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Microsoft is again trying to convince the partners that sell its software that they can make money in a world in which customers are getting their software as a service directly from Microsoft.

And, as it is doing in many of its units, Microsoft is creating a “labs” component to its partner program. The first effort there is a social networking tool that will allow partners to collaborate and share ideas with one another. Microsoft is also announcing a new version of its online tool that connects customers with all of the thousands of partner-created tools in a vast database.

Microsoft has a few more announcements scheduled for Wednesday, including a program designed to help fill the talent gap by connecting partners with the students who take part in the company’s annual Imagine Cup.

“We expect that to be a competitive entrant,” Microsoft partner program VP Allison Watson said in a telephone interview following Tuesday’s keynote speech

There’s also room for companies to make money hosting Microsoft’s products, she said. The key, she said, is for companies that want to host the same products Microsoft does to make sure they are either tailoring their product to a specific market, combining it with other elements of their customer’s workflow or offering additional uptime guarantees that aren’t part of Microsoft’s product. “Our partners are not offering just a vanilla service,” Watson said.

At its annual partner conference, which is taking place this week in Houston, Microsoft offered more details on the finances that buttress that claim. For example, partners that sign up customers for the new $15-per-month bundle of hosted SharePoint, Exchange and Office Communications Server can get a 12 percent referral fee. The partners can also get a 6-percent cut of renewal fees provided they continue to be associated with the customer and get positive evaluations.

As part of Tuesday’s keynote, partners also got to see a series of demos of unreleased products, such as efforts in robotics, Microsoft’s online telescope, and Silverlight running on Windows Mobile (though that is still a year a way from being on the market, Watson said.) The company also showed off something it dubs a “replaceable PC,”–basically a combination of SoftGrid application virtualization and other technologies used to allow businesses to replace a worker’s computer with new hardware and have them up and running in a few minutes’ time.

The iPhone certainly is changing things.

From the moment Apple announced iPhone, predictions were rampant that it would be the cell phone that would change the mobile world forever. As it turns out, the “Jesus phone” predictions were a little overblown, but indeed the
iPhone has shaken the U.S. cell phone business to its core. And I’m not talking about the hardware side here; rather, I’m referring to the basic structure of the entire industry.

On a final note, it’s also been fascinating to see how the iPhone has caused the federal government to take a new look at phone locking. Though that practice has been entrenched in the industry for years, the hype surrounding AT&T’s exclusive on the iPhone drew criticism from members of Congress last summer. And speaking of phone locking, we also have to consider Verizon’s surprising announcement in November that it would start unlocking its phones this year. While the iPhone may have nothing to do with Verizon’s decision, perhaps Google’s Android platform is a more likely suspect, the timing is interesting.

roundup
iPhone opens up for business Click here for complete coverage of Apple’s iPhone SDK announcements, which give the hot-shot gadget its entree into Corporate America and even the gaming world.

All of this turned the normal carrier-manufacturer relationship on its head, and it’s no surprise that Apple, and not AT&T, will be the source for new iPhone software and applications. For a long time, U.S. carriers were fearful of becoming “dumb pipes.” In other words, instead of being just a way for customers to access applications and services, they wanted to sell those services themselves. But Apple’s entry to the space is changing that. And while customers may be changing one control freak for another, it’s definitely a new game.

Thursday at the iPhone SDK event, one attendee asked an intriguing question at the end of the program. “What is the relationship with the carrier? Up until now, apps have been released through the carrier.” In response, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said: “We have great relationships with our carriers, and we struck a new relationship with our carriers where Apple is responsible for the software on the phone.”

It can’t be stated enough just how significant that “new relationship” is and just how game changing it is. For much of its life, the process of selling a cell phone in the United States went like this. A manufacturer would introduce a handset and then offer it to a carrier. The interested carrier would test the phone for its network, strip out any features or software it didn’t like or want (remember Verizon Wireless’s Bluetooth-crippling days?), stamp on its logo and signature user interface, and then sell the phone at a discounted price to lure customers into a contract. Once it made the phone and sold it to the carrier, the manufacturer hardly dealt with it again. For all intents and purposes, the handset became the carrier’s property and only the carrier made money off it from that point on. Not only would the carrier have an exclusive on the phone, but also the handset would be locked to that operator’s network. And if customers wanted to buy new applications or services, they usually went to the carrier to do so.

Sure, I may be oversimplifying things just a bit, but U.S. carriers ran the show on everything from the handset’s design and features to its price. It’s been that way for a long time and it looked like such a model would last well into the future. That is, until the iPhone came along. From the start, Apple ran this show. The company didn’t cede ground to AT&T on the iPhone’s design, its features, its interface, or its price. It worked with AT&T to develop the new visual voice mail system, which is unique to the iPhone. Apple even took over the handset activation process and it secured a revenue-sharing agreement where it would earn money every time an iPhone customer signs a contract.

