Microsoft Finalizes Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 Code

Microsoft on Wednesday finalized the code for its Windows 7 client OS and Windows Server 2008 R2, sending both products to manufacturing on schedule.

outlined in a blog post Tuesday how its various sets of customers can get the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version of the client OS either August 6, 7, 16, or 23, depending on who they are.

As far as Windows Server 2008 R2's RTM goes, Microsoft's partners will get the code in the next few days, according to a blog post by Microsoft.

Customers with enterprise agreements and volume-licensing agreements will get it sometime in September, followed by the general availability of both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 on Oct. 22, Iain McDonald, general manager of the Windows Server division, said in an interview Wednesday.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are built on the same kernel and networking stack, but that doesn't mean Microsoft expects all customers to upgrade to both of them and deploy them together, he said.

To some customers it will make sense to do so, but if it's not part of a company's upgrade cycle to move to both systems it won't be the end of the world, McDonald said. "I want them on our platform more than I need them on our latest version," he said.

However, there are some features of Windows 7 that will run better if deployed on its complementary server release, McDonald said. One example of such a feature is Direct Access, which allows someone working independently of a corporate network to turn on a Windows 7 PC and have it automatically connect to a corporate network without deploying any application or signing in to the connection, he said.

There are some key differences between the latest Windows client and server releases and the previous release cycle. It's the first time since the Windows NT server release and the Windows 2000 client OS release that Microsoft has not doubled the requirements of the hardware systems the OSes run on, McDonald said.

"We did some things behind the covers to make things run great and pulled these off without the need to double the system requirements," he said, something people will particularly notice with Windows 7.

Microsoft also looped partners into the feedback and testing process of both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 sooner than ever before, a move that could be particularly important to the adoption of the client OS.

Windows Vista, the current Windows client release, was skipped by many business customers and also took a hit in the consumer market due to the emergence of netbooks as a popular replacement to the full-sized PC. Windows Vista did not run well on netbooks, which run XP or Linux.

Philip Osako, director of product marketing for Microsoft OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partner Toshiba, said Windows Vista's performance on netbooks was not considered as Microsoft was building that OS. However, with Windows 7, Toshiba tested the performance of the OS on netbooks as well as full-sized PCs, and Microsoft took the company's feedback under serious consideration.

Microsoft also specifically added new features to Windows 7 based on feedback from Toshiba and other partners, which should bode well for its adoption, Osako said.

For example, Toshiba advised Microsoft that since many people were still running Windows XP, the company should include a feature in the OS to ensure application compatibility between that OS and Windows 7, he said. As a result, Microsoft created the Virtual XP mode feature of Windows 7 that allows older Windows applications to run on Windows 7 as if they were running on XP, Osako said.

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Google offers Moon’s 'guided tour'

Google marked the 40th anniversary of the first human footstep on the moon by adding virtual lunar exploration to its free online Earth map and imagery service.

The moon joins Earth, Mars, and Sky in an options list in an upper tool bar on the main Web page at earth.google.com. Aspiring lunar explorers will need Google Earth 5.0 software, which can be downloaded free.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the first person to walk on the moon, joined Google, X Prize Foundation, and NASA officials in Washington, DC, for the launch of Moon in Google Earth.

"Forty years ago, two human beings walked on the moon," said Moon in Google Earth product manager Michael Weiss-Malik.

"It's now possible for anyone to follow in their footsteps. We're giving hundreds of millions of people around the world unprecedented access to an interactive 3D presentation of the Apollo missions."

Moon in Google Earth meshes "Street View" style panoramic photographs and NASA video taken on the surface of the moon to create a virtual moonscape.

Apollo programme astronauts Jack Schmitt and Aldrin provided narration for online lunar tours.

"This tool will make it easier for millions of people to learn about space, our moon and some of the most significant and dazzling discoveries humanity has accomplished together," said X Prize Foundation trustee Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer.

"I believe that this educational tool is a critical step into the future, a way to both develop the dreams of young people globally, and inspire new audacious goals."

Moon incorporates images taken during Apollo missions and pictures from satellites.

Along with tours of the moon's surface, Google Earth's new feature shows "human artifacts" left there by space missions.

"We're excited to be a part of this latest chapter in Google's efforts to bring virtual exploration of the moon to anyone with a computer," said NASA Ames Research Center director Pete Worden.

The center is near Mountain View, California-based Google and has been collaborating with the Internet titan under the auspices of a Space Act Agreement signed in late 2006.

"With Google Earth, young explorers around the world can bounce around the galaxy in Sky, fly to Mars and now visit the moon from wherever they may be," Ansari said. "Outer space doesn't seem so far away anymore."

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Yahoo Home Page Gets a New Look

Yahoo today launched what some are calling a significant overhaul to its home page. Yahoo says the new home page is designed to help you stay on top of what is going on in your world, and on the rest of the planet. What the search company has really done, however, is tweaked its old design and added some new, more flexible features that just might pull more users into its sphere. This includes adding more personalized features and the ability to pull a wide range of third-party services into Yahoo in ways that weren't previously available.

Here's what's new:

My Favorites
The most significant change is in Yahoo's right-hand column, which has been renamed My Favorites. Under the old home page, this column was filled with Yahoo services including games, shopping, Yahoo personals and other features. The new design allows you to choose from a wide range of third-party sites and services, including Facebook, news sites, and e-Bay. Yahoo has also moved Yahoo Mail, Messenger, and other Yahoo service over to the "My Favorites" section. When you hover over any of these widgets, a display pops up with an advertisement and your information.

For me, the best functionality came with the Facebook widget. The widget is a full-functioning mini-Facebook, and looks a lot like the mobile version of the social network. It includes your full news feed, and links to your 'Events & Birthdays,' Profile, and Friends list. If you pull your cursor off the pop-out widget, the service will disappear after a second or two. A similar Facebook feature can also be embedded in your iGoogle account.

App Maker
In addition to the more than 65 widgets you can place on your new Yahoo homepage, you can also make your own. Just click on 'Add' at the bottom of the My Favorites list, and then at the very top of the widget list you can enter the Web address for anything you want to keep track of and give it your own name. If the import is successful, you now have a new widget on your home page.

Trend Setter
Taking its cue from Twitter's Trending Topics, Yahoo now features the current top ten favorite searches. The Trend Setter box is located on the top left of the home page, where users used to access their e-mail, messenger, games and weather under the old design.

Personalized News
The news tabs have moved down a bit, but now have a local news section. Just type in a U.S. City or Zip and Yahoo delivers news from local news outlets.

PC To Mobile Sync
This feature isn't available yet, but Yahoo says that soon your Yahoo mobile page will match the edits you've made on the desktop version.

