HP to drop support for Windows Home Server, focus on webOS

Microsoft confirmed in a blog spot that HP is retiring its line of MediaSmart Servers. For those unfamiliar with HP’s product line, the MediaSmart servers run Windows Home Server and are designed for organizing and sharing digital media on a Windows-based home network. HP confirmed that it will not support future versions of Windows Home Server, including the controversial “Vail” version which removes support for Drive Extender. HP will continue to sell its current line of MediaSmart Servers through the end of 2010 and will honor all current service agreements.

Microsoft asserts that HP’s decision is not related to this change in Drive Extender support, but is a business decision by HP that is driven by the company’s desire to allocate additional resources to webOS. Moving quickly with this re-allocation, HP has reportedly already assigned its Windows Home Server development team to webOS. HP recently became the curator of webOS when it acquired Palm earlier this year. When it was acquired, Palm was on the verge of collapse and webOS was struggling as a mobile platform.

Though Microsoft is playing this situation down, the loss of HP is a major blow to Microsoft’s Windows Home Server platform. HP is one of the world’s largest PC manufacturers and the lack of a MediaSmart Server option will be detrimental. In lieu of Home Server-based products, HP is reportedly throwing its weight behind drobo and is offering the network storage devices on its retail website. Despite the loss of HP, Microsoft remains optimistic for Windows Home Server and points to Acer and Tranquil PC, both of which are still committed to future versions of Windows Home Server

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ASUS 9-inch Eee Reader DR900 Announced

ASUS has announced a 9-inch touch-screen ebook reader called the Eee Reader DR900. With a 9-inch screen that offers 2.25 times the reading area compared to 6-inch ebook readers, this sleek device has 2GB of internal storage in the 10mm thick device. ASUS says that you can store up to 5,000 ebooks and the two-week battery life is long enough to read 20 novels back-to-back between recharges.

ASUS Eee Reader DR900 Product Highlights:

• 9-inch SiPix electrophoretic display reflects light like paper to mimic a printed page, giving a more natural and more comfortable reading experience than backlit LCD displays.
• Capacitive touch-screen with a virtual keyboard can be used to annotate reading material, make handwritten notes and even draw sketches.
• Buy ebooks no matter where you are, thanks to the WebKit-based browser and built-in Wi-Fi, plus optional 3G.
• Read non-stop for up to four days on battery power with Wi-Fi enabled, and up to two weeks with Wi-Fi disabled.
• High-quality text-to-speech supports for 23 languages, giving instant conversion of ebooks into audio books.
• No thicker than a pencil (221 x 191 x 9.7mm) and weighs just 440g (Wi-Fi model).

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Gold members dominate Xbox LIVE

Microsoft today announced that over 10 million of their Xbox LIVE subscribers are signed up to the Gold service. Microsoft currently has an Xbox LIVE user base of around 25 million subscribers, and with nearly half of them now paying for the service, Microsoft appears to have hit a gold mine.

According to IGN, Microsoft’s Dennis Durkin, head of Interactive Entertainment Business, spoke at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference in Phoenix Arizona earlier today.

At the conference he made mention that almost half of their 25 million members are now paying Microsoft $60 a year to be a part of the Xbox LIVE Gold service. If that many users are paying for the service, Microsoft’s yearly revenue will be around $750 Million, not including all purchases that players make using DLC and games on their Xbox’s.

Microsoft recently increased their yearly pricing for Xbox LIVE gold around the world, stating that these services showed that users are getting a lot of content for their money. The company also introduced a lower priced family subscription, that allows up to four other members to have access to a gold account.

Xbox LIVE Gold allows members to not only play games online, but also gives them access to a host of services via Facebook, Twitter and ESPN in the U.S, to Last.FM and more in Europe.

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NVIDIA Announces Quadro NVS 300 Graphics Cards

NVIDIA has just announced the release of the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 300 Business Graphics Solution, a graphics processor designed for the enterprise that delivers exceptional visual fidelity across up to eight displays while consuming minimal power. With NVIDIA Mosaic (Mosaic Technology is supported in Win 7 only)and NVIDIA nView technologies built in, you can span and efficiently manage your entire Windows desktop across multiple displays. The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 300 is capable of driving two VGA, single link DVI, DisplayPort or HDMI displays.

The NVS 300 graphics processor simplifies IT administration, offering the most versatile display connectivity available in a low-profile, space saving graphics card design. Regardless of the display type (LCD, DLP or plasma) or system type (standard tower PC, workstation or small form factor system), the NVS 300 delivers the best image quality, supporting VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI at resolutions as high as 2560×1600.

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Google’s ebook service will be out by Christmas

Search engine outfit Google is likely to have its own ebook service out by the end of the year.
Google Editions was announced in the middle of the year. It was expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of the month.Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung told CNET that Google Editions is expected to open up a new distribution
channel for digital-book publishers and give Amazon a new competitor in the digital-book market.

Google will have a  “buy anywhere, read anywhere” approach, which means customers will purchase titles exclusively through a Web browser, instead of through an online store. Google hasn’t revealed who else is getting involved in the project and the downside is that customers wouldn’t actually have their own copy of the book.

The search engine outfit has been involved with scanning scan, digitizing and making searchable the collections of five of the largest libraries in the world. It has also been hit by lawsuits and negotiations over copyright issues.

Google’s ebook service will be out by Christmas.

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