Pc News

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Google Takes a History Lesson

History buffs can search George Washington's manuscripts online today for terms like "revolution," but only thanks to the tireless workers who transcribed the hand-written documents into digital form.


Soon, many other hand-written historical documents could be made available for the public to search--and through considerably less effort--if a research project funded by Google and being executed by three universities works out as planned.


The project, announced by Dublin City University (DCU) this week, all started on a whim. DCU professor Alan Smeaton has been working on technology that can recognize objects that appear in videos. His technology can detect an object, like a car or an airplane, in the frame of a video, then extract the image to compare it to a database of images to identify it or enable it to be searched.

[Rasputin]

Tech Giants Tackle Mobile Phone Gaming

Several big companies in the mobile phone and gaming industry, including Microsoft and Nokia, are teaming to support an open gaming architecture designed to lower development costs, speed up delivery times and create richer content, the group said Friday.

In addition to Microsoft and Nokia, the mobile gaming development alliance includes Electronic Arts, Symbian, Samsung Electronics, Texas Instruments (TI), Activision, Digital Chocolate, Ideaworks3D, Konami, MontaVista Software, SK Telecom, Square Enix, and Tao Group.


By working together, the group hopes to streamline the process for developing games for multiple handset models and operating systems, and reduce the current platform fragmentation in mobile phone gaming market.

Common Ground

The planned open architecture will provide different handsets and operating systems with a common set of minimum capabilities that game developers can use to make game porting easier and more efficient, the companies said. By spending less time developing multiple versions of a single game, developers will be able to focus on creating new gaming titles for mobile consumers with richer graphics and features.

[Rasputin]

Vodafone, Microsoft launch European e-mail service

LONDON- Cell phone giant Vodafone Group Plc said on Monday it had launched a European mobile e-mail facility with Microsoft Corp., marking the latest move by mobile service providers to make it easier for customers to get messages on the move.

The collaboration also highlights the increasing competition as competitors work to muscle into the wireless e-mail market dominated by Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail service.

Vodafone said from March it will deploy Windows Mobile 5.0-powered devices to corporate and small and medium sized business customers in France, Germany and the UK.

The service will be available to corporate and small business customers in other countries later in the year.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft to take wraps off Office Live in preview

SEATTLE- Microsoft Corp. said on Monday it is set to begin testing an online version of its popular Office software in a first step toward shifting some of its computer-based products to the Web to fend off rivals such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)

Starting on Wednesday, the world largest software maker plans to offer a "beta" or general test version of Microsoft Office Live for free to help work out any potential problems prior to a full-fledged commercial release later this year.

Microsoft dominates the market for software installed on a computer's hard drive with its Windows operating system and its Office business application franchise, which packages together word processing, speadsheet, presentation and other programs.

But a host of competitors are challenging the company with services and software that receive automatic information updates via the Internet.

Protecting its turf versus smaller, more nimble rivals such as Google, Yahoo, Salesforce.com, and WebEx Communications Inc., the new product is at the heart of a push by Microsoft to show investors it can rejuvenate its static share price.

[Rasputin]

Remote Access Comes to Google Desktop

In the ongoing battle among file-search tools for the hearts, minds, and screen real estate of PC users, Google opens a new front by adding the ability to access files and recently viewed Web pages from your remote PCs.

Version 4 of the Google Desktop file-search utility--the beta of which was released last week--also lets you undock panels from its Sidebar of information mini-windows, and lock out local-file searching with a single click.

Privacy Concerns?

Google is asking Google Desktop users to make a leap of faith with this remote-access option. It already makes some people uncomfortable knowing that the search king is applying its wonder algorithms to the e-mail and other files on their own PC.


At least with previous releases of the program, the files remained on your local system, but version 4's Search Across Computers feature gives you the option of placing those local files, along with your recently viewed Web pages, on Google's servers so you can access them from anywhere.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft to Offer First Look at Office Live

Microsoft plans to give users a first look at its Office Live hosted service tomorrow, according to the company. Microsoft plans to offer the service in three versions, one of which will be advertising-supported and free of charge to customers.

All three versions-Microsoft Office Live Basics, Microsoft Office Live Collaboration, and Microsoft Office Live Essentials--will be a part of the beta program. Office Live Basics will be free, while pricing for the other two will start at a subscription price of $29.95 a month.


Microsoft introduced its Office Live service last November when it announced its strategy to provide more Web-based services branded under the "Live" moniker. At the time, there were scant details about what Office Live would exactly offer.