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Sprint '4G' Hits Atlanta, Vegas, Portland In August

Not too surprisingly, Sprint's "4G" phone buildout is largely going to ride on the back of their spun-off Clearwire mobile WiMax venture. Sprint will essentially operate as an MVNO on the Clearwire network, offering a lot of gear that provides CDMA/EDGE, Mobile WiMaxm and Wi-Fi connectivity. Of course that means the Sprint next-gen broadband markets are likely going to mirror Clearwire's existing footprint, with networks commercially available in Atlanta, Las Vegas (which officially launched today), Portland and Baltimore.

With that in mind, it wasn't too surprising to see Sprint announce this morning that their faster 4G service will first be made available in Las Vegas, Portland and Atlanta starting in August after it first popped up in Baltimore last fall. According to Sprint, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia and Seattle will also see service this year. A few smaller markets you may have heard of will come online in 2010, like Boston, New York and DC.

While Sprint's EVDO service currently has a 5GB monthly limit, the company website insists the new service will be "unlimited." That word has been abused enough in this industry for users to be skeptical until they see more serious deployment. As for speed, Sprint says that the service will "deliver peak downlink speeds of more than 10 Mbps and average downlink speeds of 3-6 Mbps." Last December Sprint announced the availability of the U300 modem, which provides users with data access to both their EVDO and Mobile WiMax networks.

With Comcast also planning to offer wireless broadband powered by Clear, there's going to be an awful lot of re-branding, cross-purpose marketing and co-habitation going on in next few months. That could wind up confusing consumers -- and will seriously test the new Clearwire network. All of this hinges on how quickly Clearwire can get things deployed -- the operator is promising deployment to 80 markets over the next eighteen months.

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Intel Slashes Price Of SSDs

The price drop is the result of Intel moving the product line to a 34-nanometer manufacturing process for NAND flash memory used in solid-state drives.

Intel on Tuesday introduced its next-generation solid-state drives at a price that's 42% less than the previous models.

The price drop is the result of Intel moving the product line to a 34-nanometer manufacturing process for NAND flash memory used in SSDs from the 50-nm process used in making the previous generation. Also as a result of the shift, the die size of the memory is smaller and the engineering design more advanced, the chipmaker said.

"Our goal was to not only be first to achieve 34-nm NAND flash memory lithography, but to do so with the same or better performance than our 50-nm version," Randy Wilhelm, VP and general manager of the Intel NAND Solutions Group, said in a statement.

The Intel SSDs for mobile PCs come in two sizes, 2.5 inches and 1.8 inches, and offer either 80 GB or 160 GB of storage. The 2.5-inch drive is called the X25-M and the smaller is the X18-M.

Intel launched the 34-nm X25-M on Tuesday and expects to release the smaller model later in the quarter. Compared to the 50-nm version, the new X25-M offers a 25% reduction in latency and faster random write input/output operations per second, according to Intel. The SSD will also support Microsoft Windows 7 with a firmware update to be released later. Windows 7 is scheduled to ship in October.

The new X25-M and X18-M can replace current models in systems without modifications. They are also drop-in compatible with similar size hard-disk drives. The X25-M is available in quantities of 1,000 for $225 and $440 for the 80-GB and 160-GB models, respectively. The previous prices, announced in February, were $390 and $765, respectively.

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Samsung Marine B2100 mobile comes for Rs7030

This is the perfect phone for sportspeople, intrepid explorers and people working in demanding, noisy environments such as farmers, engineers or foremen. Packing in the hardiest durable features, the B2100 lends itself to suit any lifestyle and almost any condition.

Embodied in a slim, 0.7inch case, the B2100 is the slimmest submersible phone to be released on the market to date; quite an achievement when ticking off the rest of the technical spec-sheet of this sturdy and affordable phone.

The most notable feature of the B2100 is its resilience to water, shock and dust. The water-submergible features allow the B2100 to remain water resistant for up to one meter for half an hour. If this phone is put in a glass of water, it will still ring and remain fully functional once removed.

This can be partly attributed to its urethane casing which also gives the phone a comfortable grip and enables the handset to withstand harsh outdoor environments. The B2100 has an IP57 rating which rates its resistance to water and dust, the phone also displays a hardy resistance to bumps, scrapes and scuffs and provides the perfect outdoor mobile experience. Adaptable for even the toughest environments including blowing rain, salt fog, and extremely hot and cold temperatures, this phone is the perfect travel companion for adventure-seekers and those working in tenuous conditions.

The rugged handset is fitted with outdoor-friendly features such as loud external speakers, and noise cancellation which functions through a dedicated microphone. It also sports an impressive LED flash light - a necessary accessory for power-failures at home, outdoors and in the work-place. Samsung Mobile also throw in a free FM radio and camera with the LCD screen display which measures 120 x 160.
Features:

1. Expandable up to 8GB memory
2. Bluetooth
3. USB aid
4. Decent external speakers
5. 1.3Megapixel Camera
6. FM radio
7. Music player
8. Camcorder
9. Quick flash light
10. Battery backup offering up to 9.5 hours talk time.

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Gateway LT2000 Netbook Sports 10.1-Inch Screen

Gateway this morning extended its LT series to include its first Intel-based netbook. The LT2000 opts for familiar specifications with a 10-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, most of which help bring down the price significantly from the faster, larger LT3100. It does inherit the more expensive system's multi-touch trackpad to scroll using circular motions or to swipe through documents using two fingers.

The portable is outfitted with a webcam and a card reader but has a 3-cell battery that lasts for a strictly typical 3 hours of battery life. Gateway will sell the LT2000 in stores later today and is counting on price as a selling point, with black and red versions both selling for $300.

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Microsoft releases code for Linux drivers

Microsoft, which has been at odds with the Linux community over the years because of intellectual property issues, said on Monday it has released 20,000 lines of device driver code to the Linux kernel community.

Available for inclusion in the Linux tree, the code includes three Linux device drivers; it will be available to both the Linux community and customers. The drivers will enhance the performance of the Linux operating system when virtualized on Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 virtualization software or Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. Code will be offered under the GNU General Public License 2.

[ About two and a half years ago, Microsoft forged a Linux partnership with Novell that still generates controversy. ]

"We are seeing Microsoft communities and open source communities grow together, which is ultimately of benefit to our customers," said Microsoft's Sam Ramji, senior director of platform strategy in the company's Server and Tools organization, in a statement released by the company. "The Linux community, for example, has built a platform used by many customers. So our strategy is to enhance interoperability between the Windows platform and many open source technologies, which includes Linux, to provide the choices our customers are asking for."

"Today's release would have been unheard of from Microsoft a few years ago but it's a prime example that customer demand is a powerful catalyst for change," said Ramji.

Indeed, Microsoft has been involved in ongoing disagreements with open source advocates, with Microsoft claiming open source projects like Linux violate 235 Microsoft patents.

Ramji also cited the current economic climate as a driving force. "Many companies are turning to Microsoft more frequently to help them succeed in a heterogeneous technology world because we understand that reducing complexity is a key factor to reducing cost. We are seeing interoperability as a lever for business growth," Ramji said.

