Vista security usability to slow 2007 sales

Microsoft shareholders` expectations of Vista giving the company a much needed boost to its bottom line may well have to wait a couple of years, according to a newly released report. The much awaited security improvements are expected to give users usability issues, according to IT Wire.

The report, by Yankee Group Security Solutions & Services, predicts the significant security improvements to Vista will cause end-users headaches in the usability department.

That, combined with the expense of upgrading, including the cost of security, means 2007 will not be a great year for sales.

Samsung Electronics claims to have developed the slimmest mobile phone to date. The SGH-X820 high-end feature phone, with a profile of 6.9mm, debuts in Moscow this week, reports Information Week.

The phone packs a 2MP camera, a camcorder, an MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, TV-out and other high-end functions.

The Korean company geared up its efforts in ultra-thin phones after rival Motorola recorded runaway success with its popular Razr series.

A new Associated Press/America Online games poll found 40% of American adults play games on a computer or console. Men, younger adults and minorities were most likely to play electronic games, reports Chron.

Among those who describe themselves as gamers, 45% play over the Internet. More than a third of online gamers spent more than $200 last year on gaming, compared with nearly a quarter of those who don`t play games online.

While Microsoft has been beset by delays in its new operating system for personal computers, developers have been quietly working on a new version of another Windows, this one found in everything from sewing machines to sophisticated cellphones, reports the Washington Post.

A beta version of the revamped Windows CE is due to be introduced to software developers at a conference today in Las Vegas. The update will also provide the basis for Windows Mobile, which is built for sophisticated cellphones but which even the company concedes can be clunky.

Users can expect to see products based on both systems in 2007, Microsoft says.

Warner Brothers will become the first major studio to distribute its films and TV shows over the Internet using peer-to-peer technology developed by BitTorrent that has been a popular tool for trading pirated copies of movies, reports USA Today.

Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner, said it will use BitTorrent`s ability to speed the downloading of large computer files to offer rentals and purchase of its films on the same day the movies become available on DVD.

The studio will also sell permanent copies of films and TV shows online that can be burned to a backup DVD, although the copy will only play on the computer used to download the film and not on standard DVD players.