MS Office links to phones, e-mail
Microsoft laid out a plan yesterday to further extend its business software into telephones and related areas, hoping to convince corporations that its Office product line can be the one-stop shop for sophisticated communications technology, according to Seattle PI.
The company showed planned products designed to more closely link virtually all workers` communications, from e-mail and instant messaging to videoconferencing and traditional telephone calls.
Microsoft also responded to plans by IBM to connect features of its Lotus Sametime instant messaging and Web conferencing program to Microsoft programs such as the Office suite and Outlook e-mail programme.
Microsoft: no plans for a price drop
Microsoft`s latest announcement, via group manager of PR and communications John Porcaro, claims: "The official word from folks in the know is there are currently no plans for a price drop this fall," reports Joystiq.
It`s safe to assume there will be no Xbox 360 price drop. Microsoft already has a considerable lead - 360`s price range fits comfortably between the PS3`s and Wii`s, and there will be plenty of units in stock.
Users want greener machines
Consumers are willing to pay up to an extra lb108 (R1 430) for a PC containing fewer chemicals, a survey has found. People also feel manufacturers should take responsibility for the disposal of old machines, the research shows.
The BBC reports so-called e-waste is a growing global problem, with 30 million PCs being dumped each year in the US alone.
The nine-nation research study by Ipsos-Mori for Greenpeace coincides with an announcement by PC maker Dell to phase out a number of toxic chemicals in its products.
Popularity crashes Gallic
Ten million people were stuck in a "virtual" traffic jam over the weekend as they tried to visit France from the comfort of their computer screens, reports The Independent.
The launch of a free aerial photograph site, allowing users to zoom in on any part of France, down to details the size of a dustbin, proved an enormous success. It also proved a logistical disaster. The Web site opened by the French national mapping agency, IGN, could not meet the demand.
Only one in five of those who tried to enter the site managed to do so for more than a few seconds. The organisers promised to expand capacity, and to ration access through free passwords, in the next couple of days.
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