source

Priced at around $250 to compete with Apple’s 30 gig iPod, Microsoft will launch a digital download store à la iTunes, where Zune owners can buy songs for about $1 each and albums at prices comparable to iTunes’.

JONATHAN SILVERSTEIN of ABC writes:

With Apple in firm control of more than 70 percent of the digital media player market, Microsoft has its work cut out for it, even though close to 70 percent of Americans don’t even own a player yet.

David Pogue at New York Times writes:

“Competition is good and all. But what, exactly, is the point of the Zune? It seems like an awful lot of duplication — in a bigger, heavier form with fewer features — just to indulge Microsoft’s “we want some o’ that” envy.

While Walter S. Mossberg over at Wall Street Journal writes:

Overall, the iPod and iTunes are still the champs. Still, I expect the Zune to attract some converts and to get better with time. And this kind of competition from a big company with deep pockets and lots of talent is good for consumers in the long run.”

Full Rerviews:

ABC News

New York Times

Wall Street Journal

Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Zune let the cat out of the bag yesterday, telling Reuters that “a Zune phone is definitely part of the future of this brand.”

source

Among the software listed are:

Inkscape

Inkscape is a Vector graphics application tool and suprising enough it also works with Linux and MAC.

HandBrake

Handbrake is a DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter tool.

You can view the full list of FREE softwares at Open Source Windows

enjoy!

I sincerely think it was just a matter of time before people could create their own video games, as the advances of Technology makes the “hard to understand” sound and look simple.

Microsoft has stepped in and is set to release the consumer version of their professional software tools used to create video games for its Xbox 360 console.

The XNA Game Studio Express program, an offshoot of the company’s more robust XNA Framework, will be available August 30 for a $99 annual subscription, the company announced Monday.

“It’s our first step of creating a YouTube for video games,” Moore said, referring to the wildly popular free online video sharing Web site. “It will give you everything you need to bring your game to life on Xbox 360.”

The program would be a first for consoles, which traditionally have been the exclusive domain of skilled programmers, artists and designers.

Moore said the program is basic compared to the pro tools, which cost tens of thousands of dollars.

……..and did i mention that it will only work with Windows PC’s?

more via CNN

Well…count on the French to come up with a totally unique Aids Awareness Campaign!

This recent ad displayed in French magazines is typical of Act Up’s advertising style, where shock value is the order of the day. A man doing a Sharon Stone ala Basic Instinct without his jewels! Now that’s shocking.

Via

Acoona has the same “feel” and simplicity of Google, but minus the ads that appears on the side when you search with google.

additional loop