In a statement, the executive director of the Linux Foundation saw Microsoft's effort as validation of open source.

"We see the move by Microsoft to submit its device driver code to the Linux kernel as a validation of the open source development model and the GPLv2 license," said Executive Director Jim Zemlin. "Even if a bit overdue, we applaud Microsoft for recognizing the value of collaboration in order to compete in today's IT market."

An industry analyst concurred that the move was precedent-setting.

"This is a logical but precedent-setting decision for Microsoft. Credit Microsoft for recognizing the reality that a sizable portion of its customer base was going to be running Linux and Microsoft side by side in virtualized environments, so it would be important to be competitive on an interoperability front," said Stephen O'Grady, analyst at Redmonk.

"For all of its logic, however, this is a move that would have been inconceivable a few years ago, meaning that the glasnost of Microsoft vis a vis open source continues," O'Grady said.

Continuing a recent mantra of accommodations for open source, Tony Hey, corporate vice president of the external research division at Microsoft Research, will address the O'Reilly OSCON (Open Source Convention) audience in San Jose, Calif. this Thursday about the company's commitment to open access, open tools and interoperability in the "heterogeneous world of research," according to a statement from the company. Hey will discuss tools for scientists to process and analyze massive amounts of data to accelerate scientific discovery.

Microsoft also is highlighting on Monday its ongoing investment in optimizing PHP on Windows Server and the Microsoft SQL Server database. The company has had work ongoing on a SQL Server driver available for PHP to support more native features in SQL Server 2008. Microsoft also has partnered with PHP tools vendor Zend Technologies to boost PHP.

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Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers

Verizon Wireless is defending AT&T’s right to keep the iPhone to itself.

The company today announced a policy that it says will give small wireless carriers more access to phones that Verizon had the exclusive rights to sell. From now on, when Verizon strikes a deal with a manufacturer for exclusive sale of a handset, it will let any carrier with fewer than 500,000 customers sell the phone after six months.

There has been increasing interest in Congress over whether wireless carriers are hurting consumers by shutting out rivals from hot phones. Of course, the hottest phone right now is Apple’s iPhone, which is sold only by AT&T in the United States.

It may not be a consumer issue. Much of the political pressure on the issue is coming from smaller wireless carriers that worry that they are being shut out from all the cool phones by a giant carrier.

Verizon’s move, announced in a letter to Representative Rick Boucher, the Virginia Democrat who is chairman of a crucial telecommunications subcommittee, appears to address the concerns of the small companies while preserving the right of big carriers to offer handsets their rivals can’t.

The letter defends these arrangements:

Exclusivity arrangements promote competition and innovation in device development and design. We work closely with our vendors to develop new and exciting devices that will attract customers. When we procure exclusive handsets from our vendors we typically buy hundreds of thousands or even millions of each device. Otherwise manufacturers may be reluctant to make the investments of time, money and production capacity to support a particular device.

In other words, please don’t make Apple sell us the iPhone because we want to have the next cool phone and keep it from AT&T.

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Google Creates Calendar Labs, Graduates Tasks

Summer is when new apps graduate out of Google's labs and beta programs into the real world.

Google announced Tuesday that it would shift its Tasks feature out of Google Labs into a standalone feature. Tasks is the first feature to graduate from the Labs site, according to a Google spokesman.

Google is also announcing a new tool that will make it easier to switch from Lotus Notes to Google Apps, following an effort with Fairchild Semiconductor last month, in conjunction with moving several of its Google Apps, including Gmail, out of beta.

Many of Google's products began life as beta projects or components of its Labs offerings, the latter of which has served as an incubator for several projects created by Google's "20-percent" program, which encourages its employees to develop their own, self-managed projects. At this point, Google's highest-profile Labs effort is Gmail Labs, which houses efforts to access Gmail offline, and preview services like YouTube and Picasa directly inside an email.

On Tuesday, Google also announced Calendar Labs, a Labs section for its Google Calendar portion of Google Apps. One of the more interesting portions for the Labs announcement, according to the Google spokesman, is that Google is releasing a Google Calendar API to let developers add on features and gadgets into the Calendar platform. Google usually releases APIS to let developers take Google information and integrate it into third-party apps; Google's approach with its Calendar Labs is the opposite.

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Apple blocks Palm Pre with iTunes update

Apple Inc. has updated it's iTunes software to block use with the Palm Pre device. The recently-released device was compatible with the iTunes software, letting users organize media with the software just as they would with an iPod. An Apple spokesman commented that this update, "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre." Palm responded by reminding Apple who the real target of this change is.

"Apple's move is a direct blow to their users, who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience," Palm spokeswoman Leslie Letts said. She recommended that users stick to the older versions of iTunes or consider other music applications to organize the media.

Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple exec who played a big part in the iPod, became Palm's executive chairman in October 2007. The Pre has touch-screen control features like the iPhone. The recent awarding of a patent to Apple in January covering certain multi-touch functions may affect Palm and other companies eventually.

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Unique ID card to end duplicate identity, says Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani, chairperson of the newly set-up Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) to provide each Indian an identity card, said Monday a major problem at present is duplicate identity in many of the government systems, leading to fraud.

The new authority would help end ID card duplication by creating a network of verification and authentication, Nilekani, co-founder of IT major Infosys, told reporters after meeting Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

'A major problem today with identity is that many (government) systems have lot of duplicates leading to fraud,' he said.

Yeddyurappa facilitated Nilekani on his new assignment. Nilekani quit the Infosys co-chairman's post as also from the company's board on July 9 following his appointment as head of the UIAI.

The UIAI would create a national database of Indian residents. It would use bio-metrics, fingerprints and other methods necessary to ensure people have a unique number. This would end the problem of duplicates, he added.

On the time the authority would need to complete the process, Nilekani said: 'First I have to find an office.'

A hunt is on at Delhi for office premises for the new authority, which will function under India's Planning Commission, which is headed by the prime minister.

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Nokia's India Music Store Being Tested

Nokia has started testing its online music store in India, with plans to launch services to consumers before the end of this year.

"Right now our own people are testing the site, and we will go live as scheduled in the second half of this year," a spokeswoman for Nokia said on Wednesday.

The music download service will be initially available only against vouchers issued to customers at the time of buying handsets and other equipment from Nokia, the spokeswoman said.

Allowing consumers to pay online to download music will require the site to have a payment mechanism. This will be possible only after Nokia's joint venture with Indian partner, HCL Infosystems, starts handling the online payments, the spokeswoman said. By Indian rules, online retailing requires a company that has an Indian partner, she added.

Nokia said in January it was setting up a joint venture with HCL to offer mobile value-added services such as navigation, music and other entertainment to Indian consumers.

A number of companies, including mobile phone service providers, are now offering online music downloads in India.

Nokia has signed up a number of top music labels in the country. On its beta site it currently features music from a number of labels including T-Series, Times Music, and Universal Music India. "The store will help promote legal music," the spokeswoman said.

