Microsoft planning for Virtual Earth

Microsoft's John Curlander on Thursday demonstrated his company's Virtual Earth application for modeling cities in 3D. Microsoft flies over metropolises to get aerial imagery and captures video from the ground to create a real-world experience of places like Manhattan in a virtual space.

Here at ETech, a four-day conference on emerging tech, Curlander said Microsoft has launched the application for several virtual cities, but it will introduce another 20 cities in the next couple of weeks. Upcoming cities include New York and Chicago (where it had to fly higher than in other cities because of local government concerns about privacy). To protect people's privacy, Curlander said Microsoft uses face-blurring technology on its street-side images.

Microsoft executives are also holding regular discussions on where to take Virtual Earth in the realms of entertainment, gaming and commerce, according to Curlander. For example, Microsoft might open up the software so developers can create games for the Xbox 360 out of Virtual Earth.

Also, Curlander said the company currently has 370 million users of instant messaging, and MSN is considering merging those users with Virtual Earth so they can chat in the virtual setting. But, he said, Virtual Earth developers want to blot out the real cars depicted in the application so people can drive virtual cars in the 3D world.

"First we have to erase cars that are there and put in virtual cars that could be part of IM," Curlander said.He added: "We're having lots of discussions about how we're going to start merging online games out of Virtual Earth...and taking commerce into 3D."

Read more...

Your face can be your password

Toronto-based Bioscrypt claims an industry first with its 3D DeskCam. The 3-inch tall, half-inch wide camera uses infrared along with a lens to scan a face in three dimensions and authenticate users accessing computers, the company said.

The camera uses about 40,000 identification points, looking primarily at a person's forehead, eye sockets and nose bridge, said Ryan Zlockie, director of product management at Bioscrypt. The facial-recognition system has passed tests with identical twins and professional face molds, Zlockie said. A person registered with facial hair who subsequently shaves doesn't have to be reregistered, but somebody who undergoes plastic surgery does, he said.

The 3D DeskCam can remove the need for passwords, tokens or smart cards to log on to a computer or online services, according to Bioscrypt.

For consumers, the 3D feature can also help create avatars that look like an individual for use in gaming and instant-message applications, Zlockie said.

Bioscrypt pitches facial scanning as a user-friendly alternative to other biometric security systems that scan a finger or an iris.

"3D face recognition is much quicker and you don't have to be as close as with iris scanning," Zlockie said. Also, people don't have to touch anything or worry about greasy fingers, he said.
The camera, priced at $350, is slated to be available in the second half of this year. Initially, Bioscrypt is targeting business users, but the device could be available to consumers by the end of the year or early next year, Zlockie said. When produced in higher volume, the price should come down to around $200, he said.

Read more...

20 Million Vista Copies Sold : Says Microsoft Corp.

Windows Vista, the latest version of the world's most popular operating system, is selling at twice the rate of its predecessor, according to Microsoft Corp.

Windows Vista sold "more than 20 million copies" during the month after its debut Jan. 30, Kevin Kutz, Windows client director, said Monday, declining to provide an exact number.
That compares with sales of 17 million during the first two months after the debut of Windows XP, the version preceding Windows Vista, Kutz said.

"It's a really strong debut, and we're really pleased with the initial uptake, which shows Windows Vista is on track to become the fastest-adopted OS ever."

Operating systems are the most basic software in a computer, allowing it to do useful work with programs such as word processors and spreadsheets.

Given that the personal-computer market has nearly doubled since Windows XP launched, Windows Vista sales "probably should be more," said Michael Silver, vice president of research at Gartner, a technology research group. The analyst said 51 million PCs were sold to consumers worldwide in 2002. This year, the research group predicts 96 million consumers will buy a computer.

Starting in late October, PC makers included coupons for free or low-cost Vista upgrades that could be used once the software became available at the end of January. Microsoft's February sales total includes those promised upgrades, in addition to licenses ordered by PC makers to install on new computers, shrink-wrapped copies sold in retail stores and downloads from the Windows Marketplace Web store.

Silver estimates PC makers sold between 12 million and 15 million PCs with Windows XP Home Edition with the coupons to upgrade to Vista over the holidays -- a significant chunk of the 20 million total, depending on how many included Vista coupons.

