Microsoft to delay Windows Vista

Microsoft's long effort to deliver the next version of its Windows operating system suffered another setback with the company saying that the system will not be ready for consumer personal computers for the holiday sales season.

The New York Times reports (22 March) that the Microsoft announcement, made after the close of the stock market, came as a surprise. For more than a year, the company had said it would deliver the new operating system, Windows Vista, sometime in the second half of 2006.

But, Microsoft said Vista would be ready for large business customers, who typically buy the company's software in multiyear licenses, in November. But the consumer rollout will be pushed back to January 2007.

According to the newspaper,the slippage, analysts said, is likely to have little lasting impact on Microsoft or PC sales. But it points to the trouble the company has had designing and debugging the new operating system, brimming with features, complexity and an estimated 50 million lines of code.

The NYT report says that the Windows delay follows Microsoft's difficulties in meeting its production goals for its Xbox 360 video game console after its release last November. However, Microsoft said it was accelerating output of the devices, potentially helping it capitalise on the postponement of Sony's rival PlayStation 3. Microsoft attributed the further delay in Windows Vista as a matter of a few weeks to ensure quality and security testing.

{mospagebreaktitle=Watchdog group releases software report}Watchdog group releases software report

A corporate-backed watchdog group that monitors software for deceptive and abusive practices on Wednesday named a widely used file-sharing program and three other applications as violators of its guidelines.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (22 March) that Kazaa, which its producer Sharman Networks claims is the most popular program for sharing files over the internet, ''misleadingly advertises itself as spyware-free, does not completely remove all components during the uninstall process, interferes with computer use, and makes undisclosed modifications to other software,'' according to a report from the group StopBadware.org.

The group, started by researchers from Harvard and Oxford universities, also named a video download manager distributed by Movieland.com, a spyware removal program from SpyAxe.com and Waterfalls 3 by Screensaver.com, the report says.

The AP says that the report, the first to be released since StopBadware.org announced its formation in January, comes as critics say that spyware and other abusive software has emerged as a top scourge of internet use.

More than 59 million people in the United States have computers with some form of software that hampers the machine's performance, transmits private user information, deceives the user about how the software behaves or violates other guidelines, according to StopBadware.org, citing research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, reports AP.

And, AP further reports that Americans spend more than US$1 billion a year fixing their computers and protecting their identities online, the group said, citing the same study.

{mospagebreaktitle=Google evolves into all-purpose web site}Google evolves into all-purpose web site

The finance section Google unveiled Tuesday continues a philosophical shift that's turning its once-pure internet search engine into an all-purpose Web site that seems increasingly interested in getting people to stick around instead of sending them elsewhere, according to a report by The Associated Press in The New York Times (21 March).

The AP report says that the evolution has been unfolding during the past four years as Google has introduced free e-mail, news, photo sharing, instant messaging, shopping and mapping services that are staples of one-stop web sites commonly known as ''portals.''

The changes have sparked a debate about whether Google is moving wisely to counteract its biggest rivals -- longtime Web portals like Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN -- or overextending itself in a way that ultimately will diminish the appeal of its internet-leading search engine, says AP.

According to the AP., by keeping visitors on its site longer, Google gets more chances to serve up the ads that account for virtually all of its profits, although for now, at least, Google doesn't plan to show ads on its finance section.

Yahoo's finance section, introduced a decade ago, has turned into one of the company's most powerful traffic magnets. The 31.4 million people who came to Yahoo Finance last month spent an average of 54 minutes per visit on the site, according to comScore Media Metrix, reports the AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=EU urges more broadband internet access}EU urges more broadband internet access

The European Union's executive office on Tuesday called on the governments of member nations to do more to get people online, saying only 13 percent of the union's 450 million people have broadband internet access.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (21 March) that if governments act now to boost investment in high-speed networks in remote and rural areas, all EU citizens could have such access by 2010, said Viviane Reding, the EU's information technology commissioner.

The EU has been pushing for expanded internet access as a way to increase productivity and growth. Leaders at a two-day EU summit opening Thursday in Brussels are expected to discuss ways to improve those efforts, reports the AP.

According to the AP., high-speed broadband networks have made significant gains in recent years, but mostly in urban areas or flat, densely populated nations like the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

The European Commission hopes that subsidies for public-private undertakings from its euro70 billion (US$85 billion) rural development fund will be used by governments to close the digital divide.

{mospagebreaktitle=Challenge to iPod restrictions advances in French Legislature}Challenge to iPod restrictions advances in French Legislature

French lawmakers approved copyright legislation on Tuesday with a novel approach to the idea of digital freedom of choice: requiring online music vendors to make songs available for use on any digital player.

The New York Times reports (22 March) that the measure, which also addresses penalties for digital music pirates, was passed by a 296-to-193 vote in the 577-member National Assembly. It will now move from the lower house to the Senate for debate and a vote.

