Microsoft to introduce new security software for Windows

Microsoft will introduce a set of corporate products today that will move it more fully into competition with the leading makers of security software for Windows computers.

The New York Times reports (6 October) that the company will outline plans for a package of corporate security software and services called client protection technology, along with software for identity management and access for corporate customers. The services will go into limited testing later this year; Microsoft would not give details on general availability or pricing.

The newspaper says that this year Microsoft has announced a series of initiatives in security products for home users. In January it began testing an antispyware product, and it has announced a subscription antivirus and antispyware service called Windows OneCare. Those products and the company's declaration that it plans to offer a wide range of products in the security field pose new competition to established security software makers like McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro.

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, and Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security business and technology unit, will make the corporate product announcement today in Munich. They will also outline other steps in the security field, among them a new 30-company partnership to be called the Secure IT Alliance, which will include Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro, reports the NYT.

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, and Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security business and technology unit, will make the corporate product announcement today in Munich. They will also outline other steps in the security field, among them a new 30-company partnership to be called the Secure IT Alliance, which will include Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro, reports the NYT.

The newspaper reports that Microsoft has been struggling to make its Windows software more secure for several years and has made some progress, according to computer security industry analysts. In 2003, it abruptly stopped its programming for its Windows operating system and sent its programmers to a remedial training program in an effort to make its software less vulnerable to attack.

Windows and Unix users evaluating Linux should read all studies on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), even those from Microsoft, according to Linux champion Novell.

The Register reports (6 October) that Brian Green, Novell's director of solutions management, has urged potential customers to "get the big picture" even though TCO reports sponsored by Microsoft quote selectively on the performance of Linux. Green noted Novell had also quoted from the same reports used by Microsoft in an attempt to further Linux.

According to The Register, all these reports have something to contribute," Green said on the opening day of LinuxWorld in London on Tuesday. "Keep in mind that many vendors use extracts from the reports containing only the pieces you want to see."

Green added: "Not all of the information you read about Linux TCO is favorable... I suggest you read this. You have to draw your own conclusion." Green advised that a final decision on TCO would be based on factors that are unique to organizations' own conditions.

The Register says that Green's comments come two-years into a controversial "Get the facts" campaign from Microsoft waged against Linux, which has seen a series of sponsored analyst reports produced to highlight the advantages of Windows over Linux.

IBM, the world's largest distributor of Linux, recently took issue with "Get the facts" releasing a sponsored Robert Frances Group report it claimed proved Linux delivered and improved TCO compared to Windows, says The Register.

Dell this week received much praise for releasing a new version of its "open source" PC, according to a report in The Register  (6 October).

The Register says that the computer fits into Dell's n Series range of Windows-less systems. These ship with a copy of FreeDOS in the packaging material - but not installed on the PC - which is apparently a bizarre concession to Microsoft, the publication adds.

The publication says that, while Dell garners glowing reviews for shipping such an open source OS-friendly product, the company's new E510n actually stands as yet another example of how hard Dell tries not to sell non-Microsoft gear.

US Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said on Wednesday he supported setting 2009 as the year for completing the transition to higher-quality digital television.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (6 October) that US lawmakers have been debating when to require television broadcasters to shut off their analog signals and only air digital. Current law sets the deadline as either 31 December, 2006 or when 85 percent of the television audience can receive digital, whichever comes later.

The Reuters report in the NYT says that since most Americans have yet to buy the new television sets or equipment needed in part because of their high cost, experts have said the transition could take a decade.

Stevens said his committee would consider on 19 October  a bill to set the date.

Reuters says that the government plans to auction most of the analog airwaves to commercial wireless providers, a sale that is expected to raise billions of dollars. Some airwaves would be set aside for public safety organisations.

According to the Reuters/NYT report, Stevens and other lawmakers want to use some of that auction money to partially subsidise equipment to convert digital back into analog for those households that cannot afford to buy the expensive new sets.

Draft legislation in the US.House of Representatives would set 1 January, 2009 as the deadline for completing the digital television transition.

