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What's new in Internet Explorer 8
3 Jun, 2008, 1006 hrs IST, IANS


WASHINGTON: Microsoft has kept development of Internet Explorer 8 pretty quiet, but already the next major version of the most widely-used browser is available for downloading in a beta version.

While the focus of IE 7 was on security and the incorporation of a tabbed interface, version 8's main features centre on stability and usability.

In terms of stability, IE 8's new automatic crash recovery feature is designed to solve one major problem that most IE users know all too well. Today, when an IE window or tab freezes or crashes, other browsers instances or tabs will likely become inoperable as well.

Automatic crash recovery does a better job of isolating instances of the IE browser - or separate tabs within the same browser - so that one stalled browser or tab can be terminated without affecting any other.

If a crash does bring down the entire browser, automatic crash recovery will attempt to restore the browser to its previous state - including all open tabs - the next time you open it.

Greater stability is fine - but ultimately boring. Luckily, that's not all IE 8 has going for it. The new browser's usability features will generate the most buzz - and are likely to tempt lots of folks to give IE 8 a try.

The new Activities feature, for instance, attempts to save you a lot of time by cutting down on the number of separate sites that you have to visit to accomplish a task. In essence, the Activities feature allows you to invoke the essential services offered on separate sites without ever leaving the page you're currently on.

Let's say, for example, that you're reading a web page and you see an address for a restaurant you'd like to visit.

Today, in order to get directions to that address, you would probably go to a mapping site and type or paste the address in and then wait for the service to provide you with a map from, say, your apartment to the restaurant.


The process is time-consuming and involves at least two browser windows and tabs, plus a bit of copying a pasting.

With IE 8's Activities feature, when you select the address, a small Activities button appears next to your mouse cursor. Clicking that Activities button brings up a context-sensitive menu of possible activities, with one of the options being the ability to map the tool using your favourite mapping site.

Selecting that mapping option actually invokes the mapping site in a smaller preview window inside the current browser tab.

Another Activity might pull from a review site of restaurants, allowing you to see what others have said about the restaurant without your having to visit another site.

The Activities feature was also created with a nod toward the growing popularity of social networking sites. Just as you can pull services from other sites, the Activities feature also allows you to push information to popular networking sites such as Facebook and Digg.

If you want to refer a friend to the page from which you got the address for the restaurant, for instance, you can select the Send to Facebook option on the Activities menu, and IE 8 will log you into Facebook, send the URL to Facebook, and present you with the Facebook page that allows you to add an entry.

A set of default Activities comes with the IE 8 browser, but you easily customise the service providers that appear on your Activities list.

Another time-saving feature of IE 8 is called Web Slices, which are designed to allow you to subscribe to frequently-updated portions, or "slices," of certain Web sites.

Instead of spending your time visiting three or four Web sites to get updated information from a portion of each of those sites, you would simply use Web Slices to pull that information into a single location in IE 8.

A site such as eBay, for instance, lends itself to the Web Slices feature.

Say, for instance, that you're running or watching several auctions on eBay. Typically, you would visit eBay multiple times per day to check the status of those auctions.

With Web Slices, you can instead simply subscribe to a section of the auction page by clicking a Web Slice icon that appears when you allow your mouse cursor to hover over a portion of a site that is frequently updated.

Clicking the Web Slice icon adds a new button to a Favourites bar that appears above your browser tabs. Clicking the newly-created Web Slice button on the IE 8 Favourites bar will pull the latest data from your subscribed page and show it to you in a preview window.

You can visit the page itself merely by clicking a link within the preview window.

As with Activities, Web Slice-enabled sections of sites must be made available by web site owners themselves. The code for doing so is fairly simple and non-proprietary, however, so it will likely simply be a matter of time before many sites become "IE 8 aware" and users start seeing the Activities and Web Slices icons as they surf their favourite sites.

May 24, 2008

***** courtship resumes - sort of
By Martin J Young

HUA HIN, Thailand - Microsoft's on-off rough wooing of ***** continues its almost sado-masochistic passage, now through a complex deal announced last weekend involving collaboration between the two companies' online advertising divisions. Following claims that it had "moved on" from its failed takeover bid for *****, Microsoft gave few details of the deal in a statement last Sunday, stating only that it was "considering and has raised with ***** an alternative that would involve a transaction with ***** but not an acquisition of all of *****".

The obvious conclusion here is that Google is still running away with almost 60% of the online advertising pie and Microsoft wants a bigger slice. The company has hinted that another offer may be dangled in front of ***** should these negotiations result in success for them both.

***** is facing greater pressure from its shareholders to re-enter negotiations; only last week, billionaire investor and noted corporate raider Carl Icahn, 72, purchased a sizable chunk of the Internet firm in an effort to sway the board and get them back to the table with Microsoft. ***** has also been mulling a joint revenue deal with Google following an experimental advertising share scheme last month running on *****'s search results using Google's superior technology.

This partnership however raises a number of anti-trust concerns as the two companies combined would control over 80% of the US search advertising market.

