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According to Robin Hall, Macyis Parade & Entertainment Group senior vice president, Microsoftis database offerings were too complex and often required days to extract important information in a usable form. For many tasks, the parade organizers found it was easier to export data into Excel spreadsheets instead. “With our new FileMaker database system, time-consuming tasks…

QuarkXPress 8

LCD panel makers are pushing for a slight adjustment to the 15-inch class LCD used in notebook computers. Instead of 15.4 inches and 16 x 10, the new panels scheduled for late Q2 or early Q3 will be 15.6 inches and 16 x 9, according to DigiTimes on Wednesday. The primary advantage is the geometry…

I ha ve recently discovered what is a near-perfect solution for my reluctance to use a camcorder — even though I have a desire to take “home movies.” And, no, the solution is not the Flip Video. Sunday’s New York Times had yet another article lauding the Flip Video camcorder (David Pogue covered it back…

The new SSD drive also boasts a mean time failure rate at one million hours, a 0.9 watt power consumption in active mode, and data encryption that continues to function after the drive is removed from a computer. The company said that it plans to begin mass production of the 2.5-inch 256GB drive by the…

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is close to a new policy that will allow notebook computers to remain inside some special types of cases as they go through airport X-ray machines. New cases are being developed by Targus and Skooba. The policy could go into into effect in a few months, according to TSA chief…

Appleis stock (AAPL) dropped nearly US$8.00 on Wednesday for no obvious reasons, according to Barronis. It could be nothing more than profit taking in an ugly market. The news about Apple on Wednesday was minor: a lawsuit over the name “Mighty Mouse” and the fact that the company will use LED backlighting in future notebook…

The lawsuit largely accuses Apple of being a bully company intent on confusing the marketplace with its use of Mighty Mouse. "Because of its size, fame, and advertising budget" M&M wrote in its complaint, "Appleis use of the Mighty Mouse trademark has and will continue to overwhelm M&Mis use" of the trademark. "Appleis use of…

Mr. Johnsonis other goals include “consolidate ad platform and win in display,” and “deliver end-to-end user experiences across PC, phone, and Web.” He acknowledged Microsoftis renewed negotiations with Yahoo and added “Regardless of the outcome of any new discussions, it is important that we continue to move forward to strengthen our online services business. The…

Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo Board of Directors, said in a letter to Mr. Icahn “Your letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which our board evaluated and responded to that proposal.” He added “A fair-minded review of the factual record leads to one conclusion:…

Atrois real-time image effects.

The Mozilla group has released an alpha of its Thunderbird e-mail program for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. New in this version for Mac is the long-awaited integration with the Mac OS X Address Book. The early release is for testing only. “This release does not represent the final product. Some of the features…

Some of the interface changes in Leopard were controversial, so it didnit take long for developers to create apps that can tweak the Leopard look-and-feel, either back to Tiger or just something new, according to Computerworld on Wednesday. While some changes have traditionally required command-line trickery that can cause concern for some users, a new…

Apple has tackled a lot of consumer products that just havenit been friendly enough for the everyday consumer and made them gems of design, excellence and ease of use. Appleis next move might be the wireless remote control, according to C|Net on Tuesday. For example, Appleis iPod click wheel married two different sets of controls…

While Microsoft enhanced AppleScript and Automator support in Office 2008, many VBA macro users found that their documents simply failed to function properly and required rewritten scripts. The limitation also meant that documents that rely on VBA macros were no longer cross-platform compatible. Company spokespeople commented “Although the Mac BU increased support in Office 2008…

RIM knows itis in a battle, a two horse race, with Appleis iPhone. The new BlackBerry Bold is RIMis latest weapon in the war, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. [Subscription required.] RIMis new smartphone, designed to fend off the iPhone assault, runs on the higher speed 3G network, adds processing punch and…

Estimates put the number of potentially qualifying Mac owners in the neighborhood of 2.3 million. The agreement earned preliminary approval in the San Jose U.S. District Court on March 24, but is awaiting final approval on September 8. The class action suit claimed that the laptop power adapter “dangerously frays, sparks and prematurely fails to…

The Redmond-based company had culled a list of potential proxy board members in preparation for a hostile takeover move if it could not reach a buyout agreement with the Internet search and advertising company Yahoo. When the two companies failed to reach an agreement, Microsoft chose to walk away from the table instead of pursuing…

Consumer Reports finally gets it right! Consumer Reports may not be the most influential voice in determining which computers are most preferred by the buying public. But it matters. Each year, for the past who knows how many years, the magazine has dutifully provided its assessment of the best and worst in computers. And almost…

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that they have resumed the availability of Windows XP SP3 at the Microsoft Download Center. Distribution was halted last week when a last minute incompatibility with Vista SP1 and the Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) software was discovered. Microsoft has published a hotfix for the RMS issue and advised that it…