Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Hardware, Software, iTunes

Here’s a bit of interesting for you from the folks over at APC: during a press event at CES 2010, Intel used iTunes to tout its latest processors rather than one of the other oft-used performance-testing suites. Specifically, they showed off an i5 processor not by running some complex graphics simulation or commercial benchmarking algorithm, but by launching iTunes and synchronizing with an attached iPod.

Intel is attempting to make processor specifications more useful to normal people by focusing less on engineering statistics and more on actual applications. What is interesting here is that Intel is essentially admitting the difficulty in quantifying the improvements of their latest hardware. It is, however, easier to qualify their improvements by showcasing their hardware using applications people use everyday.

This de-obfuscation of a processor’s ability is a good thing. It means that my mother-in-law can stroll through Best Buy and understand that a given set of hardware is going to perform better at the tasks she cares about most. In the end, it really is less about GHz and more about GTD.

TUAWIntel uses iTunes for benchmarking originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As a figurehead in the Pittsburgh investment scene, long-time entrepreneur Mel Pirchesky is now using his experience to coach startups on fundraising and business strategies. According to his company Eagle Ventures, Pirchesky has raised over $45 million in his 35 years of structuring deals. In a recent guest post on the site Pittsburgh Ventures, Pirchesky breaks down the art of the “elevator pitch” – a tool every young entrepreneur needs to learn to use – into an exact science tailored for the best results.

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An elevator pitch is a term used to describe a short (usually about 60 seconds, or the time it takes to ride in an elevator) description or pitch of a product one is trying to sell or raise funding for. Pirchesky says an effective elevator pitch is more valuable than a well written business plan. After all, who’s going to read a business plan when the pitch didn’t hook them?

“Elevator pitches have two components – the first ten or fifteen seconds and the remaining forty-five or fifty,” Pirchesky says. “The objective of the first ten or fifteen seconds is to have your prospective investors want to listen to the next forty-five or fifty seconds differently, more intently than they would have otherwise.”

Pirchesky adds that the first section of the pitch should include two things – what it is that you or your company does, and something that adds validity to your or your company’s value-proposition. Finally, he suggest that you avoid trying to fill your pitch with too much information, to stay away from buzzwords and jargon, and to continually iterate and revise the pitch until all of the money is in the bank.

If there is a great deal to be had, and no investors are biting, the problem isn’t a lack of available funds – its in how the deal is being communicated, says Pirchesky.

“The key to effective, successful fundraising is to have your prospective investors hear what you say and understand the significance of what you say to depths of their bones,” he says.

Discuss

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As hinted at for the last few months, Toyota has today debuted a smaller sibling to the Prius at the Detroit Auto Show. According to a statement from Toyota, the FT-CH (CH=compact hybrid) is “designed to target a lower price point than the Prius, thus appealing to a younger, less-affluent buyer demographic.”

Translation: “This car is for you, you poor just-out-of-college graduate… who, due to the econopocalypse, settled for a job making half of what you expected to… who would buy a Prius if your parents weren’t driving one and would lend you $23K.” Oh come on, you know you want one. The FT-CH is… dare I say it… cool.

Hell, I want one… but mostly because I’m a cheap skate. Actually, I’m still positive my next car will be a plug-in, but even so, I’m having just a little bit of FT-CH lust. I might honestly be having way more FT-CH lust if the simple act of even writing that horrendous name wasn’t enough to put ice in my loins.

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More of us are choosing organic for ourselves, so it’s nice to know that some pet companies are making that move along with us. Cranimals are new certified organic pet supplements to help pets get their daily intake of whole food antioxidants from pure sources.

Cranimals treats were featured in the recently released book 30 Days Without Kibble by Eva Blais, an animal rescuer for the last 20 years. Blais recommends adding the supplements to her healthy pet food recipes. 30 Days Without Kibble is also available as an ebook.

The certified organic supplements are available in Cranimals Original, made from cranberry extract, and Cranimals Very Berry, a blend of cranberry, red raspberry and blueberry extracts. Cranimals, just released by I&W Research Inc. last year, may help protect cats and dogs from age-related diseases and immune deficiencies.