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

The Palm Pre next to the current iPhone 3G.

While many lined up this past weekend to buy the
Palm Pre, some decided to wait on making a purchase to hear what would come out of the WWDC 2009 keynote, and as we all found out on the Monday, the answer was the iPhone 3G S.

Since then, the cell phone editors have received numerous reader e-mails wondering whether we’d be doing a prizefight between the two smartphones and we just wanted to let you know that the answer is most definitely yes. As soon as the
iPhone 3G S is released on June 19 and we get a review unit, we’ll pit the two devices against each other in various categories, so stay tuned!

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Under a possible deal, Yahoo would acquire Time Warner’s AOL in exchange for the media conglomerate taking a large minority stake in the combined company, according to unidentified sources familiar with the matter. The companies could save $1 billion a year, the sources said. Talks between the companies held earlier heated up when Yahoo reapproached Time Warner about a proposal to take to its board.

The sources told the Journal that Microsoft will likely end up purchasing Yahoo, despite the Time Warner and News Corp. talks.

Meanwhile, Yahoo and News Corp. continue to talk as well, discussing a deal under which News Corp. would sell its MySpace.com social network to Yahoo in exchange for a stake in the company, the report said.

Microsoft has recruited Alan Schwartz, chief executive of Bear Stearns, as well as Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group, to help figure out a winning acquisition strategy.

Microsoft is expected to propose its own candidates for Yahoo’s board and has until March 14 to do so, but Yahoo could try to push the deadline back, the sources said. If the deadline doesn’t change, Yahoo and Microsoft could hold discussions this weekend and avoid leaks affecting their stock prices, a source said.

Yahoo has rejected Microsoft’s acquisition bid, saying it undervalues the company. The $31-a-share price at the time the bid is now worth $28.62 because of a drop in Microsoft’s share price.

Yahoo and Time Warner have held talks on a deal designed to thwart Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

CNET News.com first reported that MTI Micro was working on a fuel cell for GPS devices last month. The embedded methanol fuel cell was ultimately unveiled at the 10th Annual Small Fuel Cells Conference in Atlanta.

Attention mountain climbers, hikers, backcountry skiiers, and city dwellers with no sense of direction: new technology could make your handheld GPS device more energy-efficient and let its battery last longer.

Fuel cell manufacturer MTI Micro announced on Friday that it has created a prototype for an embedded fuel cell for handheld GPS devices.

When these will hit the market is unclear: no time estimate was given for when MTI Micro’s fuel cells will actually make it into a GPS device that could wind up in your hands.

The company said it will provide three times as much power as a set of four AA batteries would, keeping the GPS gadget in question powered for up to 60 hours of continuous use. That’s crucial for many users of handheld GPS devices, who are often navigating territory far away from traditional power sources.

MTI Micro’s GPS fuel cell, which uses the company’s Mobion technology, also has a USB interface so that it can be used as a power source for charging other handheld devices, such as cell phones and cameras. Recharging the cell currently involves filling it up with more methanol.

With globalization and broadband proliferation, start-ups are forging international linkages–whether in sales or software development. And as Franco noted, that presents opportunities should push come to shove.

Will Joe the Plumber’s tax message resonate in Silicon Valley?

“A quicker economic recovery will more than make up for a several hundred dollar increase in taxes my company will pay under Obama’s plan,” said Brett Klasko, the founder and CEO of Phinaz Media & Marketing. “As you can imagine, we have to fight a lot harder for each marketing dollar during rough economic times. A recovery will increase our revenue far beyond any potential increase in taxes.”

Most technology start-ups–particularly, those that receive funding–are going to be structured as corporations, which changes the tax structure. Someone in the position of “Joe the Plumber” would likely establish a Limited Liability Company or similar structure which would treat earnings as personal income.

(Credit:
Obama for President Web site)

Given their libertarian, government-get-out-of-my-way predilections, technology entrepreneurs would seem to have much in common with being penalized for their success. But the surface similarities only go so far.

“This would certainly increase morale and could, in turn, increase productivity,” he said.

“There other options for companies to set up businesses elsewhere,” said Anthony Franco, president of EffectiveUI. “If the plan is to raise taxes on small businesses, there are options to go offshore…As an entrepreneur, it’s something you’d take a look at it.”

