easier to schedule meetings, and why this feature is so popular within corporate workgroup environments. Because Tungle transcends a single corporation or computer system, people can schedule meetings with friends, colleagues or co-workers no matter where they are or what time management or groupware solution they use. As we progress through the beta period, we will continue to add the features that users find effective - and that set us apart from the competition."

According to Tungle, the P2P network supports millions of users without requiring the dedicated infrastructure of a major web portal.

While the base application will be free, Tungle will also make available several premium service features at a cost. Advanced Tungle Synchronization, which will allow users to seamlessly synchronize their home and office calendars, Outlook-to-Outlook or Outlook to Google Calendar, will cost US$10 a year.

Microsoft found no evidence of a security breach on its Xbox Live or Bungie.net online gaming services, and gamers who had trouble with their accounts were likely duped into giving up their details to fraudsters, the company said Wednesday.

"There have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their Live account," the company said in a statement.

The statement comes a day after Microsoft said it would investigate possible fraud on its Xbox Live and Bungie.net online gaming properties. Gamers had reported that their Xbox Live accounts were hijacked and their credit cards used to buy "Microsoft Points," the virtual currency on Xbox Live, which has more than 6 million users.

"We have looked into the situation and found no evidence of any compromise of the security of Bungie.net or our Live network," Microsoft said in the statement. It added that, to its knowledge, no credit card or other personal information was exposed.

There appears to be several groups of Xbox Live players who openly boast about stealing account information. On one website, a group calling itself "Infamous" claims to steal at least 10 accounts each day.

"We think this is a good time to remind our members that they should never give out any of their personal information," Microsoft said. To protect their account, Xbox users should not give out information that personally identifies them, such as their real name, address, phone number or credit card number, Microsoft said.

"This information could be used by other players for illegal or harmful purposes. Also, don't give out the personal information of other players," the company said.

It used to be easy to select an operating system. Not any more. With Windows Vista, Microsoft has unleashed five different editions, each of which targets a specific group of users.

Get the wrong edition of Vista, and you'll end up wishing you were back with XP - or opening your wallet again for the version you should have purchased in the first place. The good news: it's pretty easy to learn which version of of Vista is right for you, and it might not even be the one that costs the most.

- Vista Home Basic

The Home Basic version of Vista is the one probably no one wants, yet those purchasing low-priced new computers with the idea that getting Vista will be part of the bargain may not be able to avoid it.

That's because Home Basic is designed to run on hardware that might not otherwise be able to support full-featured versions of Vista. So the first thing that Home Basic dispenses with is the signature Aero interface - the headline feature that arguably makes Vista what it is.

Without Aero, Home Basic lacks the snazzy, semi-transparent windows of other versions of Vista, in addition to plenty of other visual niceties that come with Aero. Home Basic also lacks Windows Media Centre, which is essential for juggling a variety of multimedia tasks. Home Basic does have the improved search capabilities, improved security, and updated hardware support, but much of what Home Basic offers can already be provided by XP and some decent add- on utilities.

If you're buying a new computer in hopes of getting Windows Vista in the deal, it would be worth your while to pay up for a better version of Vista or else purchase a PC that already comes with an upgraded version.

- Vista Home Premium

If you'll never need to connect to your office's computer network, either directly or over the Internet, Vista Home Premium is a safe bet.

This version of Vista has everything that Microsoft considers essential to the savvy, mobile home user. First, home Premium sports the Aero interface in all its glory. A Mobility Centre, useful for those on the go, makes it easy to quickly disconnect from wireless networking, conserve energy by changing power settings and display brightness, and more. And the Vista Sync Centre is geared toward those who need to synch up multiple devices to their PCs - everything from PDAs to mobile music devices.

What it lacks for those who need office connectivity is the essential remote desktop function.

- Vista Business

Vista Business may be the best version of Vista for those who want a no-nonsense, get-the-work-done operating system. Vista Business dispenses with the entertainment-oriented features and accompanying overhead of other versions of Vista - including Media Centre - and focuses instead on giving business users the productivity tools they need.

