WnXP2002

Mobile makers look to music as the next big revenue source. After a series of gloomy analyst reports on multimedia messaging services (MMS), mobile phone companies are looking to music as the next big revenue source. Motorola and MTV have signed a three-year, $75m (£47m) deal that will see new Motorola handsets come preloaded with MTV content and downloadable music. The two companies will also conduct cross-marketing campaigns to promote both brands, and are working on developing applications that will allow a 30-minute MTV programme to be viewed over a low-cost, mass-market handset (yet to be developed). "No brand has a bond with the next generation like MTV," said Geoffrey Frost, vice president of global marketing at Motorola. "We believe it's going to be the source of some truly new experiences: on the ground, in the air, online and on millions of pocket screens all over the world." Not to be outdone, Nokia has launched a handset dedicated to music. The Nokia 3300 has a built-in MP3 player and FM radio, a voice recorder and integrated loudspeakers. It also has inbuilt support for Java games and a couple of online games included. "It's part of a trend towards youth culture," said Ben Wood, senior analyst of mobile telecoms at Gartner. "Mobile manufacturers are in a bind in Europe because the market has reached saturation. Youth is seen as the way forward and images, sound and games are key to this strategy." Source :: vnunet.com

Troubled videogame company Sega, which had announced plans to merge with Sammy Corporation, may have two new suitors: Microsoft and Electronic Arts. The Asian Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that both companies were considering buying all or parts of Sega, although no formal talks were ongoing. Earlier this month Sega said it was planning to merge with Sammy Corporation, a maker of pinball gaming machines and software. The transaction was expected to be worth at least USD1.1 billion, and at the time, Sammy President Hajime Satomi said the merger would take place in October. But reports say that insiders at Sega -- which makes software for platforms including Microsoft Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo's GameCube -- were unhappy about the proposed marriage with Sammy. Sega abandoned its console ambitions in 2001 when its Dreamcast console delivered disappointing sales, but it has continued to struggle with falling sales, and earlier this month it cut its profit forecast by 90 percent for the year. View: Full Story Here Source: The Register

nah, dont really bother me XPerties, u see this is my sort of public (as to say) email account, not the main one i use, plus its hotmail, so i can just make a new one at will. Your wish guys..... but i respect the users of this board so hopefully none of that will be going on....right?

Thanks Tinker, glad you like my final version (MSFN). Usually anything i make relating to the name "WnXP2002" i make in a dark shade of blue/gray (see the site, the logo especially), this is the first time i've used lighter colours but i think that they work just as well. plus if anyone wants some space for me to hold smallish files, sigs, avatars etc, just send me an email at wnxp2002@hotmail.com and i'll try and sort ya out. WnXP2002

Thanks Crispy and XPerties, im glad to be here.

How about now?

pool

CodeWeavers and Tarantella are offering software to allow Linux servers to host Office and other Windows productivity applications for hundreds of users New software from CodeWeavers will allow Linux servers to host Microsoft Office applications, which can then be accessed through a Web browser, the company said on Monday. CodeWeavers, which sells Windows-emulation software for the Linux platform, has launched a server version of its CrossOver Office that runs with Tarantella's Enterprise 3 server software. The combination allows administrators to set up a Linux server running applications such as Word and Outlook, which can be made accessible to large numbers of Linux or Unix users without needing any special client software. Read on here

Bonuses rise to eight per cent of base salary - if you have those letters after your name Workers are more likely to receive bigger bonuses if they have technology certifications than if they rely on skills based on knowledge or experience, according to a new survey. Rewards to staff without IT certifications slumped along with the economy in 2002, while staff with valuable letters after their name continued to receive bonuses. Foote Partners' annual Technical Skills & Certifications Pay Trends review found that bonus payments for staff with certifications have risen by nearly one per cent since the end of 2000, to an average eight per cent of base salary. Meanwhile premium pay for non-certified technical skills plummeted 25 per cent over the past two years, down 13.2 per cent in 2002 alone, to its current seven per cent of base pay. This puts certified employees a percentage point ahead for the first time. View The Full Story Here at vnunet.com

