Gadgetsteria » xml

Microsoft: About that Office/Word deadline…ya we missed it.

Mike Norris — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:34:59 +0000

Looking to pick yourself up a fresh copy of Microsoft Office or Word ’07 versions? Hope you have a fresh copy backed up somewhere (or know a good torrent) because Microsoft has missed the January 11th deadline. That deadline mind you was the date in which Microsoft had to comply with a court ruling which accused them of infringing on certain XML code within Word/Office ’07.

Strolling through Microsoft’s online store will currently bombard your ocular cavities with several “Not Available” labels. Not exactly the best outcome for a multi-billion dollar company trying to drastically improve their faltering image. Oh well, there’s always next year right?

BGR

January 11th ban hammer date for Microsoft Word: Off again. Kind of.

Mike Norris — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:18:19 +0000

Not even 24 hours ago we heard the news that Microsoft lost their appeal to i4i — a small XML developers firm — and that the presiding judge decided to uphold the January 11th ban on Microsoft ’07. Yesterday the two most obvious choices for Microsoft were to pay up and forget about it or appeal again, risking losing more money and another court case. Microsoft however is choosing plan c. Plan C is simply selling new versions of Word ’03 and ’07 without the infringing and “little-used feature” according to Microsoft.

With respect to Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007, we have been preparing for this possibility since the District Court issued its injunction in August 2009 and have put the wheels in motion to remove this little-used feature from these products. Therefore, we expect to have copies of Microsoft Word 2007 and Office 2007, with this feature removed, available for U.S. sale and distribution by the injunction date. In addition, the beta versions of Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010, which are available now for downloading, do not contain the technology covered by the injunction.

While Microsoft will escape the dreaded ban hammer on their bread and butter Office Suite, they will also still be responsible for a $240 million payment as awarded by the first judge and upheld by the second. That payment however is still up in the air as Microsoft has stated they are pursuing other legal options. We shall see…

Venture Beat

Microsoft Office ban coming January 11th…again.

Mike Norris — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:25:18 +0000

Fighting a losing battle and getting stuck in a vicious black hole of denial seems to be the name of the game for Microsoft. A month or so back Microsoft found a fresh lawsuit on their doorstep compliments of i4i. The infringing code revolved around Microsoft’s use of protected algorithms dealing with the handling of .xml, .docx, and .docm files in Microsoft Office — more specifically Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007. Not surprisingly Microsoft appealed — and they lost, with the court ordered Office ban going into effect as originally planned on January 11th.

Microsoft does have a couple more options. A second appeal is all but certain. After a likely second (third if you count the original lawsuit) failure, Microsoft can always just shut up and pay up. I can understand wanting to protect your pride and fighting for your beliefs, but after losing twice in court, I’d seriously take a look at how much the lawyers are costing the company as well as what any settlement cost would be.

And companies wonder where their money goes…

Engadget > WSJ

[Image Source]

Want to make an iPhone app but don’t know how to code?…Try VixML!

Mike Norris — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:11:11 +0000

I’m sure they are many people out there who want to get in on iPhone app development but 1) don’t have the time, 2) don’t have the patience or 3) don’t have the money to quite their day job to take up programming. If any of the three examples are you, a new player has come to the iPhone development platform. It is called VixML and is designed for people who don’t know a whole lot about programming. It lets unskilled coders who very little code create some basic iPhone apps. With many people joining the iPhone party everyday, and many of those people want to develop for the iPhone. That is why this new coding language has big potential!

VixML is based on XML markup language. While VixML is designed to be easier, XML can scare off potential developers who have tried to learn coding before only to quit either do to getting impatient or not enough time to devote to it. What makes VixML different from other languages is the use of pre-defined tags and a WYSIWYG SDK and emulator, hopeful developers can dream up and create fairly rich, multimedia apps in as little as a few days! A few days that if done by more traditional methods of coding would take several weeks or even months! Using the pre-defined tags will allow developers to create apps that react to various common iPhone gestures such as shaking, blowing into the microphone, and various finger gestures. 3D graphics are also supported in order to create very visually rich and complex apps.

After all is said and done, you now have to go through the lengthy task of actually getting your app to the app store and approved for use to the general public. The only problem with using VixML is that you must submit all apps created using the language to Viximo who must approve it, and then they send it to Apple. So in the end, you have to go through TWO “judges” possibly reducing your success rate. Even with the dual screeners, bringing app development to an untapped market has loads of potential for many parties.

Source: Tech Crunch , picture by Mind Comet