It all raises questions over the future of search engines as we know them today and whether that future means that only paying advertisers will be privy to those highly sought-after first-page search results. If this is to be the case then the current concept of impartial technology to search the web for content based on search terms will become obsolete and millions of websites will no longer be searchable unless they are paying off Google or whatever conglomeration has the monopoly at the time. Perhaps the time has come for the next big thing in online information management ... whatever that maybe!

Mohd Asif held at Dubai airport for possession of drugs

Dubai, June 03: Pakistani speedster Mohammad Asif was held at Dubai airport for possessing contraband drugs as he was returning to Pakistan from Mumbai after his participation in the Indian Premier League.

He plays for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and he was taken in custody by the authorities at the airport. He is said to be in possession of drugs that are banned in the country and it was the second occasion when the pacer was involved in such an incident.

The arrest brings forth the issue of the drug culture creeping into cricket. Asif can be jailed for a period of 4-10 years as the laws against drugs are very strict in Dubai.

Pakistan is scheduled to play in the India-Bangladesh tri-series later this month and the speedster’s absence will be a major setback for the team.

This is not the first time that Asif has been in trouble. He was banned along with Shoaib Akhtar for testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid, Nandralone, just before the ICC Champions Trophy on October 16, 2006.

On November 1, 2006, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) handed down a two-year suspension to Shoaib and a one-year suspension to Asif.

Both Shoaib and Asif appealed against the ban. A second tribunal was set up and on December 5 the same year both were acquitted. Asif was later withdrawn from Pakistan`s World Cup squad with an unrelated injury.

Sensex dips below 16K in early trade

Mumbai, June 03: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today lost over 252 points and dipped below 16,000 points level in early trade on funds selling in heavy-weight stocks, triggered by weak global markets.

The 30-share index, which had lost 352.39 points in volatile session yesterday, fell further by 252.81 points to 15,810.37 points in the first five minutes of trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index`s Nifty moved down by 85.05 points to 4,654.55.

Marketmen said reports of weakening trends in global stock markets and fears of an imminent hike in fuel prices dampened the trading sentiments here.

At the US stock markets, Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1.08 per cent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.23 per cent.

Major losers which dragged Sensex down were Larsen and Toubro, BHEL, Reliance Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, State Bank of India, Satyam Computers, Infosys Technologies, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, ITC Ltd and HDFC Ltd.

HCL launches Intel Atom processor-based PCs

New Delhi, June 03: HCL Infosystems Limited, India's leading ICT system distribution company, on Tuesday launched its latest notebook and desktop PCs which are integrated with Intel’s Atom processors.

A day after the world’s leading processor-making company Intel launched its Atom series of computer processors; HCL unveiled a new desktop PC and the next variant of ‘MiLeap’, its ultra portable range of laptops. The new HCL products are fitted with the Atom processors that are built on the world's smallest transistors designed for Internet devices and low-cost PCs. Also, these new products are power-efficient and environment-friendly.

“Taking forward our commitment of developing environment friendly products and to bring the best in technology to Indian customers, we have introduced the new power efficient range of PCs based on Intel’s latest Atom Processor,” HCL executive vice president, George Paul said.

HCL’s new desktop, ‘Neutron’, has a compact design and offers power saving upto 76%. Among its other USPs, Neutron occupies 85% less space as compared to the products available in the market.

The company had launched ‘MiLeap’, its range of ultra mobile PCs, earlier this year. It has now added a new variant to the MiLeap series.

The new MiLeap offers complete notebook functionality packed in an ultra portable form factor and weighs just 1.2 kgs. Fitted with a 10-inch screen, the new MiLeap has a user-friendly keyboard and an integrated web camera. One GB RAM, 80 GB hard disk and fully functional MS Windows operating system add feathers to this offering from HCL, and also make the product ideal for students, first time buyers and on-the-go professionals.

Tata Motors completes acquisition of JLR

Mumbai, June 02: Tata Motors Ltd, India`s top vehicle maker, said on Monday it had completed the USD 2.3 billion acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover, adding the luxury brands to a line-up that also includes the low-cost Nano.

The all-cash deal, which was agreed in March, includes all necessary intellectual property rights, manufacturing plants, two advanced design centers in the UK and a worldwide network of sales companies, Tata Motors said in a statement.

The brands were bought from Ford Motor Co, which has contributed about USD 600 million to the Jaguar and Land Rover pension plans, and long-term agreements have been entered into for the supply of engines, stampings and other components.

"Jaguar and Land Rover are two iconic British brands (and) will retain their distinctive identities and continue to pursue their respective business plans as before," Chairman Ratan Tata said in the statement.

"We recognize the significant improvement in the performance of the two brands and look forward to this trend continuing in the coming years."

David Smith, the acting chief executive of Jaguar and Land Rover, will be the new chief executive.

Tata Motors last week said it would raise up to USD 1.7 billion from three rights issues to help fund the acquisition. On completion of these issues, it would also raise a further USD 500-USD 600 million from an overseas equity issues.

The company is scheduled to start selling the Nano, the world`s cheapest car priced at just above USD 2,500, in India later this year.

Transition support

Other areas of transition support from Ford include IT, accounting and access to test facilities. The companies will also cooperate in areas such as design and development through sharing of platforms and joint development of hybrid technologies and powertrain engineering, Tata Motors said.