Nokia said on its India music store site that its service uses Microsoft DRM (digital rights management) technology.

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Microsoft To Open Retail Stores Near Apple's This Fall

Microsoft fired a new salvo in its ongoing war with Apple by promising to open new Microsoft retail stores close to Apple Stores.
Kevin Turner, Microsoft COO, said during Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference that his company plans to open some retail stores "right next door to Apple Stores" this fall, Reuters reported.

Microsoft said in February that it planned to open a chain of retail stores.

One of its first moves in that push was to hire former DreamWorks Animation and Wal-Mart executive David Porter to fill its newly created position of corporate vice president of retail stores. His hire was effective Feb. 16.

Porter is a 25-year veteran of Wal-Mart. His boss, Turner, spent nearly 20 years at Wal-Mart.

Apple currently has 211 stores in 41 states in the U.S., in addition to a number of stores in the U.K., Japan, Canada, Italy and other countries. A complete list of Apple Stores in the U.S. can be found by clicking here.

Microsoft and Apple have been firing shots at each other in an effort to gain consumer mind share.

In addition to strategizing on retail stores, the two have been hitting each other in advertisements, including Apple's ads featuring John Hodgman as PC and Justin Long as Mac in Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign and Microsoft's more recent "I'm a PC" campaign.

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Google gives Voice to mobiles

Google has expanded the reach of its Voice telephony service.

The company said on Wednesday that the Google Voice beta would be offered to users running both the Blackberry and Android operating systems. The addition will allow users to place outgoing calls on the handsets from their Google Voice numbers.

The company has also set up a mobile version of the Talk site for handset users not running either of the supported platforms.

Google hopes that by adding built-in support for the service, it can make the process of calling from a mobile easier.

"Previously, to place a call using Google Voice, you had to dial your own Google Voice number from your cell phone or use the Quick Call button online," explained developers Vincent Paquet and Marcus Foster on a company blog post.

"With this new mobile app, you can make calls and send SMS messages with your Google Voice number directly from your mobile phone."

Google first launched the Voice service in March as a replacement for GrandCentral, a telephony startup which Google acquired in 2007 and developed into a beta service.

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Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot C905 Review

The 8.1 Megapixel Cyber-Shot camera is the best feature of the Sony Ericsson C905, that is already on the market in Europe. Today, AT&T is launching the C905 in the U.S, making it the highest resolution camera phone ever from this carrier. We have played with it. The device looks like a Cyber-shot camera on one side and like a phone on the other side, and it is thicker than my Blackberry Curve. 8 Megapixel camera phones are not common in the US market, the N86 will soon be available globally, there's no word on the LG Renoir hitting our shores any time soon (I love this one) and hopefully the new Samsung Pixon 12 (12 MP) will be available here after its launch in the UK next month.

Key features

8.1 megapixel camera with face detection, autofocus, xenon flash, active lens cover and GPS tagging

BestPic captures seven successive photos in one click, Smart Contrast compensates for areas that are too bright or dark, red-eye reduction, image stabilizer, dedicated camera keys and shortcut

160 MB internal memory, Memory Stick Micro (M2) - 2GB M2 in box - up to 16 GB

USB cable for:
- file transfer and synchronization with PC using Windows Media Player
- printing with PicBridge compatible printers

2.4-inch scratch-resistant mineral glass display, QVGA (240x320)

Built-in GPS with A-GPS function, AT&T Navigator software

Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (3.5G)

Applications: AT&T Video Share, video recording, AT&T Music, FM radio, Mobile Email, AT&T Navigator and instant messaging. With AT&T Video Share, consumers can share their experiences in real-time streaming video (only possible with Video Share enabled devices).

Phone Basics (good)
I quickly checked the phone sound quality by calling AT&T customer support and the sound was good, the voice was loud enough and clear with a medium volume. Dialing a number is quick and easy, the keys are wide and the touch is comfortable. The backlit keyboard is useful for placing a call in low light conditions, in a club for example. Dialing a contact is not as easy, I had to get to the address book and type the first letter of the name to get there, that's the downside of not having a qwerty keyboard that would allow typing the contact name directly.

Physical Design (ok)
Basically the phone looks like a digital camera but it is a bit too bulky and heavy, we could blame it on the great 8 MP camera that may (not sure) need this extra space and weight. However, the fluid form factor and the stainless steel look (mostly made of plastic) gives some style to this thick phone and for this size (4.1x1.9x0.7 inches, 4.8 oz) , I would like to get a larger and better display with touch capability... The lens cover is easy to move using the thumb, and the camera button is exactly like the one on a regular digital camera. I regret the lack of a standard 3.5mm audio jack , I could not use my regular earphones to listen to music. The only connector is proprietary (photo above), thanks to Sony Ericsson (as usual), you will need an adapter to connect your earphones. The user interface is ok for a regular phone, not great for a high-end phone.

Camera (very good for a phone)
The key feature is the 8 MP camera, so I spent some time testing it. The smart contrast may not give the expected result, when tested with a flash and in low light conditions, it overexposed the picture. I shot three scenes with my BlackBerry Curve 8900 and with the C905 at the highest resolution, see the pictures below. The full-size ones can be seen in our Flickr account.

The Sony Ericsson's shutter lag is way shorter than my Blackberry thus it delivers a very good shot of moving cars, in low light condition, that's awesome! The Curve provides a poor result in comparison.

In addition, the color balance is incomparably more accurate with the C905 without any tuning prior to shooting.

Unlike the Smart Contrast option, the Photo Fix feature works pretty well and enhances the image quality by adding contrast to an underexposed photo.

Battery Life and Charging Time (ok)
On the spec sheet when using the UMTS/HDSPA network the phone has up to 4 hours talk time and up to 360 hours Standby time. The battery ran out of power after 10 hours and a half in standby, shooting roughly 40 high resolution pictures, half of them with flash. It takes two hours to get the device fully charged.

Entertainment section, media files and applications (good)
The Entertainment section has a well designed user interface and it is very simple to synchronize the media files with the PC using the provided USB cable and Windows Media Player (photo above). I did not need to configure anything. The auto-rotate display works only in the Multimedia menu (photo in gallery above).

I quickly tried several interesting applications including the Yellow pages (slow but great UI - photo below), MobiTV (5 minutes subscription left): video streaming was not that fluid with poor video quality, good enough for watching trailers and short videos (photos), XM radio (could not use it due to a lack of subscription), Where application portal (cool location based applications, subscription required after trial period) and the Application Store.

Messaging , IM and Social Networking and Web Browsing (basic)
I was disappointed by the absence of Gmail as a supported provider in the Mobile Email menu, and I did not find a way to set up my POP email as well, I guess it is not supported. AIM, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger are available (no Google Talk). Overall the phone is slow, especially to load emails from my Yahoo account, however, web browsing speed was ok. I would like to see a better integration of Social networking: the Facebook client is not provided by default here, unlike in the N97 and the Sidekick, for example, where users can access it directly from the phone's home page. The new Sony Ericsson W518s is supposed to offer the feature... Sony Ericsson is offering only one key feature per phone, how about market dilution?