For one, if you’re making $250,000 a year in Ohio, you’re living large. If you’re earning that much in Silicon Valley (or other high-priced tech hotbeds like New York and Los Angeles), you’re just middle class. And then you’ve got to worry about paying down that crazy mortgage. It’s not as if start-ups are pleading to pay more in taxes. Instead, they have more pressing items on their agendas.

(Credit:
CNET News)

I heard variations on that theme from many start-ups that confessed to being more anxious about how long it’s taking to fix the nation’s economic woes. What start-ups want to see is an economic policy that helps the economy recover rapidly.

Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber considering whether to buy a business, turned into an unlikely media star this week after he confronted Sen. Barack Obama over the Democratic presidential nominee’s tax proposal.

But if the political scenario does indeed work out in Obama’s favor, his team will encounter a different start-up landscape from the one the Democrats remember from the Clinton administration. The lean and nimble Web 2.0 companies that dot the tech constellation can easily move their operations to more tax-friendly venues if they deem the new team in Washington to be antibusiness.

“This is not about patriotism or whether I love this country,” Franco said. “It’s what makes sense for this business as an entity. It would take a significant amount for us to consider doing anything outside of the U.S. But what is also true is that if it costs you $1 million year in taxes to stay in the U.S. and you can operate (the business outside of the country) for $200,000, there are companies that would consider that.”

That was the beginning of Wurzelbacher’s 15 minutes of fame. His name came up 26 times during Wednesday night’s presidential debate between Obama and Sen. John McCain, who argued that a tax hike would slow any economic recovery and hurt job growth. McCain also said the tax plan would unfairly redistribute money earned by small businesses, essentially penalizing them for being successful.

Obama maintains that his plan would reduce personal income taxes on 95 percent of the wage earners in the United States. But after an Obama appearance at Holland, Ohio, Wurzelbacher told Obama that his tax plan would take money out of his pocket.

“At this stage in our business, we need to put our money into growth and innovation. We would benefit from the hiring credit we have heard about in Obama’s plans. Access to health insurance is also much more important to us than a small change in that tax rate,” said Mary Mangan, president of OpenHelix.

“I started going to a lot of entrepreneur events before I went out on my own. At every one of those events people asked me what I was going to do about health insurance. Not a single one of them ever asked me about taxes. In starting up a business you are just not making that much in the early days.”

Like most tech start-ups, Phinaz Media & Marketing doesn’t provide health insurance to employees. Klasko believes that if Obama or McCain can lower health care premiums and provide a tax cut to small businesses that offer health care to their employees, he may be able to justify the cost of giving employees access to a company health plan.

With the presidential campaign winding down, the speculation is getting ahead of the reality. First, Obama’s not guaranteed victory on November 4. And in the event of an Obama presidency, we’d only know whether his tax policy was a success or failure months later.

Adding video annotations to YouTube videos isn't hard, but it could be a whole lot easier. Most users will know what to do right away.

One thing to note is that annotations don’t yet make their way with the source video when embedded, something I’m sure will be changed later down the line. For now you can check out this example video I made shortly after unboxing the new Flip Video Mino.

Unlike some other Web video annotation services, you can only add them to a video if you’re the creator–something I’m betting will change in later iterations with a possible toggle to view community annotations. In the meantime, if you come across a video with annotations that you’d care not to see, you can simply click the new arrow button on the right side of the player.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

There are also slots to input the exact start and stop time down to the second. It’s not an exact science. Ideally I’d like to see YouTube add some better timeline control to let you simply drag a start and stop point as if you were editing the video itself. To push it live you just hit the publish button and any changes are reflected immediately.

As far as actually adding annotations there’s a simple two-pane editor with your video on one side and a list of each annotation on the left. You physically have to play the video and pause it to track down the right times to start and stop an annotation.

Wednesday morning the video-hosting company rolled out its own tool for adding text bubbles, links, and call-outs to uploaded videos. The feature is available as part of its TestTube service, which showcases some of the technologies the company is testing, but is not ready to unleash on the general YouTube populace.

Bugged by the overlay ads popping up on some YouTube videos? The purity of those home videos is about to get a little more cluttered with the inclusion of video annotations.

However, according to a T-Mobile news release, existing HotSpot customers will not be impacted by the switch for at least another five years. AT&T Wi-Fi operations have yet to begin, and even after the transition, customers can take advantage of a roaming agreement between T-Mobile USA and AT&T. HotSpot and HotSpot @Home customers who want to use the Starbucks Wi-Fi can do so without additional charge. That said, it’s still a blow to T-Mobile, as customers may attempt to crawl out of their existing HotSpot subscriptions.

