Posts Tagged ‘microsoft’

Week in Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 and Internet Explorer 9

// March 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Let’s look back at the week that was in Microsoft news. Here were the top stories: Microsoft shows off Windows Phone 7 Series dev tools at MIX10 : Microsoft’s MIX10 Developer Conference kicked off with much ado about Windows Phone 7 Series and Silverlight 4. Ars reports from Las Vegas. Platform Preview gives Web developers first taste of IE9 : Microsoft has released the Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview for Web developers to start playing around with Internet Explorer 9. Microsoft is promising to update it approximately every eight weeks with the latest IE9 builds. Read the comments on this post

IE9, standards, and why Acid3 isn’t the priority

// March 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Microsoft’s development direction of Internet Explorer 9 is unambiguous: implementing HTML5 web standards is the name of the game, with the intent of letting developers use the “same markup” to work everywhere. As IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said at MIX10 this week, “We love HTML5 so much we actually want it to work.” Redmond is targeting real-world applications based on real-world data. For example, every single JavaScript and DOM API used by the top 7,000 websites was recorded. IE9 will deliver support for every API used by those sites. Read the comments on this post

Aliens in the garden: the secret origin of Plants vs. Zombies

// March 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

It goes without saying that we love Plants vs. Zombies here at Ars Technica, especially the pocket-sized iPhone version of the game that was just released. If you haven’t played it, you can download the free demo here and even get 10 percent off if you decide to buy the full game. It’s a bizarre, funny, and addictive strategy title with a quirky art style, but the most surprising thing about it is that it was originally supposed to be an entirely different game. What many gamers don’t realize is that Plants vs. Zombies started out as a sequel to Insaniquarium , a strategy game that involves growing an aquarium’s population while simultaneously protecting the fishes from an alien invasion. PopCap recently shared some original concept sketches for with us, and the evolution from sequel to fully original title is fascinating. Read the comments on this post

Here’s your chance to play StarCraft 2 this weekend

// March 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

It’s Friday, and if you’re like me there is some question of what game you’re going to play over the weekend. Or maybe you’re looking forward to playing with your children or spending time with your wife? You should scuttle any plan you have of going outside into the daystar, because we have something very special to give away. You see, Blizzard has invited us to, well, invite a friend to the StarCraft 2 beta. I could slam that code on eBay and make a few hundred dollars, but instead I am choosing to share it with you. Why? Because you’re my friends, right? Here’s how you win: simply send an e-mail to giveaways@arstechnica.com with the subject line “Beta rush kekekekeke,” and inside answer a simple question: Why couldn’t I go to visit Blizzard to play the single player portion of the game when Ars Technica was invited to do so? We’ll choose one e-mail at random, and check it for the correct answer. If it’s incorrect, we’ll simply draw again. We hope everyone is having a good Friday, and we hope to see you online this weekend! Read the comments on this post

Amazon threatens more publishers with freeze-out over prices

// March 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Earlier this year, Amazon found itself in a showdown over e-book pricing with publisher Macmillan, which wanted the ability to set pricing for its works. Amazon initially pulled all of Macmillan’s titles off its virtual shelves but, a few days later, conceded there was little it could do —Macmillan’s works went back on sale, and Amazon apparently gave up on trying to force its prices on the company. Despite that rousing lack of success, reports are now indicating that several other publishers may get the same treatment, as Amazon is threatening to stop selling their works as well. Indications of an ongoing fight between Amazon and book publishers were apparent almost as soon as the Macmillan matter was settled . Amazon had been purchasing e-books from publishers at a wholesale rate, which allowed it to set the retail prices; rumor had it that the company was selling works at a loss in order to push Kindle sales. Publishers, which have an obvious interest in keeping prices for their work higher, were certainly not pleased with this approach. Read the comments on this post

Microsoft starts to talk SP1 for Windows 7, Server 2008 R2

// March 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Microsoft began to talk about Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 today, though the company wasn’t yet ready to announce a beta or release timeline for the service pack. Rumors pegged SP1 beta for arrival this month . For Windows Server 2008 R2, the company revealed two new features that directly affect Microsoft’s desktop virtualization platform: Microsoft Dynamic Memory and Microsoft RemoteFX . For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates: mostly hotfixes already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 will, however, feature an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Microsoft says it will be giving more detailed information regarding SP1 over the next several months. Read the comments on this post