Since Cranimals Original have a high concentration of natural cranberry tannins, they help to flush out bacteria responsible for many urinary tract infections in cats and dogs. The supplements also discourage the growth of dental plaque. Cranimals Very Berry helps to get rid of free radicals that could lead to diseases like cancer or arthritis.

Since these supplements are certified organic, the ingredients are easier to trace and they’re grown without pesticides. Cranimals are free of animal by-products, wheat, corn and artificial colors or preservatives. They’re manufactured in a food-grade facility in Canada.

Organic Cranimals are available in natural pet supply and health food stores, as well as online in the US, Canada, Europe and Taiwan.

Have you added supplements to your pets’ homemade treats?

(Image via Cranimals press kit)

Post from: Blisstree

Certified Organic Pet Supplements

Fitch offers some numbers on the coming pain for homeowners with Alt-A mortgages.

—————-

Many   U.S.   prime   and  Alt-A  mortgage  borrowers  that  are  making
  interest-only (IO) monthly payments will experience a payment shock over
  the next year due to a recasting of these IO loans to full principal and
  interest payments, according to Fitch Ratings.

  Over  $47  billion  of  prime and Alt-A RMBS collateral is due to recast
  over  the  next  12  months  from  an  IO  payment to a fully amortizing
  payment. This recast exposes borrowers to an average payment increase of
  15%  and  possibly  higher if interest rates increase. Over the next two
  years,  a  total of $80 billion of prime and Alt-A loans, and a total of
  $50 billion Subprime loans are due to recast.

  This  payment  shock  will  have  a  substantial effect on the recasting
  population,   according  to  Managing  Director  Roelof  Slump.  ‘60-day
  delinquency  rates  have  risen  over  250%  in  the 12 months following
  previous  recasts  for  prime  and Alt-A loans,’ said Slump. Even though
  Fitch’s  current  ratings  consider  the  risks  of upcoming IO recasts,
  ‘mortgage  pools  with significant interest-only loan concentrations may
  be downgraded if performance is worse than anticipated.’

  Recasts  typically  have a significant impact on loan performance. While
  only 3.3% of prime loans are 60 or more days delinquent prior to recast,
  delinquencies  the  year after recast increased to 9.3%. Similar effects
  have been seen in Alt-A and subprime, with delinquencies increasing from
  12%  to  29%  for  Alt-A, and from 20% to 58% for subprime. Furthermore,
  ‘declining  borrower  equity  is still eroding refinancing opportunities
  and  incentives  to  continue  payment,’ said Slump. On average, current
  loan-to-value  (LTV) ratios for prime and Alt-A loans are 118%, with 64%
  of borrowers having negative equity.

  The  effect  of  higher  expected  defaults  on  IO  loans figures to be
  relatively  small  on  the  overall market since these loans account for
  only  8%  of  the  securitized  non-agency  market.  However,  there  is
  significant   performance   risk   in   RMBS   transactions   with  high
  concentration  of  IOs,  particularly if a large portion of loans recast
  around  the  same  time. It was not uncommon to see IO concentrations of
  greater  than 50% in certain securitizations. Performance on these pools
  will  be  particularly  hard-hit  by recasts. If observed IO performance
  results  in  higher  than  expected loss estimates for Fitch-rated RMBS,
  this may result in further negative pressure on long-term ratings and/or
  Recovery Ratings (RRs).

  Loans  with  an  IO  feature  were available across all of RMBS and were
  compatible with both fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products.
  Fixed-rate  IO borrowers only face a payment increase equal to an amount
  of  principal  amortization  when  the  IO period ends, with the payment
  staying  fixed  thereafter  for  the life of the loan. ARM IOs also have
  interest  rate  risk, where the payment can increase based on prevailing
  interest  rates  at the reset date. In today’s environment, ARM IOs will
  only  face  a  payment  increase from principal amortization when the IO
  period  ends. However, ‘if rates rise on subsequent reset dates, so will
  the monthly payments,’ said Slump.

