Guys..
When you want to explore your system hardware and software you will probably run “Microsoft System Information(MsInfo32)” or you will end up installing a utility to analyze your computer system.
However, you will be quite amazed to know Windows XP’s Help and Support Center provides an alternative method to do so.
To Investigate Your System- Do the following:
1. Go to Start &Help and Support.
2. Click on Use Tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems under Pick a task heading which Is located on the Centre page.
3. Select My Computer Information from the tools column
Now you can do the following:
 View general system information about this computer
 View the status of my system hardware and software
 Find information about the hardware installed on this computer
 View a list of Microsoft software installed on this computer
 View detailed system information (Msinfo32.exe)
 View running services
 View Group Policy settings applied
 View the error log
 View information for another computer.

Google has yet again released a new product of its own, its called Google chrome (a web browser). It is available for windows but still not available for linux. Google Chrome for linux is believed to get released in due time.
On its official site its been stated as follows (http://www.google.com/chrome);
"Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

One box for everything
Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites
Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Shortcuts for your apps
Get desktop shortcuts to launch your favorite web applications."

But we on iTech7.com got no clue about how far its true because we are yet to experiment on it, and more over we are dedicated Linux users. Once its Beta release is open for linux, this Blog will updated and we will tell you how we feel about google chrome.

"We’ve been working on a new version of Picasa for a couple of years, and we think you're going to like the changes and improvements. Mike's post yesterday gave some background on Picasa 3's general focus on easier sharing and smarter integration with Picasa Web Albums. Today, I'll focus the spotlight on our powerful new creative tools, as well as some of the other refinements to be found in Picasa 3.

First, a quick aside on performance: Compared to earlier versions of Picasa, Picasa 3 gets some enormous speed and scalability improvements, even in beta form. We’ve done internal testing up to one million photos (this seemed like plenty), and for most photo collections out there, things should just be quite a bit faster.

In a similar vein, we’ve also added a small Photo Viewer that can view files anywhere on your computer. More than anything, it's designed to launch quickly, so you can examine any photo file immediately -- and check out what happens when you use the scroll wheel on your mouse. We’d like you to try it out (and make it your default viewer for JPG, etc.), but if you prefer to use Windows Preview or another program, we remember the last application you were using, so it’s one click to go back.

Okay -- on to photo editing. A new text tool lets you add text to your pictures, and lay it out exactly as you wish, at any transparency level. We have also created a new retouching brush to take care of unsightly blemishes, camera dust, damaged photos, and the like. The red-eye removal tool does a lot of its work automatically now -- there's no need to draw boxes around people's eyes. Our crop tool will also recommend interesting starting points to crop, based on faces and objects in your photos. (As you might've guessed, we're using some of the technology from our name tags feature in Picasa Web Albums to make Picasa 3 smarter, which means less work for you.)

It looks as if Microsoft's OOXML office document file format will be published as an open standard after all. The International Standards Organization (ISO) today rejected four appeals from subsidiary national standards bodies that claimed ballot irregularities during the standardization process. Had these appeals been upheld, an OOXML standard could have been delayed indefinitely, despite Microsoft's best efforts to fast-track the process.

Barring any further hold-ups, ISO is expected to publish the full text of the standard within the next few weeks. But as the dust clears, many IT managers and office software users will likely be left scratching their heads: What does an open standard office file format from Microsoft actually get us?

A competing set of file formats, called ODF (Open Document Format), was accepted as an ISO standard more than two years ago. ODF is already in use in a number of competing office software products, including OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, and IBM's Lotus Symphony. Its success in the face of Microsoft's protracted effort to produce its own standard even recently prompted Microsoft employee Stuart McKee to remark, "ODF has clearly won [the standards battle]."

Indeed, Microsoft's failure to participate in the ODF standardization process has caused some to interpret the software giant's efforts to pursue its own, competing standard as little more than an attempt to undermine ODF. For its part, Microsoft has recently stated that it will include ODF support in a future update of Office 2007 -- but, interestingly, it will not actually include support for the ISO standardized versions of its own file formats until some future release of the suite.

According to Andy Updegrove of technology law firm Gesmer Updegrove, the rejection of the appeals against OOXML standardization is business as usual for the ISO process. "Today's announcement is not unexpected. It will be significant to learn, however, what the actual votes may have been," he says.

If there were many votes cast in support of the appeals, it may be evidence that ISO's processes may be skewed in favor of the interests of large corporations, such as Microsoft, rather than those of its member countries. "The greater the support, the more urgent it will be for ISO and IEC to reform their processes in order to remain credible and relevant to the IT marketplace," Updegrove says.

Just how much impact an ISO-approved OOXML will actually have on the IT marketplace -- or on users of office software -- remains to be seen. On the plus side, an approved standard should make it easier for competitors, including open source software projects, to interoperate with Microsoft Office, which has been difficult in the past. On the minus side, the proliferation of overlapping standards could serve to further muddy the marketplace, making bewildered customers much more likely to stick to the status quo.

Do you see Microsoft's move toward standardized file formats as positive or negative for your business? Sound off in the PC World Community Forums.

SOURCE [pcworld.com]

BERLIN – IFA 2008 – September 1, 2008 – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Deutsche Telekom today announced a collaboration to deliver IPTV in Germany and Deutsche Telekom will use Motorola’s High Definition (HD)-ready IPTV set-tops for its “T-Home Entertain” services. The collaboration will enable T-Home customers to access a variety of multimedia applications in addition to standard TV offerings using a high-quality, optimized Motorola set-top which is already equipped for future services.

Within the scope of the contract, Motorola will provide T-Home with its VIP1616E set-top - known to T-Home customers as Media Receiver 300 Typ A. With the device, subscribers to T-Home’s Entertain service will be able to view premium sporting content in full HD. Moreover, T-Home viewers can use the device’s electronic program guide to plan, record, and store what they want to watch.

“As our customers become ever more sophisticated in their media consumption habits, we chose Motorola’s set-tops to ensure we provide our customers with the best possible TV service, on-demand and in High Definition as well,” explained Christian Illek, Board Member T-HOME, Marketing.

“Consumers continuously demand more choice, convenience and control over how they watch video content,” said Joe Cozzolino, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility EMEA. “Motorola’s IPTV set-tops enable operators such as Deutsche Telekom to capitalize on consumer demands and efficiently deliver compelling, rich media services to their customers – on their schedule. As a global leader in digital entertainment and video delivery, we look forward to working with Deutsche Telekom to provide innovative TV services that consumers in Germany want while further extending our leadership in IPTV.”

The HD-ready Motorola VIP1616E set-top with digital video recording (DVR) also supports standard definition high-quality digital video. Its two-way IP capability allows it to be used in multiple applications, including broadcast television, time-shifted television, multicast and video on demand. The VIP1616E is fully compliant with Microsoft® Mediaroom™.