Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it has teamed with UK-based retailer Tesco to bring out a new service that will provide customers with DVD-quality movies delivered to them over the web using Microsoft's Silverlight technology. While details are scarce, customers who buy DVD movies from Tesco will be able to download digital copies of the title to their Windows PCs and Macs.
A new logo meant to promote legal music download sites and emphasize the fact the files contained on the sites can be played on any digital audio player has been backed by seven of Britain's largest music download sites, according to a Tuesday BBC report. Designed by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the logo will mean customers can play the purchased files on PCs, Macs and portable music players. The logo will appear on online music stores from HMV, Woolworths, 7digital, Digitalstores, Play.com, Tescodigital and Tunertribe. Also, BPI, the British record industry's trade association is backing the idea, adding that the logo means artists are being paid for their work.
Dell's upcoming E Slim netbook may have at last been identified, if a leak at Engadget proves authentic. The system uses the same general design language of the Inspiron Mini 9 but is clearly larger and contains different features. Tellingly, the system is running Windows Vista rather than Windows XP; the latter software is only allowed by Microsoft on netbooks with screens at roughly 10 inches or smaller.
British online retailer Tesco today unintentionally slipped details of the Dell Inspiron Z530. The portable appears to be the final version of the E Slim netbook leaked earlier in the year and would sit considerably above the Inspiron Mini 9 in terms of performance. Beyond the larger display, which outputs at at a much sharper 1366x768 resolution, the system would switch to a 40GB hard drive instead of the 16GB flash-based maximum of the Mini and would carry 1GB of RAM as a minimum.
British grocer and retailer Tesco today said it would launch Tesco Downloads, its own attempt at a digital music and video store. The service will follow the cue of Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other similar stores with a web-based interface and initially plans to offer about 3.3 million songs; about 1.6 million of those will be available in unprotected MP3 versions that should work with iPods and other devices that don't support the protected Windows Media Audio format of other songs on the store.