Monday’s announcement that Starbucks will end its Wi-Fi partnership with T-Mobile had some HotSpot subscribers worried. After all, Starbucks locations are a significant source of T-Mobile HotSpots. One of the key attractions of T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home service is the ubiquity of such HotSpots (HotSpot @Home is a service that lets T-Mobile subscribers make unlimited phone calls via Wi-Fi).

After that, he’ll wax poetic about leaving the company in good hands and say that he has high hopes and an immense amount of faith in what his company will achieve going forward.

I, for one, think that’s ridiculous.

This is a man who is fiercely competitive and absolutely despises the thought of looking bad on a grand stage. And yet, this is also a man that honestly wants to solve health issues ravaging the world and has donated tons of cash to do just that. In essence, Bill Gates is somewhat of an enigma to most of the world.

And while Gates is playing philanthropist, he’ll watch as his company starts to crumble at the hands of Google and other online services that have left this software company in the dust. Will the damage show on the outside? Of course not — its software business is far too strong to give anyone an inkling of what’s really going on.

And although he may take some time off to explore the world and make good on some of his charitable promises, Gates will never retire from Microsoft and if you ask me, he’ll be at the helm sooner than you think.

A few years after that, Ballmer will hang up his cleats and enter the retired world for good. He’ll buy a mansion in Florida and wave on his balcony as all those “working stiffs” drive to work each day, counting his money in the process. Left in his wake will be a company that is merely a shadow of itself. Instead of an organization with a sound business strategy going forward, Gates will look at the mess that was left and feel the need to do something.

After all, does he really want to watch his legacy disintegrate before his eyes?

Within two or three years after Ballmer leaves, Gates will announce that he has taken the reigns of Microsoft once again to steer the company in the right direction. Like Napoleon on a white horse, Gates will rally his shareholders saying he knows how to fix Microsoft and the stock price will rise to an annual high.

Here’s the most likely scenario for what will happen over the next decade in Bill Gates’ life.

Gates will then breathe some life into Microsoft and try to make it adapt to the ever-changing online world and help it refocus its efforts.

And while there’s no way to know if his efforts will in fact help his company, Gates’ return to Microsoft shows one attribute of this man’s personality that should not be overlooked — he lives for his company and the dominance he can exert. If he sees even one slice of weakness, he will step in to ensure his legacy is cemented in business and technology folklore.

So why has Bill been so outspoken lately? Simple — he doesn’t want to leave the company that he watched grow during his lifetime. What most people don’t realize about Bill Gates is that he wants power more than he wants money and he lusts after dominance instead of an extra $1 billion in the bank.

But in the end, Gates craves victory and has done his part to promote his agenda throughout the world. And it’s this desire that will preclude him from ever truly stepping down from his post at Microsoft. Sure, he said that he’ll take on a part-time role and still have some part in the future of his company, but most believe he’ll never look back.

Trust me, Bill Gates will never leave Microsoft and Microsoft will never leave Bill Gates. Think of this “retirement” as nothing more than an extended vacation. He’ll be back at the top soon. You can bet on it.

Even though Bill Gates gave his farewell speech at CES this past January, the soon-to-be retired founder of Microsoft has been strangely vocal ever since his departure announcement. And although he’s inexorably tied to his beloved software company, why hasn’t he entered the twilight of his life as he said he would?

And then, a year will pass with nary a squeak out of Gates and his wife as they do what they can to fight diseases around the globe.

After all, doesn’t he have something better to do, like take care of his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or water flowers in the backyard or watch the ruined Price is Right?

In just the past few weeks, Gates has been more vocal than we’ve seen him in recent memory. This past week, he found time to gripe about the free flow of information on the Internet, bash GNU/Linux, talk about Netflix integration, comment on why his company wants Yahoo (it doesn’t, by the way) and why he believes the deal is fair.

Obviously he doesn’t think so. Instead of helping to lead the fight against diseases all over the world, ol’ Billy can’t seem to break the ties that bind him to his company and by the looks of things, he doesn’t even want to.

When Bill Gates heads into his semi-retired phase later this year, he’ll tell the world that it was such an honor to create software for them over the past two decades and has enjoyed each and every minute as the head of one of the world’s largest companies.

MP4 market in the past two years, the joint efforts of domestic and foreign firms, has been developed to its peak stage, in order to further tap the market capacity, major brand has employed every means, any RM / RMVB live models are nothing new gadgets, big-screen MP4 flooded the market, the wave of the Olympic Games through high-definition, manufacturers MP4 HD elements into them, in order to attract the attention of consumers, and further open the market. MP4 market, competition is fierce, and especially the Chinese MP4 market, more and more companies to launch its own high-definition MP4 products, over time, high-definition has been the desire of consumers can not wake up, MP4 market seems to be caught up in a stagnation.