CCustomers that want to participate in the beta program can begin by registering online here starting at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Feb. 15, according to the company.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft Offers Small Businesses Free Web Sites and More

Microsoft hopes to charm small businesses with a new bundle of software and services called Office Live, available for public beta testing starting today. The star of the show is a free, basic Web site for your company--courtesy of Microsoft and some third-party ads that will run on the page. Office Live will also offer monthly subscriptions to a bundle of 20 Web-based "applications," many of which are templates for organizing and sharing information online.

Free Web Hosting

The Office Live Basics Web site offer will appeal to small businesses pressed for time and money, though it's not a new idea. Yahoo has offered free Web pages to small-business owners since spring 2005, for example, although Microsoft's page templates have more eye-appeal.


After you sign up for the Microsoft service (using either your Microsoft Passport or MSN account and the Internet Explorer browser), it's easy to use the service's point-and-click site-design tool, which features many visual examples of page layouts and color schemes. Unfortunately, the templates' basic stock photos are anything but cutting edge or artsy.


Microsoft will supply the domain name of your choosing (assuming it's available). You also get five e-mail accounts at that domain. Basic site management and analysis tools are included. The company insists that the ads it places on your site will be relevant to small-business customers and will not relate to any of the three "D"s--diet, dating, or debt.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft Offers Free Beta of Office Live

Microsoft today announced a public beta of its new Office Live hosted service. Microsoft plans to offer the service in three versions, one of which will be advertising-supported and free of charge to customers.

Customers who want to participate in the beta program may register to receive it here.


All three versions-Microsoft Office Live Basics, Microsoft Office Live Collaboration, and Microsoft Office Live Essentials--will be a part of the beta program. Office Live Basics will be free, while pricing for the other two will start at a subscription price of $29.95 a month.


Microsoft introduced its Office Live service last November when it announced its strategy to provide more Web-based services branded under the "Live" moniker. At the time, there were scant details about what Office Live would exactly offer.

[Rasputin]

Gates Outlines ID Management for Vista, XP

SAN FRANCISCO-Microsoft plans to include technology in both Windows Vista and Windows XP for allowing users to manage their passwords and identities across multiple Web sites, according to the company's Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates.

Gates discussed Microsoft's plans for the technology, code-named InfoCard, today during a keynote at the RSA Conference 2006 in San Jose, California. The technology acts as a "wallet" where users can store the identity and password information for how they would like to be identified on various Web sites, said Michael Stephenson, Microsoft's director of product management for identity and access, in an interview following Gates's keynote.


Using InfoCard will eliminate the need for users to remember multiple identities and passwords for Web sites with which they do business, he said. It also will help them manage what information is provided across those sites.

Multiple Web Site Problems

Companies have been trying to solve the problem of managing authentication and identities across multiple Web sites as e-commerce, online banking, and other online business has become increasingly pervasive. Microsoft first discussed its plans for a technology like InfoCard last year, but Tuesday was the first time the company articulated how it might work.

[Rasputin]

Google Page Creator Closed to New Users

Google launched an early test version of a Web page creation and hosting service on Thursday and hours later stopped accepting sign-ups, citing overwhelming demand.

The Mountain View, California, search giant describes the free Google Page Creator as a browser-based tool that requires no knowledge of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or any other programming languages.

Google promises that non-technical users can create, in a matter of minutes, "attractive, functional" Web pages, which the company will then host for free. No software has to be downloaded.

Hitting Its Limits

Google all along intended to accept a limited number of users in this early test phase, and it reached that limit within hours of making the service available on Thursday, the company said in a statement.


Google expects to resume accepting sign-ups "very soon" and has set up a waiting list online.

[Rasputin]

AskJeeves fires its butler, speeds up Web search

The loyal butler is gone.

AskJeeves.com said on Monday that it has retired Jeeves, its mascot servant, and will now answer the door simply as Ask.com, adopting a self-service approach for users looking for a focused way to search the Web beyond guessing keywords.

The new Ask.com features a slick, do-it-yourself toolbox that helps users refine more types of searches with the first click of their computer mouse for maps, images, dictionaries, weather, local info or documents stored on their computers.

Users can select from up to 20 different types of specialized search tools Ask.com has developed. Later this year, Ask will encourage outside developers to build tools to perform more specialized searches, the company said.

More popular rival search sites from Google, Yahoo or MSN require multiple clicks to reach such specialized information.

"Other engines just do 10 blue links and ads around them. We have really gone a lot further," Jim Lanzone, general manager of Ask.com, said in an interview.

"Users are going to experience a search engine that does more for them faster than any other search engine they use."

