 | IT Happens : December 2001
Monthly News Notice of IT Happenings |  | | Issue - 6 |
Multimedia messaging will make SMS a thing of the past
A number of companies including Nokia are currently developing a multimedia messaging service (MMS) an evolutionary technology that retains all the benefits of SMS but makes it more fun to use. MMS is based on the new general packet radio service (GPRS) or 2.5 generation protocol which will replace the existing second generation (2G) global system for mobile (GSM) networks. (Source: H.T. News Jan. 2002) Software Technology Park of India, Lucknow inaugurated via videoconferencing
Chief Minister of U.P. Rajnath Singh gave a high-tech gift to prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on his birthday on 25th Dec. when all the districts of the state were connected though videoconferencing. With this link-up with 70 districts of the state U.P. became the second state in the country to have such a facility after Andhra Pradesh. Describing the video-conferencing link-up as a revolutionary step, the PM said the facility would help streamline the administrative functioning and also help U.P. in the path to progress. On this occasion Rajnath Singh informed that software technology parks would be set up at Agra, Allahabad and Varanasi by May 2002 and U.P. will play a leading role in I.T. (Source: T.O.I. Lucknow Dec.2002) Gates unveils new digital media products
Microsoft Corp. founder and chairman Bill Gates on Monday unveiled new initiatives designed to further the company's vision of turning homes into digital media networks linked to its software, video game machine and Internet services. The new initiatives are known by their internal code names: "Mira," a technology platform for wireless home computing, and "Freestyle," a hardware and software package for Windows XP-based PCs that promises to turn computers into something more like digital entertainment centers. (Source: CNN News January 2002) New .name suffix set to debut on Internet
Internet users looking to give friends and relatives an easy-to-remember e-mail or Web site address can now turn to their own name. ".Name," the first Internet address suffix created exclusively for individuals, makes it debut from 16-01-02. Some 60,000 addresses with the suffix will be activated by Global Name Registry, a London-based company administering .name. Currently, people with personal Web sites tend to use ".org," which is often associated with nonprofit groups. (Source: CNN News January 2002) Microsoft hopes 'Corona' highlights digital media
Microsoft Corp. took the wraps off "Corona," a new package of digital media products it hopes will help let the Internet deliver theater-quality entertainment to consumers and big profits to content providers. "Corona" is the code-name for a set of software including a server that enables Web sites to "stream," or broadcast, audio and video over the Internet, as well as a new player to receive that content on a PC.
Microsoft is battling rival Real Networks Inc. for supremacy in the digital media market. Real recently launched a new consumer product, RealOne, that melds its media player with a subscription service to deliver content. Among the biggest improvements Microsoft claims for Corona is the elimination of "buffering," the process by which a streaming video or audio clip is readied for playback. Buffering helps prevent delays or skips in playing a clip, but can take several seconds or longer to load, frustrating many consumers who expect content to play immediately. Web sites deploying Microsoft's new server will be able to stream clips in its Windows Media format immediately, giving instant gratification to consumers who otherwise might get fed up and leave for another Web site. Corona also includes new formats for encoding audio and video content for delivery over the Web. In particular, the updated video format is capable of quality double that of DVDs while taking up half the space. The audio update will support 5.1 surround sound, a standard of quality usually confined to home theater systems and in the past unavailable for Web media. (Source: CNN News - January 2002)
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