Items tagged with MIC
Is microvideoblogging the next big thing? "Micro-what?" you say. Picture Twitter, but with video posts instead of text. That's microvideoblogging. Now limit each video post to only 12 seconds long, and that's the idea behind 12seconds.tv. Like Twitter, you can post pretty much anything you want, as long as it doesn't violate the site's terms of service (TOS). "12seconds.tv allows friends and family to record and share short video updates about what they are doing or where they are. You can use a webcam or a cellphone. It's a FREE, easy, and fun way to stay in touch." The site is currently in "public alpha," and membership is available by invitation only. You can request a membership login on...
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It's always amusing to read blog comments and hear just how unpopular Microsoft is. Of course a 90+ percent market share in their core business would seem to indicate a certain level of popularity, but apparently popularity is measured in a different way than simple arithmetic. It really doesn't matter if your average websurfer likes the guy on the left or the guy on the right in the Apple ads, because as we all know, hate is free on the Internet. But it's beginning to cost big companies big bucks to indulge in Microsoft hate in the boardroom. Google hated Microsoft enough to sink a billion dollars into moribund AOL in 2005, likely simply to keep Microsoft from getting any sort of toehold in...
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Unlike the enthusiast system manufacturers, Alienware and VoodooPC, Richmond, Virginia-based Velocity Micro is still an independent, privately held company. In fact, Velocity Micro is doing well enough on its own to have even purchased the enthusiast, boutique system maker, Overdrive PC last year. On top of that, Velocity Micro is one of the few (if only) independently owned, U.S.-based, high-end gaming systems manufacturers that--in addition to selling direct--also sells its systems at Best Buy and Circuit City. That's a claim that even Velocity Micro's competitors, Oregon-based Falcon Northwest, New Jersey-based Maingear, and California-based Vigor Gaming, can't make. As do most enthusiast...
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Unlike the enthusiast system manufacturers, Alienware and VoodooPC, Richmond, Virginia-based Velocity Micro is still an independent, privately held company. In fact, Velocity Micro is doing well enough on its own to have even purchased the enthusiast, boutique system maker, Overdrive PC last year. On top of that, Velocity Micro is one of the few (if only) independently owned, U.S.-based, high-end gaming systems manufacturers that--in addition to selling direct--also sells its systems at Best Buy and Circuit City. That's a claim that even Velocity Micro's competitors, Oregon-based Falcon Northwest, New Jersey-based Maingear, and California-based Vigor Gaming, can't make.As do most enthusiast system...
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Despite our technophile-ness, we haven't seriously considered moving to the i 64-bit version of Windows Vista, mostly because we figure we will have application or device driver woes. However, in a blog post on the Windows Vista blog, Microsoft product manager Chris Flores said that Microsoft has noted a shift in adoption of 64-bit operating systems. Microsoft has been tracking this shift by tracking the number of 64-bit PCs connecting to Windows Update. According to Flores, The installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, has more than tripled in the U.S. in the last three months, while worldwide adoption has more than doubled during the same period....
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GIGABYTE Partners with INGRAM MICRO to Extend its Offering ofHigh-performance Motherboards and Graphics Solutions in the U.S.City of Industry, Calif., August 5, 2008 – GIGABYTE United, Inc., the world leading motherboards and graphics manufacturer, today announced it has entered into a distribution agreement with Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world’s largest technology distributor, by providing a broad line of GIGABYTE award-winning motherboards and graphics solutions to help valued customers reach their full potential.The relationship successfully unites GIGABYTE’s sustainable strength as an engineering powerhouse to develop high performance motherboards and Ingram Micro’s excellent...
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First Microsoft brought its multi-touch interface, Surface, to tabletops. Next, Microsoft demonstrated how the interface could be taken vertical to walls. Now it looks like Microsoft's Surface technology is ready for global domination--16 to 72-inch globes that is. This week at Microsoft's ninth annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft showed off its Sphere research project, which takes its cues from the Surface concept and morphs the multi-touch interface onto the surface of a globe. Here is how Microsoft explains how the technology works: "Our prototype device builds on a commercially available globe projection system (Global Imagination’s Magic Planet). We...
