http://keznews.com/news.php?title=News News en-us http://media.keznews.com/pics/logo_windows_portal.jpg http://keznews.com/ http://keznews.com/43739=Google_Chrome_OS_available__for_download When Google finally showed off their new OS yesterday there was a lot of skepticism about working in the cloud, offline applications and many other thoughts and concerns. The good news is that if you don&#39;t want to read others hands on impressions you can now download and install the OS yourself. A couple of things to note, firstly the download will only work in a VM environment, second, this is pre-beta software so expect crashes, bumps and a rough experience. But if you&#39;re willing to take the plunge you can follow the directions here. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/20/google-chrome-os-availabe-for-download'>Read full story...</a> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:16:13 http://keznews.com/43738=Apple_Seeks_Patent_for_Embedded_Ads_in_OS According to a disclosed patent application discovered last month by The New York Times, Apple Computers is seeking rights to a technology that allows advertising to have a direct spot in a device operating system. The reasoning behind the decision is most widely believed to be a cost-cutting motive, allowing consumers subsidized purchasing options for ordinarily more expensive technology. The fact that the patent is coming from Apple is seen by some analysts as a surprise and a contradiction of Apple&#39;s reputation for delivering higher quality, more user friendly technology at a premium price. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/apple-seeks-patent-for-embedded-ads-in-os'>Read full story...</a> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:16:16 http://keznews.com/43737=YouTube_Captions_to_Use_Technology_from_Google_Voice In a move meant to boost accessibility and search engine relevance, Google has announced an automatic captions service for YouTube videos, using the "automatic speech recognition" (ASR) technology currently used in the transcription feature of Google Voice. Although YouTube has long offered options for content providers to upload their own captions and subtitles, few have chosen to do so, with just around 100,000 captioned videos available out of hundreds of millions of clips posted on the site. Although Google admits that the machine-generated captions "will not always be perfect," they see the introduction of the technology as a positive step in providing content to deaf and hearing disabled users. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/youtube-captions-to-use-technology-from-google-voice'>Read full story...</a> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:16:15 http://keznews.com/43736=EU_agrees_with_guidelines_on_Internet_restriction European MEP&#39;s and Council representatives have agreed on a set of guidelines that state restrictions to Internet usage may "only be imposed if they are appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society," and that users are entitled to a "fair and impartial procedure" before disconnection. The Telecoms Reform Package that the restriction guidelines are part of will go before the European Parliament and Council for a final decision in late November. The compromise is the result of all night negotiations and is the last hurdle for the package which also include, amongst other things, a rule that will require mobile phone companies to help users change contracts within 24 hours. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/eu-agrees-guidelines-on-internet-restriction'>Read full story...</a> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:16:14 http://keznews.com/43735=Twitter_no_longer_asks__quot_What_are_you_doing__quot_ In an unexpected move, Twitter has removed the "What are you doing?" question from the user interface, confirming a change in uses for the popular social networking site. The official Twitter Blog had the following to say about the new changes: "Twitter was originally conceived as a mobile status update service&mdash;an easy way to keep in touch with people in your life by sending and receiving short, frequent answers to one question, &lsquo;What are you doing?&#39; However, when we implemented the service, we chose to leave something out. To stay simple, Twitter did not require individuals to confirm relationships. Instead, we left things open. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/20/twitter-no-longer-asks-what-are-you-doing'>Read full story...</a> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:16:12 http://keznews.com/43734=Google_releases_Chrome_OS_information___source_code Google&#39;s Chrome OS has been a rather interesting project for many people as of late; it was said to be an operating system that was based in the "cloud", stored mostly online, though nobody knew any exact details. Today, Google has explained more about the OS, clearing things up. As posted on the official Google blog, Chrome OS is "all about the web." As such, it is web-based, and as Google states, "The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/google-releases-chrome-os-information--source-code'>Read full story...</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:16:17 http://keznews.com/43733=Microsoft_Windows_chief_decries_standards_grandstanding Microsoft will be compliant with industry standards in Internet Explorer 9 such as HTML 5, but Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live division, decried the habit of vendors getting ahead of the process. <br /><br /> <br> <br>"We are not trying to market things that are not there for developers to use yet," said Sinofsky during an interview with <i>Network World</i>. "Whether they are in IE or not, saying you are standards based but then saying you are the most HTML 5 compliant browser does not make sense because the standard is not <complete> yet. There is a little bit of a time warp going on."