WindowsForDevices.com Newsletter -- July 15, 2004 
      WELCOME TO THE WINDOWSFORDEVICES.COM WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

                          July 15, 2004

               by Rick Lehrbaum -- Editor-in-chief

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_____________________ * * * TOP STORIES * * * ____________________

BALLMER: NON-PC CONSUMER ELECTRONICS OPPORTUNITY "VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED"
Fortune.com has published lengthy excerpts from the annual letter
emailed by CEO Steve Ballmer to Microsoft's 57,000 employees earlier
this week. "The 4,000-word memo clearly expresses Ballmer's
aggressiveness, as well as his optimism and confidence that Microsoft
can retain its place as the dominant software company in the world,"
says Fortune's Peter Lewis.  Of particular interest to WindowsForDevices
readers is Ballmer's observation on the potential for "non-PC consumer
electronics."
Read full story


THIN CLIENT WEBPAD TARGETS BUSINESS ON THE MOVE, RUNS WINDOWS CE
Optoma recently introduced the Operis-1, a webpad-style wireless thin
client running Windows CE .NET 4.2.  Its four-in-one memory card slot
offers a choice of connectivity options including WLAN and GPRS, for use
with the pre-loaded Citrix ICA, RDP Clients, and local browser.   Optoma
positions the Operis-1 as being "less cumbersome than a laptop and more
practical than a PDA."
Read full story


DIGITAL DOCUMENT RECORDER RUNS WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED
Canon has announced a new Windows XP Embedded powered Digital Document
Recorder said to allow users to quickly and easily scan and archive
reports, contracts, legal briefs, invoices, and other important
documents onto CD-Recordable (CD-R) disks or into network folders.
Designed for credit unions, law firms, and other office environments
requiring plug-and-play document management, the CD-4070NW combines
"advanced capture, archiving, and networking in an economical,
all-in-one desktop system."
Read full story


AUDIO EVENT RECORDER BOASTS "INSTANT" CD DISTRIBUTION
Recordings of live events are increasingly distributed on CD immediately
upon event conclusion.  MF Digital's "5906EC Live" can produce between 6
and 60 such CDs almost instantly.  The Windows XP Embedded powered
device is aimed at applications in schools, churches, and courts of law.
Read full story


IP HANDSET PROTOTYPE BOASTS "SEAMLESS" WLAN/WAN SWITCHING
Net-2Com Corp. and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. have developed a prototype
of what they claim is the "world's first wireless IP mobile handset
capable of seamless switching between wireless LAN and public wireless
networks."  The prototype handset, based on an Intel PXA273 processor
running Windows CE .NET 4.2, features built-in 802.11b wireless LAN
functionality and is said to allow users to select among a range of
public wireless networks by inserting various CompactFlash networking
cards, thereby enabling global use.
Read full story


PORTABLE MEDIA CENTER A LIKELY HIT?
The first products incorporating Microsoft's Portable Media Center (PMC)
extensions to Windows CE .NET are expected to ship next month, and they
could be a big hit, according to a new research report.  The Diffusion
Group's "Consumer Interest in Portable Media Centers" suggests that more
than 40 percent of Internet households will be interested in purchasing
PCM devices, while 10 percent will "definitely purchase" one.
Read full story


THIN CLIENTS PINCH WATTS WITH TRANSMETA PROCESSORS
Fujitsu Siemens has launched a line of solid-state thin clients that use
just 25 watts, or 80 percent less power than PCs.  The Futro S clients
are based on Transmeta processors, and are no larger than medium-sized
books.  The high-end models run Windows XP Embedded.
Read full story


MICROSOFT PATCHES CRITICAL VULNERABILITIES IN WINDOWS XP, XP EMBEDDED
Microsoft has released seven security updates, including two that
address critical vulnerabilities in Windows XP and XP Embedded. The
patches also fix vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Outlook
Express. The company has also released an anti-venom tool that removes
the Download.ject Trojan payload.   Of the seven updates in Microsoft's
"Security Updates for July," four apply to Windows XP and XP SP1.  Users
of Windows XP Embedded who use any of the affected components should
also apply the update patches.
Read full story


OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS FROM THE PAST WEEK . . .

*  Smartphone security combined with mobile device management
   Read full story

*  Arcom expands Windows XP Embedded support for Geode SBC
   Read full story

*  SDK gets Windows Mobile audio devices talking
   Read full story

*  Newsletter targets wireless developer community
   Read full story

*  ARM -- the genteel Rockefeller of embedded chips?
   Read full story


. . . and that's not all.  Check here for the latest breaking news:

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