Archive for the ‘software’ Category
iMovie update reveals new Apple video format
October 13th, 2009 | 
Author: Like most companies, Apple periodically releases software updates for its applications, fixing minor issues. However, an iMovie update released on Tuesday revealed a brand new video format the company has been developing.
(Credit: Apple Dubbed iFrame, the new video format is based on industry standard technologies like H.264 video and AAC audio. As expected with H.264, iFrame produces much smaller file sizes than traditional video formats, while maintaining its high-quality video. Of course, the smaller file size increases import speed and helps with editing video files.
iMovie 8.0.5 released on Tuesday adds compatibility with camcorders using the iFrame video format. Currently there are two cameras that support iFrame: the Sanyo VPC-HD2000A and the Sanyo VPC-FH1A.
The two cameras were introduced earlier Tuesday and default to shooting video in the new format. iFrame shoots at 960×540. The cameras can also record in high-definition 1080p (1920×1080), as well as high-speed video formats for slow-motion playback, according to Sanyo.
Apple hasn’t said how long it has been working on iFrame or if other video camera manufacturers would adopt the format. The company also didn’t say when support for the iFrame format would be added to its Final Cut Pro video-editing suite.
The iMovie update can be downloaded from Apple’s Web site or from the software update mechanism in Mac OS X.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10374263-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft sets up open-source foundation
Microsoft has created the nonprofit CodePlex Foundation to target increased communication between open-source communities and software companies.
Citing an under-representation of commercial software companies and their employees in open source, the CodePlex Foundation aims to work with particular projects to bridge the gap between the open-source and commercial worlds.
The Redmond giant has contributed $1 million to the foundation and has filled out its board and advisory panel with many Microsoft staffers, including Sam Ramji, who is leaving Microsoft as its open source point man but is also becoming CodePlex Foundation’s interim president.
Unlike other open-source foundations, such as the Mozilla Foundation and GNOME Foundation, the Foundation said on its Web site that it intends to address the full spectrum of software projects.
This is an unexpected and interesting move from Redmond. Don’t think that this is completely like other open-source foundations that you may be used to, though.
Take this line from the Codeplex Foundation FAQ: “We wanted a foundation that addresses a full spectrum of software projects, and does so with the licensing and intellectual property needs of commercial software companies in mind.”
Add to this that the About page states that companies will contribute code, not patents, and that is what I think will stop the existing open-source community from going anywhere near the CodePlex Foundation.
I can’t see any patent-encumbered CodePlex project being accepted into, or contributing code into, any large existing open-source project while still having the patent specter looming overhead–it’s something that the open-source community has tried to avoid whenever possible.
But this is probably not that audience that the Foundation is aiming for–it’s more likely to target purely Microsoft companies/developers and attempt to get them to open up a little. Allowing these companies to keep their patents will make it easier for them to engage in the Microsoft ecosystem but not in the wider open source world.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10350671-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Microsoft, Open source, open source software, software, Tech | 
Tags: CodePlex, Microsoft, Open source | 
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Report: Rivals eye Microsoft’s former Linux patents
Microsoft has at times alleged patent infringement in its attempts to stifle certain Linux-based applications. But one group is hoping to fight back by using Microsoft’s own former patents.
The Open Invention Network (OIN), a group made up of Microsoft competitors and Linux advocates,said it’s close an agreement to buy 22 patents that Microsoft sold to another organization earlier this year. According to Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, the patents may relate to Linux.
The OIN believes that getting these patents is critical to protecting Linux developers from costly lawsuits, according to the Journal. The concern is that otherwise the patents could be grabbed by patent trolls, which will then try to make money from patent-infringement lawsuits.
The group that currently owns the patents, Allied Security Trust, buys them to protect its members from lawsuits. Composed of such companies as Google, Hewlett-Packard, Verizon Communications, and Cisco Systems, Allied Security Trust bought the patents in a private auction held by Microsoft. The Journal reports that Microsoft presented the patents to potential bidders as relating to Linux.
Microsoft has said that it holds more than 50,000 patents, according to the Journal, and that it believes 200 of those are violated by Linux applications.
Over the past few years, Microsoft has signed deals with several open-source companies in which they pay Microsoft money to protect themselves from intellectual property claims.
The OIN’s goal is to promote and protect Linux by using patents that allow for free and open collaboration. The group says its patents are available to any company or individual that agrees not to assert those patents against Linux. The idea is to help developers use Linux without having to worry about violating existing patents.
The OIN is trying to use such cases as the recent lawsuit between Microsoft and GPS-maker Tom Tom to prevent similar actions against Linux-based apps. Although Tom Tom settled with Microsoft, the OIN is concerned that the case may establish a precedent.
Started in 2005, the OIN counts among its members IBM, Sony, and Red Hat. Over the years, other powerhouses have joined, including Oracle, Google, and most recently Tom Tom.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10346439-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
IBM is its own open-source lab for social software
Most vendors must guess what customers want to buy, and how they’ll use it. For IBM, however, with about 400,000 employees, it has the potential to be its own best laboratory, one that becomes even more potent when mixed with active participation in open-source communities.
That potential, as I discovered in an interview on Friday with Jeff Schick, IBM’s vice president of social software, isn’t a “gimme,” but is powerful if you can enable the right sort of corporate culture and processes.
For example, Schick mentioned that IBM has a technology adoption program for employees that spans the gamut of new products, add-ons and patches to existing products, and still-raw technologies direct from IBM’s labs. While the invitation list and process is different for each particular item, IBM generally encourages its product groups to “experiment” upon each other. The earlier in the development process, the better.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10345493-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
IBM launches cloud virtual-desktop service
IBM launched on Monday its Smart Business Desktop service, a combination of thin client computing, virtualization, and the cloud, which is claimed to be the “industry’s first public desktop cloud service.”
“Today more than ever, enterprises need an affordable, reliable, and efficient way to deploy and manage desktop infrastructures,” said Jan Jackman, vice president, IBM Global Technology Services. “The public desktop cloud service is designed to help bring cost savings, flexibility, scalability, and security to clients like never before.”
The service will be available to businesses in Europe and North America in October, the company said.
According to IBM, companies will need minimal hardware to use the service. “All that’s needed is a machine–a thin client or PC–capable of running an Internet browser and Java. Users simply log on over a secure connection through the Internet,” the company said.
The new desktop service is part of a wider strategy around desktop virtualization as a potential alternative to buying new hardware, IBM said. “Through key technology and business partnerships with Citrix, Desktone, VMware, and Wyse, along with IBM tools for customer assessment and strategic planning, IBM is helping clients address PC replacement dilemmas.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10332030-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
