Internet is 20 years old… according to Microsoft, in 10 years, what we today call “Internet” will be like this…

most likely, the concept of being “on line” or “off line” will disappear and objects, not only computers, will communicate independantely to each other.

That could be true for highly developped areas, but for these who, still today, have hard time to get access to drinkable water and haven’t seen electricity yet, this future by MS is definitively science-fiction.

Tags: future, internet, microsoft, Mobile Communications, online

Following Windows XP Service Pack 2 released in August 2004, Microsoft finallz releases the long waited Windows XP SP3 which includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases.

Microsoft is not adding significant Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP through SP3. However, SP3 does include Network Access Protection (NAP) to help organizations that use Windows XP to take advantage of new features in the Windows Server® 2008 operating system. Further, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7

Previously Released Functionality

• MMC 3.0
• MSXML6
• Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.5
• IPsec Simple Policy Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP
• Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS) DIMS makes it possible for users who log on to any domain-joined computer to silently access all of their certificates and private keys for applications and services. Peer Name
• Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) 2.1
• Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)

New and Enhanced Functionality

• “Black Hole” Router Detection
• Network Access Protection (NAP)
• Descriptive Security Options User Interface
• Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries
• Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module
• Windows Product Activation

All details on Windows SP3 page

The 320 MB Windows XP SP3 is available for download here

Tags: microsoft, release, security, service pack, services, sp3, update, windows, XP

Last week Lenovo (certainly among others) announced to its customers that owners of "qualified systems" can, if they wish, downgrade their Vista O/S to Windows XP. The offer is valid till 31st of July 2008.

Now, Microsoft announces that Windows XP operating system will remain available for sales to OEM and retail till June 2008, which is five month more than previously announced. System builder partners will be able to offer Windows XP until end of January 2009.

Windows XP Starter Edition in emerging markets where it is currently available for the rapidly growing class of hardware-constrained ultra-low cost PCs until June 30, 2010.

Long waited Microsoft Vista SP1 has not been yet officially announced and its release is not expected before 2008.

Tags: 2007, 2008, api, art, blog, ces, customer, downgrade, ia, ibm, im, IT World, lan, microsoft, nomadcom.net, press, release, train, vista, windows, wp, www, XP

It is impressive to see the quantity of bad news that reached Microsoft's headquarters this week.

Motivation may not be at its highest level in Redmond.

• Only 60 millions licenses (sic!) of Windows Vista have been sold. It is rather low considering that includes OEM and Corporate agreements (companies getting Vista licenses as part of their contract, but with no short-term plan to deploy it).

• Yahoo announced the acquisition of Zimbra, an open source server and client software for messaging and collaboration (email, group calendaring, contacts, and web document management and authoring).
• Google welcomed "Presentation", a new addition to the Google Docs & Spreadsheets family which has now all elements to compete with MS Office.
• IBM released the beta version of Symphony, a web-based open source office suite, based on the open document format (ODF).
• International Standard Organization (ISO) rejected Microsoft Office 2007 file format, called Office Open XML (OOXML), to be recognized as an ISO standard. Critics said the format was flawed and laden with MS-specific features.
• SCO group, a Microsoft ally to seize parts of the Linux market, took step of filing for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Last but not least

Microsoft lost its appeal before the European Court of First Instance regarding 2004 European Commission act that found MS abusing of its near-monopoly position. Final  Microsoft's bill in fines (689 millon USD) and penalties could reach about 2.8 billions USD.

Don't worry Bill, on Monday starts another week!  

Tags: 2007, agreement, api, appeal, art, blog, europe, google, ia, ibm, im, International, iso, IT World, lan, language, law, LED, Management, microsoft, nomadcom.net, odf, pet, press, release, sco, space, symphony, term, vista, web, windows, windows vista, wp, www, yahoo

Finally, long waited HTC S620 (Excalibur) upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 has been released. This upgrade was already available in July for T-Mobile Dash users.

Windows Mobile 6 upgrade will provide the following new and improved features :

• Stay connected to your e-mail, calendar, and contacts.- Find what you need quickly and easily including business listings, maps and directions with Windows Mobile's powerful search and filtering features.
• Get access to corporate networks for data and documents stored on file shares and SharePoint sites.
• Fit your style with a variety of designs ranging from touch screen devices with slide out keyboards to sleek full-keyboard smartphones or compact flip phones.
• Receive HTML e-mail support, improved security and encryption, greater integration with Microsoft products including direct SharePoint® intranet access from e-mail links and superior connectivity to Windows Vista™.

45 MB upgrade package is available on HTC member page but be ready for a slow connection as I can imagine the server to be a bit overloaded with S620 and TyTN upgrade downloads.

