Those waiting for a solution to use the iPhone on a network other than AT&T may have found it: a six-man team has claimed to crack the SIM lock. This means the iPhone will work on T-Mobile and other GSM carriers overseas.
[ View ]
Microsoft Technology Playground- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Seagate: Solid-State Disks Will Never Replace Magnetic Storage
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceA statement to BetaNews today by one of Seagate Technology’s top managers indicates that some of the content of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal story — whose original online headline was “Seagate to Enter Flash Memory Market,” prior to having been edited — may have been inaccurate.
[ View ]
Open XML stumbles in India
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceA technical committee in India unanimously rejected Microsoft’s Office Open XML file format as a standard, ahead of a vote on Sept. 2 by the ISO on whether to approve Open XML as an international standard.
However, the rejection may be temporary should Microsoft meet some of the objections to Open XML raised by committee members.
The technical committee was set up by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India’s national standards body, which is a founder member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and represents India at the international standards organization.
“There were a large number of technical objections raised about Open XML, and many of which Microsoft was not able to address at this point,” said D.B. Phatak, professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai. One of the objections was that Open XML was not fully compatible with OpenDocument Format (ODF), a rival existing ISO standard, he added. IIT Mumbai is a member of the technical committee.
New DRM scheme will let consumers stream cable TV over home networks
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceCable subscribers should soon be able to stream cable TV programming over their home networks, as CableLabs has announced its approval of a new streaming protocol. Called DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Copy Protection), the new spec will use DRM to lock down content to ensure that it doesn’t escape the cozy confines of cable subscribers’ homes.
The announcement of DTCP-IP comes after months of wrangling between CableLabs, the Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator, and a handful of movie studios including Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, and Paramount.
Here’s what consumers will get: they will be able to move content across their home networks for viewing on devices that aren’t attached to a set-top box. That will include PCs as well as portable devices, and high-definition and video-on-demand programming will be covered by DTCP-IP.
[ View ]
Software Developers Successfully Unlock iPhone
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceThose waiting for a solution to use the iPhone on a network other than AT&T may have found it: a six-man team has claimed to crack the SIM lock. This means the iPhone will work on T-Mobile and other GSM carriers overseas.
[ View ]
Seagate: Solid-State Disks Will Never Replace Magnetic Storage
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceA statement to BetaNews today by one of Seagate Technology’s top managers indicates that some of the content of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal story — whose original online headline was “Seagate to Enter Flash Memory Market,” prior to having been edited — may have been inaccurate.
[ View ]
India passes US to become Nokia’s No. 2 market for mobile phones
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceIndia overtook the U.S. in the second quarter to become Nokia’s second-largest market, reflecting the rapid growth of mobile phone use in the country. China remained Nokia’s biggest market worldwide.
The Indian market has been growing at a fast pace. The country added 7.3 million cellphone subscribers in June, taking the total to 185.1 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Nokia’s announcement Thursday coincided with a visit to the country by its president and CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. The company did not provide actual sales figures.
Nokia set up a manufacturing facility at its Telecom Park in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, to help tap the growth. The factory has produced 60 million handsets since it opened 18 months ago. Half of those are sold domestically, with the other half exported to the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, a Nokia spokeswoman said.
Migrating from Windows to Linux: the gentle guide
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceWhile we completely support Windows here at WinBeta, there are still many Windows users out there who are very interested in giving Linux a try and seeing how it stacks up against Microsoft’s products. The following guide is as good a place to start as any:
Linux has long been held in mystique as an operating system for hard-core techies or hackers. Yet, this is far from true for today’s distros. A modern version of Linux is as easy to setup and use as the Macintosh is legendary for. Here’s reasons why people stick to Windows and how those factors can be solved in what we like to call a ‘gentle’ approach to Linux.
[ View ]
Open XML stumbles in India
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceA technical committee in India unanimously rejected Microsoft’s Office Open XML file format as a standard, ahead of a vote on Sept. 2 by the ISO on whether to approve Open XML as an international standard.
However, the rejection may be temporary should Microsoft meet some of the objections to Open XML raised by committee members.
The technical committee was set up by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India’s national standards body, which is a founder member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and represents India at the international standards organization.
“There were a large number of technical objections raised about Open XML, and many of which Microsoft was not able to address at this point,” said D.B. Phatak, professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai. One of the objections was that Open XML was not fully compatible with OpenDocument Format (ODF), a rival existing ISO standard, he added. IIT Mumbai is a member of the technical committee.
Facebook’s ad plan: With or without Microsoft?
August 24, 2007 — meratechspaceFacebook is one of the highest-profile clients of Microsoft’s fledgling online advertising business. However, a story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, says the social networking site is also working on a next-generation advertising system of its own, with ads tailored more specifically to the interests of its users.
The move “could upset Microsoft, which is itself trying to build technology to make it easier for advertisers to place targeted ads on Facebook,” the story says, adding that Microsoft declined to comment. At the same time, it notes that the agreement with Microsoft runs through 2011.
Also interesting are the financial details in the story, reporting that privately held Facebook is on pace for $30 million in profit this year, and $150 million in revenue, about half of it from the Microsoft advertising deal. That’s a profit margin of 20 percent.
This isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, but the last time Microsoft’s Online Services Business posted an operating profit, in December 2005, its profit margin was less than 10 percent.
[ View ]
