Halo gains independence

Microsoft is giving up its controlling ownership of Bungie Software, the video game subsidiary that developed the popular Halo franchise, including its latest iteration, Halo 3, reports NY Times.

Bungie plans to return to its roots as an independent game studio, a move that will eventually cost Microsoft exclusive ties to one of the most successful and sought-after teams of game developers.

Harold Ryan, president and studio head of Bungie, said he had been working for months on a plan to separate the studio from Microsoft. Ryan said the companies had a good working relationship, but that developers at Bungie yearned to work for themselves, not a corporate owner.

An Atlanta man says his iPod Nano caught fire in his pants, reports PC World.

The nearly two-year-old iPod caught fire in the pocket of Danny Williams, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where he is employed, according to Williams` mother, Elaine. The flames lasted 15 seconds and the fire reached up to his chest, she said in a telephone interview.

Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment, but the company has since sent a packet to Danny to return the iPod Nano, she said.

Orange, the wireless arm of France Telecom, is reportedly contemplating the prospect of not being able to launch the Apple iPhone handset in time for the holiday amid growing tensions between the companies, says Apple Insider.

"The risk we`re evaluating this week is that Apple crosses France off," Les Echos quoted a source at Orange as saying in its Friday edition.

The French daily said the difficulties stem from a French law that would require the Apple handset to be sold both with and without contracts. This law would reportedly undermine the iPhone`s exclusivity for Orange and Apple`s demand of up to 30% of voice and data revenues.

Microsoft announced last week that users running pirated or counterfeit copies of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 can now download Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), says PC World.

From the moment it released IE7 almost a year ago, Microsoft has restricted the browser to users who can prove they own a legitimate copy of the operating system. Before Microsoft allows the browser to download, it runs the user`s PC through a Windows Genuine Advantage validation test, a prime part of XP`s anti-piracy software.

When it instituted the requirement in 2006, Microsoft said rights to IE7 was one of the rewards for being legal. It changed its mind last week, saying the move is in users` best interest.