From InfoWorld: Microsoft doesn't plan to offer a version of Windows for so-called "smartbooks," leaving the space open to Linux, Google's Android and other operating systems.

Smartbooks are a new class of device built around ARM-based chips from companies like Qualcomm, Freescale, and Texas Instruments. A number of PC makers are working on smartbook designs, which are targeted at the space between smartphones and netbooks.

Microsoft's mainstream Windows operating systems are designed to run on the x86 instruction set used by Intel, and AMD and won't run on the ARM-based processors used in the new machines. The company has no plans to port a PC version of Windows over to the ARM core, said Steve Guggenheimer, who runs Microsoft's original equipment manufacturer division, in an interview at the Computex trade show in Taipei.

Microsoft does offer a version of Windows Mobile that is compatible with ARM chips but doesn't have plans to develop that for the technically more capable environment of a smartbook, he added.

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From PC World: The ability to run a netbook all day on a single battery charge is one of the goals Intel has set for itself as it develops the Atom platform.

"We are going to do more integration, we are going to try to reduce the power in order to have sleekest form-factor, the lightest system and to increase the battery life," said Mooly Eden, head of Intel's mobile platforms group, in an interview at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Wednesday. "The idea is to deliver such a product that will be day-long. You'll be able to go with your netbook without the need to carry the power supply."

The target, a sure-fire way to praise from road warriors, is more easily said than done. Most of today's laptops offer between three and five hours on a standard three-cell battery and close to double that on a six-cell battery. But the longer-life batteries are bulkier and heavier, and that negates a lot of the reason for having a slim and lightweight machine.

"We'll either need to have more than a three-cell battery or have some kind of prismatic battery, which is not necessarily a cell, or wait until the chemistry and physics improve and people will be able to give us higher density," said Eden.

Energy density is a measure of the amount of energy that can be held by a battery for a given unit of volume. Increasing it would mean a battery could supply more power without being made bigger. However, achieving significant advances could take years.

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From CNET News.com: A federal court has awarded TiVo $103 million plus interest in its long-running patent dispute with EchoStar Communications and ordered EchoStar to disable infringing features found on its subscribers' digital video recorders.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom on Tuesday also found EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction by reprogramming millions of DVRs with a new "workaround."

"The harm caused to TiVo by EchoStar's contempt is substantial," Folsom wrote. "EchoStar has gained millions of customers since this court's injunction was issued, customers that are now potentially unreachable by TiVo."

Englewood, Colo.-based Dish, which has roughly 13.6 million subscribers, said in a statement it would appeal the contempt ruling and file a motion to stay an order that requires it to disable the disputed DVR features within 30 days.

"Our engineers spent close to a year designing around TiVo's patent and removed the very features that TiVo said infringed at trial," the company said. "Existing Dish Network customers with DVRs are not immediately impacted by these recent developments."

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From DailyTech: Windows 7 will indeed be hitting in time for the holiday season. The much-buzzed about operating system is set to inherit the operating system throne from the much-maligned Windows Vista, with general commercial availability starting on October 22 according to a Microsoft press release aired today.

Previous reports had come quite close to pegging the release date, with October 23 being the cited date in many reports. Bill Veghte, senior vice president for Microsoft's Windows, helped announced the true date, stating, "We feel confident that we will deliver Windows 7 with our partners on Oct. 22."

Microsoft faces tremendous pressure with the release. The company has been hounded by its investors in recent months for revenue drops related to the recession. These investors are quick to note that Windows Vista, while a solid seller, failed to surpass Windows XP.

Despite these problems, Vista and other Windows operating systems accounted for roughly 30 percent of the company's $60B USD in sales in 2008. Windows-based operating systems are currently installed on approximately 90 percent of the world's personal computers.

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From InfoWorld: Advanced Micro Devices on Monday said it had started shipping the dual-core Athlon Neo processor for thin and light laptops, upping the ante in its battle with rival Intel, which offers processors for similar laptops.

The new Neo chip will be an upgrade over the single-core Neo processor launched by AMD in January. Laptops with the dual-core processor will offer faster processing and graphics performance, said David Schwarzbach, senior manager for platform marketing at AMD.

Neo chips are designed for thin and light laptops that can deliver full functionality at affordable prices, AMD says. AMD fits Neo chips into a category of consumer PCs it calls "ultrathin" laptops, which falls between netbooks and expensive ultraportable laptops like Apple's MacBook Air. AMD contends that netbooks, though cheap, provide limited functionality, while ultraportables are too expensive, with prices above $1,500.