Microsoft removes VM hardware requirements, improves XP mode

// March 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Microsoft made a slew of virtualization announcements today, affecting both current and future products. Arguably the most important tidbit is that the company has removed the virtualization layer’s hardware requirements for the XP Mode available in Windows 7. Those already running XP Mode don’t need to bother updating since they already have it working, but users who were unsure of their PC hardware can grab the update and try out XP Mode on Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate. The update is available for Windows 7 32-bit (3.7MB) and Windows 7 64-bit (4.1MB). Microsoft has been criticized for complicating things by having XP Mode only work on processors that supported either Intel’s VT or AMD’s AMD-V. This requirement was troublesome and confusing, as many Intel owners weren’t sure if their CPU supported hardware virtualization, and if it did, whether it was turned on in the BIOS. Now that problem has been eliminated, removing a barrier to the adoption of Windows 7 among small and mid-size businesses that still cling to Windows XP. Read the comments on this post

150,000 take FCC broadband speed test in first week

// March 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

The FCC has had it with ISPs. For more than a decade, the agency has relied on ISP reports to get a picture of broadband speeds and availability in the US, and the results have been uniformly terrible. The ISPs don’t want to report numbers detailed enough to be useful, so the feds finally dropped a pile of cash on the table last year to do some proper broadband mapping. Last week, the FCC went a step further, rolling out tools for Android, the iPhone, and the Web that enable users to test—and, crucially, to report—their broadband speeds. In addition, it decided to fund a third-party measurement company that will use hardware devices to test actual line speeds in tens of thousands of US homes. It’s all about the data, and the FCC is determined to get it one way or another. Read the comments on this post

Unitasking in a sandbox: Windows Phone 7 Series’ philosophy

// March 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

Windows Mobile 6.x can multitask, and it can run applications written in native code. Windows Phone 7 Series can do neither of these things. The reasons are not philosophical, however: Microsoft has no problem with either concept per se . They’re practical. The hardware is powerful enough. The underlying operating system, Windows CE 6, can multitask just fine. The built-in applications also have multitasking capabilities—mobile IE will, for example, continue to download pages in the background, and the Zune application will play music in the background. Where multitasking is absent is with third-party software. Though this has been expected for weeks, it’s only with the release of the development environment that positive official confirmation has arrived: any time the Start hardware button is pressed (which returns the phone to the Start screen), the current third-party application is terminated. Read the comments on this post

Microsoft to appeal $106 million VirnetX patent verdict

// March 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech News

VirnetX , a software corporation founded in 2005, has prevailed in a patent-infringement lawsuit accusing Microsoft of willfully infringing on two patents for automatic and secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology. The Texas jury recommended an award of $105.75 million, which is less than half of the $242 million that VirtnetX asked for. Still, the verdict was a very positive one for VirtnetX. “Our clients are very happy with today’s verdict,” said VirnetX counsel Douglas Cawley in a statement. “We hope this decision sends a clear message to patent infringers everywhere that they will be held responsible for wrongly profiting off the hard work of others.” Microsoft is not happy with the decision and plans to fight on. “We are disappointed by the jury’s verdict,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. “We respect others’ intellectual property, and we believe the evidence demonstrated that we do not infringe and the patents are invalid. We believe the award of damages is legally and factually unsupported, so we will ask the court to overturn the verdict.”  The case was tried in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the favored venue for patent infringement cases. In its original lawsuit filed in February 2007 , VirnetX alleged that Microsoft Office Communicator included technology covered by its patent No. 6,502,135 and that Windows Meeting Space infringed its patent No. 7,188,180 . The $105.75 million breaks down as $71.75 million for the former and $34 million for the latter, according to the Scotts Valley, California company. VirnetX acquired the rights to the patents from the government-contracting company Science Applications International in 2006. Microsoft accused VirnetX of being a patent troll during the trial, and it was revealed that the company’s business model was based on winning the lawsuit, though it does have a licensing agreement with VeriSign. Read the comments on this post

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