CNET: Up to 24 percent of software purchases now open source

Open source has become big business, suggests an article in the Investors Business Daily, but it has done so by becoming more like the proprietary-software world it purports to leave behind.

Read the full article on cnet.com

Vote in the 2008 Engadget Awards

Cast your vote for your favorite technologies of 2008 in the Engadget Awards. I don't know about you, but my votes are going for the Guitar Hero: World Tour Kit, the iPhone 3G, the unibody MacBook Pro, and the New Xbox Experience. Vote here.

Python 3.0 won't be compatible with earlier versions

From SDTimes.com:

Python developers will soon have a tough decision to make: Move to a new Python, or stay forever bound to version 2.5 or earlier. On the Sept. 30, Python 2.6 was released, and it included a multitude of new features and adjustments to help ease users into the dramatic shift that will come with Python 3.0.

Read the full article at SDTimes.com.

Paramount Denies Report It will Drop HD DVD

Early today, The Financial Times reported that Paramount plans to drop Toshiba's HD DVD format and support Sony's Blu-Ray high-definition video-disc format. Paramount can defect because of a clause in its contract with the HD DVD group that allows the studio to switch to Blu-ray if Warner Brothers dropped its support of HD DVD.

However, this afternoon, Bloomberg.com reported that Paramount Pictures is denying the speculation.

Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures denied a newspaper report that the studio is poised to follow Time Warner Inc. in abandoning Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD technology. "Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,'' Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in an e-mail today.

Only time will tell if Paramount will follow Warner's jump to the Blu-ray camp. Either way, the Blu-Ray supporters are finally claiming victory in the high-def video-disc format wars.

Warner dumps HD-DVD and goes Blu-Ray exclusive

Read the press release at The Digital Bits.

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

Also read some commentary over at Cnet's Crave blog.

Source: Microsoft wins Facebook bid battle

After weeks of speculation, Microsoft appears to have won a battle with Google over who would get a stake in Facebook, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Read more at webware.com

Thinking about getting a Mac

So I've been thinking about picking up a new Mac for my personal computer, maybe next year. We've seen a few reports indicating that MPLAB IDE works well under Parallels and if that's the case, I don't see why I shouldn't give it a try. Apple's laptops seem to be really well designed and everybody I know who has tried a Mac swears by it. I can't imagine my life without a gaming-class Windows PC, but I'd like to give a Mac a try. What do you think?



Related Links

• Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: OK, I admit it, Leopard has more “Wow!” than Vista … in theory anyway
• Apple.com: Mac OSX Leopard Guided Tour
  

Windows Live SkyDrive (Beta)

The Windows Live SkyDrive (Beta) opened last week. Microsoft's new service gives you 500 MB of storage that you can access anytime from any PC or Mac connected to "the cloud". The service could come in handy if you travel a lot or want to share files with others. Visit their team blog for more details.

[Via Major Nelson]

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Chat it up at D5

Gizmodo has a seven-part video of Gates vs Jobs going at it in the All Things D conference. The first of seven parts is embedded below.

Watch all seven parts at gizmodo.com.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Apple, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs

Inventor of the TV remote dies

The Associated Press is reporting that the co-inventor of the TV remote, Robert Adler, has died.

From The Mercury News

Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made the couch potato possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.