Representatives in France of Apple Computer, which sells the market-leading iPod music player and operates the iTunes Music Store, declined to comment on the bill. Some analysts speculated that Apple might quit the French online-music market rather than share the proprietary technology that is an elemental part of its business model.

According to the newspaper, while the iPod would be the device most prominently affected by the legislation, others, like Sony's Walkman digital music players, operate on a similar principle.

{mospagebreaktitle=Apple says proposed French law smacks of piracy}Apple says proposed French law smacks of piracy

Apple Computer said on Tuesday a proposed French law that would force Apple to make sure that songs bought on its iTunes music store can work on any portable player would result in ``state-sponsored piracy,'' according to a Reuters report in The New York Times (21 March).

``The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy,'' said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. ``If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers,''reports Reuters

The National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament, passed the law on Tuesday, which French officials said is aimed at preventing any one company from building a grip on the digital online music retail market.

{mospagebreaktitle=AT&T dismisses BellSouth merger critics}AT&T dismisses BellSouth merger critics

Ed Whitacre Jr., the chief executive of AT&T., dismissed critics who say its planned merger with BellSouth will form a near-monopoly for internet access and give it the clout to dictate terms to Web sites if they want to remain reachable.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (21 March) that  at issue is the current principle of ''network neutrality,'' under which all traffic is treated equally on the internet. The major internet carriers, with AT&T in the fore, want to be able to provide different tiers of service, giving higher priority to, for instance, Internet phone calls, which could improve their quality.

The AP report says that at the TelecomNEXT telecommunications conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Whitacre rejected the notion that this would harm the sites and companies that don't pay for premium service.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft to boost availability of Xbox}Microsoft to boost availability of Xbox

Microsoft said Tuesday that it will significantly ramp up the availability of its Xbox 360 video-game consoles, following production problems that have made the popular game systems difficult to find on store shelves.

According to The Associated Press in a report in The new York Times (21 March) Microft said earlier this week it would distribute two to three times as many Xbox 360 consoles to retailers each week than it did before. The uptick comes as the company has added a third manufacturer, Celestica, and brought component supplies up to full production levels.

AP says that in late January, Microsoft conceded that it suffered some production woes after the game system's late November launch, forcing the company to reduce slightly its original sales forecast for the first 90 days after the console's launch.

But the company has maintained that it is still on track to ship between 4.5 million and 5.5 million of the consoles by 30 June, when its fiscal year ends, report the AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=Adware pioneer to leave business by June}Adware pioneer to leave business by June

A pioneer of software that delivers pop-up ads based on web sites that internet users browse said Tuesday it will exit that business by June following persistent criticism from online publishers, consumer groups and privacy advocates.

The Associated Presas reports in The New York Times (21 March) that Claria Corp. had said last summer it was phasing out its adware business in favor of new personalisation services, but it did not commit to a timeline or promise to drop such ads entirely. Tuesday's announcement is the first such commitment.

The company said it has hired Deutsche Bank Securities to help sell its adware assets.

Acc ording to the AP., critics say adware has emerged as one of the top scourges of internet use because it often degrades computer performance, tracks a user's browsing habits and is installed without permission.

Despite the pledge to stop adware, critics remained wary of Claria, which generated more than US$149 million from 1999 to 2003.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sharp, Teco Japan unit to settle LCD dispute: paper}Sharp, Teco Japan unit to settle LCD dispute: paper

Sharp and the Japanese unit of Taiwan's Teco Electric and Machinery Co. will settle a dispute over liquid crystal display (LCD) patents, the Nihon Keizai business daily said on Wednesday.

Reutewrs reports in The New York Times (21 March) that the Japanese electronics maker in June 2004 filed for an injunction to halt sales and imports of the Teco unit's 20-inch televisions, assembled with LCD panels made by Taiwan's AU Optronics.

Sharp then filed three lawsuits early last year, claiming that those TVs violated Sharp patents. Teco filed a countersuit, says the Reuters report.

{mospagebreaktitle=Cingular to offer American Idol ringtones}Cingular to offer American Idol ringtones

Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 US mobile carrier, said on Wednesday it would begin offering ringtones of live performances from ``American Idol'' made within 24 hours of the show's broadcast.

Reuters reports in The new York Times (22 March) that in previous seasons, customers were able to buy ringtones of the ``American Idol'' theme song and many of the songs featured on the show by the original artists, said Cingular, a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth.

Beginning Wednesday, customers will be able to buy ringtones of finalists' performances from Tuesday's show for US$2.49 each. Ringtones will also be made during subsequent ''American Idol'' performance shows this season.

Reuters says that for any contestant whose song has not gotten publisher clearance that week, Cingular will release a new ringtone of a song performed by that contestant in an earlier round of the show.

The wireless carrier has 54.1 million subscribers and added 5 million last year alone. It faces stiff competition from numerous providers, including Verizon Wireless which has 51 million customers, reports Reuters.