More once upgrade completed
Update completed, first impressions posted

Source: HTC Club 

Tags: 2007, access, arc, art, blog, ces, connection, connectivity, design, europe, excalibur, find, htc, im, keyboard, lan, list, login, map, microsoft, mobile, Mobile Communications, network, nomadcom.net, pda, phone, phones, post, power, press, quickly, release, S620, screen, search, security, share, smartphone, space, Telecommunications, touch, touch screen, TyTN, update, upgrade, user, vista, windows, windows mobile 6, windows vista, WM6, wp, www

Agilemobile.com, a Bangkok based company, has released the final version of Agile Messenger 3 which is a "all-in-one" Instant Messaging client for mobile terminal.

Agile supports MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ Jabber & GoogleTalk can carry all type of messages (IM, Voice, Video, Photo) and is available for Nokia, Sony Ericsson (Symbian) as well as for Windows Mobile devices (Pocket PC and Smartphone running on WM2002, WM2003 or WM5).

Price is 50 USD per licence.

For corporate users 2 options are available.

1. a version of Agile Messenger that can be customized to reflect corporate identity
2. a LCS client version for that connect directly to Microsoft Live Communication Server without additional gateway.

Installation is straight forward with an *.exe package, or *cab files can be downloaded directly to the mobile terminal. 

I have made few test, and found the interface very pleasant & easy to use. File and photo transfer works fine, specially if you're connected through a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Cons:

• Could not update Twitter using GTalk IM protocol. Twitter user is seen online, but sent messages are not published on Twitter page.
• Skype support would certainly turn this application to a "must have" specially if the possibility of using SkypeOut gateway is given to contact people by phone.

While reaching the end of 7 days trial period given by Agile, I just found another multi-protocol IM tool for PDA and Smartphone which is free: Fring

A quick review of Fring will follow shortly is now published.

Tags: 2003, 2007, agile, aim, art, Bangkok, blog, ces, communication, ericsson, free, fring, google, GTalk, ia, icq, im, install, instant messenger, lan, live, messenger, microsoft, mobile, Mobile Communications, msn, nokia, nomadcom.net, online, pda, phone, photo, release, review, skype, smartphone, sony, space, symbian, term, twit, Twitter, update, user, video, web, windows, WM5, WM6, wp, www, XP, yahoo

There were in May 2007 284 millions Internet users in Asia, according comScore study, who are online an average of 20.2 hours and view 2171 pages per month while the worldwide average is 25.2 hours and 2519 pages.

Asia region represents the third of the Worldwide Internet population. China leads with 91.5 millions users (they only represent 9% of the country's population), followed by Japan (53 million) and South Korea (26.3 million). Internet users of these 3 countries represent, all together, 60% of all Asia-Pacific Internet users.

In term of usage rate, South Korea in on the top with 65%, closely followed by Australia (62%), New Zeland (60%) and Hong Kong (59%), India is at the rear with only 3%.

If Google is the most popular web site worldwide, ComScore's study shows that in Asia Yahoo remains the prefered site in Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Microsoft domains are the most visited in Australia, China, and New Zealand, with the Seoul-based NHN Corporation taking top honors in South Korea.

Source: The Register

Tags: 2007, asia, asia pacific, blog, gap, google, ia, im, internet, japan, King, lan, microsoft, nomadcom.net, online, population, sco, space, study, taiwan, term, the register, uk, USA, usage, user, web, world, worldwide, wp, www, yahoo

Yet another post about Apple iPhone, even if, as most of people, I haven't seen it yet. However, reading some articles about this "famous" iphone (11'000 print articles and 69 millions hits on Google in the last six months according the New York Times. 

I find very surprising that following support or services (according Presse-Citron review) will not be available on the, soon to be release, first Apple iphone :

Games (ok, perhaps it's a professional tool)

Office document editor (ok it's not a Microsoft product)

Cut-Paste function 

Memory extension slots (is it why there are 2 models of iphone ?)

MP3 ringtones (iTunes don't sell ringtones)

A2DP support for stereo bluetooth headset

Push Mail (ok, perhaps it's not a professional tool)

GPS

Flash & Java support (not sure you can even display Apple website pages)

Instant Messenging

MMS

Voice recognition 

Video capture

Camera zoom and flash

and there is even worst

Audio jack is not a 3.5mm standard. An adapter is needed if you want to use your iPod headphones.

Not 3G network compatible (UMTS, HSDPA, etc..)

Battery cannot be remove (no way to carry a spare one)

No built-in WiFi. (my mistake)
 

Without 3G, Web browsing with the iPhone will be an experience..if you're patient enough and unlucky enough to not find a WiFi hotspot close by!

and last but not least, the antenna is located at the bottom of the phone, right there were your hand holds the phone. This will surely helps a lot when the signal is weak.

Cherry on top of the cake, iPhone will be available only with a 24 months operator's subscription and its price tag is above 500 USD. Even without seeing it live, the so much expected iPhone will not replace my HTC 620.

