iPhone 2.0 will likely be worth the wait

Maybe I need to go back on the same iMeds that everyone else appears to be on. Without laying my hands on an iPhone, my sense is that the early reviews are for the most part iNuts. In fact, it’s almost surreal how all of them seem to answer the very basic question of whether the handset actually lives up to the hype that preceded it:

• The NYT™s David Pogue: The iPhone Matches Most of its Hype
• USA Today’s Ed Baig: Apple’s iPhone isn’t perfect, but it’s worthy of the Hype
• Steven Levy, Newsweek: ¦one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast.

On balance, Pogue, Baig, Levy and Mossberg (the last of which refrained from going the hype route) turned out some great work. There was clearly enough consensus among the four to help their readers understand the pros and cons of the iPhone, particularly in context of market expectations. But what were the odds that three out of the four first reviews (the Journal’s Walt Mossberg didn’t go the “hype” route) would use hyperbole as their yardstick (two in the headline). It’s as though that’s the official testing criteria: does it live up to the expectations that have been set for it?

Source: ZDNet

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MSN Gears Up for Live Earth

With Live Earth now less than two weeks away, Microsoft’s MSN division is preparing itself for what will be one of the largest streaming events in the history of the Internet.

Companies such as AOL and CBS have done it for Live 8 and the Final Four in the past, however Microsoft’s offering will be on a larger scale. The service uses those two events as a template for its own offering and will build upon them.

The interface is comprised of a main screen for viewing a single feed, surrounded by “thumbnails” of shots from other events. While these won’t be moving thumbnails, Gurry said they will be changed frequently so the viewer has an up-to-date idea of what is going on at other Live Earth venues.

These videos will be pulled from a variety of sources, including National Geographic, Hearst, TreeHugger, Conservation International, and the Alliance for Climate Protection, Al Gore’s group that is responsible for the event itself.

Source: BetaNews

Folders and Photo Gallery announced - more to come this summer

Windows Live Folders and Windows Live Photo Gallery are set to begin limited managed betas, according to an announcement by Microsoft today. Windows Live Folders, which we showed you when it briefly popped up back in May, is the first attempt at a “storage in the cloud” service for Windows Live. The beta will provide 500mb of online storage at no charge, with a 50mb individual file size cap. I talked to Chris Jones, Corporate Vice President, Windows Live Experience Program Management, who showed me around Folders and Photo Gallery, and while he expects Folders to be used for document storage, and not music, photo, or video storage, he expects Microsoft to be “very competitive” in the storage space they provide.

(click to enlarge)

Windows Live Photo Gallery is a new product, an “upgrade” from the Windows Photo Gallery that comes with Vista, and which will be available as a free download for Windows XP SP2 as well. Windows Live Photo Gallery will provide enhancements, such as a stitching tool, and will make posting photos to Spaces, or Soapbox for videos, far easier than it is today.

Windows Live Photo Gallery will be available in a managed beta in 9 worldwide markets (US, in English and Spanish), China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, and Spain) with more to come. Chris Jones made it clear that it’s very important to reach a global market with these services, so expect to see more countries added quickly.

In addition, Jones says to expect more from Windows Live in the summer months and into the fall. We should see a Windows Live Suite this summer, to be able to easily install multiple Windows Live “software plus services” products at once.

source-liveside

@Live.com e-mail Addresses Information

Looks like we finally have heard some news on when @live.com e-mail addresses will be released. Jacky Mok, another Product Manager for Windows Live in Toronto, has posted some information saying when they will be released, he says will be available “in the fall”, along with “a rich family of products” around the same time.
According to the blog entry on livechronicles.spaces.live.com, there will be no migration of address names from current hotmail addresses, so if you have blank@hotmail.com, there’s no guarantee you will get blank@live.cam. It’s still on a first come, first served basis like every other e-mail services. Apparently country code addresses will only be available in countries outside the US, so that a Canadian will be able to get an @live.ca address, but not an @live.com one.
source: MicroTechXP

Safari 3.0.2 Beta

 Safari has always been the fastest browser on the Mac and now it’s the fastest browser on Windows, loading and drawing web pages up to twice as fast as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Mozilla Firefox 2.

