Microsoft

I can see into the future.

Reuters - Gates sees next Windows "sometime" in next year

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Gates sees next Windows "sometime" in next year

Friday, Apr 04, 2008 4:39PM UTC

MIAMI (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.<MSFT.O> co-founder Bill Gates said on Friday he expected the new version of Windows operating software, code-named Windows 7, to be released "sometime in the next year or so."

The software giant has been aiming to issue more regular updates of the operating system software that powers the majority of the world's personal computers. Nevertheless, Gates' comments suggested that a successor to the Vista program might be released sooner than was generally expected.

Microsoft has said it expected to release a new version of Windows approximately 3 years after the introduction of Vista in January 2007. A company spokeswoman said Gates' comments are in line with a development cycle that usually releases a test version of the software before its official introduction.

"I'm superenthused about what it will do in lots of ways," Gates said in a seminar on corporate philanthropy held during an annual meeting in Miami of the Inter-American Development Bank.

"That'll be sometime in the next year or so that we'll have a new version," Gates said in response to a question from the audience.

Gates, who is due to leave his day-to-day functions at Microsoft and dedicate himself to the philanthropic efforts of the Gates Foundation in June, said the company aimed through its $6 billion annual research and development budget to take the products running on its software to "the next level."

He said new versions of Windows would help revolutionize mobile phones and run the desk of the future, which would have a touch surface display allowing users to call up items using their hands.

(Reporting by Michael Christie, Editing by Gunna Dickson)

Reuters - Verizon to use new spectrum for advanced wireless

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Verizon to use new spectrum for advanced wireless

Friday, Apr 04, 2008 4:31PM UTC

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> said on Friday it would use the airwaves it acquired in a government auction last month for its next generation of high-speed wireless services, expected to debut around 2010.

In a telephone conference with analysts the company said the $9.36 billion worth of new 700 megahertz spectrum would give Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, enough resources to build a faster wireless data network.

"We now have sufficient spectrum to continue growing our business and data revenues well into -- and possibly through -- the next decade ...," said Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam.

McAdam said the spectrum would be used for a network Verizon Wireless plans to build based on an emerging technology known as Long Term Evolution, which it expects to boost revenue by connecting "everything and anything together."

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon and Vodafone Group Plc <VOD.L>, will use the airwaves to connect a broad array of devices, such as digital media players, gaming consoles and even home appliances, McAdam said.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T <T.N> won the lion's share of the spectrum up for grabs in the $19.12 billion auction, with AT&T spending another $6.64 billion.

Verizon Wireless won the largest single block of nationwide airwaves offered in the Federal Communications Commission auction, paying $4.74 billion for the portion of spectrum known as the "C" block.

Commenting on the 700 megahertz spectrum for the first time since the landmark auction ended on March 18, Verizon said it expected to launch its next generation wireless network "in the 2010 time frame."

The 700-megahertz airwaves are considered valuable because they travel long distances and can penetrate thick walls. They are being returned by television broadcasters as they move to digital from analog signals in early 2009.

As part of the rules for the 700-megahertz auction, the FCC required the winner of the C block spectrum to make it an "open platform" accessible to customers using any device or software application.

As a result Verizon has promised to support devices and software applications that it does not offer directly itself.

They echoed a statement issued on Thursday night by AT&T, which said its added 700-megahertz auction would be used to move into the next generation of wireless broadband services.

AT&T executives estimated the roll-out of more advanced network at about 2012. However, unlike the airwaves acquired by Verizon, AT&T noted that its new spectrum was not burdened with many regulatory requirements imposed on a nationwide block of spectrum that Verizon won in the auction.

The comments by Verizon came a day after the deadline expired for anti-collusion restrictions that were in effect during the auction and barred carriers from discussing the auction results.

(Reporting by Peter Kaplan; editing by Derek Caney)

Jobloss continues

Where did allthe jobs go?

Reuters - Economy sheds 80,000 jobs in March

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Economy sheds 80,000 jobs in March

Friday, Apr 04, 2008 4:15PM UTC

By Joanne Morrison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut payrolls for a third consecutive month in March and the jobless rate jumped to a 2-1/2 year high, adding more evidence that a housing downturn and credit crisis may have pushed the economy into recession.

The Labor Department on Friday said non-farm employment fell by 80,000 jobs in March, the biggest decline in five years. Financial markets saw the drop as reinforcing the need for further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

It was the first time the U.S. economy shed jobs for three straight months since a five-month string in 2003, when the economy was mired in a jobless recovery from the 2001 recession.

Adding to the bleak picture, the department said a combined 152,000 jobs were lost in January and February, compared with a previous estimate of 85,000. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, the highest since September 2005.

"There doesn't appear to be any silver lining. It shows that we're right in the middle of a recession," said Carl Lantz, U.S. interest rate strategist at Credit Suisse in New York. "Our expectation is that it will be a longer recession than the last two, and we're just in the beginning."

U.S. stock markets slipped in early trading, while the dollar fell and prices of government bonds rose as traders bet the weaker-than-expected report would lead to more rate cuts.

"What we have been looking at over the first quarter is an economy that has entered into recession," Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan, told clients on a conference call.

The White House said it was "not happy" with the jobs report, saying it expected growth to be flat in the first quarter, but pick up later in the year.

RECESSION HERE?

The U.S. central bank has already lowered rates by 3 percentage points since mid-September to prop up an economy hit hard by a liquidity crisis brought on by what many economists see as the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke admitted to Congress this week that a recession was possible. "It's clearly a period of very slow growth extending back to the fourth quarter of last year, and we are trying to set our policies appropriately for that situation," he said.