  Most  outstanding  IO  loans  are  ARMs as many borrowers combined these
  features  to  provide for the lowest initial payments. Of those IO loans
  recasting  in the next two years, 99% of prime, 94% of Alt-A, and 90% of
  subprime  are ARM loans. Furthermore, borrowers were often qualified for
  loans  on their ability to make initial IO payments rather than the full
  principal  and  interest (P&I) payment to which their loan would adjust,
  and  on  63%  of Prime and Alt-A loans, this qualification was made with
  less than full documentation of income.

  Most IO ARM loans featured interest rates based off of Treasury or LIBOR
  interest  rates plus a margin. Payment shocks can be mitigated by market
  interest  rate  decreases  for  Prime  and Alt-A ARMs. Subprime interest
  rates  are  typically  floored  at  the  initial  rate,  which  prevents
  borrowers  from  benefiting  from a decrease in rates. As interest rates
  are  at historic lows, some Prime and Alt-A loans which had high initial
  rates but low margins will not experience a payment shock at recast even
  when  considering  the  principal  repayment component. However, current
  average  payment  shocks  are  estimated at 15%, and each 1% rise in the
  benchmark  rates  corresponds  to an approximate 10% increase in payment
  shock.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• How To Walk Away From Your Mortgage And Save Thousands Of Dollars Per Month
• Go Ahead, Walk Away From Your Mortgage!
• Commercial Real Estate Delinquencies Are Up 5x Already And They Still Won’t Peak Until 2012

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Europe, BMW, Electric

At first glance, the BMW ActiveE concept is little more than a 1 Series with a questionable paint job. Seriously, the ActiveE looks like it’s been sniffing blue paint. However, should you choose to look more closely, you will notice it’s missing tailpipes. Also, someone ripped off the fuel-filler door. There’s a blue light on the back of the antenna, too. Why? Good question.

The ActiveE concept is all electric. Similar to the Mini E electric car, the ActiveE is powered by a rear-mounted electric motor that stumps up 170 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, which may even be decent enough to lug the notoriously overweight 1 Series around town. BMW claims 0-60 in less than nine seconds. The juice is stored in a chained-together group of laptop batteries – quite similar to how the Tesla Roadster is set up.

Like the Mini E, BMW is planning on putting the production ActiveE into the hands of consumers who want one. Fleets, too. No word whatsoever on pricing, but expect a lease. For lots more information, read the press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading Detroit 2010: BMW ActiveE concept is all charged up and ready to go

Detroit 2010: BMW ActiveE concept is all charged up and ready to go originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Dodge

We heard about it in Los Angeles, and now we see it here in the D. Meet the 1:33 Edition of Dodge’s most potent ever Viper. Why the name? We’re glad you asked. Back in November, hot-shoe Dodge Chris Winkler managed to hammer the track-focused Viper ACR around Laguna Seca in 1:33.944, faster than any other production car has ever gone. Impressive, no? Only 33 of these special Vipers are being built. Here’s what makes ‘em so grand.

Thanks to new, more bonkers gearing, the 600-horsepower monster does everything faster. Try this statistic on for size: 0 to 202 miles per hour happens 14 seconds faster with this 2010 Viper ACR than the 2009 model. Can we get a wolf whistle? The 1:33 Edition also gets a unique two-tone Black Clear Coat/Red Clear Coat exterior color, the inverse of the original ACR, as well as modified end caps on its massive carbon-fiber wing, too. We’re going to miss the uncircumsized Dodge Viper (how would you describe it?), but at least it’s going out with a big bang.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Detroit 2010: Dodge Viper ACR 1:33 Edition a fitting end note originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ESolar, a builder of solar thermal equipment and plants, has landed what could be a $5 billion, 2-gigawatt deal in China, propelling it among the marquee names in solar, like First Solar and Solyndra. Not only is it breaking out of a pack of competitors, but also putting the U.S. on the map as a major solar thermal distributor.

Pasadena, Calif.-based ESolar will be partnering with China Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipent Manufacturing to build a solar thermal array capable of powering more than 2 million homes. The two companies will work together to build a field of mirrors used to concentrate sunlight on heat-trapping water. The water is converted to steam, which turns turbines.

Considering how much sunny, empty land the country has, it could become the world’s first solar-thermal powerhouse. Before now, it’s relied mostly on photovoltaics — having struck a deal with First Solar for the same amount of energy in September.