<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/111909-microsoft-windows-sinofsky.html?fsrc=netflash-rss" target="_blank">Network World</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:16:12 http://keznews.com/43732=Ballmer__it__quot_matters_quot__that_Apple_has_gained_share Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer today warned at a yearly shareholders' meeting that the company needed to improve the standing of Windows in the future. The executive was emphatic that Microsoft was still in a comfortable position with "96 out of 100" choosing Windows worldwide but acknowledged that Apple had cut into Microsoft's share in the past year. He downplayed the amount, labeling it a "a couple of tenths of a percent" but added that even the claimed amount was significant and worth fighting for.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/19/ms.shareholder.meeting.shows.share.worries/" target="_blank">Electronista</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:16:12 http://keznews.com/43731=Full_length_Channel_4_shows_available_for_UK_Youtube_users Channel 4&#39;s 4oD shows are now available for UK users of Youtube. Following the deal that was brought up a while ago, Youtube is now starting to host full-length episodes of top Channel 4 series, such as Peep Show and Gordon Ramsay&#39;s F Word, according to The Guardian. Youtube has posted 5,000 videos on the Channel 4 Youtube channel, 4,000 of which are full-length shows. The number is going to increase though, as sometime in early 2010 the full range of Channel 4&#39;s shows is expected to be available to UK users. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/full-length-channel-4-shows-available-for-uk-youtube-users'>Read full story...</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:16:20 http://keznews.com/43730=Sky_Player_in_Windows_7_Media_Center_now_available Sky Player, Sky&#39;s online TV service, is now available to Windows Media Center UK users in Windows 7. Sky kicked off the service on the Xbox 360 late last month. The service will allow users access to Live TV, on demand content, movies and sport. Existing Sky TV customers will be able to purchase an online Sky Player multiroom subscription for &pound;5 per month (currently on offer, normally &pound;10). Customers with Sky Multiroom or Sky Broadband Unlimited will be able to access live channels for no extra charge. Non-Sky TV customers will require a monthly subscription that starts at &pound;15 per month to the Base Entertainment Pack. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/sky-player-in-windows-7-media-center-now-available'>Read full story...</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:16:20 http://keznews.com/43729=Windows_Home_Server_Power_Pack_3_available_November_24th The Windows Home Server Team is pleased to announce that Power Pack 3 will be available in all shipping languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish) on November 24th, 2009. Power Pack 3 will be made available to existing users via Windows Update. Users need to have Windows Home Server with Power Pack 2 already installed on their home server. Power Pack 3 will automatically install as part of Windows Update if Automatic Updates is enabled on the home server.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowshomeserver/archive/2009/11/19/windows-home-server-power-pack-3-available-november-24th-includes-enhance ments-for-windows-7-based-computers.aspx" target="_blank">Windows Team Blog</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:16:14 http://keznews.com/43728=Zbot_trojan_creators_arrested_in_London Police in London have arrested two people on suspicion that they created the ZeuS or Zbot trojan that infected many computers around the world. The couple used the trojan for monetary gain but authorities did not disclose how much money was stolen. The trojan installed itself on victims computers using social engineer techniques. Generally the trojan would mask itself as a reputable website such as a bank, credit card company or tax office to get the victim to install the software. "Once installed, the Zbot Trojan injects itself into the victim&#39;s Web browser and monitors all traffic. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/19/zbot-trojan-creators-arrested-in-london'>Read full story...</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:16:18 http://keznews.com/43727=National_Security_Agency_beefed_Win_7_defenses The National Security Agency helped Microsoft harden Windows 7 against attacks and is providing similar assistance to Apple, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat too, an agency official said.<br /><br /> <br> <br>The admission came in prepared remarks delivered Tuesday by Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, at a hearing before the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/19/nsa_enhanced_windows7_security/" target="_blank">The Register</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:16:11 http://keznews.com/43726=Firefox_3_6_blocks_sneaky_addons Computerworld is reporting that the forthcoming version of Firefox 3.6 will include a feature which disables the ability for other applications to "sneakily" install add-ons without the users knowledge. One can assume this is in response to Microsoft&#39;s sneaky move which installed an add-on without notifying users at all - and exposed users to malware. In an email to Computerworld, Johnathan Nightingale, manager of the Firefox front-end development team said "We&#39;re doing this for stability and user control, Dropping raw components in this way was never an officially supported way of doing things, which means it lacks things like a way to specify compatibility. