Microsoft Cutting Xbox 360 Price In Japan
Microsoft said it would cut the Japan price of its Xbox 360 game gear by 13 percent to 34,800 yen ($305.00 USD) on November 1 in a bid to shore up demand for the console struggling in a home turf of Nintendo Co Ltd and Sony Corp.
The move follows a Sony announcement earlier this month that it would cut the price of its PlayStation 3 game machine by 10 percent in Japan and launch a new, lower-priced model.
The new Xbox 360 price compares with a 39,980 yen price tag for an upcoming PS3 model with a 40-gigabyte hard disk drive, which will go on sale on November 11.
Although popular in the United States and Europe, the Xbox 360 has been lagging behind Sony’s PS3 and Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii in monthly sales in Japan.
Hilarious Fake Microsoft Vista Marketing Video
Generally speaking I’m pretty sick of Microsoft Vista bashing, but this video is funny enough to be an exception.
It’s not exactly new, but I’d never seen it before and I figure there’s some others who might have missed it as well.
I’d like to see an Apple iPhone version along the same lines.
Microsoft Decides It’s Better To Switch Than Fight
While software piracy is a problem that should be taken seriously, it seems that many companies have placed the burden of dealing with anti-piracy inconveniences on the individual user.
It’s sort of like handcuffing the guy who forgot to pay for a lollipop while ignoring the safecracker in the back of the store.
As most of us know, Microsoft followed that philosophy with its Windows Genuine Advantage program.
The idea was that, in order to fight piracy and make sure every copy of XP was genuine, users who wanted to install or update Windows software would have to run WGA first.
If your copy of XP failed the test and you had bought it or the system in good faith, you had three options:
- Figure out what had gone wrong with the OS install and fix it
- Apply to have Microsoft send you a legitimate copy
- Go out and buy one. All of which were a royal pain in the neck
Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t seem to realize there was another option: (4) don’t bother to install the software.
It seems very probable now that this is what happened with the company’s latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 7.
Many, if not most, of the users who either failed the WGA test or got antsy at the notion of testing their OS for legitimacy probably simply shrugged and stuck with Internet Explorer 6.
For the users who wanted tabbed browsing, they probably went off to download Firefox, Opera or one of the other alternatives.
However, now Microsoft has removed WGA from IE7, all those rebellious XP users can download the browser.
If they don’t feel like taking the trouble, Microsoft will be happy to deliver it to them via Automatic Updates.
At the least, that will considerably expand IE7’s installed base which is, after all, the point of the exercise.
Whether it will persuade those who moved to another browser to switch back remains to be seen.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday: Expect 7 Bulletins, 4 Critical
Microsoft plans to release seven security bulletins next week, including patches for critical bugs in Windows, Internet Explorer and Office.
Four of the bulletins address critical vulnerabilities, which is Microsoft’s highest security threat classification.
The other three, according to Microsoft, are rated important, which is the second-highest rating.
While Microsoft said in its Security Bulletin Advance Notification that there will be seven bulletins, there’s no word on how many actual vulnerabilities will be fixed.
This month’s Patch Tuesday comes on October 9, 2007.
Three of the bulletins address flaws in Windows Vista, two of them are critical.
The online advisory also noted that the four critical bulletins all address remote execution problems.
The critical bulletins cover flaws in Office, Windows, the Internet Explorer browser, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail.
One important bulletin deals with a denial-of-service problem in Windows, while another one addresses a Windows flaw that enables spoofing.
The third important bulletin handles an elevation of privileges bug in Windows and Office.
Microsoft Acquires Jellyfish
Microsoft gave its official nod to the social shopping boom today, with news of the acquisition of discount shopping start-up Jellyfish.
Described on its site as “the Internet’s first buying engine,” the Madison, Wisconsin-based company is known for its unconventional approach to online commerce.
Although the details of the deal were not disclosed, we can’t help but wonder whether or not Redmond’s acquisition is going to alter that stance.
In short, Jellyfish has created a niche search platform designed to provide a more efficient and rewarding discount shopping experience.
“Think of us as a search engine for shopping,” the site suggests, “except we share at least half of every $1 we earn when you shop.” Sounds like an ideal property for Microsoft to scoop up, right?
Well, the crux of this platform is that it turns a cold shoulder on an aspect of online commerce that Microsoft has been attempting to grow — namely, the pay-per-click ad model.
According to Jellyfish’s zeitgeist, pay per click advertising “fails to align incentives properly between the consumer, the advertiser, and the search engine intermediary connecting them.”
It’s certainly an interesting take on sponsored links, but it will most likely be a complicated stance to maintain after being acquired by one of the larger players in the pay per click game.
Regardless of the possible conundrum that creates, Jellyfish’s mojo seems to work just fine for Microsoft.
Jellyfish has done some really innovative work in comparative shopping engines.
We think the technology has some interesting potential applications as we continue to invest heavily in shopping and commerce as a key component of Live Search.
Source: Microsoft blog post announcing the Jellyfish purchase.
We’ll stayed tuned, but it sounds like it could go either way with this one. It’ll all come down to whether or not Microsoft wants to grow the site, or assimilate it.
Microsoft Joins The Documents-For-Free Movement
It seems that online word processing has suddenly become sexy.
Within hours of each other, both Microsoft and Adobe have joined Google, Zoho, and other companies in promoting new online document creating/sharing services. What gives?
With Microsoft, which just announced the forthcoming Office Live Workspace, it may be simply that somebody at Redmond has finally figured out that they’re no longer the only kids on the block.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Adobe is apparently putting together an online document collaboration service that will include its latest acquisition, an online Flash-based word processor called Buzzword.
Not all of Adobe’s online services are free of charge - for example, its Create PDF service is $10 a month but there’s no reason to think that Adobe won’t have the good sense to offer at least this application without cost.
In fact, it’s become increasingly evident that basic applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation are moving out of the realm of for-pay software and into the new category of “free for individuals.”
Some of these services are financed via advertising; others by charging for more storage or increased functionality.
The bottom line for many users, however, is that it’s here, it’s available, and it’s free. Why pay several hundred dollars for Microsoft Office?
Well, because there are still plenty of things that you can do with Microsoft Office or Corel’s WordPerfect, for that matter that haven’t yet been matched online, such as indexing and columns.
In addition, most online word processors haven’t yet been able to sync their documents in real time so that users can have full editing access while away from an Internet connection.
So it seems that Microsoft’s shiny new Office 2007 suite isn’t in jeopardy quite yet.
However as more free applications become available, and as their feature sets continue to widen, it’s obvious that office suite vendors will have to get on the wagon or be left behind.
It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft will give Office Live Workspace enough muscle to really compete.