Microsoft Delays Vista

In an announcement, the company has pushed-back the launch of its already delayed Vista to consumers - from late 2006 to early 2007, quoting the reason that PC manufacturers need sufficient time to test the running of this platform on their systems. But yes - the business version will arrive till November 2006, though home users will have to wait until Jan 2007.

Jim Allchin, co-president, Microsoft Corp, said that the industry requires greater lead time to deliver Windows Vista on new PCs during the holiday season, and that hence the company has decided to separate business from consumer availability.

Windows Vista is being awaited with baited breath - especially since it is Microsoft's first major update to its operating system - since the launch of Windows XP in late 2001.

Currently available in limited beta version, Microsoft plans to make available six versions of Windows Vista. Vista promises to be an improvement over Windows XP in terms of security functions and a quicker start-up. Yet it is believed that when Vista releases, some of the key features that were originally intended - will be conspicuously absent.

Although disappointment hangs in the air post Microsoft's announcement, most users are in agreement over the premise that it is better for Microsoft to ship a completed product rather than one like the much criticized Windows XP.

Sify introducing Mobile Shoping

Things just got better for mobile phone users on GPRS services! Sify Limited's online shopping portal, www.sifymall.com, has announced a tie-up with JiGrahak - a mobility solutions provider, to enable millions of mobile phone users on GPRS services to buy a wide variety of products and services over their phones.

SifyMall will utilise JiGrahak's m-commerce/m-payment platform "NGPay" (Next Generation Pay), in order to provide the new mobile shopping service.

Speaking at the launch, Surya Mantha, senior vice president - interactive services, SifyMall, said, "We are happy to be working with JiGrahak in bringing secure M-Commerce services to the millions of mobile subscribers using GPRS services in India. With the Indian mobile subscriber base growing at the rate of about 2 million users a month, and expected to touch 200 million by 2007, the potential for mobile shopping is huge. We expect to grow the mobile shopping service space with this 'one-of-its kind' offering, and work towards being a leader in this area. In addition to buying products and services from SifyMall, Sify broadband users can now also renew their broadband subscriptions through this application, using their mobiles for convenience."

Sourabh Jain, partner, JiGrahak Mobility Solutions, said, "JiGrahak is excited to have Sify on board the NGPay platform. The potential of 'Anytime, Anywhere' commerce has been talked about since quite some time, but technology and business challenges have remained. We believe that NGPay would help realize this immense potential, and define the world of mobile commerce and mobile payments. End-users from around the world can download and use (free-of-cost) the NGPay application on their mobile handsets from anywhere in the world, provided they have a J2ME-enabled phone and an appropriate GPRS subscription."

Other than basic models, most mobile phones are GPRS compatible. Users can call their service operators to enable GPRS facility on their phones, so that they can shop over their phones, book airline tickets online, browse websites, etc. With a GPRS-enabled mobile connection, users can log on to www.ngpay.com and download the NGPay application on to their mobile handsets.

Once installed, this application can then be used to shop "Anytime, Anywhere" for various products such as flowers, books, Movie DVDs and VCDs on SifyMall.com.

To start with, payments can be made using credit cards; later users can graduate to making payments from bank accounts.

Microsoft coming in ad network

In an attempt to catch-up with rivals including Google and Yahoo, Microsoft has started testing online ads on Live - its new web services network.

Microsoft plans to display ads from around 20 advertisers as part of a year-long trial program, on its network comprising Office Live, email service Windows Live Mail and social networking service MSN Spaces.

Although Microsoft attracts a huge online traffic, the company has lagged behind its rivals in terms of generating ad revenue. Microsoft is hopeful that its Live.com portal will be useful in eventually creating an advertising network.

In a separate announcement, Microsoft has launched the beta version of its Windows Live Family Safety Settings service.

"Family Safety Settings" provides several free tools to work with Windows Live and other Microsoft applications, to offer enhanced safety in PC- and Web-based activities.

The new service incorporates features such as content filtering for the Web, contact management tools for e-communications, online activity reports, etc.

The content filtering feature lets users apply settings like "allow" or "block" to different Web sites or content categories. Contact Management is applicable to Microsoft online communications services, and enables parents to create lists which either allow or restrict children from accessing specific sites. The Online Activity Reports feature makes it possible for parents to access information about what their family members are doing online.

The new service is slated to become available this summer, and will be offered to customers using Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista. Microsoft says that it prefers calling its new product Family Safety Settings rather than Parental Controls, since neither parents nor children are too fond of that particular term.

Apparently as Microsoft does not consider itself an expert in child psychology, the company has teamed up with third party experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which was responsible for creating the recommended default settings of the new service. Tie-ups with similar such organizations are in the pipeline.

Microsoft maintains that its aim is to be less intrusive, and to make Family Safety Settings something which will go down well with both parents and kids.

Hp Announced Pen Keyboard for Indian Lang.

HP Labs India Wednesday introduced its pen-based keyboard for Indian languages, including Devanagari (Hindi), Kannada and Tamil.

Priced at Rs 2,000, the gesture-based keyboard helps solve the phonetic language entry problem by allowing users to input text and data with a pen.

The innovative technology also allows any Indian script to be recorded and stored directly on the computer.

"The hi-tech keyboard makes it easier for even non-English speaking people and those who can't type to communicate with others effortlessly. It is meant to bridge the digital divide by simplifying the use of IT," HP Labs India director Ajay Gupta said at a preview of the product here.

Designed and developed at HP Labs India, the keyboard is currently available in Hindi and Kannada scripts along with English fonts.