Intel is descending on Manhattan on Tuesday morning to announce three new Pentium 4-M processors and to spread the word about mobile computing. The processors will run at 1.4GHz, 1.5GHz and 1.8GHz, the latter a new top speed for the chip line, and will act as bookends for the currently available 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz Pentium 4-M chips, giving the company a wider array of its flagship mobile processors for notebook buyers.
PC aren't wasting time getting out new notebooks based on the chips. Dell Computer, for instance, will launch a new Inspiron 2650, a Pentium 4-M version of its basic entry-level notebook for consumers. The machine will start at $1,299 when fitted with a 1.4GHz chip and a 14-inch screen. (Dell sells a SmartStep100N notebook at a much lower price, but that system is not configurable.)
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly repeatedly chided states' attorney Steven Kuney during his second morning of cross-examining Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. In response to repeated objections to the questioning by Microsoft lawyer Dan Webb, Kollar-Kotelly warned Kuney that he was being too argumentative and trying to get the witness to answer questions that introduced new evidence. "Whatever the lawyer said isn't evidence," the judge said at one point, referring to what she indicated was one of many leading and argumentative questions.
At one point, Kuney asked Gates if he knew of a situation in which Microsoft intentionally broke interoperability with Windows and other software for competitive reasons. Webb objected, and Kollar-Kotelly scolded Kuney for trying to get Gates to introduce new evidence through his answer.
But as on Monday, Gates' style and substance appeared to take the day. He continued to insist that the states' remedy is ambiguous and "impossible" for Microsoft to follow in its current form. At several points, Gates broke the courtroom into laughter as he drove home the point about the proposal's ambiguity.
For instance, when Kuney referred to the heading of a particular section, Gates drew laughther with his response that, given the proposal's ambiguity, "You should not think that a heading properly describes what comes after that heading."
One ambiguous area where Gates appeared to score points over Kuney related to section five of the proposed remedy, which has to do with giving third parties proper notification that changes to Windows would interfere with the performance of their products.
He came bearing a meticulously prepared, 155-page testimony, complete with charts, graphs, and graphics. He was polite in court, even chatty, laughing and smiling when appropriate. He was also in command of the facts, and often presented detailed, technical explanations during his direct answers to questions. He was, in other words, nothing like the person we saw in video deposition clips almost four years ago. He was also, unfortunately, nothing like the real Bill Gates.
On the stand, Gates sat erect, answered questions quickly and decisively, and appeared to be in command of the facts. The only real drama, to be honest, is that Gates is somewhat hobbled by having to stick to the letter of Microsoft's "Chicken Little" defense, in which the company claims that a states' request to create a modular Windows version is impossible and would damage the company and its product irreparably. To be fair, he made some good points, including a request that any court approved remedy be clearly written, with terms such as middleware concisely defined.
Compaq announced this week that its popular iPAQ Pocket PC line has sold over 2 million units, making it the most popular Windows-based handheld computer on the market, and the company's fastest selling computer product ever. Compaq credits the iPAQ's success to its wide range of functionality and popularity with corporations, one market that Palm has been unable to crack. However, the iPAQ still trails market leader Palm by a wide margin: Palm's has sold over 17 million of its handheld products.
Microsoft has added two top graphics chipmakers to the list of supporters for its Corona format, an as-yet-unreleased technology that the software giant says will bring dramatic quality enhancements to video playback on the PC. ATI Technologies and Nvidia said they plan to announce support Tuesday for new Microsoft DirectX technologies in their graphics chips and cards that take advantage of Corona.
DirectX is a standard for speeding up multimedia applications on Microsoft's Windows operating system that is frequently used in PC games. According to the companies, the new cards will take up some video-processing tasks normally handled by the PC's central processor, providing a boost for video resolution.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates redeemed himself as a witness on Monday, repeatedly rebuffing attacks made by states' attorney Steven Kuney in the latest phase of the 4-year-old antitrust case. Gates took the offensive during the first major round of cross-examination, interrupting Kuney with technical corrections to questions and with explanations of e-mail evidence designed to catch the executive contradicting himself. Microsoft took great risk putting Gates on the witness stand, say legal experts.
Gates had attacked the remedy proposal's requirements regarding the level of disclosure on how Microsoft software works with other programs, saying that it looked like developers were supposed to disclose software details before they had even conceived of the software, and thus, that under the states' remedy, once Microsoft software developers thought of a new idea, they would already be in contempt of court.
Microsoft is keeping its eye on the road with its Windows CE operating system. The software giant released its latest speech software for use with Windows CE for Automotive 3.5, Microsoft's operating system for in-car use. The speech software will be the basis for an interface, which partners will develop, to access the operating system. Microsoft is already working with companies such as ScanSoft, Fonix, Elan Informatique, Asahi Kasei and Hitachi, on text-to-speech engines and voice-recognition technologies that they hope to sell to automakers. Microsoft has been busy in the telematics space, signing deals and partnerships with the likes of Accenture and BMW.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates took the stand Monday for the first time in his company's epic antitrust case, testifying the penalties being sought by nine states would undermine the Windows software used by millions of Americans. Gates opened his long-awaited courtroom appearance with a computer-generated slideshow. He demonstrated how the Windows operating system would stop functioning if components such as the Microsoft Explorer Web browser are removed as the states have proposed.
"This shows that if you remove this block of code, other functions are degraded in the most extreme way. They no longer work," Gates said, referring to the removal of the Explorer software.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Monday argued that it would be "impossible" in some cases to comply with a proposed remedy in the nearly 4-year-old antitrust trial. In the 157 pages of written testimony submitted before his appearance on the witness stand, Gates said the remedy proposed by nine litigating states and the District of Columbia is unworkable and would damage Microsoft and the computing industry. He said stability, consistency and quality of Windows, the ability to run the operating system across a vast array of hardware, and the assurance of intellectual property protection are essential to Microsoft's business.
"It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible in some cases for Microsoft to comply with" the states' remedy, Gates argued. He said that many of the proposals would "lead to extreme results" and that vague and ambiguous definitions provide "Microsoft with no clear statement of its obligations." He warned that the states' remedy provisions on so-called middleware "would effectively turn back the clock on Windows development by about 10 years and effectively freeze it there."
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told a crowded courtroom on Monday that a proposed antitrust remedy would fragment the Windows operating system, creating a chaos of incompatibilities and turning back the clock on the software industry. Testifying in person for the first time during the nearly 4-year-old antitrust case against the software giant, Gates argued that the remedy's provision on code removal would split Windows into many different versions. The remedy, proposed by nine states and the District of Columbia, calls for Microsoft to ship a version of Windows with so-called middleware, such as browsing software, stripped out.
"Under the states' proposal," Gates said, "Windows would no longer be uniform. Anyone who licensed 10,000 copies would...be able to make arbitrary changes" to the operating system.
Gates spent most of his written testimony going specifically through the states' remedy proposal and explained why it doesn't make sense, how it would hurt Microsoft, and the ways it would cripple the software industry.