Microsoft to release software for CDMA networks

Microsoft yesterday announced plans to make its software available for CDMA-based wireless networks and mobile phones.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a wireless technology widely used by US mobile providers including Verizon. Most US CDMA providers are upgrading their current systems to allow users to browse the Web as well as send e-mail and pictures using mobile phones. Microsoft already makes mobile device software for the GSM and GPRS networks but is now looking at the growing US market for similar tools.

The company says its software for CDMA networks will be available later this year. [Reuters]

Silicon Graphics (SGI) says it has developed hardware and software that will significantly extend Linux`s ability to handle the toughest scientific computing tasks. The company says it is planning to release a new family of server systems that allow as many as 64 Intel Itanium 2 processors to share a single pool of memory.

Many organisations are already building supercomputers based on huge numbers of Linux systems, but these systems do not share a common memory resource. The company predicts these Linux-based supercomputers, by being able to share a common memory store, will benefit by not needing to pass data between different memory allocations, greatly improving efficiency. [Reuters]

Microsoft has released the latest beta version of its messaging server, Exchange Server 2003. This, the third beta, was previously code-named Titanium and debuts many of the mobile features Microsoft has been promising.

Microsoft is believed to be planning a full release of Exchange 2003 at the same time as the next version of Outlook, Outlook 11. Exchange Server 2003 is designed to allow users to access e-mail even when they have an unreliable Internet connection.

The new version of Exchange will also allow users to connect and check their e-mail using a range of mobile devices. The devices will use a combination of Compact HTML, Wireless Application Protocol 2.0 and iMode. The Mail Application Programming Interface has also been improved. [Computerworld]

Rounding out a collection of Microsoft developments, the company says it is looking to make XML-based Web services even easier through a new set of tools as well as an XML-based language optimised to handle data rather than objects.

At the core of the new direction is the new language that is likely to be called X# (or X-sharp) a .Net language based on the company`s C# language.

eWeek reports that according to sources close to the company, Microsoft, citing the increasing importance of XML and XSD (XML Schema Definition) in application development, is looking at adding intrinsic XML and data support in the new language. [eWeek]