Conclusion
The Sony Ericsson is a good basic phone with a killer camera and well integrated multimedia features. Messaging is ok as long as you have an account among the limited number of providers embedded in the phone.

At $179.99 (with a 2-yr contract), the pricing seems a bit high for a phone that is not a smartphone, although ultra-mobile photographers would be willing to pay extra for the camera quality. For the same price, customers could be attracted by a smartphone with slightly inferior photo capabilities like the Nokia E71x, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 or even the iPhone. That said, all of them will end up being more expensive in the long run, because of their data plans.

The Sony Ericsson will be available in Ice Silver only starting from July 19th, in AT&T stores or at www.wireless.att.com, complete specifications on the product page.

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Microsoft, Targetting Google, Announces Office 2010

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a "technical preview" of the next-generation Office Suite, Office 2010. While the software giant specifically pointed out that the suite's feature set will most likely grow before launch, this preview was fairly complete. The CRN Test Center's Samara Lynn recently outlined the new elements included in Office 2010 here.

One feature that has been publicized but not available for evaluating yet is Office 2010's Web applications. In a roundabout way, this brings to mind the recent launch of Bing, Microsoft's revamped search site, which replaced Live Search. Although not its first attempt, Bing was the company's latest effort to challenge open-source advocate Google at what it does best.

Last week, Google Apps finally dropped its seemingly permanent beta status and is now an official contender to Office, offering Web versions of applications designed to give users similar functionality to the traditional office suite. Coincidentally, this week Microsoft announced that online versions of Office 2010 applications will be offered for free.

Presumed to be abridged, less-functional versions of applications within the full suite, Office 2010 Web apps is clearly another shot across Google's bow and proves that Microsoft likes a challenge. It is probably also a sign that Redmond executives are coming to the realization that the Internet is the company's only hope for survival.

Google has been considered the de facto search site for years now and, while many have tried, it has always been able to hold its own in that area. Google apps were built with the company's knowledge of the Web, its users and the nontraditional approach to making money from "the cloud." Although never a contender to the full Office suite, it was (and is) a good, free alternative with enough functionality for the typical user.

On the other hand, Microsoft clearly has the upper hand of experience when it comes to business productivity programs. With decades of Office versions behind it, the company has built a virtual empire on the suite's applications. What is unknown yet is how trimmed-down those applications will be when they make their Web-based appearance.

But this contest doesn't have the apples-to-apples playing field of Bing vs. Google. Branching out, Microsoft is taking what it knows well -- productivity applications, and dabbling in Google's area of expertise -- the online community. When Office 2010 Web apps finally make an appearance, will they have anything extra to offer Google app users above and beyond the Office 2010 name? Obviously the limit on features will level the playing field, so implementation and user interface will ultimately play a part in deciding the champion of this round in the competition.

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Windows 7 preorders begin in the UK, France, and Germany

Today residents in the UK, Germany, and France have the opportunity to preorder Windows 7 upgrade versions of both Home Premium and Professional editions (read: no deal for Ultimate) for significantly reduced prices. The deal lasts until August 14 but Microsoft emphasizes that this date can only be taken into consideration while remembering the phrase "while supplies last." The software giant refused to reveal how many copies it was allowing to be sold at the reduced rates.

Here's the list of retailers that are offering the preorder deal (online only).

UK: Comet, PC World, Argos, Amazon, Tesco, Littlewoods, Micro Anvika, Currys, Dixons, Staples
, ebuyer.com, play.com, John Lewis, Misco, and DABS

France: Auchan, Boulanger, Carrefour, Cora, Darty, FNAC, Geant Casino, Hyper U, Media Saturn, Rue Du Commerce, CDiscount, Surcouf, Conforama, Leclerc, Virgin, Office Dépôt, Top Office, Pixmania, LDLC, Matériel.net, Grosbill, and Amazon

Germany: Mediamarkt, Saturn, Expert, EP/Medimax, Euronics, Amazon, Conrad, Otto, Notebooksbilliger, Neckermann, Wave, Atelco, Arlt, K&M, Avitos, Home of HW, and Cyperport

Only some retailers had a prominent banner of the offer on their homepage (chances are you'll have to do a product search for "Windows 7" to the two products). The Microsoft Store is also offering the deals in the three countries: the UK, France, and Germany. For whatever reason, at publishing time the Germany store was not showing the preorder deals. Furthermore, high demand unfortunately took the online store down for some time and Microsoft was forced to put up the following error message:

Due to the eagerly anticipated Windows 7 pre-order offer we're experiencing a higher level of demand on our website than usual. This means you can't access the site right now and we're sorry about that. We'll be back up and running as soon as we can so please try again soon to get your hands on a copy of Windows 7!

Last month's Windows 7 pricing announcement was overwhelming, to say the least. So to reiterate, the pricing for the preorders that start today is as follows:

UK: Windows 7 Home Premium (£49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (£99.99)

France and Germany: Windows 7 Home Premium (€49.99) and Windows 7 Professional (€109.99)

These upgrade versions can be purchased by both XP users and Vista users. Once preordered, your copy of Windows 7 will arrive on or after the day of general availability, October 22, 2009. If you have Windows XP, you'll have to perform a clean install and will have to do the backup process yourself. If you are moving from 32-bit to 64-bit, you'll have to do a clean install. If you are moving to a version that is lower on the food chain (from Ultimate to Professional or Home Premium, or from Professional to Home Premium), you will have to perform a clean install.Otherwise, the upgrade installation will take care of everything.

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Facebook Membership Hits 250 Million

Facebook Inc. now has 250 million users, company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog posting today.

The Palo Alto, Calif. social networking giant passed the milestone just a month after it officially topped MySpace as the most visited social site in the United States. Facebook already had more traffic internationally.

Facebook does not disclose revenue, but has said it expects to grow 70 percent this year. Board member Marc Andreessen recently said that Facebook could grow revenue from more than $500 million this year to billions within five years.

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China iPhone May not Have WiFi

Apple may have blinked first in the ongoing battle with the Chinese government to allow the company to sell a Wi-Fi-enabled iPhone in that country.

The back-and-forth battle between Apple and China's Ministry of Industry and Information may be coming to a close. According to a BusinessWeek report, Apple has applied for a Network Access License that would allow the company to begin selling the iPhone without Wi-Fi.

In typical fashion, Apple has reportedly been hard-nosed in negotiations with the Chinese government over the iPhone. However, the government has been just as hard-nosed, refusing to allow Apple to sell the Wi-Fi-enabled phone in China.

AppleInsider guesstimates that the approval process for the iPhone would take four to six months, making a potential launch date no later than January 2010.

