Vista's successor 'due in three years'
Microsoft is planning to ship its next major version of Windows - known internally as version "7" - within roughly three years. Microsoft is providing few details, Windows 7, the next client version of the operating system, will be among the steps taken by Microsoft to establish a more predictable release schedule. The company plans a more "iterative" process of information disclosure to business customers and partners. Windows Vista, the oft-delayed most recent release of Windows, shipped to businesses in November and to consumers in January after more than five years of development. Vista's gestation period was marked by shifting product details as internal priorities changed and problems arose with development. Like Vista, Windows 7 will ship in consumer and business versions, and in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The company also confirmed it is considering a subscription model to complement Windows but did not provide specifics or a time frame. Next up on Microsoft's agenda is Service Pack 1 for Vista, which is expected before year's end. The discussion of Windows' future isn't surprising, given that Microsoft has been criticised by business customers for delays related to Vista. Many business customers pay for Microsoft's software under a licence agreement called Software Assurance. Windows 7 was previously known by the code-name Vienna.

Zune 2.0 to arrive in time for Christmas
Microsoft has confirmed it will detail its second-generation Zune media players in time for the Christmas sales season. Speculation as to what the software giant will announce currently centres on a higher capacity hard drive model and a cheaper, Flash-based Zune. The US holiday season covers not only Christmas but also November's Thanksgiving break, a key point for consumer electronics purchases. Little details about the anticipated announcement, but did suggest that's it's not hard to guess where the company is heading: "new sizes, styles and price points" for the Zune line; more features to bring the player "towards parity with iPod... at the same time build on key differentiators such as the wireless feature, the FM tuner, etc"; and expansion of the "international footprint of Zune... when we can ensure an offering which is tailored to that market."

Ask.com unveils anti-Google tool
As Google plays games with its cookies, semi-rival Ask.com is actually getting serious about privacy. The web's fourth-leading search engine is giving web users a brand new tool that ensures their search results will not be retained by the company - at all. As the company points out, that's a first among major search engines. Known as AskEraser, the tool isn't slated to arrive until later in the year, but Ask went ahead and announced the thing yesterday. No doubt, the company sees this as an opportune moment, with Google fighting off an ever-growing number of questions about its effect on end user privacy. At the end of May, after various privacy groups complained about Google's proposed $3.1bn acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation, and in a recent ranking of web privacy practices, watchdog Privacy International put the search giant at the very bottom of the list. With AskEraser, users can instantly request that their search results not be retained, and if they do so, some sort of marker pops up on their search result pages, indicating that their privacy is indeed being protected. The tool will reach the U.S. and the UK "by the end of the year," hitting other countries early next.

US service personnel at risk of ID theft
Personal details of over half a million US service personnel and their relatives may have been compromised by a Pentagon contractor. Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500 tech-services provider, announced on Friday that: "Personal information of certain uniformed service members, family members, and others was placed at risk for potential compromise while being processed by SAIC." The risk of compromise was incurred because the relevant data was sent over the internet without use of any encryption. There is no special reason to believe that it was intercepted, but "the possibility cannot be ruled out". SAIC said it was notifying 580,000 households, some with more than one person affected. Different information may have been compromised for different individuals, but the data included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and "limited" health information. The data was held under a health benefits programme for the uniformed services and their families. SAIC expects to spend between $7m and $9m - approximately 0.1% of its annual revenues - dealing with the consequences of the lapse, though this figure could be larger if widespread identity theft occurs. The firm has retained security giant Kroll to offer assistance to affected service people. This will include an Incident Response Centre and help for those who fall victim to identity theft as a result of the SAIC leak

Netflix, Slipping to Blockbuster, Cuts Prices
Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix is lowering the price of its two most popular subscription plans by a $1 per month, relinquishing millions of dollars in revenue in an attempt to regain the upper hand in a battle with rival Blockbuster. With the reductions, announced yesterday, Netflix will charge $16.99 a month for a plan that allows subscribers to keep up to three DVDs at a time with no limit on how frequently the discs can be mailed back in return for another movie. The price for a similar plan that lets customers keep one DVD at a time will fall to $8.99 per month. The price cuts, which take effect tomorrow, match the fees charged by Blockbuster for similar online-only services. Netflix releases its second-quarter earnings today.

'$100 laptop' production begins
Five years after the concept was first proposed, the so-called $100 laptop is poised to go into mass production. Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines. Previously, the organisation behind the scheme said that it required orders for 3m laptops to make production viable. The first machines should be ready to put into the hands of children in developing countries in October 2007. "There's still some software to write, but this is a big step for us," Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per Child (OLPC). The organisation has not said which countries have bought the first machines. Getting the $100 laptop to this stage has been a turbulent journey for the organization and its founder Nicholas Negroponte. Since the idea was first put forward in 2002, the low-cost laptop has been both lauded and ridiculed. Intel chairman Craig Barret famously described it as a "$100 gadget" whilst Microsoft founder Bill Gates questioned its design, particularly the lack of hard drive and its "tiny screen". Other critics asked whether there was a need for a laptop in countries which, they said, had more pressing needs such as sanitation, water and health care. Professor Negroponte's response has always been the same: "It's an education project, not a laptop project." The view was shared by Kofi Annan, ex-secretary General of the UN. In 2005, he described the laptop as an "expression of global solidarity" that would "open up new fronts" for children's education. And as time passed, even some of the critics have changed their stance. Earlier this month, Intel, which manufactures what was considered a rival machine, the Classmate PC, joined forces with OLPC. The innovative design of the XO machine has also drawn praise from the technical community. Using open source software, OLPC have developed a stripped-down operating system which fits comfortably on the machine's 1GB of memory. The XO will be produced in Taiwan by Quanta, the world's largest laptop manufacturer. The final design will bring together more than 800 parts from multiple suppliers such as chip-maker AMD, which supplies the low-power processor at the heart of the machine.

