Feb 23 2002 News

Technical, Business and Product News from the Modern Computer World... Updated Once Per Month

Yahoo News: MS "Homestation"
..."We know we have to succeed but there is a broader concept there that we will pursue at some point," Ballmer said. "You can say, is it the end of the road or is there a bigger play? And the answer is yeah, there's a bigger play we hope to get over time."

The remarks lent credence to speculation that the Xbox was a "trojan horse" that would slip into living rooms under the guise of being only for video games but that could be upgraded with multimedia, Web browsing and other Internet capabilities.

Last September, industry magazine PC Format made waves by claiming Microsoft was working on a "top-secret home entertainment device code-named HomeStation." The machine would be a PC-Xbox hybrid with a big hard drive and have Microsoft's latest digital music and video technology. A Microsoft network could dish up movies, music and games while a wireless link would let it talk to handheld computers or an automated home.

Hans Mosesmann, a semiconductor analyst with Prudential Securities, rekindled HomeStation talk with a report in January that said HomeStation was for real and could debut this year...

...Also in January, Microsoft shut down its Ultimate TV unit, one of several teams working on interactive television at the company, and raised eyebrows by shifting the unit's hardware engineers to the Xbox. What were TV engineers going to do with the Xbox?...

Yahoo News: Be Sues Microsoft For Destruction of Business
...Be, which sold most of its assets last year to handheld computer maker Palm Inc. , said in a filing in federal court in San Francisco that Microsoft struck deals with PC makers barring them from installing more than one operating system on computers they sold.

"Microsoft harmed Be through a series of illegal exclusionary and anti-competitive acts designed to maintain its monopoly in the Intel-compatible PC operating system market," Be said in the statement...

...Last August, Be said it was selling the operating system, called BeOS, to Palm for $11 million. Elements of BeOS are expected to be included in Palm's next operating system, Palm OS 5...

First Successful Windows XP Key Generator:
BetaNews, The Register and other popular web sites are reporting that a group called "The Blue List" have cracked the MS algorithm used to calculate Activation Keys for Windows XP. An extensive search of the web has failed to turn up an URL for downloading their keygen so you will have to resort to your favourate newsgroup to collect the information.

Toshiba Introduces .6" Thick Laptop:
With Toshiba’s industry-first 1.8-inch, 20GB hard drive that is 20 percent smaller than any hard drive currently available, the Portégé® 2000 enables true mobility without compromising productivity. At only 2.6 pounds and just over half-an-inch thin, this sleek, silver metallic portable is the frequent traveler’s ideal companion. High Capacity Battery included for up to 6.5 hours of battery life out of the box!.