Of course, the iPhone is being used in many countries where it is not officially sold, China being one of them. The ability to unlock the phones and use them on any compatible network has made the iPhone popular worldwide.

Bringing a Chinese company, speculated to be China Unicom, on board as an official carrier would enable Apple to open the iPhone to a huge market of potential growth. It's unclear what the lack of Wi-Fi will do for the popularity of the smartphone, but it's obviously a concession that Apple felt was worth making.

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Apple apps hit 1.5bn, and can now preserve your virginity

Good to see Steve Jobs back at the helm and crowing from the Cupertino rooftops.

Today, Apple announced that an amazing 1.5 billion apps had been downloaded for its iPod touch and iPhones via the App store.

“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” said Jobs, who is now back at his desk as Apple’s CEO after a liver transplant. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”

They may catch up faster than you think if there are too many apps like the virtual virginity preserver pictured above.

This, dear readers, is the Purity Ring app released for iPhone by "leading Christian iPhone App Development Agency, Island Wall Entertainment".

"Anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch can now take a purity pledge via their mobile device and then proudly display their timeless purity ring spinning on the screen," says the press release.

Tempting though it is to mock this unexpected new App, and past redemption though most of us at Tech Central are, we actually think it's rather sweet. What price virginity? It's a snip at 59p.

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6 out of 10 cos may skip Windows 7: Survey

Six in 10 companies in a survey plan to skip the purchase of Microsoft Corp's Windows 7 computer operating system, many of them to pinch pennies and others over concern about compatibility with their existing applications.

Windows 7 will be released October 22, but has already garnered good reviews, in contrast to its disappointing current version, Windows Vista.

Many of the more than 1,000 companies that responded to a survey by ScriptLogic Corp say they have economized by cutting back on software updates and lack the resources to deploy Microsoft's latest offering.

ScriptLogic Corp, which provides help to companies in managing their Microsoft Windows-based networks, sent out 20,000 surveys to information technology administrators to learn the state of the market.

Many companies have rejected Windows Vista as unstable. For example, the chip maker Intel Corp, Microsoft's long- time partner in producing personal computers, has stayed with the older XP system.

The survey found about 60 percent of those surveyed have no plans to deploy Windows 7, 34 percent will deploy it by the end of 2010 and only 5.4 percent will deploy by year's end.

Forty-two percent said their biggest reason for avoiding Windows 7 was a "lack of time and resources."

That dovetailed with another part of the survey, which found that 35 percent had already skipped upgrades or delayed purchases to save money.

But there were reasons other than money for staying away from Windows 7. Another 39 percent of those surveyed said they had concern about the compatibility of Windows 7 with existing applications.

The survey quoted Sean Angus, a senior personal computer technician at Middlesex Hospital, as saying he would wait until the first "service pack" was released for Windows 7.

"The IT department must complete thorough testing to ensure that the applications we rely on each day, specifically radiology information systems and financial applications, will be compatible, before deploying any new platforms or software to our 1,500 desktops," he added.

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Microsoft to offer free MS-Office on Web

Microsoft Corp will release three versions of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web, catching up with products that rival Google Inc launched three years ago.

It is the latest salvo in an intensifying war between Microsoft and Google. Google announced plans last week to challenge Windows with a free operating system. Microsoft introduced a new search engine, Bing, last month.

"Microsoft is finally making the conversion through the Web-based world. First, we saw that through Bing. Now we are seeing that through Office," said Jefferies & Co analyst Katherine Egbert.

Microsoft will offer for free to consumers Web-based versions of its Office suite of programs, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software and a note-taking program.

Microsoft will also host one Internet business version of Office at its own data centers, charging companies a yet-to- be-announced fee. Companies with premium service contracts will have the choice of running a second Web-based version from their own data centers at no extra cost.

The company hopes to make money by using the free software to lead users to its ad-supported websites, including Bing. Analysts have said that Bing's early signs of success suggest Microsoft may be rounding the corner in efforts to turn around its money-losing Internet division.

Still, a free version of Office could hurt sales of Microsoft's top-selling and most profitable unit. One of Office's most popular titles is a home version that sells for $150. It includes the four programs that Microsoft will give away.

"Microsoft is in a tough spot. Their competition isn't just undercutting them. They are giving away the competitive product," said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research.

The Office division rang up operating profit of $9.3 billion on sales of $14.3 billion in the first three quarters of the software maker's current fiscal year.

McLeish expects Microsoft to overtake Google in the market as the hundreds of millions of people who use Office flock to try out the Internet version. Microsoft will release the web offerings when it starts selling Office 2010, it next major release of the product, sometime in the first half of next year. Its current version came out in January 2007.

The software maker unveiled an early release on Monday at a conference for business partners in New Orleans. It will be distributed to tens of thousands of testers.

Company spokeswoman Janice Kapner said the free Web version will provide "a very rich experience" and probably have more functionality than Google. Office 2010 is among a wave of upgrades to Microsoft programs planned over the next year. A new version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system is coming out in October and a new version of its widely used email server is also in the works.

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AT&T, Nokia announce the Symbian-Based Surge

Now you can carry your clique with you in your pocket. AT&T* and Nokia today announced the availability of the Nokia Surge, a socially supercharged smartphone powered by the nation's fastest 3G network. Available online and in AT&T stores on July 19, the Nokia Surge is an ideal device for active consumers who like to stay connected whether using IM, text or email, sending multimedia messages, AT&T Video Share, or updating and connecting via their favorite social networks.

With a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard in a slim, stylish design and Symbian S60 multi-tasking capabilities, Nokia Surge is the ideal smartphone for today's customer who is always in touch with their social circle. A recent survey commissioned by Nokia revealed that people are so hooked on staying in touch that they would rather give up coffee and sweets than live without their mobile for two weeks.**

In addition to an impressive suite of messaging capabilities, the Nokia Surge offers a powerful browsing experience, including Flash support to view most sites in full HTML or watch YouTube videos. Nokia Surge allows users to post messages, images, videos, and comments to web sites like Facebook on-the-go with the pre-installed JuiceCaster application.

"Launching at 79.99 USD with a complete email solution, downloadable applications and full HTML browser with Flash support, Nokia Surge hits the sweet spot between a quick messaging phone and a smartphone because of its low-price and strong feature set," said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

"Designed in the U.S., this socially charged smartphone comes in a sleek slide form factor that supports social networking and messaging - and all on an open platform," said David Petts, vice president and general manager, AT&T Account, Nokia. "Together with AT&T, we're excited to address the increasing demand for smartphones with a device that's as attractive to the customer as it is to his or her wallet."

