Week in review: Microsoft makes nice

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security expert said. "As Microsoft, Yahoo and others connect their global IM networks, IM worms will spread faster and attack a larger population of end-users," said Jon Sakoda, chief technology officer at messaging security company IMlogic.

Watching TV without your TV
No time for "Lost" last night? Just download it and watch it during your commute. That's what Apple Computer hopes you will do with the unveiling of its long-rumored video iPod and an updated version of iTunes that lets users buy music videos, TV shows and movies. The music players, which come in black or white with a 2.5-inch screen, will be available in a 30GB model for $299 and a 60GB version for $399. The new devices hold up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or more than 150 hours of video.

With the new version of iTunes, unveiled five weeks after the debut of iTunes 5, consumers can buy non-burnable music videos for $1.99. In addition to music videos, consumers will be able to purchase TV shows one day after their initial broadcast. It will take 10 to 20 minutes to download an episode. Each will cost $1.99 and will be ad-free.

Apple kicked also announced a new iMac G5 desktop computer that will be similar to the current model but thinner. The 17-inch 1.9GHz goes for $1,299; the 20-inch 2.1GHz model is $1,699. The iMacs will come with a built-in, Webcam-style iSight camera with still and video capabilities, and a new Apple remote that lets consumers control music, photos and video from 30 feet away.

The release of Apple's new iTunes store for videos provides a look at a business model likely to unsettle the movie, television, advertising and retail markets for years to come.

With this first step into the video sales market, Apple is taking a path similar to the one followed by its initial iTunes music store, which started with a relatively number of titles that were accessible only to the relatively small number of Macintosh computer users out there. But it was an effective way to persuade a formerly reluctant music industry to allow broader online distribution.

Apple's deal with Disney appears to include a similar foot-in-the-door strategy, starting with a small amount of content to which it will add much more in the near future. It does go beyond anything else online, however, offering consumers the ability to download a purchased version of several shows the day after they air, along with back episodes.

EchoStar Communications is also getting into the portable video player market. PocketDish can download, record and play content from a PC or Mac, digital cameras, mass-storage devices, as well as from sources such as digital video players, camcorders and video cassette recorders, the company said. It is compatible with most television sets and consumer electronic devices currently available.

In addition, customers of EchoStar's Dish Network can dock PocketDish to select DVRs, using a USB 2.0 connection for fast video transfers. An hour of Dish programming can be transferred to the portable device in about five minutes, the company said.

Intel's chip secrets
CNET News.com got a look at Intel's confidential road map, which shows plans for a dizzying array of single- and dual-core chips for 2006.

Performance-enhancing features such as hyperthreading, 64-bit functionality, execute/disable and virtualization will appear together, separately, in varying combinations or not at all, depending on the chip and the type of computer in which it will be used. Of course, chips will vary by speed, cache size and bus speed.

The chipmaker's first round of Viiv entertainment-branded PCs will be included on Intel motherboards code-named Bad Axe, Palm Canyon and Bear Canyon. Each motherboard will include LGA775 packaging for 3.60GHz and higher processor frequencies. These computers will rely on the upcoming Yonah notebook chip.

Yonah, a new notebook chip coming from Intel early next year, will run slightly faster than expected, but may also consume more power than its contemporaries. Intel road maps indicate the next-generation Pentium M will debut at speeds up to 2.16 GHz and possibly 2.33 GHz--slightly faster than the 2GHz or less anticipated by sources in August. Yonah will also come with a 667-MHz bus, which is a channel for ferrying data between the processor and memory; today's Pentium Ms feature a 533-MHz bus.

Yonah chips, though, will carry higher maximum-power-consumption ratings than current Pentium Ms. Most likely, that's because most Yonahs will sport two processing cores, rather than the single core found in today's notebook chips.

Intel is expected to begin the introduction of

[nickbyfleet]

Whats the big deal with monopoly anyway?

Who cares if Microsoft is bigger and better than anyone else. If they can dominate the OS market by releasing a product that everyone likes better then why shouln't they be able to dominate the market. Next will come antitrust cases against Google because they are the best search engine out there. Its basically a safety net for small crappy companies.

[qwerty75]

clueless

MS did not get to where they are because they create such great products(they mainly produce software that is just good enough, at best). MS is not the best, what an uninformed comment.


MS got to where it is at through intimidation and market control. If you can't figure out why that is bad, you are hopeless.