A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Friday showed the economy's deepening woes were weighing heavily on the minds of Americans. Of those polled, 81 percent said they believed things were "pretty seriously" on the wrong track, up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.

During the first quarter, job losses averaged 77,000 a month, compared with average monthly gains of 76,000 in the last half of 2007.

They were widespread in March, with the biggest losses in construction and manufacturing, two areas that have been bearing the brunt of the economy's slowdown.

Factory employment fell by 48,000, the biggest decline since July 2003, and exacerbated by a 24,000 fall in auto manufacturing jobs that the department said likely reflected the impact of a strike at an auto parts maker.

Construction employment fell 51,000, the ninth consecutive month of job losses.

In another sign firms are bracing for a downturn, professional business employment dropped by 35,000, with most of the declines in temporary help services.

(Additional reporting by Burton Frierson in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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Where i'm at

Reuters - Republicans feel good about Obama match-up

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Republicans feel good about Obama match-up

Thursday, Apr 03, 2008 7:20PM UTC

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton may be the Democrat who Republicans love to hate, but some Republican strategists say they have no fear of a match-up with her rival Barack Obama in November's presidential election.

Many Republicans have long believed Clinton, the polarizing New York senator and former first lady with the high negative ratings, would make an easier White House foe by energizing conservatives and alienating independents.

But Republicans say the relentless Democratic nominating battle has given them new hope for November and exposed weaknesses in Obama that will play a central role in any general election campaign against the Illinois senator.

"I believe he has a glass jaw -- and he is going to get hit hard," said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio.

Obama's voting record in the U.S. Senate -- one magazine ranked him the most liberal senator in 2007 -- and during his years in the Illinois state Senate will get a more thorough examination in a campaign against Republican John McCain than it has so far, he said.

"He portrays himself as a centrist and a moderate, but if you look at his votes it's tough to see anything but a liberal. He is more liberal than Hillary Clinton," Fabrizio said.

The questions raised by Clinton about Obama's lack of experience and suitability as commander in chief will be revitalized, Republicans say, as will the controversy about inflammatory comments by Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Coupling that with Obama's weakness among blue-collar Democrats and Hispanics, and the possibility of a prolonged nominating fight that turns off Clinton backers and independents, Republicans are gaining confidence about a November race against Obama.

"Originally people thought Hillary would be better to run against only because she generated so much ill will among the Republican base," said Republican consultant Rich Galen.

"But I don't think professional politicians on the Republican side have a rooting interest anymore because it doesn't matter. We can beat either one. We just wish the election was tomorrow," he said.

WHO CAN WIN?

The question of who gives Democrats the best chance in November is central to the battle between Clinton and Obama as they woo superdelegates -- the party insiders and elected officials who are free to back any candidate and are likely to decide the tight race.

The two campaigns have waged a war of words, memos and conference calls with reporters to make their case. The Clinton campaign says she is a known quantity with proven success in big swing states and with key constituencies like women, Catholics and Hispanics.

Clinton was heartened by a Quinnipiac University poll this week that showed her beating McCain in three key swing states -- Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida -- and running better against him than Obama. "The polls are reflecting the arguments we're making," Clinton strategist Mark Penn said.

The Obama campaign says he would rewrite the electoral map, bringing in new voters and drawing independents and some Republicans in a broad coalition that would also help Democrats in other races around the country.

"We are going to put more states in play than Senator Clinton," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, adding Obama "would provide the best atmosphere for down ballot candidates."

But the Clinton campaign leaped to highlight recent comments in The New York Times Sunday magazine by Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who heads the Republican party's efforts to elect House of Representatives members. He said he thought Clinton would be the stronger candidate.

"He's ideologically well to the left of Hillary Clinton, for all his rhetorical gifts, and I also think he's got a national security deficit," Cole said.

"I think she's a plausible commander in chief, and I don't think he is. It may not matter. But those two areas are where we would fight the election, and with McCain, I think we contrast with him very well," he said.

Republicans have been successful at painting Democratic candidates like Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 as too liberal and out of step with everyday voters. But part of Obama's appeal has been his promise to rise above partisan divisions.

Fabrizio said there were dangers for Republicans in Obama's ability to attract new voters and increase turnout, but his record in Illinois on topics like sex education, crime and spending would be fertile territory for researchers.

"In order to bring out those new voters, you have to maintain the same level of excitement. If Obama gets tarnished, that excitement is going to wane" among those voters, Fabrizio said.

"What more are you going to tell the American people about Hillary Clinton? But most Americans didn't even know Barack Obama eight months ago, and there is so much more for them to know."

(Editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

Thom yorke

I make nice noise

Reuters - Radiohead allows fans to remix new single

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Radiohead allows fans to remix new single

Thursday, Apr 03, 2008 7:42AM UTC

LONDON (Billboard) - Radiohead is using the Internet for another initiative built around its chart-topping album, "In Rainbows."

The UK rock act has teamed with iTunes and GarageBand for an interactive project that allows fans to rework the album's second single, "Nude."

Wannabe remixers can buy five separate tracks from the recording -- bass, voice, guitar, strings/effects and drums -- from iTunes Plus. On purchasing all five elements, the customer will be sent an access code to complete the task via the GarageBand or Logic music production software.

Finished mixes can be uploaded to Radioheadremix.com, where fans have until May 1 to listen and vote for their favorite. Bedroom remixers can also create a widget for their personal Web profile that will tally votes toward the competition.

"In Rainbows" was initially released on the Internet last year, with the band allowing fans to download the album for whatever price they chose. The CD version hit stores earlier this year, debuting at No. 1 on the U.S. and UK charts.

Reuters/Billboard