Some ultrathin laptops in the market today come with screen sizes between 12.1 inches and 14 inches, and weigh between 3 pounds (1.36 kilograms) and 4 pounds. AMD said dual-core Neo will be in laptops priced between $750 and $999. The chip operates at a clock speed of around 1.6GHz and draws up to 18 watts of power. Pricing for the chip wasn't immediately available.

Laptops with the new Neo chips are being shown at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. Hewlett-Packard -- which already ships the Pavilion DV2 laptop with a single-core Neo -- will refresh the laptop with the new chip, Schwarzbach said. HP's laptop will become available on Monday, while other Neo-based laptops will become available in September.

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From PC World: Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is just under a week away, and there are more indications that Apple will unveil the next generation of its iPhone device. Rumors out late yesterday point to a 4GB iPhone model that could be an actual $99 iPhone, and the possibility of four different versions of Apple's fabled wonder machine.

Late yesterday, a roadmap that is purportedly from Canadian iPhone carrier Fido contains a slide featuring a 4GB iPhone the company will offer for $99 with a three-year contract, according to BoyGeniusRerport. The phone featured in the slide is not the actual product, so there are no details of its physical appearance. But according to the text, the 4GB iPhone's features include QuadBand GSM, Tri-band HSDPA, a 2MP camera, and video chat.

While video chat may seem too good to be true, it does add more credence to the supposed iPhone 4G spare parts discovered last week on the Web site of Chinese parts supplier China OnTrade. According to photographs on OnTrade's site, the front bezel for the new iPhone has enough space near the earpiece to install a front-facing camera.

But then again, iChat for the iPhone is one of those fanboy dream features that are just a little too far-fetched to be true. It's entirely possible Apple could unveil video chat for the iPhone, but I seriously doubt this feature is coming. I hope I'm wrong.

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From CNET News.com: Intel is launching its line of processors for thin, inexpensive laptops at the Computex tech conference in Taipei. Intel marketing chief Sean Maloney talked about this in a phone interview.

"It's clear that people like devices to be thin and light," said Maloney, who was speaking from the Computex conference in Taipei where he will be giving a keynote on Tuesday.

"We've really taken that to heart and come out with a complete top-to-bottom range of microprocessors that enable radically longer battery life and much smaller designs," said Maloney, referring to Intel's new lineup of consumer ultra-low-voltage (CULV) processors.

Maloney continued. "There are a lot of computers being announced here (Computex) that look like conventional notebooks in terms of how wide the screens are, but they're super-thin, the performance is very good, and they get up to nine hours battery life without a big, fat battery at the back," he said.
MSI X340 X-Slim laptop is one of the first CULV laptops

"It's a big change for industry. It means the technology weaves its way into your life more because you're going to have all-day notebooks," Maloney said.

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From DailyTech: Microsoft kicked off its E3 tour with a bang and announced a slew of new additions for its Xbox 360 platform -- a platform which just recently surpassed the 30 million mark in sales. Microsoft was the first out of the gate with its keynote today while rivals Nintendo and Sony will get their chance tomorrow.

Given that the Xbox 360 is first and foremost a gaming platform, there was no shortage of new game announcements including Halo 3: ODST, Alan Wake, Forza Motorsport 3, Crackdown 2, and Metal Gear Solid Rising. In addition, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were on hand to promote The Beatles: Rock Band.

"Today with cultural visionaries at our side and controller-free gaming on our horizon, Xbox 360 authored a new page in home entertainment history," exclaimed Don Mattrick, Microsoft's senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business. "For us, this E3 is about breaking down barriers -- between generations, between games and entertainment, and most important, between video game players and everyone else -- in a way that only Xbox 360 can."

Microsoft went on to announce updates to its popular Netflix support on the Xbox 360 platform. Users will be able to queue movies directly from the Netflix interface on the Xbox 360 without the need of a PC. Also new is the ability to share movies with up to seven friends via Xbox Live Party.

Other changes/additions include the renaming of the Xbox Video Marketplace to the Zune Marketplace to coincide with the upcoming Zune HD. All pay-per-view movies will also get a nice upgrade from 720p to 1080p with the change. These movies and TV shows will be available for viewing instantly.

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