Microsoft’s proposed antitrust concessions, particularly its offer to give European computer users a choice of Web browsers, appear to have gone over well with the European Commission. This morning, the EC announced a market test of the browser ballot feature Microsoft plans to include in Windows 7.
The iPhone is finally coming to the world’s most wired country. South Korean regulators on Wednesday cleared the iPhone for sale. Great news for Apple. The South Korean market is a robust one, and analysts say that with the right carrier partner, Cupertino could be looking at first-year sales ranging from 500,000 to two million.
The USB Implementers Forum, the industry group that oversees the universal serial bus standard, has finally responded to Palm’s claim that Apple is “hampering competition” by locking the Palm Pre out of iTunes, and it’s not looking good for Palm. In a letter submitted to Apple and Palm today, the group dismissed Palm’s claim that Apple has violated its USB-IF Membership Agreement. It also took issue with Palm’s alleged use of Apple’s vendor identification number, which it says violates USB-IF policy.
Despite all its threats and protestations, Microsoft has finally capitulated to the European Commission’s demand that it bundle rival Web browsers along with Internet Explorer in Windows 7. “Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case,” the Commission said in a press release. Microsoft, for its part, says the move is a “big step forward.”
Devices “falsely pretending to be iPods” can once again sync with iTunes, whether Apple likes it or not. Palm this evening released an update to the Pre’s webOS operating system that restores the iTunes syncing ability that its Cupertino rival disabled only last week.
Since 2005, the South Korean government has required all cellphones sold in the country to support WIPI (Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability), the country’s cellular middleware platform. And for Apple, as well as other handset manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson, redesigning their devices to do so is a costly proposition. So costly, in fact, that they didn’t bother, leaving the country’s handset market to Samsung and LG, which now dominate it.
On April 1, 2009, that will all change.
In Sept. 1991, Microsoft exec Jim Allchin emailed CEO Bill Gates: “We must slow down Novell. As you said Bill, it has to be dramatic. We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger.” And in 2001 Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer likened Linux to “cancer.” Later that year, Gates derided open-source licensing models like the one used by Linux as “Pacman-like.”
Steve Martin once said, “The difference between a good comedian and a great one is ti … ming, tiiiii-ming, timmm-ing . . . timing!” If that’s the case, Microsoft’s comedic timing is impeccable. In a status report filed with Federal antitrust regulators yesterday, Microsoft said it had done much to comply with its 2002 antitrust consent decree and generally applauded its efforts toward interoperability and fair competition.
Amazing how a record $1.35 billion in antitrust fines can change your perspective on software interoperability, eh? Under pressure from European regulators, national standards organizations and anyone else interested in open standards, Microsoft has committed to using open document standards in the future.
With Microsoft’s (MSFT) hostile bid looking more and more like an inevitability, Yahoo (YHOO) has apparently decided it’s got nothing to lose by joining Google’s (GOOG) “Everybody-But-Facebook Coalition.”
This morning the company threw its support behind OpenSocial–a Google-led initiative to foster interoperability between social applications–and with MySpace (NWS) and Google, it announced the OpenSocial Foundation, a [...]
Turns out the highlight of today’s MIX08 event wasn’t Silverlight and Microsoft Expression Studio, but IE8 (Internet Explorer 8). Speaking at the Microsoft Web development conference, Dean Hachamovitch, the IE group’s general manager, announced IE8 Beta 1. In addition to Web standards compliance, the new browser showcases some new features and improvements, among them
Activities–”contextual [...]
Microsoft is serious about its newfound commitment to interoperability–serious enough to make Internet Explorer 8 Web standards-compliant out of the box.
In a complete reversal of earlier policy, the software giant has decided to make IE8 default to a standards-compliant mode of rendering Web pages that favors interoperability, rather than an IE7 rendering mode that favors [...]
If Microsoft (MSFT) believed its “new” commitment to interoperability would curry favor with the European Commission it was mistaken. Sorely mistaken.
This morning the EC slapped the software giant with another $1.35 billion in fines for failing to comply with its 2004 antitrust order. “Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy [...]
Color the European Commission unimpressed by Microsoft’s declaration of interoperability principles this morning. Seems the EC hasn’t forgotten that Microsoft’s made these promises before. On at least four occasions.
“The European Commission takes note of today’s announcement by Microsoft of its intention to commit to a number of principles in order to promote interoperability with some [...]
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
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