Sources : Pogue's iPhone Tour & Presse-Citron 

Tags: 2007, 24, antenna, apple, art, ATT, blog, camera, ces, editor, find, flash, fon, Fun, game, google, htc, im, iphone, ipod, ITU, lan, live, memory, microsoft, Mobile Communications, models, network, new york times, nomadcom.net, nyt, phone, phones, post, press, prophet, release, review, S620, services, smartphone, space, spare, technology, Telecommunications, video, web, website, wifi, wp, www, XP

Well known for its analysis, the Gartner Group predicts, in its last week press release, that Instant Messaging systems will be the "de facto" tool for voice, video and text chat with 95% of workers in leading global organizations. It may even become the primary interface for real-time communications by 2013. The Gartner Group forecasts the IM market to grow from 267 mio/USD in 2005 to 688 mio/USD in 2010.

As part of the corporate IT infrastructure, they recommend use of corporate IM solutions such IBM "Lotus Sametime" or Microsoft's "Office Live Communication Server" as they can be protected by the corporate firewall. One key part of IM corporate setup will be the "Presence Technology" which allows people to establish the availability of others for real-time communications regardless of their location.  It also enables users to cut through desktop clutter, resulting in immediate responses.

As a result, Gartner predicts that by 2012, presence technology will be offered independently of IM and email products.  Mr David Mario Smith, research analyst at Gartner, urged vendors and enterprises alike to recognize this and develop a real-time architecture with presence as the key ingredient. “The IM client is becoming the launch pad for many types of communications channels and services,” he concluded.  “Presence will extend its influence beyond IM to become an essential source of innovation for enterprise applications of the future.” 

This release collides with a discussion I had last week with some colleagues about which IM tool we were using and which one is our preferred. Personally, a tool like Skype makes my day as I get to use it to transmit and receive messages from many networks and not exclusively from the Web. However, it is well known that Skype is a real nightmare for corporate ICT Security officer and this piece of software always tries its best to find a way to connect the net, bypassing any corporate security (firewall & NAT) using peer-to-peer technology.

Full Press release is available on Gartner site

Tags: 2007, analysis, arc, art, availability, blog, ces, communication, CTU, find, forecast, gartner group, global, ia, ibm, ict, ICT Security, im, instant messenger, Internet News, lan, launch, live, location, messenger, microsoft, MIT, mobile, Mobile Communications, msn, network, Nomad Tools, nomadcom.net, officer, presence, press, real time, release, sametime, search, security, services, skype, space, technology, user, video, web, wp, www

While "everybody" is expecting Apple and its future iPhone (expected in USA by the end of June 07), HTC announced on the 5th of June, after few teasing days, its own touch screen smartphone.

The HTC TouchFlo, a touch screen running on Windows Mobile 6 Professional which according HTC will revolutionize the way you use the touch screen by allowing finger scrolling and panning.

Unlike the Apple iPhone, HTC TouchFlo is already available in UK (Expansys at 520 €) and will be on asian and european shelves later this month. US market will be provided later this year. 

I wonder how the input method will work and how comfortable typing messages or entering information will be with a touch screen keyboard where a constant attention is needed to make sure that all letters have been correctly entered. 

Highlights

	TouchFLO™
	Large 2.8" touch screen display
	Tri-band GSM with GPRS/EDGE
	2 megapixel camera
	Internet browsing and Push E-mail
	Multimedia capabilities
	Stereo Bluetooth® 2.0 and Wi-Fi®

 

Technical Specification

Processor	TI's OMAP™ 850, 201 MHz
Operating System	Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
Memor	ROM: 128 MB SDRAM: 64 MB DDR
Dimension	99.9mm (L) X 58mm (W) X 13.9mm (T)
Weight	112g with battery
Display	2.8" LCD touch screen with backlight 240 X 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colors
Network	GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800, 1900 (The device will operate on frequencies available from the cellular network.)
Device Control	HTC TouchFLO™ 5-Way navigation control
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.0 Wi-Fi® IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB and audio jack in one)
Camera	2.0 megapixel CMOS color camera
Audio	Built-in microphone and 3-in-1 speaker Windows Media Player supported formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, QCELP, MPEG4, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
Battery	Rechargeable Li-lon battery Capacity: 1100 mAh Standby time: Up to 200 hours Talk time: Up to 5 hours
Expansion Slot	microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

More information on HTC Touch site,
Source:  Presse-Citron,  Smartphonethoughts

Tags: 2007, 24, 802.11, api, apple, art, asia, ATT, blog, camera, capacity, card, cellphone, cellular, ces, connectivity, europe, expansys, gap, gsm, HP, htc, HTC TouchFlo, ia, im, internet, iphone, keyboard, lan, launch, light, map, memory, microsoft, mobile, Mobile Communications, network, Nomad Tools, nomadcom.net, pda, phone, plugin, press, rechargeable, resolution, screen, smartphone, telecom, Telecommunications, touch, touch screen, touchflo, uk, USA, usb, windows, windows mobile 6, WM6, wp, www, XP