AskJeeves, the fourth most popular U.S. Internet search site, started out in 1996 by promising concrete answers to questions posed by Web users. Jeeves, the butler character, was meant to symbolize this theoretically better form of service.

A novelty for many Web users at first, AskJeeves struggled to attract a regular following. Having computers answer questions proved harder than many users first hoped.

[Rasputin]

Google joins National Archives for video

LOS ANGELES- The National Archives and Google are teaming up to allow unprecedented access to historical film properties for free with just the click of a mouse.

Through a pilot program, U.S. archivist Allen Weinstein has collaborated with Google Video to compile an online library of 103 films, including movies, documentaries and other cinematic creations formerly unavailable to those who can't make the trip to Washington, D.C.

"This is an important step to achieve our goal to become an archive without walls," Weinstein said. "For the first time, the public will be able to view this collection of rare and unusual films on the Internet emphasizing the importance of providing access to records anytime, anywhere."

The diverse assemblage of titles can be accessed via Google Video as well as the National Archives Web site. They range from U.S. government newsreels documenting World War II to NASA-produced documentaries on the history of the space program. The earliest film preserved in the archives, 1894's "Carmencita -- Spanish Dance" featuring the famous Spanish gypsy dancer, also is included.

"Whether in San Francisco or Bangladesh, students and researchers can watch remarkable video such as World War II newsreels and the story of Apollo 11 -- the historic first landing on the Moon," said Sergey Brin, co-founder and president of technology at Google.

[Rasputin]

Napster rues Microsoft, player glitches

NEW YORK- Technical glitches by Microsoft and the digital music device makers have hampered Napster Inc.'s ability to close the gap with Apple's iTunes, the dominant online music service, Napster's chief executive said on Tuesday.

"There is no question that their execution has been less than brilliant over the last 12 months," Napster Chairman and Chief Executive Chris Gorog said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.

"Our business does rely on Microsoft's digital rights management software and our business model also relies on Microsoft's ecosystem of device manufacturers," he added.

Microsoft Corp., he noted, had to grapple with the complexities of dealing with a number of different services and device makers.

"It's a lot more complex to get organized properly than it is to build one device and one service as Apple has done," Gorog said. "It's always been painful at the introduction of new technologies. But it always takes shape like it's done in the past."

Gorog, whose company has one of the best known names in the business but has failed to put a dent in Apple Computer Inc.'s 80 percent market share, argued that eventually the "Microsoft ecosystem" and its Windows Media format will prevail, with new devices on the way from firms like Samsung and Sony.

"Ultimately, the consumer electronics giants ... are all going to come to this Windows Media party," he said. "This is really going to be the ubiquitous format."

Apple's seamless combination of music player and download service has not yet faced a significant challenge from devices made by companies like Samsung, Sony or Creative, or from services such as Napster or RealNetworks' Rhapsody, which offer monthly subscription plans using a Microsoft format.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft says better than Google soon

PARIS- Microsoft will introduce a search engine better than Google in six months in the United States and Britain followed by Europe, its European president said on Wednesday.

"What we're saying is that in six months' time we'll be more relevant in the U.S. market place than Google," said Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"The quality of our search and the relevance of our search from a solution perspective to the consumer will be more relevant," he told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.

But being good is not enough to win the hearts and minds of consumers already dedicated to another standard.

U.S. courts and the European Commission found Microsoft countered that problem by trying to kill off Netscape's browser and RealNetworks audiovisual software by bundling its competing code into Windows, violating antitrust laws.

But bundling would find little purchase against Google because it lives insulated from Microsoft on the Web, unlike other applications that were easy game for the software giant as they perched directly on Windows.

Holloway said that the company has no plans to integrate its search engine into Vista, the new Microsoft Windows operating system set to replace Windows XP later this year or early next year

[Rasputin]

Google, ABC team for Net, mobile news

LOS ANGELES- Google is venturing further into the mobile and online news spaces by offering users expanded resources and access to up-to-the-nanosecond headlines.

Through a deal with ABC News, Google will provide live daily webcasts of "World News Now" with rankings on the day's top search terms and the most popular stories on Google News.

In addition to the ABC News deal, mobile subscribers with Internet-capable phones who visit Google.com, will now find a link directing them to a page devoted to headlines from a variety of news outlets. Users can search by subject, though only story content designed to be viewed on mobile devices is included.

The initiatives join recent mobile and online initiatives taken by CBS Corp. and ABC.

This week, CBS debuted CBS Alerts, a subscription wireless service that sends breaking news alerts to subscribers.

Other Google mobile services include Gmail Mobile, a homepage personalization option and local for mobile, which features maps, driving directions and satellite imagery.