RingCube Software Squeezes PC onto iPod

Mobile computing just got more portable. Making even the latest pocketbook-sized ultra-mobile personal computers look more like lumbering giants, RingCube Technologies Inc. unveiled software that can virtually squeeze a PC onto an iPod, USB keychain drive, cell phone or any gizmo with digital storage space.
RingCube's MojoPac software mirrors a computer's personal settings, programs and data on a storage device. Then, when it's connected to any computer running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system, the virtual desktop will run in a window of the underlying PC.
"You're taking your digital soul with you on any portable storage device," said Shan Appajodu, chief executive and co-founder of RingCube.
A user could toggle between the two computing environments. The company contends that everything you do with your MojoPac PC will remain private: the underlying host PC won't retain any of the files or cache copies of what you did on MojoPac, the company said.
The software can be downloaded and tested at no cost for 30 days. If bought within a month of the product's release, it will cost $29.99 with up to three additional licenses for $14.99 each. After the introductory period, the price will jump to $49.99, with up to three extra licenses costing $24.99 each.
MojoPac will be shown off at the DEMOfall 2006 conference, an elite showcase of emerging technologies being held this week in San Diego.
"I lug my laptop around with me everywhere and the idea that I could bring my work environment around with me on a USB key is really attractive," said DEMO producer Chris Shipley.
The software works by creating a virtual operating system that runs the programs users load onto the storage device. RingCube says MojoPac supports any off-the-shelf applications, including PC video games and applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office.
The idea is to transform any computer found at Internet cafes, dorm rooms, libraries or business offices into your personal computer, said Appajodu, who started developing the product more than two years ago.
Mountain View-based RingCube also hopes to introduce a prepackaged version of MojoPac such as on a keychain drive as a low cost computing alternative in developing nations, where many can't afford their own computers. Many people in those areas can't afford personal computers but have access to Internet kiosks.
MojoPac is available as a software download for $49.99 at http://www.mojopac.com.

Open Letter to Developers from Microsoft Co-President Jim Allchin

Windows Vista: Now is the Time!

Are you ready for Windows Vista? We know the world is! Barring any unforeseen quality issues such as bugs around data corruption, resiliency, or security, we remain on track for business availability of Windows Vista later this year, with our consumer launch in January. Those of you who have started using RC1 can see how stable the product already is. We are very close to being done.
Windows Vista is going to give you, developers, new opportunities on a scale you haven't seen since Windows 95. Industry analysts predict that some 200 million people will be using Windows Vista within the first 24 months of launch. We're rapidly approaching launch, and then millions of people will be looking for applications. People will flock to software that is new, compelling, and "cool." You have GOT to be ready for this opportunity. We have invested heavily in both the .NET Framework 3.0 and traditional Win32 APIs in Windows Vista. With Visual Studio you can create applications that are visually stunning, connected, workflow-enabled, and secure. You can get a preview of some of the great features in the upcoming next release of Visual Studio that will make development for Windows Vista even more powerful. And the new line of Microsoft Expression products will make it much easier for developers and designers to collaborate on creating great experiences for Windows.
More than 1,000 companies are engaged in our early adopter programs, and some of the initial work I've seen has simply blown me away. People will just love these applications - from new DX10 games to cool Sidebar gadgets to new rich visual enterprise applications. Some of these apps are mind-bogglingly cool. And, some of the best work is being done by small companies that many of you probably haven't heard of, so the opportunities for changing the world are clear. We've created a showcase so you can see what some of your peers are doing.
What do you need to do to be ready? First of all, make sure your application is compatible. We have made tremendous investments in Windows Vista to ensure backwards compatibility, but some of the system enhancements, such as User Access Control, changes to the networking stack, and the new graphics model, may require code changes on your part. You should work hard to run as standard user.
We've got tools to help you:
The Application Compatibility Cookbook will give you in-depth information on the new capabilities in Windows Vista and how they may affect existing applications.
The Windows Vista site on MSDN includes the latest technical material and gives you pointers to our upcoming worldwide launch events.
Visit the Innovate on Windows Vista portal to get access to tools, resources, and Windows Vista logo program information. I strongly encourage you to apply for the Certified for Windows Vista Logo.
If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your Microsoft representative, post to MSDN Forums, or send us feedback directly.
As I said, the opportunity will be tremendous. If you want to ride the wave we're creating with Windows Vista, the best way is to have your application ready by the time we ship! And that is very soon.

thanks,
jim

Jim Allchin
Co-President, Platforms & Services
Microsoft Corporation

Intel announces launch of quad-core chips in November

Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest microchip company, will launch chips with four processing cores in November, Chief Executive Paul Otellini said on Tuesday.
The chip would initially be meant for high-end server and gaming computers, with cheaper mainstream versions due out early in 2007, Otellini told the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.
"The initial desktop version of quad-core will be introduced as an Extreme version," Otellini said. "In Q1 of next year, we'll bring it into the mainstream under the name of Core 2 Quad."
A four-core chip for servers will also go on sale this November under the Xeon brand, with a lower-power version rolling out in the first quarter of next year, Otellini said.
Intel's current top-end chips have two processing cores, allowing them to better process multiple tasks at the same time.
The Santa Clara, California-based company has been losing market share to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and hopes new products like the quad-core chip will help reverse that slide.