Sales of the premium versions of Windows Vista -- Home Premium and Ultimate -- have been "really strong," Kutz said, declining to provide further detail. Sales of the basic versions -- Home Basic and Business -- have been "good," he said.

Microsoft hasn't released sales figures for the Enterprise version of Windows Vista.

A "really high proportion, the vast majority" of Windows Vista sales are being made through the purchase of a PC rather than as packaged software, Kutz said.

That's a change from Windows XP, which "far more people" bought in the box than on a new PC, he said.

"Customers' initial experience with Vista has been quite positive," said Bob Kaufman, a spokesman for computer seller Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Texas.

Read more...

20 Million Vista Copies Sold : Says Microsoft Corp.

Windows Vista, the latest version of the world's most popular operating system, is selling at twice the rate of its predecessor, according to Microsoft Corp.

Windows Vista sold "more than 20 million copies" during the month after its debut Jan. 30, Kevin Kutz, Windows client director, said Monday, declining to provide an exact number.
That compares with sales of 17 million during the first two months after the debut of Windows XP, the version preceding Windows Vista, Kutz said.

"It's a really strong debut, and we're really pleased with the initial uptake, which shows Windows Vista is on track to become the fastest-adopted OS ever."

Operating systems are the most basic software in a computer, allowing it to do useful work with programs such as word processors and spreadsheets.

Given that the personal-computer market has nearly doubled since Windows XP launched, Windows Vista sales "probably should be more," said Michael Silver, vice president of research at Gartner, a technology research group. The analyst said 51 million PCs were sold to consumers worldwide in 2002. This year, the research group predicts 96 million consumers will buy a computer.

Starting in late October, PC makers included coupons for free or low-cost Vista upgrades that could be used once the software became available at the end of January. Microsoft's February sales total includes those promised upgrades, in addition to licenses ordered by PC makers to install on new computers, shrink-wrapped copies sold in retail stores and downloads from the Windows Marketplace Web store.

Silver estimates PC makers sold between 12 million and 15 million PCs with Windows XP Home Edition with the coupons to upgrade to Vista over the holidays -- a significant chunk of the 20 million total, depending on how many included Vista coupons.

Sales of the premium versions of Windows Vista -- Home Premium and Ultimate -- have been "really strong," Kutz said, declining to provide further detail. Sales of the basic versions -- Home Basic and Business -- have been "good," he said.

Microsoft hasn't released sales figures for the Enterprise version of Windows Vista.

A "really high proportion, the vast majority" of Windows Vista sales are being made through the purchase of a PC rather than as packaged software, Kutz said.

That's a change from Windows XP, which "far more people" bought in the box than on a new PC, he said.

"Customers' initial experience with Vista has been quite positive," said Bob Kaufman, a spokesman for computer seller Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Texas.

Read more...

Windows has fewer Security holes, but more critical flaws

Despite having the fewest security holes, Windows was hit by more critical flaws than either Red Hat Linux or Mac OS X, Symantec found.

Symantec's latest "Internet Security Threat Report" (PDF) reveals 39 security holes were discovered in Windows during the second half of 2006, with an average patch development turnaround time of 21 days, up from the 22 Windows holes found in the first six months of the year.

Red Hat Linux had 208 vulnerabilities for the same period with an average patch time of 58 days, a huge increase on the 42 patched vulnerabilities for the first half of the year.
Apple's Mac OS X had 43 vulnerabilities--more than double the number for the first half of 2006--and an average patch time of 66 days.

But almost one third of the 39 Windows holes were high severity, and 20 were medium severity. Just two of the 208 Red Hat Linux security holes discovered were high severity, with 130 medium severity and 70 low severity. Only one of the Mac OS X holes was considered high severity, with 31 classed as medium and 11 as low severity.

The report found that Windows also had the most vulnerabilities with exploit code and exploit activity, which Symantec claims may be one explanation why Microsoft has been pressured to develop and issue patches more quickly than other vendors.

Mozilla Web browsers, such as Firefox, are also more secure than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to the report.

It found 54 holes in IE during the second half of 2006, with one of these being of high severity, compared with 40 holes in Mozilla browsers, which had no high-severity vulnerabilities. Only four holes were found in the Safari and Opera browsers over the same period.

Read more...