July 3 - 10:55am EDT   Multiple leaks today indicate that Microsoft is set to declare Windows 7 complete in just 10 days. The software developer is now expected to produce a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the operating system on July 13th and is likely timing the news for its Worldwide Partner Conference the same day in New Orleans, which would let it hand companies a finished copy. The RTM version will be what ships to PC builders and retail when the software ships on October 22nd. [full story]

July 2 - 4:50pm EDT   MCS Music America has filed a lawsuit against Real Networks, Yahoo and Microsoft over alleged music copyright infringements earlier this week. The copyright administration company claims the defendants breached copyright on several pieces of music and their artists. MCS represents a large number of other plaintiffs and says streaming music services such as Rhapsody, Zune and Yahoo Music allow users to retain the copyrighted tracks for an extended period of time, saying the defendants are required to obtain the rights for such a form of distribution. [full story]

July 2 - 2:15pm EDT   An investigation of Microsoft's licensing for Windows 7 has revealed today that the company plans to introduce a Family Pack bundle for the new OS when it ships in October. Kristan Kenney has found installation rights for "qualified" Family Pack owners that give owners of that special copy the option of installing it on two extra PCs without encountering activation problems. The Family Pack only appears for the Home Premium edition's license and not for Professional or Ultimate. [full story]

July 2 - 1:50pm EDT   A number of prospective buyers are upset at the absence of a cheaper upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate, accounts suggest. While those moving to Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional may be eligible for Microsoft's discount program, a copy of Ultimate is currently only available at the full $220 price, even if a person already owns Vista Ultimate. "Vista Ultimate owners have already been ripped off once in paying for basically worthless 'Extras,'" says corporate IT worker Lindsey Mundy. "Now to rub salt in the wound, MS is leaving them out...for some reason best only known to them, when offering a reasonable upgrade price for Windows 7." [full story]

July 1 - 11:00am EDT   Microsoft has picked the ad firm that will represent its "Pink" smartphone interface, sources said Wednesday. AdWeek hears that a contract bid has been won by McCann Erickson's TAG group, trumping others. The leak doesn't include any details of what "Pink" involves but adds that McCann already handles advertising for Windows Mobile, supporting the phone connection. [full story]

June 29 - 4:05pm EDT   Nokia could paradoxically favor the iPhone rather than its own devices for employee discounts if info discovered today proves true. Where staff reportedly get a 10 percent discount on the flagship N97, the Inquirer understands that those same workers would receive a 17 percent discount on a new iPhone 3GS. It's not clear whether this applies to the unsubsidized prices or to contract plans. [full story]

June 29 - 3:05pm EDT   A major smartphone manufacturer is due to launch a phone based on NVIDIA's Tegra platform, the company has let slip in interviews. One of the "top five" smartphone producers should have a phone based on the advanced graphics technology before the end of the year. The company has also said in a discussion with CrunchGear that it should reach AT&T and T-Mobile for about $199. [full story]

June 29 - 1:55pm EDT   The Windows Mobile cellular platform is being rechristened as Windows Phone, says Microsoft's French product chief for the software, Audrey Zolghadr. The name change should come with a fall OS update -- formerly known as Windows Mobile 6.5 -- and harmonize the interfaces for updated services including Marketplace, MyPhone and the various Live options, such as Messenger and Hotmail. When it launches the Marketplace should contain some 600 certified applications, a fraction of the approximate 20,000 apps in wide distribution. [full story]

June 26 - 2:10pm EDT   Both Microsoft and Sony are coordinating significant updates to their consoles for the fall, a tip says. Citing the same historically reliable source as for earlier leaks, Ars Technica hears that Sony's slim 120GB PS3 is still on tap for the fall and should be accompanied by a long-awaited price cut. It's not known if this will take place before the new system ships, but Sony is now thought to only have 60 days of stock for the present 80GB model and may leave the 160GB model alone in the market until the revamped model shows. [full story]

June 26 - 12:40pm EDT   Canadian rent-by-mail DVD service Zip.ca said today that it's in talks with Sonic Solutions, the owner of the Roxio CinemaNow movie download service, to bring the first large-scale movie download service in Canada. The partnership will allow PC and portable multimedia device users to download TV shows and movies, making it somewhat akin to the streaming feature Netflix offers its US customers; it's not clear if Zip would shadow this format. [full story]

June 26 - 11:10am EDT   Microsoft is considering offering Windows 7 on USB flash drives to make upgrades easier for systems without optical drives, a source claimed on Friday. The unnamed contact explains to CNET that the company is looking at the move to make it easier to upgrade netbooks in particular, which currently need either an external drive or else the elaborate creation of a bootable USB drive. Whether this would involve copy protection beyond a CD key isn't known. [full story]

June 26 - 9:30am EDT   When it ships later this year, the Zune HD could cost as much or more than the iPod touch by the time both updates are released this year, an additional leak said Thursday. An interview with a previous source on Neowin cautions that prices aren't "set in stone" but has the base 16GB model costing between $249 and $279, or at least as much as the Zune 120 does today. A current 16GB clickpad Zune costs $179. [full story]

June 25 - 3:25pm EDT   Analysts at Gartner today warned that the computer industry is on track to ship 6 percent fewer systems this year than it did in 2008. The new forecast has all companies shipping about 274 million computers versus 292 million and is blamed on both the poor world economy and the move away from desktops, which may plunge by 15.7 percent to make up 125 million of all computers sold. Gartner notes the decline is softer than feared as recently as mid-May but doesn't expect a true reversal until fall and a full recovery in 2010. [full story]

June 25 - 1:05pm EDT   NVIDIA confirmed its plans to release its own netbook PC with its own Tegra chip before the end of 2009. The Tegra chip is so far only used in the Zune HD portable multimedia player and uses hardware acceleration of 720p resolution HD video while using up a minimum of just 150mW. While final specs are not known, NVIDIA is showing a prototype model built by Mobinnova which sports an 8.9-inch screen, Wi-Fi, a 3G data radio and a webcam. It currently runs on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, but NVIDIA says the final product could run on Google's Android. [full story]

June 25 - 10:55am EDT   Sonic Solutions, the company behind Roxio, on Thursday announced its streaming movie service CinemaNow will be made available for the Nintendo Wii. Sonic will partner with Fujisoft to bring the former's content to the game console via the latter's video-on-demand Everyone's Theater Wii service. While the announcement only covers Japan, its successful integration potentially leads to the service arriving in other countries as well. CinemaNow offers more than 1,500 streaming movies, short films, and concerts to buy or rent. [full story]