Is MP4 the market was so stagnant it? MP4 is the development of people, when questioned, “Cloud video” turned out to, and often friends who are concerned about the MP4 market somewhat familiar with that word, then the “cloud video” in the end What is it? Cloud video is MP4 KSD cutting-edge brand a concept put forward in the cloud on video before, or start it say “cloud computing” because “cloud video” is based on “cloud computing” principle. Cloud Computing (Cloud computing), is Internet-based super-computing model, that is stored in personal computers, mobile phones and other devices, processors, large amounts of information and resources together to work together. Enterprises and individual users no longer need to purchase expensive hardware investment costs, only through the Internet to purchase the leased computing power, “to your computer as access ports, all that to the Internet bar.”

Google global vice president Kai-fu Lee made a vivid metaphor: banks, the first people to just put the money on pillow, then with banks is safe, but to honor them too much trouble. Now developed to the banks to withdraw money to any network, even through the ATM, or foreign channels. “Cloud computing” is such a change brings - from Google, IBM this company to build a professional network of computer storage, computing center, the user through a network cable through the browser can easily access the “cloud “As data center storage, and application services.

“Cloud video” is also based on this principle, the arrival of video cloud to break the current market development in high-definition MP4 ice, a lot of buying high-definition MP4 friends have found themselves in after purchasing the high-definition MP4 is an ornament, although the hardware Standard 720P HD video playback support, but no film can suffer up, stood holding a general MP4 MP4 HD video can be put, really did not face ah! This of course has some relations firms, in order to increase the selling point, quickly enter the market, MP4 manufacturers tend to ignore the high-definition MP4 supporting the progress of HD film sources is the most critical issue.

However KSD brand will introduce the concept of cloud computing MP4 field, that “video cloud” concept, to remove obstacles to the development of high-definition MP4. “Cloud Media” will be cloud and the client component, where the “cloud” refers to the mass of the resource sharing center, the client refers to all in the hands of MP4, mobile phones and multimedia entertainment terminal, through the client network interface to achieve cloud resource sharing, the clouds not only high-definition video, and more all the resources needed.

HD CC1600 chip core Fei Hua

KSD in the proposed “cloud video” concept, while the client in the cloud video also spared to prepare, where not least the client products, including audio and video KSD V8 is the cloud of material products, with 720P HD video playback, super strong rate of 10M bit stream decoding, 4.3-inch WVGA display, 800 × 480 resolution, more 16 million true color output, professional audio decoding options, support for dual lossless audio, which are audio and video programs for the cloud lay a solid foundation.

To realize the cloud video program, the client must have network interface, that the KSD V8 get a good reflection, KSD V8 core with a Chinese HD CC1600 flight program, which integrates a 100M network interface, with the development of the network , KSD will consider the opening of these interfaces, with the network interface of this “infrastructure” development through firmware upgrades, web browsing, video sharing and on-demand and other exciting applications will become a reality.

Exchange in a group of portable digital enthusiasts, the one on the KSD will soon release a true sense of the cloud message loud and clear audio and visual products. According to the mysterious sources, KSD KSD V9 internal R & D, code-named machines is legendary cloud audio and video products. In order to prove a reliable source, the person said, this is an epoch-making significance of the history of portable digital audio and video products will cloud a comprehensive listing of early April. According to its introduction, the first audio-visual end products cloud KSD V9 hardware configuration is extremely luxurious, ultra-high resolution screen machines, all-touch operation and support of virtual keyboard input. Ordinary portable digital audio players, or MID, UMPC different, in addition to the current mainstream owned MP4 possess all the features, KSD V9 also supports include phone extensions (According to sources, KSD V9 phone extensions are quite useful, as long as the ordinary phone card <such as SIM card> into the appropriate expansion slot, KSD V9 instantly become the embodiment of a smart phone), CMMB mobile TV free channel reception, CMMB mobile TV channels to receive encrypted (encryption cards required to install CMMB CA), Wireless Internet access, OFFICE office, business assistant and so on. Easy access through the wireless network “cloud” end of vast amounts of resources.

“Cloud Video” for the MP4 market pointed out the direction, the network will be the MP4 market share trends that change from the consumer electronics market can be seen, high-definition flat-panel TV into a network functions, digital cameras equipped with network interface, you can share resources, MP4 as personal entertainment devices, to achieve a network share is a matter of time. Before long, we can experience the epoch-making “video cloud” products KSD V9 bring our unique charm, and the KSD will lead the players in China market has entered a new development track!

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