I-Tech

Nokia to announce Microsoft deal, denies ditching Symbian

Nokia is denying reports claiming the company plans to ditch its Symbian software on smartphones in favour of its open source Maemo OS, but it will announce a new Microsoft partnership tomorrow.

The German edition of the Financial Times has reported that undisclosed Nokia sources claim “Symbian is much too cumbersome to keep up with modern operating systems. We have to react”

TechCrunch asserts that Nokia doesn’t trust its Symbian OS anymore and plans to move its new smartphones to the open source Maemo OS it uses in its internet tablets.

While several other news sources and bloggers have picked up on the story, tech writer Om Malik has refuted it (for now), writing that he contacted a Nokia spokesperson who said “We absolutely remain committed to Symbian and S60. Symbian remains our choice for smartphones and we’ll continue to see enhancements that further the value and experiences on this platform.”

“However, recognizing that the value we bring to the consumer is increasingly represented through software, there is logically not just one software environment that fits all consumer and market needs,” the spokesperson said. “In addition, as we’ve stated before, we also continue to explore opportunities around a new class of devices that we see as the next segment of high performance mobile devices. Maemo is very much part of that thinking but of course there’s nothing new to announce in this regard.”

Meanwhile Nokia is set to announce a deal with Microsoft tomorrow morning (NZ time) that looks set to bring the mobile version of Microsoft Office 2010 to Nokia’s smartphones.

Microsoft has previously said that it plans to offer browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote with its upcoming version of Office that will work in Firefox and Safari as well as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Under the Nokia / Microsoft alliance, the upcoming Office 2010 might be ported to Nokia’s Symbian S60 smartphone platform, reports ComputerWorld NZ.

“Or, less likely, mobile Office 2010 might be set to run on the Maemo mobile Linux operating system that Nokia also supports.”

Nokia has also denied reports that it will adopt Google’s Android OS, but with the amount of sustained criticism of the ageing Symbian OS, combined with the quantity of rumours flying of its move to at least some form of open source OS, it seems likely the company will pull something out of its hat at the upcoming Nokia World Conference in September.

Source: NBR

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IE6 – time enough?

Microsoft is sticking to its guns over its continued support of the much maligned IE6, insisting that it ‘keeps its commitments’.

The debate over whether the internet should shun Internet Explorer 6, which still holds a significant proportion of internet traffic, has been raging for some time.

Microsoft has long held that it will not abandon users who are still on IE6, despite the pressure to force an upgrade to a more modern browser.

Dean Hachamovitch, on the official IE blog, insists that this stance simply will not change, despite the company’s desire that people move onto IE8.

“Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product.”

Commitments

“We keep our commitments. Many people expect what they originally got with their operating system to keep working whatever release cadence particular subsystems have.

“As engineers, we want people to upgrade to the latest version. We make it as easy as possible for them to upgrade.

“Ultimately, the choice to upgrade belongs to the person responsible for the PC.”

According to Microsoft’s own lifespan policy, support for all programs lasts for 10 years, meaning that it will continue to back IE6 until 2011.

Source: TechRadar

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Microsoft will own 3% of Publicis

Technology giant Microsoft is to sell its digital advertising arm Razorfish to French advertising company Publicis.

Under the deal, estimated to be worth $530m (£318m), Microsoft has to make minimum future spending with Razorfish.

Microsoft will receive 3% of Publicis, which is the fourth largest advertising firm in the world.

Microsoft took over Razorfish when it bought aQuantive, the parent firm of three digital marketing firms, as part of a wider $6bn acquisition in 2007.

“The acquisition of Razorfish is another step forward in realizing our strategic vision of building a world leader in digital communications, a critically important space for our clients,” said Maurice Levy, chief executive of Publicis Groupe.

Digital communication will account for around a quarter of Publicis’s revenue after the deal, up from 21%.

Key clients for Razorfish include Ford, McDonald’s and Best Buy.

Source: BBC News

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Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the next versions of its flagship desktop and server operating systems.

With the completion of this development phase, industry partners are readying products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general launches. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. As always, current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in the coming weeks.

Microsoft will make the announcement on its Windows Team and Windows Server Blogs later today. More information about today’s news is available via the following links:

• Windows Team Blog, http://windowsteamblog.com
• Windows Server Blog, http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver
• Partner Web sites, http://readyset7.com and http://talkingaboutwindows.com/Default.aspx
• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for businesses, http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.aspx and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2.aspx

Source: Microsoft Co.

written by admin \\ tags: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that prices for the Windows 7 computer operating system are largely in line with those for Vista, and that people who buy PCs before the new system goes on sale in October will get free upgrades.

To drum up demand among people who aren’t in the market for a new PC, Microsoft also said it is taking limited pre-orders for Windows 7, selling some for as little as $50.

People who buy Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate computers starting Friday can contact their manufacturer for a free upgrade when Windows 7 becomes available on Oct. 22.

As a result, Microsoft said it will defer recognition of an expected $200 million to $300 million in Windows revenue until later quarters.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker said it will cost people $120 to upgrade their existing machines to the Windows 7 Home Premium version, $10 less than the comparable Windows Vista package. Upgrades to the Professional and Ultimate versions will cost $200 and $220 respectively, the same as Vista.

The cost is identical regardless of whether the upgraded machine was running Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Versions meant to be installed from scratch on a computer will cost $200, $300 and $320 for Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate.

By comparison, Apple Inc. said in early June that upgrades to its newest operating system, called Mac OS X Snow Leopard, will cost $30.

For customers buying new machines, the cost of the Windows software is typically included in the purchase price. The prices announced Thursday are for people who buy Windows separately or upgrade from older versions.

Microsoft is hoping Windows 7’s debut will be much smoother than Vista’s. The current operating system was plagued by delays; when it finally launched in January 2007, many people complained it was sluggish and didn’t work with existing devices and programs.

This time, to goose early sales and build buzz, Microsoft is cutting the price by about half for people who pre-order upgrade software for Home Premium ($50) and Professional ($100).

The sale will start Friday in the U.S., Canada and Japan, and on July 15 in the U.K., France and Germany. It will last for about two weeks, or as long as allotted copies of the software last.

People can buy the software on Microsoft’s download site or at retailers including Best Buy Co. Inc., which said it is limiting sales to three per customer.

Microsoft would not say how much it will cost to upgrade from a lesser version of Windows 7 to a more robust one. The company also declined to say what effect Windows 7 prices will have on netbooks, a popular category of small, inexpensive laptops. The low prices are possible in part because they run the older, cheaper Windows XP.

Microsoft said this month it is making a version of Windows for Europe that does not come with Internet Explorer, its Web browser, in an attempt to ward off sanctions from antitrust regulators there.

Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president for Windows marketing, said Microsoft hasn’t had time to polish upgrade software for Europe, so it plans to sell the full version of Windows 7 to European Union consumers at upgrade prices at least through December.

Source: Yahoo News

written by admin \\ tags: windows7