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/firefox-36-blocks-sneaky-addons'>Read full story...</a> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:16:16 http://keznews.com/43725=Windows_Mobile_7_UI_confirmed_by_Microsoft_ Microsoft confirmed today that the company will unveil its plans for Windows Mobile 7 at the MIX 2010 conference in March next year. Microsoft Office Vice President Kurt Delbene confirmed the news at the end of day two at the Professional Developers Conference here in Los Angeles. Little is known about Windows Mobile 7 except that it has been plagued with delays. Recently Neowin confirmed 1,000 engineers are assigned to Windows Mobile 7 and that social networking is a key feature. Screenshots of the rumoured interface leaked in March this year and Microsoft officials refused to confirm or deny. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/windows-mobile-7-ui-confirmed-by-microsoft'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:16:16 http://keznews.com/43724=Duet_Enterprise_for_Microsoft_SharePoint_and_SAP_Extends_Collaboration_and_Productivity Next step in partnership helps increase flexibility, interoperability between products. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:17:34 http://keznews.com/43723=Microsoft_Office_2010_Reaches_Beta__Bringing_Productivity_Gains_to_the_PC__Phone_and_Browser Q&A: Kurt DelBene, senior vice president of the Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft, discusses what is new in the public beta and what developers can expect from the upcoming release of Office 2010 and related products. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:17:33 http://keznews.com/43722=Moving_From_Challenge_to_Opportunity__Microsoft_Empowers_the_Future_of_Application_Development As developers face a rapidly evolving computing environment, Microsoft helps them create applications that can be deployed across a number of platforms. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:17:33 http://keznews.com/43721=TechSpot__ATI_Radeon_HD_5970_Reviewed__Dual-GPU_Graphics As we discussed in our preliminary Radeon 5870 review, on ATI&#39;s horizon ATI was a follow-up to the Radeon HD 4870 X2, code-named "Hemlock XT", which in essence would put together a pair of Radeon HD 5870 GPUs on a single PCB. Today AMD is officially unveiling the Hemlock as the new ATI Radeon HD 5970, hoping to expand its current dominance in single-GPU performance with the fastest single-slot graphics card on the market -- a title that until today was reserved for Nvidia&#39;s dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295. The Radeon HD 5970 looks to be well suited for the job. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/techspot-ati-radeon-hd-5970-reviewed-dual-gpu-graphics'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:23 http://keznews.com/43720=Does_Windows_7_return_customization_to_the_forefront_ For years it seemed like every new application and operating system was touting its "skinning" capabilities. Then, abruptly, this trend stopped with the release of Windows Vista as developers began to return to providing a more consistent experience for PC users. To new visitors of Neowin, having a front page story on skinning might seem unusual. Yet, Neowin got its start largely tracking skinning technology back in the run-up to "Whistler" (what became known as Windows XP). Neowin and its users have long tracked the ebb and blow in the popularity of skinning. At one time, Neowin contained a side-bar dedicated to customization sites and the skinning forums on Neowin were the most popular. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/does-windows-7-return-customization-to-the-forefront'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:23 http://keznews.com/43719=Microsoft_Office_2010_top_new_features Microsoft introduced a public beta of Office 2010 today. Neowin has taken a look at Office 2010 and we have pulled out our favourite new features. Check them out below. Embed, edit and manage videos within PowerPoint 2010 PowerPoint 2010 now allows you to easily insert local videos and web videos. New features include video trim which allows you to cut down your video without a third party application. With video tools you can apply fades, set video effects and styles and also set a preview image for your video. PowerPoint will also compress your media for improved playback in presentations. Supported formats include:AVIWMVWMAMP3MOVH.264 DirectShow codecs can also be installed to extend codec support. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/microsoft-office-2010-top-new-features'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:23 http://keznews.com/43718=Microsoft_Office_2010_public_beta_available Microsoft has made the Office 2010 beta available publicly today. Earlier this week Microsoft released the beta to MSDN and TechNet customers. Neowin has taken a look at the top features of Office 2010. Improvements include social networking intergration into Outlook 2010, smart pasting options and of course Office Web Applications to allow you to read, edit and save documents in the browser. View: Office 2010 Beta <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/microsoft-office-2010-public-beta-available'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:22 http://keznews.com/43717=Microsoft_goes_social_with_Outlook_2010 As part of Microsoft&#39;s Office 2010 announcements today the company has taken the wraps off a number of social networking add-ins that will be available for Outlook 2010. Outlook 2010 features a new Outlook Social Connector (OSC) straight into Outlook 2010. The connector provides a stream of content from SharePoint, Windows Live and other social networking sites. At the bottom of Outlook emails users will be provided with contacts latest social networking posts. The presence of social networking inside Office 2010 is part of a broad strategy that Microsoft is implementing. The next version of Windows Live Messenger will also feature a social stream within the client, similar to the OSC. