WinInsider

In the early morning hours of March 1, 2003, some interesting news was broadcast around the dark corners of the Internet: A new Longhorn alpha build had leaked out of Microsoft and it appeared genuine. Since the publication of my original Longhorn alpha preview back in November, Longhorn development has been rather quiet, though news of a new build showed promise. At the risk of being sounding like a wet blanket, however, there isn't much to get excited about here.

Microsoft on Monday said it will partner with Comverse Technology to offer voice mail message notification technology through its .Net Alerts service, another deal to bolster the software giant's mobile communications push. As part of a handful of announcements from the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) conference in New Orleans this week, Comverse will integrate Microsoft's .Net Alerts and SQL Server Notification Services into its voice mail technology. Comverse's customers will be able to send voice mail notifications to people's instant messaging clients, mobile devices and e-mail in-boxes and then allow them to play back their messages.

Microsoft's battle for cell phone software supremacy will heat up at this week's Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association annual conference. On Monday, Microsoft plans to kick off the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) conference in New Orleans by announcing the addition of another wireless device maker, Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion, to the list of those developing phones using its advanced phone software. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will also make a relatively rare appearance at the conference to drum up support for his company's Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone 2002 software.

Application and device options for Microsoft's phone platforms will expand with announcements coming Monday at the CTIA Wireless trade show in New Orleans . Research In Motion (RIM), in Waterloo, Ontario , plans to help users of Microsoft-based phone devices take advantage of its Blackberry wireless e-mail technology, and U.S. mobile operator Sprint PCS Group this year will deliver two more CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) devices that use the Microsoft platform.

RIM will announce its intention to develop a software client for its Blackberry wireless e-mail technology to run on the Pocket PC Phone Edition and SmartPhone software platforms, said Ed Suwanjindar, lead product manager for Microsoft's Mobile Devices Division. An availability date for the software was not provided. The software will not be demonstrated at CTIA, according to Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft is launching a campaign to make its licensing simpler to understand, following criticism of its controversial changes last year. The company admits that it did not effectively communicate the changes to its volume discount package customers, and that it was not helped by users generally finding its licensing options too complex.

Sue Hogg, group licensing manager at Microsoft UK, told vnunet.com that the campaign would educate users and help them to get a good deal, while at the same time ensuring that unlicensed software is not being used.

According to a report by market researcher IDC, Microsoft is once again fiddling with its MSN unit, in a gigantic strategy shift that will remake the online service as a co-branded Web portal that's marketed to broadband Internet suppliers. Microsoft, predictably, is downplaying the change, referring to it as a refinement of its existing strategy, but the changes are vast, and will eventually see the company leaving the online services market, a potentially calamitous situation for MSN's 8.7 million subscribers. On a different level, however, the strategy shift is most interesting because it marks the first time Microsoft will drop its long-held desire to unseat America Online (AOL) as the number one online service.

As expected, Microsoft is refusing to pay the legal fees incurred by the State of Massachusetts during its pursuit of the software giant in Microsoft's antitrust case. Before any of the states allied against the company had agreed to settle the case, Microsoft notified them that it would only pay legal fees for the states that did settle, though there is no clear legal precedent defining what fees a settling entity must pay. Massachusetts and West Virginia are the only two states that ultimately turned down the Microsoft settlement, and both states are appealing the settlement. Now, Microsoft is complaining that Massachusetts kept inadequate records during the case, and the company is asking US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to deny Massachusetts at least some of its fees.

Microsoft's battle for cell phone software supremacy will heat up at this week's Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association annual conference. On Monday, Microsoft plans to kick off the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) conference in New Orleans by announcing the addition of another wireless device maker, Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion, to the list of those developing phones using its advanced phone software. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will also make a relatively rare appearance at the conference to drum up support for his company's Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone 2002 software. The company will also announce that U.S. carrier Sprint PCS plans later this year to sell two camera phones--the Samsung i700 PocketPC and the Hitachi G-1000--that will use a version of Microsoft smart phone software, Microsoft spokesman Ed Suwanjindar said.

Microsoft next week will detail plans to push out technology designed to simplify software integration and to support increased collaboration capabilities for users of its business applications. At its Convergence 2003 conference in Orlando , Microsoft will try to sell users on the idea that its applications can be used to integrate various business processes, said Lynne Stockstad, general manager of global solutions at the company's Business Solutions Unit.

For example, companies could link their employees and business partners in automated workflows that support customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain operations and other activities, Stockstad said.

Microsoft Corp. this week won a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by Seattle's Network Commerce Inc., according to documents Microsoft released yesterday. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle granted summary judgment against Network Commerce, saying no reasonable jury could find that the way in which audio or video is provided through Windows Media Player infringes on Network Commerce's patent. The patent covers techniques for buying, licensing and downloading products online.