H-P Agrees to Acquire Opsware for $1.65 Billion
Hewlett-Packard agreed to acquire software company Opsware for $1.65 billion as the computer and printer giant looks to bolster its offerings for corporate customers. Opsware sells software that help companies automate functions in their massive corporate-data centers. The company was founded by Internet pioneer Marc Andreessen in 1999 and was previously known as Loudcloud. It has struggled to turn a profit even as sales reached $101 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Opsware has painfully built itself into an enterprise-software business after focusing on Internet "hosting" and related services during its first three years in existence. When that business went south, Mr. Andreessen, who remains Opsware's chairman, and CEO Ben Horowitz laid off hundreds of employees and retooled the company's business. Most of Opsware's 550 remaining employees are expected to move to H-P and Mr. Horowitz will become part of H-P's management. Thomas Hogan, senior vice president of H-P's software operations, said the Opsware takeover "is intended to enable HP Software to help our customers resolve one of their critical pain points: controlling the increasing complexity and cost of managing the data center."

Merged XM-Sirius Would Offer 'A La Carte' Pricing
A merged Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio would offer so-called a la carte pricing options, with packages starting as low as $6.99 a month. In a statement, the rivals fleshed out the details of what choices subscribers would have if the federal government allows them to complete their tie-up. Listeners could choose from a package of 50 radio channels for $6.99 a month, compared with the current standard rate of $12.95 a month. They also could opt for a 100-channel package that includes selecting channels from the other service's range for $14.99 a month. A so-called "Family-Friendly" tier, which would enable listeners to block out channels they found offensive, would be offered as well. The companies say this option would cost $1 less a month than the standard $12.95 monthly charge. The companies are trying to win regulators' approval for their merger, announced in February. In order for the deal to proceed, both the Department of Justice's antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission must approve it. The all-stock deal would value the combined company at around $9.3 billion, excluding debt, based on the companies' current share prices.

Dubai claims world's tallest building title
Dubai declared on Saturday it now boasts the world's tallest building, with the Burj Dubai (Dubia Tower) scraping the sky at 512.1m (1,680ft) a year before its slated completion. The Burj Dubai, built by South Korea's Samsung, now stands at 141 storeys, outstripping Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which rises a modest 508m (1,667ft). Developer Emaar Properties is keeping tight-lipped on the $1bn structure's final vital stats, but says it will eventually be "more than" 700m (2,296ft) tall and have "more than" 160 storeys. This reluctance to divulge the full facts may be a response to rival local developer Nakheel, which has announced it will build the equally inspirationally-titled "Al-Burj" (The Tower) - "whose projected height also remains a closely guarded secret", as the Gulf Times puts it. The Burj Dubai is the centrepiece of a $20bn complex comprising "30,000 apartments and the world's largest shopping mall" - suitably dubbed "Downtown Burj Dubai".

Telcos drive $5.4bn Asian outsourcing market
Companies in Asia-Pacific signed more than $5.4bn worth of business process outsourcing deals in the first half of the year, according to a recent survey. The figure represented a 100% increase compared to the same period last year, indicating that outsourcing market expansion in the region is outpacing the rest of the world, which has shown little growth. The telecoms sector accounted for close to half of Asia-Pacific outsourcing during the survey period, in part due to major contracts from China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone firm by subscriber base. Outsourcing by the financial services industry fell to 9% of the total. There are signs that the Asia-Pacific outsourcing market has steadied. Indeed strong growth in Asia-Pacific and Europe is compensating for a very soft US market, where new outsourcing business is at its lowest level since 1994.

Chinese car buyers steer online
The internet is one of the most effective ways of reaching car buyers in China, the world's second largest auto market, according to a new survey. This is despite the fact that China has a relatively low level of internet use: the country's 1.3 billion people only have 160 million internet connections between them. After friends and family, the internet is seen as the second most useful and credible source of information for potential car buyers in China, the Taylor Nelson Sofres survey found. More than 30% of respondents said that the internet is a 'quality' source of car buying information. Online channels such as blogs and forums are likely to be more effective marketing channels than traditional billboards and commercials, the survey suggested. Compared to the professional patter of sales personnel, buyers are far more likely to believe information they read online. Profits in China's automobile market rose 46% in 2006 to reach $10bn. Car sales rose 34% to 4.4 million, while total vehicle sales reached 7.2 million.

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