Microsoft has multiple versions of new Office 2007

Microsoft has unveiled multiple versions of its upcoming Office business software suite with features that aim to simplify worker collaboration and improve efficiency.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (16 February) that the 2007 Microsoft Office, previously code-named Microsoft Office 12, is the successor to its Office business application franchise, which packages together word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and other programs.

The upgrade to Office and a separate upgrade to the Windows operating system planned for later this year are crucial for Microsoft since those two businesses account for more than half of the company's total revenue.

According to Reuters, Microsoft's challenge is to maintain its dominance in those desktop application even as it moves some software and services online to better compete with the likes of Google and Yahoo.

In the second half of 2006 Microsoft is scheduled to launch an upgraded version of Office with redesigned user interface which aims to simplify the task of finding features already available within its family of programs, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook.

Microsoft last launched an Office upgrade in September 2003.

Reuters says that Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, the main product for corporate customers, will integrate capabilities of SharePoint, a collaboration program and Web portal that is designed to run over corporate networks and the internet.

This version will also incorporate Microsoft Office Communicator, a corporate instant messaging service.

The Reuters report also says that a premium edition, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, incorporates another work-sharing technology from Groove Networks, the company Microsoft acquired last year and whose founder, Ray Ozzie, is now Microsoft's web services guru.

Microsoft also announced a range of Office 2007-related server products, including an updated SharePoint Server, a projects server and a server to create forms hosted on the Internet that the company says will make it easier for users to collaborate and share documents and data, reports Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=Experts: India must confront challenges}Experts: India must confront challenges

Language barriers, a fragmented market and strong local players in France and Germany are some challenges India's outsourcing firms need to confront if they want business opportunities from Europe, industry leaders and software experts say.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (15 February) that for Indian companies, the European information technology market is traditionally considered closed compared with the United States, which makes up nearly 70 percent of the market for Indian software and outsourcing companies. Currently less than 10 percent comes from Europe.

An analyst at Ovum said that Indian firms would have to tailor their services to suit European needs, which are very different from companies in the US and Britain where Indian services are established.

The analyst and other experts spoke Wednesday at the start of a three-day international technology summit held in Bombay and attended by some 1,200 top software professionals.

{mospagebreaktitle=Telecoms look to China for 3G boost}Telecoms look to China for 3G boost

China's long march to third generation mobile phone services could be nearing an end, with the roll-out of new 3G licences seen this year as Beijing prepares to set up systems in time for the 2008 Olympics.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (16 February) that participants at the 3GSM mobile trade fair in Barcelona this week were buzzing with the likelihood that China will issue 3G licenses as soon as the first half of this year, amid increasing signs of movement from Beijing.

Equipment vendors such as Siemens, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia are eagerly awaiting the development, which is expected to unleash up to US$12 billion in spending on new equipment.

Siemens and Nokia executives told Reuters they expected a decision by June.

According to the Reuters report, many have cited the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a key time constraint, since China would like to have cutting-edge mobile systems in place for the global event it hopes will showcase its arrival onto the world stage.

Siemens told Reuters it should make at least 1 billion euros (US$1.2 billion) as operators scramble to roll out networks for the Olympics and beyond.

Reuters says that most industry watchers believe China will build networks based on the world's two most popular 3G standards, the WCDMA standard popular in Europe and CDMA 2000, backed by US giant Qualcomm.

{mospagebreraktitle=Skype 3G deal with Hutchinson}Skype 3G deal with Hutchinson

Skype has clinched a deal with Hutchinson that paves the way for cheaper VoIP calls to be offered on the Hutchison 3G networks.

The Register reports (15 February) that limited trials, which have begun in Sweden, are expected to precede a wider launch in Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK and Italy by the end of the year.

According to the publication, in an effort to scope user demand, 3 Sweden is offering a Skype bundle with a 3G flat-rate subscription and 3G data card. With a mobile flat-rate data plan from Hutchison 3, users can make unlimited Skype calls.

Christian Salbaing, MD of Europe Telecommunications at Hutchison 3, downplayed concerns that Skype traffic would cannibalise voice revenues. He described it as an attractive value added service that would help tempt more customers onto its network.

The Register reports that at a press conference at the 3GSM conference on Tuesday, Skype also launched a new version of its software for Pocket PC devices, Skype for Pocket PC 2.0. The software is designed to work on any Windows Mobile Pocket PC running Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 or Windows Mobile 5.0 and is equipped with an internal Wi-Fi or 3G radio.

