Microsoft will be taking the fight to Google’s Documents and Spreadsheets with their new Office Live Workspace software by taking a totally different approach. The main aim of Office Live Workspace would be to give web-connected users a no-cost place to store, share, and collaborate on Office documents, so you can forget about it being an online office suite. Microsoft is also generous enough to provide registered users with up to 250mB of storage space that allows them to store documents “in the cloud” or even “host” them for comments by other users equipped with just a web browser. Heck, you can even manage the access rights of other users if the need arises. One important point to take note would be this - you cannot create new Office documents nor can you edit documents beyond adding comments without having a copy of Microsoft Office installed locally. Looks like one way or another, you still need to pick up the traditional Microsoft Office if you want to take full advantage of its features.

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SRS Labs has just announced that they will be rolling out iWOW 2 - the most up-to-date version of the popular and award-winning iTunes plug-in for owners of Macintosh computers. iWOW 2 is definitely a step up from its predecessors, utilizing a few patented audio enhancement technologies that provides full and rich 3D audio over both desktop and laptop computers in addition to external speakers and headphones. This results in not only a richer and more powerful audio experience whenever you listen to music, videos or podcasts, but it also provides new preset options that enable listeners the ability to listen and enjoy both movies and videos on iTunes in surround sound instead of headphones.

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Looks like even a powerful corporation like Microsoft will have to bow down to pressure from its customers, and the company has decided not to cut off life support from the Windows XP operating as it originally intended to. Where major PC manufacturers were supposed to stop selling XP-powered machines from January 31st onwards this year, they successfully lobbied Microsoft to allow them to do so until June 30 - basically an extension of five months. Microsoft currently aims to keep ye olde XP on retail shelves for a while longer, while enabling computer makers in upcoming markets to construct machines that run on the Windows XP Starter Edition until June 2010. That’s pretty good news to me - it means my XP machines ought to receive support at least until then, when Vista’s major bugs would be but history then.

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When the iPhone was released, one of the main complaints was the lack of a fully functional chat client, since Apple chose to release only the SMS program. Then came Apollo and added a client to AIM. That was very frustrating for me, because nobody uses that in my circle of friends, so I couldn’t use my iPhone to talk using instant messaging.

But that doesn’t matter anymore, because Apollo IM Chat Client has finally reached the moon. The new version brings to the game MSN, ICQ (does anyone use that anymore) and .Mac support to your pocket, I mean, to your iPhone. And the best news is that the interface is the same as the SMS function on iPhone!

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It is pretty ironic that Microsoft is now offering the option for Vista Business and Ultimate users to downgrade their operating systems to Windows XP instead. This move applies only to buyers of new machines that come with Vista Business/Ultimate, so those who have picked machines that are pre-loaded with Vista Home/Enterprise are out of luck. I personally have not made the jump to Vista yet when I got my Dell Inspiron, and after hearing all the horror stories connected to Microsoft’s latest OS, I guess I made the right choice - for now, at least.

Source: Engadget

Falling asleep comes by very easy for some, but for others, it is a whole lot harder than it sounds. For instance, insomniacs often have to rely on sleeping pills and the like to little or no effect, and the next day when dawn breaks, they’ll arrive at the office with official “panda eyes” that announce to the entire world how little or no sleep they got the night before. It is said that a healthy diet and exercise will help with insomnia (along with abstinence to what I term the next best drink after beer - coffee), but other than that is there any other recourse? Folks at Medgadget recently tried out an interesting software which claims to help people fall asleep no matter how awake they are. This software has been dubbed the Pzizz - which is really weird sounding when you think about it.

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The Fujitsu PalmSecure biometric authentication device is now on sale, with the mouse model heading the frontline. Part of the PalmSecure PC Login Kit, this offering comes with login-authentication software that enables client-side authentication and eliminating the need to use an authentication server. Guess scanning your palm’s veins for a match is much harder that forging a fingerprint, so logically speaking this approach would be more secure compared to other biometric solutions. Fujitsu has set a target of selling 200,000 PalmSecure sensors of all types globally by 2010.

Source: New Launches

Tags are pretty big when it comes to finding and sorting information, what more digital songs when you have a huge collection in your home and want quick access to a particular tune within the minimal time possible. For those who tune in to HD Radio devices instead, they will soon be beneficiaries of the “tag” feature, enabling them to KIV songs heard on the radio for later purchase via iTunes. Of course, this advancement is available only to selected HD Radio devices from JBL and Polk Audio, so judging by the names alone, you can be sure that neither device will come cheap.

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