Partnering up against Microsoft

Rewind to about 8 years back around 1998, Microsoft was a dominant force on the Internet with its MSN network. At the same time it was facing anti-trust suits from some tech players like Sun Microsystems and AOL for using unfair business practices. Turn the page to May 2006 now, the big Silicon Valley companies are partnering up to put pressure on Microsoft.

Yahoo and eBay signed a multi-year deal last week focussing on advertising, search and e-commerce. This deal makes Yahoo the exclusive provider of graphic and text ads on eBay. Yahoo would now make use of eBay's PayPal service of online wallets and payment services. The two companies would also look at co-developing VoIP services providing 'click-to-call' services on their websites, using both Yahoo Messenger with Voice and eBay's Skype.

Dell and Google have agreed on a series of deals to pre-install Web and desktop search software on future Dell manufactured PCs. Under the deal, millions of Dell PCs will be loaded with Google's toolbar for search functionalities and with a dedicated Dell-Google homepage. Both companies would be benefitting from ad-revenue sharing program with this deal.

Coming up soon.. Windows Vista

Windows Vista, Microsoft’s long awaited successor to Windows XP, is scheduled for release early next year. Codenamed ‘Longhorn’, this project was delayed by months several times over. Despite analyst expectations, CEO Steve Ballmer claims that it is on track for release in January 2007. Windows Vista’s claims to provide a new user experience in its ability to organize and view information on your PC. It contains a number of features to provide security from viruses, worms, spyware and malware. Vista OS can scale to different levels of capabilities based on the system hardware. The Vista capable PC requires a minimum of 512 MB RAM, where as a Vista-Premium PC, requires a minimum of 1 GB RAM. There has been considerable overhaul in the video and graphics utilization in the OS. Bundled with the new Windows in IE7, which finally introduces to tabbed browsing into Microsoft’s web browser.

Nintendo Wii

I'm not a gaming freak as such, but some gadgets do appeal to me. The Nintendo Wii unveiled recently has a revolutionary design as compared to its rivals - Microsoft's XBOX 360 and Sony's upcoming Playstation 3. The Wii has a wireless controller which resembles a TV's remote control. The motion sensors present in the controller would have significant role in game play. Unlike its competitors, Nintendo did not focus on high end technical specifications. As a result, the Wii is priced at US$250, where as the PS3 rolling out at the end of this year would cost atleast US$500.

A few good pictures

This post features photos taken by me from the famous microbrewery in Singapore during nightfall.