Microsoft intros cloud-based Azure Services Platform

Microsoft has introduced Windows Azure, the foundation to its cloud-computing architecture that will allow companies to create software and services that can be accessed from centralized data centers. The platform will directly compete with similar ventures from competitors, including Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Google's library of internet tools. Developers can create applications that exist "in the cloud," accessible from anywhere in the world. The release marks a transition for Microsoft from the reliance on desktop software and further into the realm of Web-based technologies.

The key component of the architecture will be Windows Azure, an operating system that is designed for the cloud environment, providing developers a way to manage their Web applications on the Internet through the data centers. For some businesses that are facing the costs of building and maintaining on-site systems, using Azure-based cloud services on a subscription basis could present another option. The primary storage, computing, and networking tools would be hosted in Microsoft's data centers.

The Azure Services Platform will bring together several of the company's developer services including SQL, .NET, Live, SharePoint, and Dynamics CRM. Applications can be created using the .NET framework, Visual Studio, or other technologies and open source standards such as Eclipse, Ruby, PHP, Python, XML, HTTP, representational state transfer (REST), and Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub).

Customers can integrate any existing systems with Azure, spreading the applications across both platforms to suit particular needs. Some potential clients could steer clear of Web-based technology because of concerns with potential down-time. Microsoft claims its Azure Fabric Controller technology is designed to distribute the workload evenly across servers, while instantly rerouting work in the event of a failure.

Microsoft is aiming to jump into the Web-based software-as-a-service segment and take market share from power-players such as Google. As the sales of Vista stagnate, showing just a two percent income growth for the recent quarter, the company could be looking to extend its reach, with products such as Azure, into new areas that could be more profitable in the near future.

Toshiba to ship 43nm SLC-speed chips in 2009

Toshiba has announced higher density, faster memory chips in a new lineup of 43nm single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory, featuring 2GB, 4GB and 8GB individual chips. The 43 nanometer process allows Toshiba to deliver double the density of its previous 56nm process, while also delivering SLC speeds, which are approximately 2.5x faster than the more common, denser but historically slower MLC (Multi-Level Cell) memory.

The new chipsets will be geared toward embedded memory in mobile products that call for large quantities of fast memory, such as mobile phones, flat panel HDTVs, and servers, as well as mobile audio-video devices. The new chipsets are planned for market in the first quarter of 2009.

Toshiba hasn't named customers but supplies both itself as well as Apple's handheld devices; multiple chips are often stacked together in a single package and should enable capacities of 16GB and higher depending on the hardware.

Walmart MP3 hits 74 cents, gains Mac support

Walmart today made an aggressive move against Amazon and Apple by lowering the prices of its MP3 Music Downloads store. The service now offers per-track downloads as low as 74 cents versus the 89-cent minimum of Amazon MP3 and iTunes' fixed 99-cent price. Normal tracks are 94 cents, Wal-Mart says. The retailer also plans to drive users to the store through a tie-in with CD sales: starting from mid-November, those who order physical copies of albums either online or in stores get a free MP3 song from any artist or album.

The company has also made key moves to open its previously Windows- and Internet Explorer-centric web store to more platforms. The new version works with any operating system, including Linux and Mac OS X, and supports more standardized browsers such as Firefox and Safari. It also synchronizes more directly with users' collections and will copy both the songs and their artwork to Windows editions of iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Walmart's initiative comes as the big-box chain has struggled to compete in the online space. The company lost its lead in total music sales to iTunes earlier in 2008 and has less than half the catalog, holding just three million songs versus Apple's 8 million. While Walmart has the advantage of unprotected music from all four major labels, Amazon MP3 has a similar advantage but also more than 4.5 million tracks.

Analyst: NVIDIA to exit chipsets in 2009

According to an analyst with the Pacific Crest Securities, chipset manufacturer NVIDIA will stop making media and communications chipsets in 2009, representing 21 percent of the company‘s current revenue. While the Tuesday report notes that NVIDIA had flat-out denied similar rumors back in August, its partners AMD and Intel are both are breaking into the mainboard chipset business themselves, Intel with in-house efforts and AMD with the recent purchase of chipmaker ATI.

Further hints as to NVIDIA’s role as supplier allegedly come from VIA’s marketing chief, Richard Brown, back in August. VIA has made it clear it plans to stop making chipsets for PCs and instead continue system-logic development for its own processors. “We believed that ultimately the third-party chipset market would disappear,” Brown said at the time.

Also earlier this year, NVIDIA has posted losses related to its failing GeForce graphics cards, which overheated in systems and hurt the company's ability to stay in more than just the graphics industry.

Partly countering the claim is a rumor this weekend that NVIDIA is involved with Apple and may have a new nForce mobile chipset in MacBooks, though these reports have quickly countered that NVIDIA may simply be supplying graphics to these portables.

Logitech launches Cordless Vantage Microphone

Peripheral maker Logitech on Tuesday announced it will soon release the Cordless Vantage Microphone for avid gamers. The microphone connects to PCs and is compatible with the Sony PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 as well as the Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming systems thanks to a USB port. The microphone relies on the 2.4GHz frequency to provide the wireless connection to its USB base which doubles as a holder, with range of up to 30 feet. Logitech claims the two included AA batteries will last more than 20 hours. Supported game titles for the entertainment systems include Boogie, Encore, High School Musical, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol and Rock Band. The Logitech Cordless Vantage Microphone will be available for purchase in the US and Europe this December, with pricing set at nearly $80.

Kingston teams up with Intel to supply SSD drives

Memory maker Kingston has joined up with chipmaker Intel to produce flash-memory based drives for popular-brand notebooks and servers, according to a Thursday report. Traditionally, Kingston has made flash memory cards for consumer electronics devices such as digital cameras, which make up a quarter of the company’s business. Under the deal with Intel, Kingston will resell drives made by Intel, providing technical support and testing to buyers at Dell, HP and IBM, among others.

Flash, or solid state drives (SSD), are becoming more common in today’s computers, and especially notebooks, thanks to their superior shock resistance, faster speeds, and lower power consumption compared to traditional rotating hard disk drives (HDDs).

The Kingston-branded drives will begin shipping before the end of 2008, and will include products made for use in business notebooks and corporate network servers. It is not known if Kingston will eventually sell SSD drives directly to consumers, though Intel has promoted its own drives as replacements for home users.

Microsoft XP downgrades extended to July?

Microsoft has extended its Windows XP downgrade program for six months past its original cutoff date, according to an email reportedly circulating among system builders. Though the company had originally set the XP pre-install option to shut down as of January 31st 2009, the new message is said to extend that deadline to July 31st. The official goal is to transition businesses, which were the original targets of the extension, over to Windows 7 by allowing them to buy new XP-based systems up to a point where the subsequent upgrade would demand Windows 7.

The delay if accurate would draw out the availability of XP for non-budget PCs until just months before the release of the next-generation Windows operating system expected in early 2010. The remaining window would be the smallest in recent memory where the current version of Windows was available exclusively.

Although Vista adoption has accelerated since computer makers have had to discontinue XP sales for consumer systems earlier in June, Microsoft has routinely struggled to counter negative perceptions formed early in Vista's history and has seen stiffer resistance from businesses whose software and hardware is more likely to be incompatible with the more recent Windows platform.

The original extension is commonly known to have stemmed from pressure by PC assemblers concerned that business sales would draw to a halt without guarantees of XP availability for some systems.