Australia's High Court ruled unanimously Thursday that modifying Sony PlayStation consoles so that they can play cheaper overseas versions of the company's games does not violate Australian copyright laws.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (6 October) that the decision ends a four-year legal battle between entertainment and Japanese electronics giant Sony and Sydney-based business owner Eddy Stevens, who supplied and installed ''mod chips'' in PlayStation devices.

The AP report says that Sony divides the global gaming market into regions and programs its PlayStation consoles so that games sold in the United States or Asia cannot be played on consoles sold in Australia. The so-called mod chips bypass Sony's regional coding and allow users to run cheaper games made for markets outside Australia on their PlayStation machines.

According to the AP report, the High Court ruled that while making a pirated copy of a game is illegal, playing a game using a mod chip is not.

A lawyer for Stevens said the ruling would allow Australian consumers to buy lower price versions of games overseas and play them on their Australian-bought PlayStation consoles, provided they have a mod chip installed.

The domain sms.co.uk is up for grabs and those behind the sale reckon it could net more than £100,000, according to a 6 October report in The Register.

The publication says that Sms.co.uk belongs to Manchester-based Teleport UK Limited - which trades as Satellite Media Services. But the company is in administration and is looking to flog its domain to the highest bidder.

The Register reports that, according to David Carter, director of Hollywood Internet - one of the companies helping to flog the domain - sms.co.uk "is the biggest name ever to hit the UK resale market".

Those interested in the domain need to submit their sealed bids by November 4. The sale will take place the day after.

Google is combining its popular online maps with its local search features, continuing a quest to increase its already rapidly rising advertising revenue.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (6 October) that the new features are expected to be available Thursday at either https://maps.google.com and https://local.google.com.

The AP/NYT report says that with the change, Google's local search tools for the United States and Canada are being taken out of the ''beta,'' or testing, phase, said Bret Taylor, the product's manager. The company's local search engines for the United Kingdom, Japan and China remain in beta -- a label that technology companies attach to products that don't have all the bugs worked out.

The hybrid service blends addresses, phone numbers, maps, driving directions and other details, like user reviews and credit card information, on the same Web page. Google also offers a satellite-mapping option that provides an aerial view.

AP says that by combining maps with local search, Google is following its rival Yahoo, which already provides a similar package, said industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group.

According to AP, Google remains the most widely used search engine with a 37.3 percent share of the US market through August, according to comScore Media Metrix, a research firm. Yahoo ranked second with 29.7 percent share followed by Microsoft's MSN at 15.8 percent.

The heavy volume of inquiries is crucial for Google because its financial health depends on the ads displayed beside search results. The company earned $712 million on revenue of $2.6 billion through the first half of this year.

Google's maps also have made significant inroads since the company began testing the service early this year.

In August, Google's maps attracted 14.3 million unique U.S. visitors, ranking second behind America Online's better established Mapquest, which drew an audience of just under 39 million, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, another research firm. Nielsen stopped tracking Yahoo maps after company fused the navigation tools with its local search features.

ATI Technologies launched its new family of high-end graphics chips on Wednesday, a move it hopes will help it win back market share in the fiercely competitive sector.

Reuters reports in The New York Times that ATI's Radeon X1000 family of processors will compete with the GeForce 7800 product line designed by Nvidia. Both ATI and Nvidia are targeting high-end customers such as video game enthusiasts, who are willing to pay top dollar for chips and graphics cards that offer the highest speeds and richest detail.

The Reuters report says that analysts said ATI has lost ground to Nvidia this year after it ran into production problems and was forced to delay its launch.

The Ontario-based firm said the launch includes the Radeon X1800, aimed at the so-called enthusiast sector, the Radeon X1600 for the mid-range market and the Radeon X1300 for budget users. ATI said graphics cards including the X1800 and X1300 are shipping immediately, with additional X1800 configurations and X1600 cards shipping later in October and November, reports Reuters.

South Korean cell phone maker Samsung Electronics and Bang & Olufsen, the Danish luxury audio and video equipment group, are hoping their first exclusive handset will prove that money talks, says Reuters in a 5 October report in The New York Times.

