In a conference call with financial analysts, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he’s very exicted about the enthusiasm in the market for Windows Vista, but warned that some of the pie-in-the-sky sales figures he’s seen for the company’s latest operating system release may be too optimistic. “People have to understand that some of the revenue forecasts I’ve seen out there for Windows Vista in fiscal year 2008 are overly aggressive.” Ballmer declined to provide specific sales numbers, but noted that lower selling prices for the operating system, conservative corporate sales as enterprises ease into Vista from previous versions of Windows, and software piracy may all contribute to lower-than-expected sales forecasts.
Ballmer also indicated what while he expects Microsoft’s operating systems’ sales to expand in developing economies like China, Brazil, and India, the the growth will be on a smaller base than what Microsoft experienced in earlier years in developed nations, and the prevalence of software piracy in many emerging markets may dampen sales growth, despite new anti-piracy technologies built into Vista.
Overall, Ballmer reported strong sales for Vista at launch—which began for corporate customers in November 2006 and for consumers at the end of January 2007—but that the company did not expect that surge to extend into the company’s 2008 fiscal year, which gets underway July 1, 2007.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.