Maybe you heard, maybe you didn’t, but the latest MSN Messenger Beta (build 7.0.0604) has leaked. There’s a few new features, like a custom status message, but nothing spectacular. But what I did notice was the fact that MSN Search is suddenly heavily integrated. Look at this screenshot: Notice how there is a search button below the ‘Send’ button. It wasn’t there before. Look at this this screen for the result that it produces: You type a search term in your text field, click search, and the results are displayed in the conversation, with a ‘More Results’ link, which of course go to MSN Search. But the MSN integration doesn’t Read more »

In case you haven’t read about this on another blog yet: Google Maps. I’ve just played with it a little, and I’m very impressed. You don’t need to re-load the page at all the navigate, and you can simply click-and-drag to move along the map. Same goes for zooming. It’s all done on the fly, and there is no need to wait for the page to reload. I wonder what Google wants to do with this. It can’t really make them any profit, so I wonder why they would launch such a service. Same goes for a lot of other Google services to be honest. Read more »

Just came across this in Jeremy Zawodny’s link blog: Ask Jeeves Buys Bloglines. Could this be true? I’m a bit sceptical myself, and think it may be a joke. If it really is true, then it is a great move for both Ask Jeeves and Bloglines. After all, Ask Jeeves will be the first “regular” search engine to integrate blog searches, and for Bloglines it means extra traffic and exposure. Does anyone know more about this? There isn’t anything about it on Bloglines’ Press center yet, but they may wait until Monday. UPDATE: Now Scoble has posted a (short) entry about it as well. Seem it’s true after all. In Read more »

I haven’t seen anything official from MSN yet, but apparently they’re going to integrate the official Belgium Electronic ID (eID), a sort of electronic passport for Belgium citizens, with MSN Messenger. It was announced today by Bill G himself, in a press conference in Brussel. Mess.be has some more information, so go check it out now. They don’t have permalinks, so I can’t link to the relevant news item directly. But it’s hard to miss! ;) Unfortunately, Gates hasn’t given a time scale yet, but tests have already been done, and they’re already working on it. I can’t wait for this to happen in other countries as well. (Another source, Read more »

Via Slashdot, TiVo will release an SDK for third-party developers. The SDK will include three (example) programs; a weather program, a RSS reader and a game. The full kit will be released on Sourceforge.net. Let’s hope more programs will be released soon, because how useful can a weather program be? It’s not like we haven’t got enough of those. But it’s a good step in the right direction by TiVo. As soon as other developers will have looked through the SDK, I’m fully expecting some pretty darn cool programs coming out. It’s a real shame they haven’t got TiVo where I live… Anyone have any good ideas already? I’m not Read more »

There have been many reviews and comparisons between the mini Mac and a desktop PC. Usually, the desktop PC comes out better, because you get more for less. But what most people forget is the most important thing – the size. The mini Mac is a helluva lot smaller than a desktop PC. So, Kevin Rose decided to make a fair comparison, and created a mini PC. His post includes instructions and pictures, if you’re looking to create your own mini PC. Read more »

There’s a three-page comparison between the iPod Shuffle and Sandisk MP3 on Dave’s: iPaq. Surprisingly, the Sandisk MP3 actually comes out better than the iPod Shuffle. The author of the review resents the Shuffle for it’s lack of display and decent equalizer. The Sandisk does have these things, and is actually cheaper as well. Another thing the Sandisk has, which the Shuffle doesn’t have, is an in-built FM player, and a voice recorder. It seems Apple is great at hyping things up, even though there are much better products out there. Read more »

Via Scoble, Microsoft has decided to make the Office 2003 format an ‘open standard’, and the XML Reference can now be downloaded from Microsoft. There are a few very interesting bits in the XML Reference FAQ, especially about licensing issues and patents. Basically, Microsoft is trying to get a patent on the Office 2003 format, which they will probably get, but they will still allow anyone to use it, royalty-free. Doesn’t sound like Microsoft, I know, but that’s what the FAQ says. This news will definitely help other Office packages, like OpenOffice.org to fully support the Office 2003 format. Hopefully we’ll see other interesting (open-source) programs using the Office format Read more »