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Everyone's read something or other about the next version of Windows that will replace Vista, usually referred to as Windows 7. But it's all still Windows. David Worthington, over at SDTimes, says he's gotten a look at internal Microsoft documents that outline their development plan for Midori, a non-Windows Operating System. Microsoft understands that Windows is essentially a pre-Web product, and sees that the Google-led march toward virtualization and Software as a Service will eventually make Microsoft the black-and-white television of the Internet. Midori, built from the ground up as a non-Windows OS, would make them as big a king of the Internet as they were of the desktop. The Midori documents...
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We earlier wrote that Microsoft's fake OS, Mojave, had birthed its own website. The idea, a sort of blind taste test among Vista critics, was surprisingly successful with an overwhelming number of respondents liking the OS. The website was, starting today, designed to show videos of the respondents, and indeed that part of the site has launched.For those new to the Mojave Experiment, it's a focus group effort we initiated a few weeks ago. We interviewed and polled 120 participants in San Francisco, in hopes of better understanding everyday users' perceptions of Windows Vista and seeing whether there really is a gap between perception and reality. We wanted to see how people reacted...
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Earlier we wrote about how Microsoft used a kind of blind taste test to get die-hard Windows XP users to try Vista --- and that they even liked it. They were told that they were trying a new OS, called Mojave. We also said that Microsoft hadn't figured out a marketing campaign, but it appears that's changed.Microsoft last week interviewed XP users who were skeptical of Vista and showed them what it called a secret new version of Windows, "Mojave." It was in fact Vista. The results, according to Microsoft executives, were almost universally positive, with participants expressing surprise when told it was actually Vista they had been using. For now, Microsoft has put up a teaser site, with plans...
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Microsoft has disclosed some details regarding the next iteration of its gaming and graphics API, DirectX 11. Shacknews has the full scoop on what Microsoft has disclosed up to this point, which isn't much, but there is still plenty to ponder. For example, the initial DirectX features and specifications disclosed at this point include... Full support (including all DX11 hardware features) on Windows Vista as well as future versions of Windows Compatibility with DirectX 10 and 10.1 hardware, as well as support for new DirectX 11 hardware New compute shader technology that lays the groundwork for the GPU to be used for more than just 3D graphics, so that developers can take advantage of the...
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It seems that the old saying, "truth is stranger than fiction", rings true yet again but depending on your perspective, Yahoo might actually be on to something. The recent offering from the Microsoft-Carl Icahn Dynamic Duo, that came in over the weekend, was tied up with less than a 24hr deadline ultimatum that was firmly underscored with a no-compromises tonality. In the deal, Microsoft was throwing cash around like only Microsoft can, with not only an equity investment of $3.9 billion but also a preferred debt purse of $2.8 billion as well. But wait, behind door number 3 was a cool $2.3 billion in guaranteed annual revenue for search advertising for the next five...
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Microsoft only has a few cash cows, but they're enormous cash cows. Their suite of Office programs isn't cheap, and many users just root around for old discs or pirated versions when they're loading up a new PC. Microsoft is trying out offering the software as a service (SaaS) for a $70 per year subscription price, along with a few goodies like their antivirus software. It might be the wave of the future for the Redmond, Washington giant. Subscription pricing for software has become commonplace in businesses but is a relatively new concept for consumers. The Microsoft Equipt bundle — formerly code-named "Albany" — includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus OneCare and a handful of existing...
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Remember Albany, the beta version of Microsoft's subscription-based version of Office and Windows Live OneCare that launched in mid-April? Well, Albany is now Equipt, but you won't find it in the state of New York: for now, starting in mid-July, you'll find it only at Circuit City. In a press release on Wednesday, Microsoft announced the launch: Initially code-named “Albany,” Microsoft Equipt offers consumers Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, giving them the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for their personal and school projects; Windows Live OneCare, the all-in-one security and PC management service; Windows Live tools, such as Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger...
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