Researchers of Hitachi Ltd have created the world’s smallest disk drive heads which are 2,000 times smaller than a human hair. They minimised to ‘nano level’ a key component in hard drives to achieve this miracle. This will enable them to make hard drives of up to 4 terabytes for desktop computers and 1 terabyte for laptops in the next four years creating a revolution of sorts in computing. Even a one-terabyte hard drive can hold a mammoth amount of data, equivalent to the text contained in one million books. It is learnt that Hitachi will unveil its achievement at a conference in Tokyo this week. The technology used is similar to magneto-resistance that earned the Physics Nobel for this year.

MS ties up with IISc

Microsoft Research is joining hands with the Indian Institute of Science for major research projects on advanced computing platforms. This is part of Microsoft Research’s programme to link up with major institutions of the world for development of advanced computing based on its Microsoft Windows Computer Cluster Server 2003.

It will be helping IISc scientists take up projects in life sciences including biological data mapping. Microsoft Research is collaborating with 20 leading research institutions arou-nd the world. The agreement with IISc is its first in India. It will provide funds and expertise to IISc in the next three years for these projects.

UMG takes on Apple iTunes

Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music label, is getting ready to take on Apple’s iTunes by launching its own free music service along with Sony BMG Music. There are also reports that Warner Music may join this alliance to give a triple knock to Apple. UMG has announced that it would give purchasers of certain mobile phones and media players free subscription to its proposed ‘Total Music’ service. It will be tying up with major mobile phone manufacturers for this. The manufacturers will pay the subscription free for the service and sell it as an add-on to the mobile device. If it clicks, Apple, which dominates the digital music world, might get very sore.

Tags: Hitachi, Microsoft, SONY, UMG

Microsoft is planning to launch an online event planner this week to increase its presence in the web services terrain. The Windows Live Events will enable users to invite friends to parties or weddings and share photos, stories and blog entries on a web page. Though it uses the Windows Live Spaces format, users can customise it according to their wishes and change the design, colour, fonts and background.
Through these add-ons Microsoft hopes to jostle for space in the social networking arena dominated by MySpace and Facebook. The company claims that 100 million people are visiting Windows Live Spaces every month. Microsoft is also planning to double the free storage in its Windows Live SkyDrive to one gigabyte to enable people to store more stuff.
One million PCs infected
More than a million personal computers in China were infected by viruses last week, when the week-long National Day celebrations were held. Instead of going out to the streets, many people stayed indoors and browsed the Internet, playing online games, watching videos and shopping. This opened the doors to countless viruses. A security expert said that more than 24,000 types of viruses were detected during the week. According to reports, around 1,18,000 computers crashed on a single day after being infected.Internet users in China are increasingly facing attack from viruses and malware peddlers. A gang of hackers who infected more than a million computers and committed financial fraud was recently arrested and imprisoned by authorities.
Bharti offers 8 mbps speed
Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of eight mbps broadband internet service for the first time in the country. Most broadband services offer only up to four mbps now and the high-speeds would enable network users to access Internet Protocol Television too. The service will be launched in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Delhi initially and then in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Customers will be able to download mammoth files, view streaming video and play online games easily at such speeds. A 5 mb music file can be downloaded in just five seconds.

Tags: Microsoft

IBM plans to mount its most ambitious challenge in years to Microsoft’s dominance of personal computer software, by offering free programs for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. The company is announcing the desktop software, called IBM Lotus Symphony, at an event on Tuesday in New York. The programs will be available as free downloads from the IBM Web site.
IBM’s Lotus-branded proprietary programs already compete with Microsoft products for e-mail, messaging and work group collaboration. But the Symphony software is a free alternative to Microsoft’s mainstay Office programs — Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The Office business is huge and lucrative for Microsoft, second only to its Windows operating system as a profit maker.
In the 1990s, IBM failed in an effort to compete head-on with Microsoft in personal computer software with its OS/2 operating system and its SmartSuite office productivity programs. But IBM is taking a different approach this time. Its offerings are versions of open-source software developed in a consortium called OpenOffice.org.
The original code traces its origins to a German company, Star Division, which Sun Microsystems bought in 1999. Sun later made the desktop software, now called StarOffice, an open-source project, in which work and code are freely shared.
IBM’s engineers have been working with OpenOffice technology for some time. But last week, IBM declared that it was formally joining the open-source group, had dedicated 35 full-time programmers to the project and would contribute code to the initiative.
Free office productivity software has long been available from OpenOffice.org, and the open-source alternative has not yet made much progress against Microsoft’s Office. But IBM, analysts note, has such reach and stature with corporate customers that its endorsement could be significant.

Tags: IBM, Microsoft

Software major Microsoft is planning to enter the area of cloud computing in a big way. This week, it will offer free software enabling those using Windows operating systems to connect with Windows Live services in the Web. Cloud computing is geek lingo for virtual desktops which can be accessed from anywhere. MS, which sells desktop software, has identified it as a major threat of the future.
With companies such as Google offering storage facilities in the Web, MS obviously cannot fall behind. It has already laun-ched a Skydrive service which offers Hotmail users storage of up to 500 MB. MS does not want to lose customers to Google and others and is aiming to build up a model which will integrate desktop software with internet services.

Tags: google, Microsoft

Microsoft will put up its Windows Live instant messaging service on popular social networking site Bebo to enable easier communication. The software major’s deal with Bebo is part of its efforts to become a big player in the Internet services sector. Bebo has 36 million users worldwide. Microsoft will also be offering a new service on Windows Live which will enable Bebo us-ers to sent instant messages to their contacts. There are about 300 million Windows Live users in the world and Microsoft is using this big number to seek partnership with other social networking sites too.

Tags: Microsoft

IBM has released a new version of its popular Lotus Notes software to prevent more corporate clie-nts from opting for Microsoft’s Outlook. Lotus Notes 8 has additional applications which allow users to ‘mash up’ calendars with instant messaging, mapping and social-networking programmes.
In 2003, IBM had lost out to Microsoft’s Outlook in the fierce competition for corporate clients. Despite losing the number one slot, Lotus Notes remains the most popular software of IBM. One advantage of Lotus Notes, which IBM is now publicising in earnest, is that it can be used in most operating systems. Outlook can only be used in the Windows platform. IBM relea-sed Lotus Notes 8 after testing it with 30,000 clients.

Tags: IBM, Microsoft