Why did China go with three-year-old eSolar instead of Spain’s globally-successful Abengoa Solar , or U.S.-based BrightSource Energy (Bechtel’s choice for its 440-megwatt solar thermal plant)? Apparently, eSolar — which brought its first solar thermal plant, at just 5 megawatts, online in August — is offering terms that are easier to swallow, agreeing to license most of its technology, including software used to turn the mirrors to just the right angle based on the movement of the sun. The company has also excelled at building small, building highly effective plants to generate under 50 megawatts. This would allow China Shandong to test the technology in phases and scale it more easily.

If the project progresses as planned over the next decade, eSolar could very well become profitable, not only setting it up to become one of the first solar IPOs (First Solar is out ahead, with Solyndra potentially going next), but also establishing a bigger foothold for U.S. renewable companies in China, where the market is sure to explode in the next several years. The government has plans to generate 10,000 megawatts from solar by 2020.

This is the second major deal eSolar has closed in Asia, having signed with India’s Acme Group to build 1,000 megawatts of solar thermal capacity. It may also expand its operations to the sub-Saharan region of Africa with another recent partnership. It also has several domestic projects in the works, including one that will transmit about 245 megawatts of solar thermal power through Southern California Edison.

Despite its youth and only recent success, a lot of important people have believed in eSolar since the start — and it looks like it’s finally paying off. The company raised more that $170 million in venture funding so far from Google.org, Idealab and India’s Acme, in addition to Oak Investment Partners and NRG Energy.

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What you want for your Droid Eris: Android 2.1. What you’re actually getting: the tiniest of updates designed to fix just one bug. ROM version 1.17.605.1 is starting to make its way into the world via the phone’s over-the-air update mechanism, fixing an intermittent bad signal indicator when bringing it out of standby. Yep, that’s it — so there’d better be a much heartier update in the wings later this quarter as Big Red has previously promised.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC Droid Eris gets an ultra-minor update originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though its market share pales against the home teams, Motorola has maintained a continued presence in South Korea for some time — and seeing how the company is going all-in with Android globally, it makes sense that they’d be launching it here, too. Enter the alleged XT720, a localized version of the XT701 that’s seeing duty on China Unicom on the other side of the Yellow Sea. Rumor has it this will be coming to SK Telecom, but details are sketchy and conflicting: Mirae Asset Research says the phone will feature a 5 megapixel cam while the source of this picture here says it’s 8; they’re also quoting the screen as a 3.7-inch 480 x 640 unit, but clearly, it’s going to be WVGA if the pic is legit. The research firm believes we’ll see this launch next month which would likely make this the first high-end device out of Moto to feature BLUR; whether that’s a good thing or not, though, is strictly a matter of personal opinion.

Motorola XT720 spreading Android, BLUR to South Korea? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netanya, Israel-based Siano Mobile Silicon said due to increased demand for mobile TV in China, Brazil, Russia and Korea the company has been able to raise $23.5 million in a fourth round of funding.

The six-year old company makes mobile digital TV receiver chips for cellphones, and other portable and hand-held devices for multiple standards. It works with such companies as Samsung, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), ZTE, Huawei, Mio, Garmin and Dell. Investors in the round consists of all Siano’s existing investors: JVP, DFJ-Tamir-Fishman, Star Ventures, Walden Israel, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Erel Margalit, Chairman of Siano and Managing Partner of JVP, said in a release: “Coming out of the global financial crisis around mid 2009, it was clear that the mobile DTV market has shifted gear, and from China and Brazil to Russia and Korea, the demand for Siano’s products has risen at a phenomenal rate.”

Related

• Siano Mobile Silicon Raises Third Round Of $17.5 Million
• Siano Mobile Silicon Closes $23 Million Series B Funding; Advasense Gets $6 Million

This is a really fantastic idea—boots with a set of reversible cleats on the foot and heel that can prevent slips on snow and ice. When you are heading indoors, just flip it over to hide the steel studs.

