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Out: Google TV, In: Microsoft TV?

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It looks like Microsoft is no longer going to sit on the sidelines and watch Apple and Google eat up the TV market all too themselves.

Apparently the software giant is attempting to invade the TV space, but unlike their rivals (or rather Google), Microsoft may actually be able to conquer this market.

Microsoft has reportedly entered into talks with media companies like Disney and HBO to offer a pay television service through its device platform, including the XBox 360, but possibly extending to other devices like Windows 7 PCs and even Windows Phone 7 devices. Although no official comments or announcements have been made, Reuters reports that Microsoft has put several options on the table, including enabling customers to pick what premium television channels they want in an a la carte manner—something cable customers have been demanding for years, but have never received. But TV fans shouldn’t hold their breath: the service, if it materializes, could be as much a a year away. (Digitrends)

Instead of creating a whole new device to hook up to your TV, Microsoft is taking the shrewed path by utilizing both Xbox 360 as well as Windows Phone 7.

While the Xbox integration is a no brainer, allowing smartphone users to view television upon their phone could give Microsoft another edge over its Android and iOS rivals (note: the iPhone does have apps that provide a similar service, although truth be told the app is rather sub par).

Although the company has refused to confirm or deny the rumors surround the Microsoft TV reports, they may want to consider “speeding up” the process before Apple decides to redouble their efforts in the television arena.

Originally posted on November 29, 2010 @ 2:54 pm

FCC Joins Google, Caves In On Net Neutrality

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For those of you in America hoping that the FCC would defy pressure from Congress and implement net neutrality without Google’s help may need a shoulder to cry upon as it looks like the government is officially giving up.

Mr. Genachowski said Wednesday his proposal would forbid major Internet broadband providers from secretly blocking or interfering with “lawful Internet traffic.”

But in a concession to broadband providers, the chairman’s new proposal, which will go before the rest of the commission on Dec. 21, would allow the industry to continue to charge higher rates for higher levels of access and gives the companies the right to continue to limit access as needed to better manage the demands on their networks.

The proposed new regulations also backed away from earlier plans to extend control over the mobile phone industry. (Washington Times)

Although Genachowski is attempting to spin this as some sort of positive development, truth be told it’s unlikely that event he watered down version of the bill will survive as it pleases no one (and will face attack from conservatives and progressives ensuring its death).

With even the mighty Google giving up on net neutrality, it looks like folks in the US will continue to be at the mercy of their carriers (assuming they have more than two choices available), which may lead to a more costly internet in the future instead of a more affordable one.

Originally posted on December 2, 2010 @ 4:09 pm

Dell Makes Netbooks Cool Again (Inspiron Duo)

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Ever since Apple graced the masses with the iPad, the demand for netbooks has more or less evaporated, as companies were forced to either reduce prices further (and lose out on profits) or attempt to reinvent what was once seen as the “poor man’s” laptop.

It looks like one company has chosen to do the latter, which a few Microsoft employees were able to demo for the rest of the world (note: video is from Dell, not Microsoft).

The core of the duo’s uniqueness is the screen itself; rather than have a convertible screen that is hinged at a single point on the chassis and rotates laterally, the duo’s lid is fixed and the screen rotates inside the bezel[.] […]

I found the duo comfortable to work on – the tight 1366 x 768 resolution, even on the 10” viewable screen area, was easy to read, and 12” body offers up a keyboard that was big enough to type on without my fingers cramping. Sound was impressively good for something this diminutive and I enjoyed singing along to the new Zac Brown Band album on Zune.  My office mates, however, did not.

In touch mode, the duo is a capable entertainment companion.  When you flip it to reveal the touchscreen, a finger friendly interface called “Dell Stage” pops up, and gives you one-touch access to your photos, movies, the Blio reader, and games.   It’s an unobtrusive overlay to Windows 7’s standard interface that’s there when you want it to be there, and hidden when you don’t. (Windows Team Blog)

The Inspiron Duo starts at $549 and may actually prove to be a serious contender against the iPad, although that depends upon how well Microsoft Windows 7 works with the netbook tablet laptop (or whatever one wants to call it).

Dell’s visionary netbook also boasts plenty of space by offering a 250 GB hard drive as well as 2 GB of RAM.

Truth be told however I’m not so sure if that last fact matters as the netbook is sporting an Atom processor which honestly are not the best processors for computers (smartphones are a different matter however).

While this netbook could prove to be a holiday blockbuster for Dell, it may also be the company’s ticket to compete against not only Apple, but HP as well (the latter who is creating a tablet for Windows 7 as well as webOS).

Originally posted on November 18, 2010 @ 5:24 pm

Google Listens To Reason, Makes Google Apps More Relevant

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After unveiling Google Apps to the masses many years ago, it looks like the search engine giant has finally decided to expand its official catalogue by including a variety of other services ranging from Google Voice to even Blogger.

Starting today, customers worldwide can access a full spectrum of services from Google—including more than 60 productivity-boosting applications that extend far beyond any traditional software suite.

Coupled with the ability for administrators to provide different sets of applications to different groups of users, the possibilities for empowering workers in new ways are remarkable. For example, you could equip your marketing team with Picasa Web Albums so they can collect and share photos from customer appreciation events, and let that team publish your company’s blog with Blogger. Services like iGoogle and Alerts, on the other hand, may be broadly useful, and could be enabled for your whole organization. (Google Small Business Blog)

Despite the fact that companies and not-for-profit organizations can already install a variety of third party apps from the market place, there were not many Google services available for users, which (truth be told) was rather frustrating.

The edition of extra services like Picasa Albums, Blogger and Google Voice should help the search giant compete better against rivals like Microsoft and Facebook (both who have been tag teaming Google recently).

Google Apps is currently available for free, although users wanting greater security can purchase their premium services for $50/year per user.

Originally posted on November 18, 2010 @ 2:16 pm

Windows Phone 7 Throwing Road Block For Hackers?

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With developers excited about Windows Phone 7 and hackers attempting to jailbreak the device, it looks like Windows Phone 7 users desiring to create a custom ROM will have a serious hurdle to overcome thanks to three simple letters.

Although there have been reports of people porting over WP7 to the HTC HD2 and some chatter of people being able to make ROMs  (though not load them), there may yet be one final hurdle that could be very difficult to overcome: PVK.

PVK are the private keys Microsoft evidently uses to sign off on the OS that is also tied to the hardware. Specifically, some aspect of the OS looks for and then pulls these keys from the device motherboard for verification. If the keys cannot be found, the motherboard must be replaced or serviced. While elements of the phone/OS might still work without the PVK key, core elements such as Xbox, Marketplace, Windows Live or Zune…basically any “cloud service” will not. (Windows Phone Central)

Truth be told the PVK barrier will not prevent hackers from finding a way to install a custom ROM upon the phone, although it could be awhile before we see one unveiled to the masses.

While Microsoft understandably has to protect their Marketplace, Xbox and Windows Live services from manipulation (for obvious reasons), hopefully they will provide greater efforts to work with the hacker community instead of against them.

Originally posted on November 22, 2010 @ 2:55 pm