Why you’ll love Safari:
* Blazing Performance2x Faster - Safari is the fastest web browser on any platform.
* Elegant User Interface - Safari’s clean look lets you focus on the web — not your browser.
* Easy Bookmarks - Organize your bookmarks just like you organize music in iTunes.
* Pop-up Blocking - Say goodbye to annoying pop-up ads and pop-under windows.
* Inline Find - Search any text on any website with the integrated Find banner.
* Tabbed Browsing - Open and switch between multiple web pages in a single window.
* SnapBackSnapback - Instantly snap back to search results or the top level of a website.
* Forms AutoFill - Let Safari complete online forms for you, automatically and securely.
* RSSBuilt-in RSS - RSS tells you when new content is added to your favorite sites.
* Resizable Text Fields - Resize text fields on any website: Just grab the corner and drag.
* Private Browsing - Keep your online activities private with a single click.
* Security - Apple engineers designed Safari to be secure from day one.
Download: Safari 3.0.2 Beta
View: Change log
Link: Safari Home Page

Windows Vista Most Secure OS

Microsoft has applauded Vista from the get go as the most secure Windows platform, but according to a comparison put together by Jeff Jones, Security Strategy Director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, the status quo is also valid for rival operating systems. Windows XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Workstation, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, Apple Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and Windows Vista are the operating systems evaluated by Jones. At the bottom of this article, you will be able to find graphics with details of t he comparison. Additionally, you can also access the .pdf version of the Windows Vista 6-Month Vulnerability Report authored by Jeff Jones.
“Windows Vista holds up well in this comparison, showing a significantly improved vulnerability profile over its first 180 days of availability compared to Windows XP and the other operating systems that were examined. It’s interesting to note that Windows Vista is being subjected to a greater level of scrutiny than its predecessor, as tools used by security researchers have become significantly more sophisticated since Windows XP was released,” revealed Austin Wilson of Microsoft’s Windows Client Group.

Source: MSFN

Internet Explorer 8 Beta to begin later this year

One of the members of thehotfix.net forums confirmed that he received a mail from Microsoft saying that the Beta version Internet explorer 8 would be released later this year along with Windows Vista SP1.There is no information on when the exact date would be. However, since mainstream support for XP doesn’t end until April 2009 Microsoft will support IE 8 to Windows XP users.

But in the same way that IE 7 was released, there will be 2 versions: one that is built on the security settings of Vista, and the other one on the settings of XP SP2 or SP3.So it will be a good news for all the Windows XP users who can also use Internet Explorer 8.More information will be provided when available!!!

HTC, Airtel Announce HTC Touch

High Tech Computer, provider of Microsoft Windows Mobile-based smart devices and Bharti Airtel have introduced The HTC Touch - India’s first mobile phone with TouchFLO technology. This handheld device operates on the intuitive touch screen navigation technology and is now exclusively available to Airtel Mobile users in the country.

The HTC Touch allows users to control touch screen-based devices by recognising and responding to the sweep of a finger across the screen. It can also distinguish between finger and stylus input and then respond accordingly. The HTC-designed homescreen provides one-touch access to emails, text messages, calendar appointments and contacts, as well as current weather conditions and forecasts for hundreds of cities around the world.

“The HTC Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO, the new underlying touch screen technology developed by HTC,” said Peter Chou, Chief Executive Officer, HTC. “We are excited to partner with Airtel and bring this device to the India and we are confident that the HTC Touch will have a positive impact on the India telecommunications market as it brings a new level of simplicity to the powerful and function-rich device experience that today’s mobile consumers demand.”

“Our partnership with HTC to introduce India’s First TouchFLO technology featured mobile phone underlines our commitment to innovation. We are very excited at the opportunity to bring to our Airtel users a best in class product, which is elegant, stylish and equipped to deliver a power packed performance. This phone will be available exclusively on Airtel”, said Sanjay Gupta, chief marketing officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel.

Priced at Rs 19,900/- (Inclusive of taxes) The HTC Touch will be available for Airtel users in 10 cities, which includes - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Jaipur.

Source Technoworld