Office Live goes live

Microsoft made its planned beta versions of Office Live available this morning, reports Information Week. Windows Live is targeted at consumers, while Office Live is aimed at small businesses, typically those with 10 or fewer employees.

In addition, at the 3GSM show in Barcelona yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company will enable new Windows Live services that will allow users to do searches, conduct instant messaging chats and send mail over the Web from "virtually any mobile device".

The Windows Live Client would thus run on mobile handsets running Windows Mobile and other non-Microsoft operating systems.

Sony has admitted a faulty batch of Bravia-branded LCD and rear-projection TVs have been released.

Around 400 000 sets may carry a software bug that could prevent them from being turned off after a cumulative 1 200 hours in stand-by mode. The TVs won`t switch out of stand-by mode at that point either, reports The Register.

Sony said affected sets had been sold into the US, Japanese, Chinese and other markets. The company promised to provide an over-the-air fix for models equipped with digital TV receivers, but analogue sets will require on-site upgrades, it admitted. The company did not say how much it would cost to fix the problem.

Chip giant Intel has signed a deal with the GSM Association (GSMA) to help hardware makers include mobile SIM card readers and 3G connectivity in new PCs, reports CNet.

Intel and the GSMA announced the initiative yesterday and will publish guidelines for laptop manufacturers to encourage them to integrate modems capable of picking up various networks, including 3G, HSDPA or Edge, in their products.

It`s thought such moves are designed to encourage laptop users to roam using their existing mobile accounts. Embedded 3G connectivity has already caught the interest of laptop manufacturers. Dell recently announced a deal with Vodafone to offer HSDPA modems as an optional add-on for its laptops, while Lenovo intends to include super 3G in its hardware.