According to a report in the "International Herald Tribune," Microsoft's years-long antitrust battle with the European Union will most likely end in a split decision. The EU Court of First Instance previously announced that it will reveal its final ruling in the case on September 17. Additionally, Bo Vesterdorf, the judge overseeing the case, will retire on the day the decision is made public.
Given the gravity of the case and Microsoft's continued lack of compliance with the initial ruling, whatever ruling does occur will be widely debated and precedent setting. Lawyers on both sides now say they expect Vesterdorf to give both Microsoft and the EU victories on key legal points, effectively splitting the decision.
Microsoft has begun showing U.S. automakers an alternative to the in-car navigation and assistance now offered exclusively by General Motor's OnStar communications service.
The voice-recognition software, displayed at an auto industry conference Tuesday, allows mobile telephone users to receive spoken data from Microsoft's Tellme database.
Microsoft's service, which would connect through a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone in the car, could challenge Detroit-based GM's digital subscriber-based wireless system, which costs as much as $324 a year and has nearly 5 million subscribers.
In a blog post on Monday, the development team for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 showed screen shots of an enhancement to Outlook Web Access that enables encrypted e-mails to be sent and received through a Web browser. The demo marks the return of S/MIME support, which had been introduced to OWA before, but which had temporarily disappeared with the first release of ES 2007.
As with Exchange Server 2003 and prior editions, the demo clearly shows that users will need to download and run an additional S/MIME control along with their browsers. For now at least, that makes S/MIME support a Windows-only function, even though OWA itself can be used through browsers in Linux and other environments.
Microsoft has decided to axe its "Get The Facts" site, instead replacing it with a less corrosive "Compare" page that compares Windows and Linux in a less confrontational way.
The former site was quite controversial, as it included parts of a study conducted in 2002 that was later revealed to have been influenced by Microsoft to look at Windows more favorably. Even in light of the controversy, Microsoft kept the site up, using it in the company's increasingly hostile battle with open source.
Microsoft next week will begin beta testing a new advertising offering for its online properties ? keyword ads on content pages.
Prosaically named Content Ads, the new addition, which goes into public beta test for U.S. advertisers on August 29, is an enhancement to Microsoft's adCenter advertising platform. Content Ads will provide just what it sounds like ? context-sensitive, text-only ads on content pages.
The new adCenter Content Ads offering will let advertisers bid on keywords for ad placement on MSN and other Microsoft network sites ? and eventually sites of other Microsoft partners, according to company statements.
Nokia and Microsoft have penned a deal that allows customers in 11 countries with compatible Nokia S60 phones to access a suite of Windows Live services specifically designed for those devices.
Those customers will be able to download the new suite Aug. 22, giving them access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces.
But the software is currently only available to Nokia customers in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have Nokia N73, N80 Internet Edition, N95, N76 or N93i phones.
While I was on vacation, Verizon Fios TV switched out the program guide to a new one. Microsoft's guide was a whole lot better.
The initial service used a Microsoft program guide, but Verizon has been switching out customers to its homegrown replacement. My set-top box upgraded last week, while I was on vacation.
Verizon should have taken tips from Microsoft, which did away with cascading menus in Windows Vista. Microsoft's inset menu approach is cleaner and less confusing. Verizon's program guide increases the amount of time necessary to get to channels or to record programs, processes that are all the more jarring because the previous guide was simple, straightforward and efficient.
Microsoft has brought back its Sidewinder line of gaming peripherals, beginning with a mouse that is customizable to a user's specific gaming needs.The Redmond company first launched its line of Sidewinder products in 1995, which included game pads, joysticks, and steering wheels. The gaming mouse marks the return of the line, which Microsoft says includes nearly 5,000 possible combinations.
Microsoft expects the mouse to begin selling at retail in October for $80, according to a statement by the company.Users can adjust various aspects of the mouse including the weight tray, mice feet, three different glide materials, DPI control for response and sensitivity, among others.
Microsoft announced six companies, including Intel and Texas Instruments, are now licensing its voice software for audio conferencing, video, wireless over IP and gaming devices.
The licensing agreements, which were announced Tuesday at the VoiceCon San Francisco 2007 conference, could help put Microsoft in the catbird's seat as it extends its tentacles to the emerging unified communications market.
Infonetics Research, an IT market research firm based in Boston, in July reported worldwide sales of unified communications applications increased 21 percent between 2005 and 2006 to more than $363 million. It now expects the market to grow in the "high double digits" each year through at least 2010.
Microsoft denies that it's buying aQuantive for its technology.
Instead, executives say, the purchase is designed to turn part of Microsoft into possibly the world's largest media company.
You might think that aQuantive's technology could jump-start adCenter. Since it introduced its new advertising platform in May 2006, Microsoft has been touting its eventual ability to let advertisers target ads based on users' behavior within the MSN network. So-called behavioral targeting could make ads more relevant to individuals, and therefore more effective.