The whole mechanism is set flush into a groove on the sole, so it should be as comfortable to walk in as a standard boot. Plus, they are made from waterproofed leather for added protection. The boots aren’t cheap at $200, but it’s better than breaking your ass in the driveway. [Hammacher via Crunchgear]

If you’ve ever used Windows MediaCenter, you are likely familiar with MyMovies a popular Movie metadata cataloging and management add-on for MediaCenter.  SageTV has some of these capabilities now with various add-ons, but lacking some key features that MyMovies users have had.  Thanks to third party developer, PluckyHD that’s about to change.  PluckyHD, the developer of SageMovieWall is developing a MyMovies program that works with the MyMovies database and add-ons!

What is MyMovies?

In a nutshell, MyMovies is a movie collection & cataloging program that enables the user to easily browse and play your movies, browse cast members, play movie trailers and much more all with your remote control.  It brings in the metadata automatically into your HTPC and allows for easy management of that data for your movie collection

Read on for more about what MyMovies brings to SageTV – after the jump:

What Would the New MyMovies Program add to SageTV?

All of the functionality that MyMovies offers to MediaCenter users would also be available to SageTV users through this port.  That includes the movie “database” management which pulls in the metadata (movie information), photos such as DVD covers, dynamic filtering etc.

Another nice advantage of having MyMovies for SageTV is that it makes it easier for a MediaCenter user or a SageTV user to switch or at least “test” the other HTPC platform without having to re-do all of your movie metadata.

Here’s a quick summary of the things MyMovies would add to SageTV:

• Full extender support – will work on HD100 and HD200 extenders!
• Improved movie collection management with a much more mature product (around over 4 years and built by media center community)
• Multi-disc/series box set support
• Cost is Free – The core product support of mymovies is free to the user. Additional features may require some donations or contributions to the community.
• SageTV MyMovies Add-on will be Free – PluckyHD wants to make it clear that he is making no money and not accepting donations from porting this to SageTV.
• High res covers and backdrops by user selection.
• Choose different versions of a movie on-the-fly (ie collectors/unrated etc etc)
• Dynamic Filtering and Custom Categories for movies
• Movie Trailer Support
• Supports Local Trailer Playback & Custom Intros before the movies starts.
• Parental Control/Lockout features!
• Full Support for existing & future MyMovies Customizations – see a little about those customizations here

Another nice feature for SageTV users is that you’re able to keep all metadata named and stored in the same fashion as you do with SageTV using BMI (a SageTV-centric metadata add-on).

When Will It Be Ready?

The developer is working diligently on this port of MyMovies to SageTV now.  It isn’t ready quite yet and there isn’t an exact ETA although there has been talk of a possible beta in the coming month or two.  Feel free to comment to this post if you’re interested in this add-on – he needs the extra encouragement as this is a very time-intensive project.

Screenshots Anyone?

I’m dropping in a few screenshots.  These are early ones so they will likely change some – but should give you a great idea of how MyMovies for SageTV will look.  Suggestions on changes to these are welcome since he’s still working on them.

Questions or Comments?

For now post your questions here in the comments.  Please don’t direct these to Brian, the main MyMovies developer as PluckyHD will handle questions and suggestions.

You can direct your comments, questions and requests by comment in this post below or at the official SageTV Forum Thread about MyMovies for SageTV

Damian over at MediaSmartServer.net has experience with MyMovies and has posted his take on the news.

Last week, we previewed Chomp, a new service that aims to offer a better review and recommendation system for iPhone apps. Today, the service, which is an app itself, has gone live, with its app now available in the App Store.

As we noted, the service is sort of like a Yelp for iPhone apps. But what makes it work is that it’s simple and intuitive. When you load up Chomp, you’re taken to a screen with just four main options: Live App Reviews, Recommendations, Add People, and Bookmarked Apps. As you might imagine, the Live App Reviews are is a stream of new app reviews coming in, in realtime. Recommendations give you a list of apps to download based on the apps you’ve already reviewed. Add People gives you an easy way to connect with others on the service using your real friends on Facebook, “App Celebrities” (high profile users), and top app reviewers. Bookmarked Apps is obviously a way for you to note apps that you may want to download later.