Get Ready for Fourth-Generation Wireless

On this volcanic island at the tip of the Korean Peninsula, where kings once exiled dissidents and tourists now flock to casinos, South Korean engineers recently unveiled a prototype of a wireless network that they hope will revolutionize Internet access.
Last month, Samsung gave the first public demonstration of its version of the network. One day, the company and others in the industry hope, the network will allow users to open a laptop anywhere and, without attaching a cable or looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot, immediately surf the Internet or download music and movies at the speed of the fastest broadband .

But while companies like Samsung, Intel and NTT DoCoMo are spending heavily in a race to control crucial aspects of this evolving new technology and to promote it as the next wave in Internet access, its future is far from certain.
Many in the industry seem split over whether the technology, sometimes called fourth-generation wireless, or 4G, will usher in an era of instant Internet availability or turn into a multibillion-dollar flop. Skeptics, many of them on Wall Street, point to a string of failures to turn wireless, still predominantly used for speaking on cellphones, into a challenger in the market for Internet access services.

The market in the United States for Internet access cable modems, DSL and other methods is worth as much as $60 billion, said Bin Shen, a vice president at Sprint Nextel in charge of commercializing the new service.

Skeptics say the biggest danger is that the new system, while an engineering marvel, is not something that consumers would actually use. They say the high cost of the nationwide wireless networks envisioned would probably be passed down to users as high fees. Fixed-line access like fiber optics and cable modems, they say, will continue to be cheaper, faster and more reliable. "Four-G is just much ado about nothing," said Edward Snyder, an analyst at Charter Equity Research. "There's no business model here. Just a lot of marketing and hot air."

Adobe Updates Acrobat Software

Adobe is providing some new collaboration tools with the release of its Acrobat 8 upgrade. The PDF pioneer also released Acrobat Connect today, a new product line that enables users to conduct Web conferences through online meeting rooms using Flash Player software.
Acrobat Connect provides users with a Web address for an online personal meeting room, which can include up to 15 participants, for a fee.
Using a one-touch button found in Acrobat 8, users can launch Acrobat Connect directly from a PDF document, said Marion Melani, a group product marketing manager at Adobe. "In the meeting room you can share content among the participants, work on that content and see who is conducting the meeting," she said.
Up and Running in a Flash
And because it is based on the Flash Player, there is no software needed to initiate or join a Connect meeting, Melani added. "Since 97 percent of computers have the player installed, Acrobat Connect makes it easy to go from looking at your computer screen to sharing it with others, regardless of their operating system."
The application is based on online collaboration technology called Breeze that Adobe obtained through its purchase of Macromedia late last year.
Two versions of the hosted Connect are offered: a basic service that costs $39 per month (or $395 per year), and a server-based option for larger enterprises that want to run and maintain their own service. Adobe is offering a free trial of the application through the end of this year.
Beyond the PDF
Upgrades to Acrobat 8 include the ability to share and review comments posted by others on a specific document and the ability to combine files composed in an array of formats, such as Microsoft Word, PDF, and digital images, in a single package.
"This is all about moving beyond PDF document creation and using Acrobat to collaborate in new ways," said Melani. PDF packages can now include collections of separate information files into what looks like a single document, but maintains the digital integrity and security settings of each file, she explained.
Such capabilities are critical for business analysts transmitting sensitive financial data, or lawyers submitting separate pieces of evidence that cannot be combined in a single file, Melani explained. Acrobat 8 also makes it easier to turn static business forms into interactive documents for use and review by more than one person, she added.
Acrobat 8 Professional for Windows and Macintosh, and Acrobat 8 Standard for Windows, will be available in November. Acrobat 8 Professional will list for $449, and registered users can upgrade their software for $159. Acrobat 8 Standard sells for $299, with upgrades at $99.

