MANILA, Philippines — We are about done with the first week of Lent, a period that was supposed to be slow and conducive for reflection.
Instead, we had more of the usual — reports of killing and dying, of thieving and lying, and of hurting and maiming. Maybe it is part and parcel of our season of passion to suffer, to be tortured by these developments that highlight our seeming powerlessness, our apparent inability to make any difference at all in the overall course of things.
But don't give up. Do hold on. Lent goes on for about five weeks more.
Heavy Week
Microsoft had an interesting week. First, Cisco Systems made it known that it plans to appeal the European regulators' approval of Microsoft's purchase of Skype. Senior vice president Marthin De Beer's post on his company's blog says that while they do not oppose the merger per se, they wish the European Commission would require Microsoft to offer "standards-based interoperability."
Bottomline of Cisco Systems' opposition to the Microsoft-Skype deal has to do with the impending marriage between Skype and Microsoft's Lync unified communications system. A Skype-Lync tandem would combine the best that consumer and business telephony systems offer.
Should a closed platform emerge from the merger (which most observers think will happen), Cisco Systems' competing technologies might get left out in the rain, cold and lonely.
Meanwhile, rumor mills have been busy. According to some "news leaks," Microsoft is reportedly preparing its Tango update for the Windows Phone 7 smartphone operating system. Russian Web site WP7Forum.ru has it that the update will endow the Microsoft mobile OS with features including the ability to manage contacts right there on the SIM card.
But the most exciting bit would be the Tango's ability to run on 256MB Windows Phone, which would be like Windows 8 running on a Pentium III PC.
Sony's Vita Push
Sony launched its PlayStation Vita handheld gaming platform in the United States and European markets last week. The basic, WiFi version is priced at $250, while the 3G-equipped edition goes for $300 and a monthly data fee from AT&T.
Sony is pushing the Vita with a $50 million marketing campaign.
Unlike with its PlayStation Portable experience, however, Sony is likely to find it hard to sell the Vita. After all, for quite so long now, consumers have been used to playing games on mobile phones and other handheld gadgets that aside from doing games can also perform other tasks, such as make phone calls, take photos, shoot videos, connect to the Web, and play digital songs.
So, the million-dollar question now is why would any game-loving consumer buy the PlayStation Vita when it makes much more sense to buy an iPhone, or any Android or Windows Phone 7 smartphone instead?
The Vita comes with a 5-inch screen, front- and rear-facing cameras, and is powered by a quad-core processor, which is also found inside the market's currently fastest tablet computers.
Certainly, the Vita launch means so much for Sony. After too many quarters of not so pleasant developments, Japan's electronics giant could use some good news.
This corner hopes enough numbers of mobile gamers fall in love with the latest portable gaming console from Sony.
That's all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.
source: mb.com.ph