The Nokia Surge offers multimedia and entertainment features, including:

- 2.0 megapixel camera - Customers can capture quality photos with color camera and 4X digital zoom
- AT&T Navigator - AT&T Navigator provides audible turn-by-turn directions, monitors traffic and alerts users when there is a slowdown or incident
- AT&T Mobile Music - Customers can listen and download their favorite music from Napster Mobile, eMusic Mobile, XM Radio and more over the air
- AT&T Video Share - The first-ever service in the U.S. that allows users to share live video over wireless devices while participating in a voice call
- JuiceCaster - Customers can share videos and pictures from their wireless device to the Web's most popular sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr

The Nokia Surge will be available through select AT&T retail locations or at www.wireless.att.com for 79.99 USD with a two-year service agreement and after a mail-in rebate. (Pay 129.99 USD and after mail-in rebate receive 50.00 USD AT&T Promotion Card. Two-year agreement for wireless voice plan of 39.99 USD a month or higher and data plan of 30.00 USD a month or more required for rebate.)

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HBO, Cinemax Coming Online With Comcast and Time Warner

More good news for existing Comcast and Time Warner Cable subscribers. Along with content from TBS, TNT, and Starz, you’ll soon be able to view shows and movies from HBO and Cinemax online through the companies’ new joint venture – TV Everywhere.

TV Everywhere was announced last month, with a very limited trial set to start in a few weeks. The basic idea is to give subscribers more value by letting them enjoy programming both on their TV and on the Web, whenever and wherever they want it. Now, streaming versions of shows like Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as movies like The Dark Knight will be included as part of the yet-to-be-launched website.

While offering on-demand programming to existing subscribers certainly makes sense and adds value, as we wrote last month, more options for access would be better, and more profitable. There’s no reason that you shouldn’t be able to purchase a season pass to Entourage or a single viewing of The Dark Knight over the Web through TV Everywhere … other than a lot of red tape and a continued avoidance of innovative business models by the media and cable companies that own and distribute the content.

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Office 2010 Includes Office Web, But Not Available Until Next Year

Microsoft said today that the Technical Preview of Office 2010 will start to be be rolled out to beta testers, and confirmed speculation from last week that Office 2010 will include Office Web, lightweight web app versions of Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint. Office Web will be available for free to anyone with a Microsoft Live account.

This is especially good news for web workers who have been longing for an access-anywhere version of the Office suite, many of whom have been struggling with hybrid Office/Google Docs solutions.

However, the bad news is that Office 2010 and Office Web won’t be available until the first half of next year, so unless you have access to the Technical Preview you’re going to have to wait a long time to try it out. Microsoft has hinted that a wider beta test of Office Web could be made available later this year, but that still seems like a painfully long wait in today’s “release early, iterate often” world of web apps. In the meantime, I think it’s quite likely that we’ll see some considerable improvements to Google Apps.

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The best iPhone apps for travelers

An iPhone app is like a potato chip. “You always want to have just one more,” says Chris Hall, editor in chief of 148Apps.com. His review Web site, named for the maximum number of apps an early iPhone user could own, tries to keep up with the influx of new programs, but with some 40,000 apps on sale and another 500 to 1,000 released each week, his team can’t help falling behind.

An app is simply a little application, or program, that’s designed to perform a specialized function. Many of them are a boon for travelers. Flashlight, for instance, illuminates your screen so you can fumble through a dark hotel room. Currency calculates exchange rates.

The world’s 22 million iPhone users—including those who’ve snared the new iPhone 3GS model, released June 19—can browse and download apps, some for free and some for a few bucks, at the built-in App Store. True, some of the most popular apps don’t do much more than simulate fishponds or Zippo lighters, but as the field matures, so do the offerings.

These apps aren’t perfect, and some have problems that are amplified when you’re traveling. So buyers have to be choosy.

Developers tend to write apps, including almost all of the language-translation ones, which can be expensive to run because they require a phone to draw lots of information from the network. That’s fine at home, but download just five megabytes of info when you’re abroad and you could be slammed with a $40 tab. A few other travel apps, such as ones that help find a taxi, don’t have data for international locations.

But a good iPhone app is like a tool in a toolbox, and when one works well, it’s transformative, doing a job that you probably never thought could be done so easily. For fliers, iFareFinder searches the major booking sites (Kayak, Orbitz, etc.) for airfare and then hands you over to the seller for reservations. Chris Hall’s personal app toolbox includes Yelp, a portal to the popular user-written Web site that reviews food and party spots around the world, and UrbanSpoon, a restaurant finder. “I was in Vegas last week,” he says, “and I had found about 30 restaurants nearby a minute after walking out of my hotel.”

Travel apps are improving by the month. The TomTom app, released in June at the same time as the 3GS (which shoots video), turns the unit into a GPS device, great for navigating a new town. Hall’s travel wish list includes an app for bringing Southwest’s Ding! discount fares to the gadget, since the airline refuses to allow anyone else to report its prices.

As more functional, practical travel-related apps come to the phone, the device becomes increasingly indispensable to people who know the right ones to download. Just remember when to say when.

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Inside Google's new OS

Google Microsoft rivalry has just got fiercer. Search giant Google is once again ready to take on Microsoft with its new operating system. The company announced Google Chrome OS on its blog this week, saying that the lower-end PCs called Netbooks from unnamed manufacturers will include it in the second half of 2010.

A high-stakes duel between the two technology powerhouses has been steadily escalating in recent years as Google's dominance of the Internet's lucrative search market has given it the means to threaten Microsoft in ways that few other companies can.

Google already has rankled Microsoft by luring away some of its top employees and developing an online suite of computer programmes that provide an alternative to Microsoft's top-selling word processing, spreadsheet and calendar applications. With Chrome OS, Google attempts to wrest away Microsoft Corp's long-running control over people's desktop.

Here's looking further what is Google's OS all about.

Open source
The new Google Chrome Operating System will be an open source, meaning the programme code will be open to developers. The operating system will run in a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel -- computer coding that has been the foundation for the open-source software movement for nearly two decades.

For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using users favourite web technologies. And these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Announcing Google Chrome OS, Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management and Linus Upson, Google’s engineering director said it would be “our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.”

No, it's not Android
It's surely open source, but it's not Android. As Pichai and Upson wrote on Google's official blog, "Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google."

Google has already introduced an operating system for mobile devices, called Android that vies against various other systems, including ones made by Microsoft and Apple Inc.

Free
Analysts expect Google to make the new OS free, or charge at most charge a nominal fee. They believe that the company's traditional business model has been to earn revenue off connecting applications or advertising.

Betting on Netbook success
The search giant initially aims to install the new system on small, low-cost computers popularly known as Netbooks. These slimmed down laptops are currently giving which are currently outselling more powerful personal computers. Google said that it believed the software would eventually be used on PCs as well.

The power of 3S
Google is touting the 3S of the new OS: speed, simplicity and security. According to Google, the OS is fast and lightweight to start up and get onto the web in a few seconds.

As Pichai and Upson wrote in the blogpost, "We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web."

Just like the Chrome browser, Google lays special emphasis on OS' security. The search giant has completely redesigned the underlying security architecture of the OS.

To support all Web standards
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips. The OS will support all Web-based standards. Google is talking to manufacturers and hopes to have netbooks in the market in the second half of 2010.