{mospagebreaktitle=Web firms questioned over dealings in China}Web firms questioned over dealings in China

In the US., Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems came under fire at a House human rights hearing on Wednesday for what a subcommittee chairman called a "sickening collaboration" with the Chinese government that was "decapitating the voice of the dissidents" there.

The New York Times reports (16 February) that the statements by the chairman, Representative Christopher Smith opened a much-anticipated session aimed at getting an accounting of the companies' dealings in China, and to air criticism that they do business there at the peril of human rights.

The session, in a crowded hearing room, was convened by the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations. It was the most extensive public review of the companies' position since criticism started gathering steam well over a year ago.

The newspaper reports that among the chief issues is the alteration of some of the companies' online offerings in the Chinese market '” from search engines to blogging tools '” to conform with the requirements of the government there.

Also of concern is the sale of internet hardware that the Chinese government has used in surveillance of its online population, as well as the role of American companies in providing information leading to the imprisonment of Chinese citizens for online activity that in the West would be considered free speech.

{mospagebreaktitle=Skype deal with Hutchinson}Skype deal with Hutchinson

Skype has clinched a deal with Hutchinson that paves the way for cheaper VoIP calls to be offered on the Hutchison 3G networks. Limited trials, which have begun in Sweden, are expected to precede a wider launch in Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK and Italy by the end of the year.

In an effort to scope user demand, 3 Sweden is offering a Skype bundle with a 3G flat-rate subscription and 3G data card. With a mobile flat-rate data plan from Hutchison 3, users can make unlimited Skype calls. Christian Salbaing, MD of Europe Telecommunications at Hutchison 3, downplayed concerns that Skype traffic would cannibalise voice revenues. He described it as an attractive value added service that would help tempt more customers onto its network.

{mospagebreaktitle=Open source ISVs must side with SAP to survive-SAP}Open source ISVs must side with SAP to survive-SAP

SAP has been pitching open source start-ups on the merits of its vision and strategy for doing business with enterprises, while knocking software rivals, according to The Register in a 15 February report.

The Register reports that the giant told ISVs Wednesday the enterprise software market is facing an imminent period of consolidation as companies reduce their costs, and said providing open source and Linux software alone will not cut it when it comes to doing business.

According to the publication SAP EVP Peter Graf, speaking at the Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) in San Francisco, said ISVs' best chance of doing business with purchasers of enterprise IT is to partner with SAP. And, according to Graf, the best way of doing business with SAP is to become a member of its developer community and fledgling Enterprise Service Repository.

The Register says that SAP is, of course, locked in a war with IBM, Microsoft an Oracle over who can get the most developers building for their platforms, which would explain Graf's unsubtle attempt to steer programmers towards his own company's architecture and strategy.

{mospagebreaktitle=Open Source company's Microsoft partnership}Open Source company's Microsoft partnership

SugarCRM has become the second open source software company challenging proprietary client/server ISVs to land a technology partnership with Microsoft.

The Register reports (14 January) that the start-up and Microsoft have announced plans to improve interoperability between Windows Servers and SugarCRM's hosted customer relationship management (CRM) suite.

SugarCRM additionally plans to release a distribution of its Sugar Suite under Microsoft's Community License, part of Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative. The Shared Source Initiative is Microsoft's program that allows customers to view Windows source code, launched in response to concerns over the security of its software.

The Register says that the SugarCRM partnership follows last year's announcement Microsoft would integrate its Windows Server system with open source Java middleware from JBoss.

Both deals, says The Register, are a recognition by Microsoft of the potential market opportunities the company can exploit by working with open source and of the dangers it faces by ignoring open source in terms of disatisfied developers and business lost to server rivals.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft attacks European regulators}Microsoft attacks European regulators

In a stinging rebuke to the European Commission, Microsoft has insisted that it had complied with the commission's antitrust requirements and sharply criticised the way the regulator had conducted its compliance review.

The New York Times reports (16 February) that Microsoft, facing possible fines of 2 million euros a day, submitted a 75-page response to the commission, Europe's top antitrust authority, just hours before a midnight deadline. The company said it had met the requirements of the commission's antitrust ruling of March 2004, and accused the commission of obfuscation.