PowerCockpit, pretty much all that was left of Turbolinux following the sale of its Linux business and name last year, has itself been sold. Server management and storage software outfit Mountain View Data today announced that it has acquired the product. PowerCockpit, which is proprietary software, allows the management and configuration of clusters of Linux and Windows servers in grid computing environments. Speaking to The Register yesterday, Mountain View Data president and CEO Cliff Miller said the acquisition was a good fit with Mountain View's existing range of products, and positioned the company nicely to take advantage of growth in the Intel-based clustering market. View Full Story Here [The Register]

AKIBA PC HOTLINE has shown that Intel executive Jason ChipZiller's dream and vision to make USB 2.0 "truly ubiquitous" has paid off, big time. The web site shows a toothbrush using a USB plug which can be bought in the streets of Akihabara, Tokyo. Now all we need are other USB Everywhere devices such as a shaver, a shoebrush and an automatic USB toilet, and we can truly become the Road Warriors Intel wants us to be. You can view this contraption here The Inquirer

A report on a German site claims that Microsoft extracts more information from a person's PC when the update Windows facility is used running the WinXP operating system. According to tecCHANNEL, it has deciphered which data is transferred to Microsoft Central whenever you connect to its update web site. The site's tecDUMP utility intercepts messages which were deciphered in the course of an exchange with Microsoft. And, the site claims, the information can pass on to Microsoft a list of all of the software installed on an individual's computer, including software manufactured by other manufacturers. Read More here [The Inquirer]

Scott McNealy, the chief executive of network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc., says his company is leading the industry in next-generation computing and making gains in the education market. With its N1 computing initiative aimed at automating computer data centers to help customers cut costs and boost productivity, the popularity of the Java programming language it invented and its powerful Solaris operating system, Sun is in good competitive position, McNealy said in an interview on Monday. Sun, based in Palo Alto, California, first made its mark in the 1980s selling computer workstations used by engineers and academic researchers. When founded, the name stood for Stanford University Network. Then, in the 1990s, it moved higher up the computing food chain and became a leading seller of powerful computer servers. Now that the dot-com and telecommunications bubble has burst and the economy is in the doldrums, Sun finds itself battling lower-priced rival offerings using Intel Corp. processors and running on the freely available Linux operating system. But McNealy said he believes the company he co-founded in 1982 has always been ahead of the computer industry at large. View the full Story here [Reuters.co.uk]

Analyst predicts sales growth of more than 60 per cent through to 2006. Sales of wireless local area network (Lan) products will grow more than 60 per cent through to 2006, according to research by Infonetics. But the market analyst has warned that this growth is below the levels predicted by many experts. According to Reuters, analyst Infonetics estimates international revenues from wireless hardware, primarily based on the 802.11 standard, would reach $2.72bn (£1.72bn) in 2006, up from $1.68bn (£1.07bn) in 2002. View Full Story Here

The software giant wants to persuade IT administrators to make the move to Windows XP, and is unveiling new tools to ease the transition Microsoft, hoping to drive greater adoption of its Windows XP operating system, will on Tuesday unveil a new central Web site with revamped tools to help IT administrators make the switch. The new Desktop Center Web site includes an updated version of the Windows XP Application Compatibility Toolkit, a set of tools Microsoft devised to assess whether current applications of businesses will work under Windows XP Professional, Microsoft's latest operating system for corporate customers. Rogers Weed, corporate vice president of Windows product management at Microsoft, said the tool usually helps IT administrators determine that they need to make minimal changes to their existing software roster to run XP. "A lot of people don't realise that XP is significantly more compatible (with existing applications)," Weed said. "In general, organisations will find 95 percent or more of their apps are fine." Read Full Story Here