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/microsoft-goes-social-with-outlook-2010'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:22 http://keznews.com/43716=IE9_to_support_hardware-accelerated_rendering Microsoft is focusing on speedy graphics rendering for its next version of Internet Explorer.<br /><br /> <br> <br>Internet Explorer 9 will take advantage of a computer's graphics hardware to better render online images, videos, animations and other graphics, said Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division...<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/185536.asp?source=rss" target="_blank">Seattle PI's Microsoft Blog</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:18 http://keznews.com/43715=Microsoft_Office_2010__SharePoint_2010_public_betas_now_available_for_download Microsoft released on November 18 the public beta of Office 2010. It can be downloaded by anyone for free, as of 1 pm ET today.<br /><br /> <br> <br>Microsoft is making available several different versions of Office, as well as a beta of SharePoint Server 2010 to interested testers, includingMicrosoft Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Visio 2010, Project 2010 and Office Web Apps. The betas are available at <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/2010" target="_blank">www.microsoft.com/2010</a>.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=4600" target="_blank">Mary Jo Foley's Blog</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:17 http://keznews.com/43714=Microsoft_touts_groundbreaking__clip-on__for_Active_Directory Microsoft will pass out beta code Wednesday it hopes will define the next evolution of directories. It's a modular add-on that is built on a database and designed to add querying capabilities and performance never before possible in a directory.<br /><br /> <br> <br>The code is so early-stage it does not have an official name, although internally Microsoft calls it Next Generation Active Directory (NGAD). Microsoft introduced NGAD, which it calls a directory federation technology, on the second day of its annual Professional Developers Conference going on this week.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/microsoft-touts-groundbreaking-clip-active-directory-957?source=rss_infoworld_news" target="_blank">InfoWorld</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:17 http://keznews.com/43713=Google_Chrome_OS_event_planned_for_Thursday As reported a few days ago, rumors had circulated that Google was planning to release part of their forthcoming Google Chrome OS sometime this week. Google has now sent out notifications that there is an OS event scheduled for this Thursday morning at their Mountain View, California headquarters. While a partial launch of the Chrome OS could still be planned, all indications from Google are that this Thursday&#39;s event will show off demos and offer a "complete overview" of the new operating system, which is scheduled to launch sometime in 2010. Google&#39;s Vice President of Product Management, Sundar Pichai and Google Engineering Director for Google Chrome OS, Matthew Papakipos will be speaking at the event. <br /><br /><a href='http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/18/google-chroms-os-event-planned-for-thursday'>Read full story...</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:16:39 http://keznews.com/43712=The_Radeon_HD_5970__Completing_AMD_s_Takeover_of_the_High_End_GPU_Market Lets get straight to the point, shall we? Today AMD is launching the 5970, their dual-GPU card that finishes building out AMDs technical domination of the high-end market. With it AMD delivers the absolute victory over NVIDIAs GTX 295 that the Radeon 5870 couldnt quite achieve and at the same time sets the new high water mark for single-card performance...<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3679" target="_blank">AnandTech</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:16:11 http://keznews.com/43711=Microsoft_s_Ray_Ozzie__Apps_don_t_make_your_phone_special Microsoft's chief software architect Ray Ozzie weighed in at <a href="http://microsoftpdc.com/">Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference</a> today on the battle between different smartphone platforms (including Windows Mobile). It's not the applications available on the various platforms that will be the differentiators, Ozzie said, even though that's what many companies and writers seem to focus on.<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/17/microsofts-ray-ozzie-apps-dont-make-your-phone-special/" target="_blank">VentureBeat</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:16:10 http://keznews.com/43710=Inside__quot_MinWin__quot__the_Windows_7_kernel_slims_down Back in 2003, Microsoft assembled a team of engineers to rethink the lowest levels of Windows, so that the OS could be more easily slimmed down and secured to run in servers and embedded applications. That project, called "MinWin," has now started to bear fruit...<br /><br /> <br> <br><img src="images/news/icons/view.gif"></img> View Full Article: <a href="http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/inside-minwin-the-windows-7-kernel-slims-down.ars" target="_blank">Ars Technica</a> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:16:10