But the key to the service is reviewing the apps. And that’s as simple as doing a search for the app you’d like to review and giving it a heart (good) or a broken-heart (bad) rating. You can also leave a comment with your thoughts about the apps (though it’s not required), but this is limited to only 60 characters, to keep things brief. This review system works well because again, it’s kept simple. And doing these reviews is the key to getting good recommendations. The recommendation area works well also because it allows you to easily get more informations about any app, see its reviews, and of course, download it right from the App Store on the iPhone with a couple clicks if you decide it’s something you want. (And yes, Chomp gets affiliate fees if you do that.)

There are a number of both web-based and iPhone apps out there now doing these types of recommendations. There’s an obvious need for this with well over 100,000 apps now in the App Store. But Chomp is the most intuitive ones I’ve tried yet. And its recommendations already seem to beat the pants off of the App Store’s built-in app recommendation engine. Chomp co-founder Cathy Edwards (also Chomp’s CTO) single-handedly wrote the app recommendation technology which they call AppRank, co-founder Ben Keighran tells us. And the simple Chomp app reviews definitely seem like a better approach than the App Store arbitrary 5 star system, with reviews that are most of the time just spam, or useless.

To help spread word about the app, Chomp has enlisted Digg founder Kevin Rose as one of its first App Celebrities. They’re also hoping to get heavy users tweeting about the service to help spread it virally.

Find Chomp in the App Store here. It’s as free download.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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Google’s Nexus One “superphone” was highly anticipated, but now some observers are calling it overhyped. Less than a week after the monumental announcement that some thought would change the wireless industry, the Nexus One is getting more complaints than praise. At least the complaints are louder.

Some of the first customers to get their hands on a Nexus One are decrying its superphone status and Google’s support forums show hot displeasure. Among the chief complaints are that the Nexus One 3G offers poor connections. Of course, that might fall back on wireless carrier T-Mobile more than Google and is reminiscent of the Apple-AT&T saga with the iPhone.

Getting the Runaround?

“My G1 has 3G with full strength, but sitting right next to it, my Nexus has one bar of 3G and keeps switching to Edge. If I let it sit for a while, it may go up to three bars of signal strength, but as soon as I start trying to use it the signal strength drops back down to one bar,” a user who calls himself mbaird wrote on the Google Mobile Help forum. (The G1 also runs on T-Mobile’s network.)

Mbaird apparently got what he thought was a runaround. “I called T-Mobile to make sure that I didn’t need to activate the phone or something to get 3G service,” mbaird wrote. “They said my account looked fine and that they couldn’t give me any more support since I had a Nexus One, that I had to call HTC,” the phone’s manufacturer. When he called HTC, he was told the 3G service is a T-Mobile issue.

Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, has been using the Nexus One for the past week. Although he’s had some issues with the device, none of them have to do with connectivity. In fact, he reports…

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On Saturday, Microsoft complied with a court order to issue a patch for Word 2003. Microsoft previously issued a patch for Word 2007 in December related to the same legal issue. The patch removes custom XML capabilities from the popular software.

“You must install this update if you have been instructed to do so in a separate communication from Microsoft,” the software giant said on its download site. The patches are available on Microsoft’s OEM Partner and Download Centers.

Microsoft’s patches come in the wake of a court order ordering to change the software or stop selling it. In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled against Microsoft’s appeal of a patent-infringement verdict and gave the company a tight deadline to fix the issue.

The 449 Patent

At the heart of the issue is a Canadian company called i4i. The company claimed Microsoft violated its patents for custom XML in Word 2003 and Word 2007. In August, Texas U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Davis ordered Microsoft to pay in excess of $290 million and issued a permanent injunction against the software giant for what is known as the 449 patent.

The judge ruled that Microsoft willfully infringed on the patent and permanently enjoined Microsoft from selling Word 2003 and Word 2007 in the United States and using any infringing future Word products to open an XML file containing custom XML. The court also ruled that Microsoft can continue to offer technical support to current users of Word, but is not allowed to instruct new users on using the custom XML editor or to sell copies of Word with the disputed feature.

The injunction applies only to copies of Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007 sold in the U.S. on or after the injunction date of Jan. 11, 2010….

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