Open Source Matures for Business Roles

"From now on it's really all about mainstreaming," says Michael Dortch, principal business analyst and I.T. infrastructure management practice leader at the Robert Frances Group. "It's not about open source vs. proprietary. It's all part of a company's business infrastructure. So enterprises need to work with vendors who understand that and ask the question, 'How do I make my business run better?'"
By Jennifer Mears September 15, 2006 9:14AM
With Linux making deeper inroads into corporate data centers, the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo gave attendees some firsthand information about how open source is maturing to handle more critical business workloads.
"The question of whether to use Linux isn't an issue anymore," says Eric Clapsaddle, Unix systems administrator at Kohl's department stores in Menomonee Falls, Wis., who made his first trip to the conference this year. "It's not, 'Can I do it on Linux?' It's, 'How do I do it on Linux?'"
Addressing that question, the show -- which organizers say drew some 11,000 people, about the same as last year -- was focused on how Linux can support real business tasks. The bulk of the sessions and keynotes dealt with higher-level technologies such as virtualization, management, security , services-oriented architectures and grid computing, rather than lower-level discussions about the merits and drawbacks of Linux itself.
Meanwhile there were product announcements from a range of companies. FiveRuns and Open Country unveiled open source systems management products; open source collaboration vendors Zimbra and Scalix showed off updated wares; and open source storage companies Zmanda and Cleversafe launched software and an open source project.
Systems vendors such as HP, IBM and Oracle also had news. HP expanded its Linux repertoire, announcing formal support for Debian, while IBM and Oracle talked about widening their support for Linux and open source with services and preconfigured packages.
But the real thrust of the show was around helping I.T. managers make better use of Linux and open source by integrating it into heterogeneous data center environments wherever it makes the best business sense.

Spreadsheets Seen as Security Hole

Bill Hostmann, an analyst at Gartner, said that while many organizations go to great lengths to secure transactional systems and Web applications, many more "do almost nothing, or a very limited amount," to protect data housed in BI applications and spreadsheets.
In the wake of multiple high-profile laptop thefts and data breaches, some I.T. shops are launching new initiatives to ensure that sensitive corporate data stored in spreadsheets and business intelligence tools remains secure.
The security efforts are taking on a new urgency as more workers gain access to BI tools and spreadsheets used for BI functions.
Several recent incidents -- including the inadvertent exposure of sensitive data for about 5,000 customers by Verizon Wireless that was disclosed last week, and the theft of a laptop from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that contained personal information from some 26 million veterans -- involved unsecured spreadsheets.
Users and analysts said that spreadsheets are often the most common method used to analyze corporate data and are increasingly used as a front-end to more advanced BI systems. However, in most cases the ubiquitous application and the more traditional BI tools have not yet received the same security scrutiny as transactional systems and Web applications, they said.

Microsoft To Unveil New Live Search Engine

Microsoft plans to use Live Search on its MSN portal, and it also planning to promote Live Search later this fall. But Matt Rosoff, independent researcher with Directions on Microsoft, said the company needs to do more -- whether it's a massive marketing push or some sort of broader tie-in with other products -- to tell uses what Live is, and persuade them to switch from Google and others.

Microsoft Corp. plans Tuesday to officially launch its updated and renamed Internet search engine, the latest step in a massive effort to make headway against market leaders Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc.
Live Search had previously been available in test form and is the successor to MSN Search, Microsoft's current search engine. It ranks a distant third in U.S. popularity after Yahoo and Google, according to the most recent data from Nielsen/Net Ratings.
The release also is part of the Redmond software company's push to offer a number of free, Web-based services under its new "Live" brand name. The approach has been aimed at helping the company establish a fresh, separate Internet brand for those services, but it also has confused some users more familiar with the company's traditional MSN Internet branding strategy.
"In general, I don't think a lot of consumers outside of computer enthusiasts ... are aware of Windows Live or know what it is," said Matt Rosoff, independent researcher with Directions on Microsoft.
Microsoft plans to use Live Search on its MSN portal, and it also planning to promote Live Search later this fall. But Rosoff said the company needs to do more -- whether it's a massive marketing push or some sort of broader tie-in with other products -- to tell uses what Live is, and persuade them to switch from Google and others.
"In the end, users need easy access to Microsoft's search engine," Rosoff said.
Among other changes, Live Search will include improved ways to refine a search engine query so a user can better differentiate whether they are searching, for, say, the jaguar animal, car or Apple Computer Inc. operating system, said Christopher Payne, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Live Search effort.
It also has improved how people can search for and view images, Payne said.
Microsoft on Tuesday also plans to officially launch Live Local Search in the United States and the United Kingdom. The search offering, which has long been available in test form, shows detailed photographic images of some parts of the country based on searches for addresses and places of interest.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition Server

Once again I am here with one nice presentation from MSDN TV. Hope yo'l who are DB programmer and wisht to do similar on the latest and fastest growing plateform

I wont say more here but will say, see it yourself :) - Rory Blyth is definitely funny.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20060831MobileRB/manifest.xml

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition Server Tools updates the servers running IIS to support connectivity solutions from SQL Server Mobile database on a mobile device to database servers running SQL Server 2000 SP3a and above.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition (SQL Server Mobile) is the compact database for rapidly developing applications in both native mode and the .NET Compact Framework that extend enterprise data management capabilities to devices.Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition Server Tools installs the SQL Server Mobile Replication Components on the IIS box. The components are required for connecting the SQL Server Mobile database on a mobile device to a SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2000 SP3a, or SQL Server 2000 SP4 database.

Hope you like it

Somehow when i had click watch the video it jsut had played introduction - and than for part I i have usedthe launch the show in your viewer link. See if that helps :)