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Japan to develop internet protocol television
THE Japanese government and firms will jointly develop a new television set that can receive images from both the Internet and digital broadcasting, an official said.
Participants from the private sector include NTT Communications Corp., the broadband business unit of telecoms giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT), and computer maker NEC Corp.
Among other firms in the project are Toma-Diji Corp., a digital television programme production firm affiliated with the television network Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS), and Nihon Sun Microsystems KK.
They plan to develop the so-called Internet Protocol television set which will allow users to enjoy digital broadcasting services and images distributed through a high-speed broadband connection without using a personal computer.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, representing the government, will provide 100 million yen (917,000 dollars) for the project to cover development costs.
“With the new television set, those who are not familiar with computers will be able to enjoy Internet broadband services easily,” a spokesman for NTT Communications said on Monday.
They are scheduled to complete initial experiments by March 2004 with plans to test a billing system and a technique for blocking unauthorized copying.
They hope to begin commercial production by 2010.
ITunes comes to Windows
Apple has announced immediate availability of its ITunes Jukebox software and the second generation of its related music service to all computer users—not just Mac fans. Also new are a handful of features and accessories, plus plans to distribute up to 100 million free songs early next year.
The launch event here marked yet another milestone, noted Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive officer: “Now I’m going to do something I’ve never done before—I’m going to give you a demo on a PC.”
PC users running Windows XP or Windows 2000 can now download the new ITunes for Windows at the ITunes site free of charge, Jobs said as he walked the audience through a demonstration.
“This is not some baby version—it’s the whole thing,” he said, noting that the two versions have all the same functions. “It’s probably the best Windows app ever written.”
The new ITunes Jukebox for PCs offers several features lacking from other free Windows-based applications, including those from Microsoft and Musicmatch, he said. Apple provides MP3 encoding and full-speed CD burns, for which the other services charge extra.
Plus, the software is the only way to access the ITunes store. It works for Windows users exactly as it does for Mac users, he said. And both types of customers can now find new features on the ITunes site.
Revamped Office to be launch
In the last two years, Microsoft Corp. has launched nearly a dozen products and poured billions into new technologies and markets but done little with its two big money-spinners, Windows and Office.
With a variety of applications now included as part of the re-launched Office, Microsoft is describing the software as a “system” of productivity enhancing programs.
The revamped Office sports a sleek new look more in line with the Windows XP operating system. The biggest changes are in the Outlook email program, which makes e-mail easier to read and stops spam, or unsolicited e-mail.
Office will be released in several editions ranging in price from $149 to $500. The cheapest retail price is set for academic use and the highest for the Professional Edition.
New patching approach
Symantec is releasing a new version of its Ghost software for managing PCs that’s designed to let information technology administrators apply patches en masse.
Ghost 8.0 tries to eliminate much of the grunt work that goes along with updating software installed on desktops or notebooks in medium-size to large companies.
With Ghost 7.0, administrators update desktops and notebooks from a central location more or less simultaneously by sending out a completely new version of an application or an operating system.
“Now we can apply patches, even shortcuts, to a desktop,” said Stuart Sing, senior product specialist at Symantec. Besides being used for such updates, the tool, which is similar to products sold by Microsoft and others, can be put to work on disaster recovery efforts. — Dawn Science Dotcom
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