Teeeheeeeheeee
Europe's ready for Microsoft's arguments
The European Commission, having caused an uproar this summer with its rejection of General Electric's acquisition of Honeywell, now faces another high-profile, contentious issue that U.S. federal and state authorities are tackling: The proposed settlement of the antitrust case against software giant Microsoft. Mario Monti, the European Union's top antitrust officer, speaking at an award ceremony in New York on Tuesday, declined to discuss how or if the European Commission would be swayed by the proposed agreement.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Microsoft academy recruits Windows users
Microsoft on Wednesday added yet another way to recruit Windows users: A program to train students in high schools, vocational schools and two- and four-year colleges to work with the software maker's latest technology. Dubbed IT Academy, the program is billed as a way to prepare students for careers in high tech. While the program is expected to help schools train students for technology jobs, Microsoft also benefits by adding yet another tool in its recruitment arsenal. As it does with software developer programs, which offer tools and training for creating applications that run on Windows operating systems, Microsoft will be able to generate more interest in its products.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Chip revolution turns 30
The foundation of modern computing was something of an accident. The Intel 4004 Microprocessor, which debuted thirty years ago Thursday, sparked a technological revolution because it was the first product to fuse the essential elements of a programmable computer into a single chip. Since then, processors have allowed manufacturers to embed intelligence into PCs, elevators, air bags, cameras, cell phones, beepers, key chains and farm equipment, among other devices. But that's not the way the story was supposed to turn out.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Companies fight over faster wireless
While consumers and businesses are just beginning to adopt the first wireless networking technology, tech companies are already fighting over its successor. At issue is the billion-dollar market for networking kits that connect laptops today, and printers or stereos tomorrow, and wirelessly link them to the Internet. The wireless connections, first introduced to corporations and schools, have begun to take off in the past few years, spreading to coffee shops, airports and hotels across the country.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Yahoo to join broadband race
Yahoo on Wednesday said it would team with SBC Communications to sell high-speed Internet access in a partnership seemingly aimed at combating the growing power of America Online and MSN. The deal will create a co-branded online access service with more than 1.2 million high-speed Net customers, vaulting Yahoo into the ranks of the top Internet service providers. The service will also inherit 3.6 million dial-up customers from Prodigy Communications, which SBC recently bought.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Live on center stage -- Opera 6.0 beta
Opera Software moved Tuesday to catch up to Microsoft and Netscape on the international scene with a test launch of its new browser. Announced Tuesday at Comdex Fall 2001, the test, or "beta," version of Opera 6.0 for Microsoft's Windows operating system brings Opera up to speed with heavyweight competitors Microsoft and Netscape by allowing people to read Web pages written in non-Roman alphabets, including Chinese and Japanese.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Toysrus.com glitch panics Xbox fans
Fast-moving gamers who thrive on high-speed action got a shock this week with word that their preordered Xboxes wouldn't be delivered on time. But faster than you can say "replay," Amazon.com cleared up the confusion, saying a computer glitch had mistakenly changed the shipping dates for people who preordered through Toysrus.com. The gaming consoles -- expected to be one of the season's hottest sellers -- will be shipped Thursday, according to Patty Smith, a spokeswoman at Amazon.com. The e-tailer jointly operates the Toysrus.com Web site.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=mn_hd
Gateway auctions celebrity laptop
Gateway is betting a relic of the Windows XP launch will bring in big money to help victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The notebook, a Solo 3450, was signed by Gateway CEO Ted Waitt, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Intel CEO Craig Barrett on Oct. 24, during an event the evening before Windows XP's official kick-off. The three executives had gathered at the Gateway Country store in New York's Columbus Circle area of Manhattan. The auction is silent, meaning bidders will not be able to check on the progress. "Simply, the highest bid wins," Gateway spokesman Greg Lund said.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=mn_hd
Where's Harry Potter? Probably not online
Pirated copies of the much-anticipated Harry Potter movie have been reported online ahead of its U.S. release Friday, but impatient viewers will likely find it faster to wait in line at the theater rather than find an illicit version. Searches on peer-to-peer exchanges such as LimeWire and Morpheus this week returned long lists of files whose titles incorporate "Harry Potter," the hero of the expected movie blockbuster based on the best-selling novels by J.K. Rowling. Few of those files, if any, represent the genuine article, however.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd
Gadgets, gizmos top techies' holiday lists
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...a PC in a pear tree. Those may not be the original lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but technology industry professionals plan to give and receive laptop, desktop and handheld computers as holiday gifts, according to new research. In a weekly poll of tech industry professionals by the TechRepublic Community Research Group -- a division of CNET Networks, publisher of News.com -- researchers also determined that workers in specific job categories have certain preferences when it comes to buying and receiving presents.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=mn_hd
Motorola spins off chip unit
Wireless technology giant Motorola said Wednesday that it has created a wholly owned subsidiary to focus on its breakthrough technology for a superfast computer chip that combines low-cost silicon with speed-of-light optics. The Chicago-based company said the unit, Thoughtbeam, will focus on commercializing the technology and will be led by Motorola Corporate Vice President Padmasree Warrior. The new technology, introduced in September, combines silicon, the basis of most computer chips, with gallium arsenide, an alternative chipmaking material, to create an optical chip that is durable, cost effective and operates at higher speeds.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Yahoo plays Overture's paid search listings
Yahoo has partnered with for-fee search service Overture to add sponsored links to its directory, a move to bolster revenue as advertising sales wane. The Internet portal said it plans to integrate Overture's paid listings, or"sponsor matches," with its directory pages by Thursday. The service lets advertisers bid for placement in query results rather than rely on natural listings or editorial recommendations. The portal will feature Overture's top five for-fee listings in a clearly marked section separate from the results retrieved by Google, Yahoo's search partner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Employees double time on IM
Office workers are doubling their use of instant messaging, with the number of minutes spent swapping real-time messages at work in the United States climbing to 4.9 billion, according to a study released Wednesday. Internet research firm Jupiter Media Metrix said the number of unique users at work rose 34 percent to 13.4 million. Minutes spent at home on IM services, which allow people to chat in real-time, rose 48 percent to 13.6 billion minutes from a year earlier.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Publishers sign up for Listen.com service
Music service provider Listen.com plans to announce Wednesday that it has signed a deal with music publishers, giving an added boost to its upcoming online music service. Under the deal, Listen.com said it will have access to every musical work authorized by the Harry Fox Agency, a subsidiary of the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) that represents most songs published in the United States. Harry Fox will issue licenses to Listen.com that allow the music service provider to reproduce and distribute music through its upcoming subscription service, dubbed Rhapsody.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Musicians file brief supporting Napster 
A group of recording artists led by Don Henley on Tuesday said they recently filed a brief in a San Francisco federal court that may give song-swap service Napster a shot in the arm in its ongoing copyright-infringement battle with the recording industry. The artists contended in their brief filed Nov. 7 that the big recording labels may not indefinitely own some of the sound recording copyrights they are suing over in the landmark suit against Napster, said Jay Rosenthal, a lawyer for the Recording Artists Coalition. The record giants in September requested summary judgment on the issue of liability, which would leave as the only trial matter the amount of damages and nature of an injunction against Napster.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
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