After dominating the desktop, burrowing into the Internet and bursting into the video game market, Microsoft is making progress at getting firmly into the palm of your hand. Already a force in software for personal digital assistants, Microsoft is ramping up efforts to provide the operating systems for those devices' close relative: the next generation of "smart" cell phones that can handle e-mail, digital photos and other data. Microsoft splashed into the smart-phone scene in Europe last year with a device sold by the British wireless carrier Orange.
Microsoft said late Friday that it has settled a California class-action lawsuit for up to $1.1 billion, a move that would end the largest suit of the kind against the giant software company. The settlement, which arose from claims that Microsoft unlawfully wielded its Windows monopoly to overcharge consumers for the operating system, allows individuals and businesses in California who bought Microsoft products during a five-year period to apply for vouchers with values of $5 to $29. The vouchers can be used to buy most hardware or software products from any manufacturer.
Although the maximum value of the settlement is $1.1 billion, Microsoft could end up paying as little as $367 million in cash to California public schools. If all vouchers are claimed, Microsoft pays the maximum.
Intel will increase the speed of the chipset on the Pentium 4 in the coming months, a change that will likely boost the performance of top-end PCs. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker is coming out with a new chipset, code-named Springdale, for Pentium 4 PCs. The chipset runs at 800MHz, substantially faster than the 400MHz and 533MHz chipsets currently available for Pentium 4 computers, according to sources close to the company. The new chipset will be released with a 3.2GHz version of the Pentium 4, the sources said. Intel could not be reached for comment.
One of the most obvious complaints about the first round of Windows Powered Smart Displays is that the devices are expensive and easily replaced by low-end laptops, which are comparatively priced but far more powerful. To combat this problem, Microsoft and its hardware partners are working on ways to improve the platform, including some interesting ideas for making the devices useful when they're not remotely displaying your XP desktop. ViewSonic, for example, made two announcements in this vein. First, the company will offer a version of its 10" secondary display that won't include XP Professional Edition or a USB wireless adapter, shaving at least $300 off the device's retail cost (usually about $999). And the company struck a deal with Nevo Technologies to supply home-automation software for the Smart Display, giving users a secondary use for the device. Other hardware makers are working on similar plans and, for the next Smart Display revision due in late 2003, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Microsoft, and other companies are working on faster wireless technologies, ways to improve overall performance, and any areas in which customers say the experience is now lacking. Again, I'll provide more details soon on the SuperSite for Windows, along with a full review of the ViewSonic airpanel V150 Wireless Smart Display.
A federal court judge Friday denied Microsoft's motions to dismiss the private antitrust lawsuits brought by Be and Burst.com. Later on Friday, U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz will hear Microsoft's arguments supporting motions to dismiss 13 of 16 claims in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Sun Microsystems.
One of Microsoft's lawyers argued Friday morning that Be had other opportunities to distribute its operating system on PCs besides as a dual-boot system with a boot loader and an icon through OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
Microsoft Corp. will be back in court Friday morning asking a federal judge to dismiss antitrust lawsuits against the software giant. Microsoft will be in U.S. District Court in Baltimore arguing before U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz that cases filed by Sun Microsystems Inc., Be Inc. and Burst.com Inc. should be dismissed. Microsoft has vowed to appeal that decision. However, Motz met with attorneys for both sides over the holidays and determined that both should file proposed orders with the court by Monday. Meanwhile, in a scheduled hearing, Microsoft will ask Motz to dismiss the Sun case, as well as cases from Be and Burst.com.
Faced with the entry of a new deep-pocketed rival, watchmakers and companies that make a range of devices that Microsoft Corp. wants to wire with its own "smart" software see both an opportunity and a threat. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced on Wednesday that the world's largest software company was mounting a new push to move beyond personal computers and into everyday objects using technology Microsoft calls SPOT, for Smart Personal Objects Technology.
SPOT-enabled watches and everyday objects such as refrigerator magnets will carry software that will allow them to display snippets of information, such as an upcoming appointment, phone numbers and weather forecasts, Gates said.
In any large software project the end result comes up many features short of the wish list. If you're lucky the product catches up to the wish list by the next version, and that is what seems to be the case with Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003.
As good a product as Windows 2000 Server is, Windows Server 2003 fills a lot of gaps left by Windows 2000 Server and fixes some mistakes, and it usually works well. But Microsoft hasn't fixed everything that's wrong with Windows 2000, and it's beginning to look as if some things may never be fixed.
Microsoft Corp. has made "substantial progress" to ease European Union concerns that its Passport Web-surfing program breaks privacy laws, a United Kingdom official said, lessening the risk that the compay could face penalties. Passport stores personal data such as credit card numbers and billing addresses on Microsoft's servers to speed online shopping. Data protection experts from the 15 EU countries meet Jan. 28 and 29 to decide whether the software violates consumer rights. European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti plans to rule in coming months. The commission may impose penalties that go beyond Microsoft's antitrust settlement in the United States, Monti said last month.
Microsoft's chairman has high hopes for this new ultratiny technology: "This thing can be a very good-size business". Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates III unveiled his new Dick Tracy-watch at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 8. The new gizmo gives users personalized, up-to-the-minute information such as stock quotes, sports scores, local weather, news headlines, horoscopes, calendar info, and even one-way instant messages -- all on their wrist. The data will be beamed over FM radio airwaves to the gadgets, wherever they are. Consumers will pay $120 to $300 for the watches and perhaps $99 more a year for the data service.