The Ford Motor Credit Company will continue to provide financing for Jaguar Land Rover dealers and customers for a period, and Tata Motors said it was in advanced negotiations with auto finance providers in the UK, Europe and the United States.

Tata Motors, India`s top bus and truck maker and No 3 car maker, has sought to expand its presence in the global markets through alliances and acquisitions in recent years.

It bought South Korea`s Daewoo Commercial Vehicles in 2004, and has a minority stake in Spanish bus maker Hispano Carrocera.

It also has ventures with Thailand`s Thonburi for pick-up trucks, and with Italy`s Fiat for manufacturing, distribution and technology, as it gears up for tougher competition at home.

Indian firms have announced overseas mergers and acquisition deals worth nearly USD 10 billion so far this year, Thomson Reuters data showed, including a USD 2.6 billion deal at the weekend by Sterlite Industries for bankrupt copper miner Asarco.

Ahead of the news of the deal`s completion, shares in Tata Motors, worth about USD 5.1 billion, ended down 2.4 percent at 562.95 Rupees. It shares have fallen 24 percent in 2008, compared to a 21 percent decline on the main share index.

Clinton not ready to concede race, her campaign chair saysStory Highlights
NEW: Clinton co-chair says report she will concede tonight is "100 percent incorrect"

Democrats' primary season ends Tuesday, after 6 months and 61 contests

A rush of superdelegate endorsements could allow Obama to claim victory Tuesday


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's is "absolutely not" prepared to concede the race for the Democratic presidential nomination to Sen. Barack Obama, her campaign chairman said.


Sen. Hillary Clinton trails Obama by 159 delegates and is 201 delegates shy of capturing the nomination.

1 of 2 Terry McAuliffe rejected as "100 percent" incorrect an Associated Press report that Clinton is preparing to acknowledge that Obama has the delegates to win the nomination Tuesday night as the five-month Democratic primary process comes to a close.

Obama "doesn't have the numbers today, and until someone has the numbers the race goes on," McAuliffe told CNN.

Clinton continues to fight Obama in the Democratic primary season. Some 61 contests over six months will end Tuesday as Montana and South Dakota hold primaries.

Only 31 pledged delegates are at stake in those two contests.

Obama is just 42 delegates shy of the 2,118 now needed to clinch the nomination. There are not enough pledged delegates at stake in Montana and South Dakota to put Obama over the top, but a rush of endorsements by the remaining undeclared "superdelegates" could allow him to claim victory when he takes the stage in Minnesota Tuesday evening.

Superdelegates are the approximate 825 Democratic governors, members of Congress, and party officials who each get to vote in the delegate nominating process. Around 200 of them have yet to endorse either Obama or Clinton.

In a bit of symbolism, Obama will spend Tuesday night at a rally at the Excel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the same arena which will house the 2008 Republican National Convention in September.

No change in policy stance on P-Notes`

New Delhi, June 03: Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday ruled out relaxing curbs imposed last year on Participatory Notes, a derivative tool that enables unregistered foreign investors to invest in Indian stock markets.

"No. SEBI has already notified the regulations which arose out of October decisions," SEBI Chairman C B Bhave told reporters when asked if there was any proposal to amend the regulations on PNs.

In October 2007, SEBI had imposed restrictions on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to issue Participatory Notes.

FIIs and their sub-accounts were asked not to issue fresh PNs against underlying derivatives and wind up their existing position in 18 months during which the market regulator will review the situation from time to time.

Various curbs were also imposed on their exposure to these instruments in the cash segment.

The decision was taken after a prolonged discussion among the Finance Ministry, banking regulator RBI and SEBI.

As on August 2007, there were 34 FIIs/sub-accounts issuing offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) and the notional value of PNs outstanding stood at Rs. 3,53,484 crore.

However, business in Participatory Notes dropped significantly following the SEBI ban on issuance of PNs to unregulated foreign entities.

SEBI has also asked FIIs to give an undertaking that these investment tools are not issued to non-resident (NRIs) and resident Indians, who otherwise do not need the FII route.

SEBI to come out with currency futures

Bhave further said that SEBI will come out with exchange traded currency futures in the next three months.

Last week, a SEBI-RBI committee had recommended introduction of currency futures markets, initially for dollar-rupee contract, to enable investors manage volatility in the currency market.

The committee had suggested that the minimum size of the currency futures contract at the introduction would be 1,000 dollars.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank, in a bid to support the SEBI move, has already issued comprehensive guidelines on foreign currency forwards in over-the-counter market.

The SEBI Chairman said that later, the regulator will start working on interest rate derivatives.

"Next we will start working on interest rate derivatives," Bhave said at the Annual General Meeting of Assocham.

Keen on providing a trading platform for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), SEBI will work on the creation of an exchange for the SMEs.

"Next we will engage our mind on creation of exchange for small and medium enterprises," he added.

Obama clinches nomination; Clinton seeks VP spot

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Cheered by a roaring crowd, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois laid claim to the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, taking a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. Hillary Rodham Clinton maneuvered for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket without conceding her own defeat.