All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using web technologies. These apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

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Ericsson to invest $1.5 bln in South Korea

Ericsson of Sweden, the world's leading mobile phone network provider, plans to invest 1.5 billion dollars in South Korea over the next five years, officials said Sunday.

The plan was disclosed by chief executive officer Carl-Henric Svanberg at a meeting in Stockholm with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Sunday, Lee's office said in a statement released here.

Ericsson will establish a research centre in South Korea to develop environmentally-friendly and fourth-generation telecommunications technologies with firms in the Asian country under the plan, it said.

The Swedish firm will also increase the number of employees at its South Korean unit from 80 to about 1,000, it said.

President Lee hailed the planned investment as helping the two countries lead the information and communications technology market, it added.

Ericsson is a world leader in high-speed wireless technology using the long-term evolution, or LTE, standard.

South Korea is one of the world's most wired countries and a developer of high-speed Wireless Broadband (WiBro) technology.

Lee has been on a three-day visit to Sweden since Saturday.

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Microsoft MyPhone vs Nokia Ovi

Consumers are struggling to find an easy way to get files like photographs out of their phones to share with friends and family. Microsoft Corp's MyPhone service seems to solve the mobile industry's eternal challenge: how to make a wireless service easy to use. It may not have as much storage or as many features as the equivalent from Nokia but an early version of the service is easier to use.

Sales of cameraphones have already passed those of digital cameras, and last year alone some 700 million cameraphones were sold. But sharing the pictures requires cables (or shaky wireless connections), time and nerves.

Microsoft's MyPhone is the solution at least for users of Windows phones. It is a simple back-up service, still in limited testing, that uploads pictures and any other data from a phone to a Microsoft data center via the Internet.

Here's Microsoft MyPhone versus Nokia's Ovi.

Access
Users can then log on to myphone.microsoft.com and tweak or download the pictures and data. Usage is as simple as it gets: the service works on its own, quietly downloading files when the phone is not in use.

Storage
To someone who has used Nokia's comparable "Share on Ovi" service since it was launched in early 2008 for storing and sharing photos, MyPhone is shocking at first: it offers total storage of just 200 megabytes. That's enough for only a few rolls of pictures with a good quality camera.

A Microsoft official plays this down, saying 200 megabytes should be enough for most users, and if demand shows more is needed, the company is flexible.

Sharing
Nokia's Share has more features than MyPhone, like links to other services and sharing options. It has no data limits apart from one that stops people downloading single files larger than 100 megabytes, big enough for a decent video recording.

But flashier outlook comes at a price. It is much more difficult to use, and it takes time.

Design
Starting to use MyPhone is pretty much pain free. It takes a couple of minutes to download the file to the cell phone. Then you restart the phone, and the service is up and running. It works, and you don't have to do anything.

By contrast, although logging on to Nokia's "Share on Ovi" site on the Internet surprises positively with an attractive new design, using the service can present problems.

To make usage from a cell phone easier, Nokia has linked a small upload icon to every picture on the phone -- but leaves the uploading work to the user.

Uploading photos
Once you click on the icon and choose the access point to the Internet, the phone starts to send the file into the Nokia cloud.

But if you choose the next picture and click on upload, you get an error message -- the service declines to send it as the other file transfer is still ongoing. On the next try, the phone says "service not responding."

"Back-up and restore services are important to users, but they must be simple and intuitive to use. Such services deliver loyalty from users and allow providers to understand more about their customers," says analyst Paolo Pescatore from research firm CCS Insight.

Availability
Microsoft opened MyPhone for public last month. The service is especially designed for Windows Mobile-based devices. Currently, Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 based phones can use My Phone service.

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Microsoft Bing grows but far behind Google, Yahoo

Hitwise, a Web analytics firm, reported that Microsoft Bing fielded more searches in June, but it still lags far behind Google and Yahoo.

Bing lost market share in June even as it handled more search queries, according to Hitwise, showing the size of the hill Microsoft has to climb.

Google remained the overwhelming favorite among search engines with 74.04 percent of the market in June -- that's up about four-tenths percent since May and nearly 5 percent from a year ago.

Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com lagged far behind Google -- with 16.19 percent, 5.25 percent and 3.15 percent of the market respectively -- and all three have lost share since last year, although Yahoo gained slightly in May.

Bing was introduced in May but is a revamp of Microsoft's previous search offering called Live Search.

Still, the number of search queries handled by Bing grew steadily in June, nearly doubling by the end of the month to 6.63 percent. Bing's average weekly growth rate was 25 percent, according to Hitwise -- faster than the growth rate of Microsoft search services (Bing, Live.com and MSN Search) combined.

"The question is, will Bing maintain that type of share through an entire month?" asked search analyst Danny Sullivan at his blog, searchengineland.com. "We'll know when July figures come out. The bigger question is whether Bing will maintain that type of share when Microsoft's ad spending ramps down."

Meanwhile, there's a flap on Twitter over Google's cache of Microsoft's outage warning for Bing's travel site, which was temporarily knocked out last weekend by an electrical fire in a data center in Seattle.

Microsoft posted the notice last week after the site went down but it still shows up as the second item on Google when Google is used to search for Bing.

Microsoft has asked Google, via Twitter, to check out its index.

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Apple iphone 3G In China Sooner Than Expected

Apple is more appealing to the enterprise than ever. And yet, despite the developments around the iPhone and the Mac in the past few years, Apple has not done much to make that happen.

Apple, the company that was started by two Steves in a garage, has grown into one of the most successful companies in the tech industry. From the iPod to the iPhone to the Mac, Apple offers several products that make it an ideal choice for consumers. But a recent study suggests that Apple is winning customers in the corporate world too.

According to ChangeWave Research, more companies plan to add new computers to their operations during the next quarter. Nine percent of those buying new computers plan to buy MacBook Pros for employees, while 7 percent of respondents said they plan to buy desktop Macs. If those figures hold up, Apple could capture its stated goal of 8 to 10 percent market share in the enterprise.

It's no small feat -- especially for a company that has never really cared about the business world.

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Microsoft's Silverlight 3 Launches Early

Microsoft today released version 3 of its Silverlight framework for developing rich interactive applications (RIAs) and its Expression Studio Web and graphics design suite. While numerous developers and users have had access to the beta for four months, this marks its official release of a development and runtime platform that is critical to Microsoft’s effort to drive the next crop of RIA-based apps based on its .NET framework.

At a launch event in San Francisco, Scott Guthrie, VP of the Redmond software maker’s .NET Developer Platform group, and Soma Somasegar, SVP of Microsoft’s Developer division highlighted key features of Silverlight 3. Among them is its ability to work outside the browser for both connected and disconnected access to applications and data. Another key highlight, IIS Smooth Streaming built into Microsoft’s Internet Information Services 7 (IIS7), boasts HDTV-quality video. Also new is Expression SketchFlow, which allows for rapid prototyping.

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