Chief among these is remote desktop, which allows you to steer your office computer from afar, so long as you can connect to it via the Internet. Remote desktop was available in XP Pro, but Vista also adds some vital tools that help businesses protect their data and improve connectivity. A built-in diagnostics tool in Vista Business can actually predict hard drive failure, for example, and warn a user when an impending hardware problem could result in data loss.

Vista Business also has strong support for handwriting recognition and tablet PCs.

- Vista Ultimate

If you want it all - Aero, entertainment, Media Centre, and business-friendly features - then you want Vista Ultimate. Windows Vista is not forgiving of hardware, but with its target group being enthusiast computer users who delve as deeply into games as they do into business meetings, it's expected that top-end hardware will be on hand.

What Vista Ultimate adds that other versions leave out is sophisticated data protection. The BitBlocker technology built in to Vista can encrypt an entire Vista disk, preventing unauthorised access from both other users and malicious programs downloaded from the Internet. Ultimate also include Ultimate Extras, a collection of utilities available only to owners of the Ultimate edition.

- Vista Enterprise

This version of Vista, not sold at the retail level, is clearly aimed at large corporations. Essentially an enhanced version of Vista Business, Enterprise includes support for Unix-based applications as well as tools that beef up backward-compatibility with older applications.

You can look at the many versions of Vista as unnecessarily confusing or as a banquet of plenty. However you see them, choosing the right version of Vista the first time will save you money and let you concentrate on what matters: using your PC.

London - Hardcore computer game fans queued on Thursday to be among the first owners of a Sony PlayStation 3 games console ahead of its launch in Europe, the Middle East and Australasia.

Sony and major retailers have talked up the long-delayed launch, organising special late-night events for those who can't wait, but there has been speculation that the PS3's hefty price tag might deter consumers.

The PS3 has been outsold by rival Nintendo's Wii machine and Microsoft's XBox 360 in the United States.

Outside the Virgin Megastore's flagship outlet in London, diehard gamers had camped for 36 hours for the chance to grab the first machines off the shelves at the stroke of midnight.

Steve Lynn, the Megastore's senior public relations manager, said that the consoles "are in a secure location within the building locked up waiting for midnight".

The PS3 was originally scheduled for worldwide release in November, but production problems meant it was only made available in Japan and the United States, where there were punch-ups and at least one shooting at frenzied launch events.

The Virgin Megastore in London said it had booked extra security and free taxis to whisk gamers home and avoid them falling prey to muggers.

In France, a special boat was due to ferry 1 000 PS3s along the Seine to the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where enthusiasts will brave the chilly Parisian night to get their hands on a console.

Australian gamers will be the first outside the United States and Japan to experience the PS3, with a 13:00 GMT launch at the Myer department store in Sydney.

10 000 pre-ordered

A Sony spokesperson said 10 000 consoles - Sony's answer to the challenge thrown down by the Wii and the XBox 360 - had been pre-ordered in Australia.

The PS3 does not come cheap, costing €599 in Europe and £425 in Britain.

In the United States, Nintendo's cheaper Wii console outsold the new Sony in February by more than two-to-one, according to the NPD Group consultancy.

Some gaming fanatics were not buying into the hype, criticising Sony's decision to sell only the top-of-the-line 60-gigabyte version of the PS3 in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia.

Chris Stead, former editor of Australian GamePro, said he would not rush to buy the console, which retails for $1 000 (US$808) in Australia, even though he was impressed with features such as a Blu-ray DVD player.

Stead said the gaming community was concerned the PS3 lacked "backward compatibility", meaning they could not use it to play games purchased for the PS1 and PS2.

"The backward compatibility of the version they're selling here is much lower than in the US and Japan, so we're being asked to pay top dollar for an inferior product," he said.

"You're going to have to download patches and fixes to be able to play your PS1 and PS2 games and a lot of people aren't going to bother."