Reuters says that, priced at about 1,000 euros, the maiden phone born of the new joint venture was unveiled at a London hotel on Wednesday by the president of Samsung's telecoms business, Kitae Lee, and B&O Chief Executive Torben Ballegaard Sorensen.

Samsung, the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Finland's Nokia and Motorola of the United States, is keen to become an elite brand.

Reuters says that in a fiercely competitive industry battling falling prices for mobile phones, Samsung is not alone in trying to carve out a niche among well-heeled consumers who prefer iconic design to low-cost deals.

And in a market where customers tend to upgrade mobile phones every 12 to 18 months, the two companies said their squat, black, rounded clamshell phone was built to last, simple to use and not cluttered with unnecessary functions and buttons, says the Reuters/NYT report.

The companies plan to target the wealthy initially in Britain before hitting high streets across Europe and Russia in Bang & Olufsen shops and selected parts of Samsung's high-end sales network, Reuters reports.

Trying to take an early lead in the race to dominate the next generation of video game systems, Microsoft has unveiled a broad range of richly detailed games that the company hopes will propel millions of consumers to buy its new Xbox 360 console, reports The New York Times (6 October).

The newspaper says that on Tuesday and Wednesday, more than 1,000 journalists, retailers and game industry executives at Microsoft's X05 game show had the first public opportunity to play the games that will provide the 360's foundation. Sony and Nintendo, the two other major makers of game consoles, intend to introduce new systems next year. By introducing the 360 next month, Microsoft hopes to take an early lead. (A bare-bones model will cost US$300 and a version with basic accessories will cost US$400.)

Yet, says the newspaper, Microsoft's drive to get the system into stores for the holiday season has prompted some developers to complain that they have not had enough time to fine-tune their games to take advantage of the 360's hardware. With this week's presentations, Microsoft tried to quash that concern by demonstrating highly anticipated games like Perfect Dark Zero and Project Gotham Racing 3 from its own studio while also introducing projects from respected third-party developers, the newspaper adds.

According to the NYT, for serious gamers and industry insiders, perhaps the most intriguing news came from Id Software, creators of the Doom and Quake franchises. Id announced here that it was not only making a new installment of its Castle Wolfenstein series for the 360, but was also creating much of the game with the 360's software-creation tools rather than with more traditional tools used to make games for PC's. Id has been associated with PC gaming rather than with game consoles that plug into a television, like the Xbox and the PlayStation 2 from Sony.

The newspaper says that, in all, roughly a dozen game publishers, including Microsoft, showed off playable versions of about 30 games that are on their way to the 360 in coming months.

Eighteen months after finding Microsoft guilty of monopoly abuse, the European Commission has appointed a trustee to ensure that the company makes the changes called for in the ruling.

The New York Times reports (6 October) that Neil Barrett, a computer scientist at Cranfield University in Britain, will monitor Microsoft's compliance and report directly to the competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, Ms. Kroes said at a news conference.

The newspaper reports that if Professor Barrett finds that Microsoft is not complying with the ruling, the company faces fines of as much as 5 percent of its global sales every day until it does comply.

Ms. Kroes informed Microsoft's chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, of the appointment yesterday and said talks with him were "constructive," covering "a broad range of subjects." She gave no details.

Microsoft said it welcomed the trustee appointment.

The NYT says that last year's antitrust ruling ordered Microsoft to sell a second version of its Windows operating system in Europe that has the Microsoft Media Player software stripped out.

T-Mobile is giving its mobile phone punters access to the net via their handsets in a move which the cellco claims will "redefine the mobile internet market".

The Register reports (6 October) that Web'n'walk, as it's known, goes live with five devices. A further three are due to be added before Christmas and all come complete with colour screens capable of displaying content in both portrait and landscape format.

According to The Register, the service is designed to access all existing web sites without the need for the sites to be modified. Although the cellco admits there will be some exceptions, it insists that web sites are presented on mobile phones "as they would be presented on the PC screen".

The Register reports that, hyping up the launch of its new service T-Mobile said it believes web'n'walk will lead to a "considerable growth in total internet usage and, ultimately, more internet traffic being carried by mobile than by fixed line".