"The commission repeatedly refused to clearly define its requirements and concerns, despite repeated requests and accommodations by Microsoft," the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The newspaper says that in the ruling two years ago, the commission branded Microsoft a monopoly abuser, ordered it to change its business practices in Europe and fined it 497 million euros for using the ubiquity of Windows to extend its dominance to other sectors of the software market, like server systems.

According to the NYT report, the commission said in a statement Wednesday that it would consider Microsoft's response carefully. "It is the commission that decides if Microsoft is in compliance with the ruling, not Microsoft," said Jonathan Todd, the commission's spokesman on competition matters.

On 22 Dec., the commission said Microsoft had not yet complied with its ruling. The agency said that "Microsoft had not yet provided complete and accurate specifications of the interoperability information which it is obliged to disclose."

Microsoft, however, said it had filed the technical documents to the commission by the 15 Dec. deadline. Those documents answered the remaining questions the commission had on the company's compliance, Microsoft said.

The commission said it received nothing from Microsoft until after its public statement on the company. "This documentation was actually supplied on 26 Dec.," the commission said.

The newspaper reports that Microsoft insists it has complied with the 2004 ruling, which among other things ordered the company to reveal technical details about the Windows operating system that would allow rival server software programs to work as well with Windows as Microsoft's own server software does.

Microsoft has requested an oral hearing with antitrust officials and rivals in the software industry. The hearing will probably be held some time in the next two to three weeks, the commission said, reports the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=Nintendo device to have internet browsers}Nintendo device to have internet browsers

Opera Software AS will supply internet browsers for Nintendo's hugely popular dual-screen handheld game device, the Norwegian company's chief executive said Wednesday.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (15 February) that as of early this year, the Japanese company had sold more than 13 million of its Nintendo DS devices, which it began manufacturing in November 2004.

Nintendo DS combines dual screens, touch screen, voice recognition and wireless communications capabilities.

AP reports that according to Opera, the browser will first be offered to consumers in Japan, with further distribution to be decided later. The companies declined to estimate the economic value of the deal, which is based on a license payment per unit.

{mspagebreaktitle=Orange plans SIMs with 8,000 times more capacity}Orange plans SIMs with 8,000 times more capacity

Mobile phone group Orange plans to launch SIM cards this year that can store up to 8,000 times the data stored on present day SIMs, potentially helping to transform a traditional phone into a multimedia player.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (15 February) that the France Telecom unit said on Wednesday the 512-megabyte ``MegaSIM'' cards could store up to 130 songs, three movies or 80 games, compared with existing 64 kilobyte cards which could at best store a phone book and some text messages.

Orange, which plans to roll out these cards across Europe this year, said the MegaSIM was the result of a collaboration with M-systems, Oberthur Card Systems and LG Electronics.

{mospagebreakitle=Toshiba develops mobile-phone technology}Toshiba develops mobile-phone technology

Toshiba, the Japanese electronics company that makes DVD players, laptops and nuclear power plants, has developed mobile-phone technology that searches for product reviews on up to 100 web journals, or blogs, in 10 seconds.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (15 February) that you just use the phone's digital camera to snap a photo of the bar code of a product you're thinking about buying. Then, the technology can decipher if the blog chatter is positive or negative and tallies the count to show if a product is getting rave reviews or being trashed by consumers.

AP says that some of the more frequently visited blogs will also show up on the screen.

The bar-code information is sent wirelessly to a Toshiba server, which gathers data on blogs from the internet and analyses them, and then sends a reply back to the cell phone.

According to AP.,Toshiba expects to have information on thousands of products covering just about anything you might buy at a store -- from toys to electronic gadgets to food.

Toshiba plans to test the software at Japanese stores next month and hopes to offer it as a service on cell phones before April 2007.

{mospagebreaktitle=Study: Internet users go online for fun}Study: Internet users go online for fun

In the US., a new study finds that on any given day, nearly a third of the country's internet users log on just for fun or to pass the time.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (15 February) that compared with other online tasks, recreational surfing ranks behind only e-mail and search and it's about even with getting news online, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

AP says that Pew credits the growth in broadband connections at home and the increase in the number and variety of wweb sites available.

The 30 percent of internet users who went online for fun on a given day represents an increase from 21 percent a year earlier.

According to AP., skeptics may see parallels with television channel-surfing, an activity often dismissed as mindless.