Microsoft is preparing to shut down Encarta, the digital encyclopedia it first launched in 1993 as a direct competitor to old reference standbys like Encyclopedia Britannica. The encyclopedia, which for years was based on optical media and eventually made its way to the web too, grew quickly in the mid to late 90′s as a reference guide that was more convenient than book-based encyclopedias and was available for a tiny fraction of the price. According to its FAQ, Encarta’s web sites will be discontinued on October 31, 2009 (Except for Japan, which has until December 31, 2009). Microsoft will also stop selling the Encarta products by June.
From the FAQ:
Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past. As part of Microsoft’s goal to deliver the most effective and engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has made the decision to exit the Encarta business.
Microsoft’s vision is that everyone around the world needs to have access to quality education, and we believe that we can use what we’ve learned and assets we’ve accrued with offerings like Encarta to develop future technology solutions. In doing so, we feel strongly that we are making the right investments that will help make our vision a reality.
Oh, look, a CrunchDeal! Buy.com has the Maxtor One Touch 4, a TB external hard drive, for $99. That’s around a $130 savings. → Read More
Oops. Apparently all the computers in the US that are rarely, if ever, shut down at night account for almost $3 billion in wasted energy costs and “may emit up to 20 million tons of carbon dioxide.” → Read More
Convincing people to pay for nothing, or rather for things with zero marginal cost to produce, is a great business model—in theory. In practice, there are so few examples to point to, and most of them are overseas, such as Helsinki-based teen virtual world Habbo. The virtual world’s parent company, Sulake, today reported some selective financial and user data for Habbo. In 2008, Habbo’s revenues rose 20 percent to $74 million (50 million Euros), and posted positive operating cash flow (EBITDA) of $7 million (4.8 million Euros). It was even slightly profitable on a net income basis as well, however the company chose not to disclose that exact amount.
Perhaps the bulk of revenues are being plowed back into global expansion or to pay the salaries of Habbo’s 300 employees (yes, 300). But its sub-10% margins so far are underwhelming. And Habbo is supposed to be one of the shining examples of a real business based on a virtual economy. It also makes money from advertising, but the vast majority of its revenues comes from in-world gifting and virtual vanity items. → Read More
An unsubstantiated rumor coming out of Australia says Sony is readying for a global announcement tomorrow regarding the PS3. What’s on tap for the announcement is still up in the air, if this is even true, but all fingers point to a price drop for the console. Or a new browser and online content, according to analysts that SmartHouse made up or bothered not to source. → Read More
Economic crisis? What crisis? At least Seiko thinks there is still a global customer segment that can afford its high-end models. In August, the company will become Japan’s first watchmaker to offer high-end wristwatches outside its home market. → Read More
Two Microsoft-related announcements coming from social networking giant MySpace today: the portal is adding support for Windows Mobile-run phones to its new mobile application, due this summer, and bringing the Silverlight runtime to its developer program thanks to a jointly developed Open Source kit.
The upcoming application will be created by MySpace in conjunction with Microsoft developers, and optimize the user experience for owners of devices running the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1, which was introduced in April 2008). The company says it currently has 20 million mobile users and is focused on developing applications for all platforms, including the iPhone, Android-run devices, Blackberry, Palm, Nokia, etc.
Additionally, MySpace is going to include the Silverlight runtime in its Open Platform and offer a jointly built SDK, leveraging the JavaScript OpenSocial container used by most of the applications that run on the social networking service. → Read More
In another example of out-of-control electronic violence, another good man was been struck dead thanks to video gaming. According to the Telegraph, Tim Eves, a 25-year-old scoutmaster and fisherman from Yarmouth, Norfolk in the UK, died while running in place on the Wii Fit.
Actually, this is quite a bittersweet story. Eves apparently died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome and could have died doing almost anything that day but, because he was on a Wii balance board, the news stories tonight will probably run into the hyperbolic. → Read More
Head over to Woot.com for a $99 iPod Video with 30GB of storage in your choice of white or black. These are refurbished with 90-day warranties that can be extended to one year for $13. → Read More
Famed Harry Potter author JK Rowling is taking on Scribd, the free document sharing service that has been likened to a “YouTube for documents”. Rowling and her publisher have discovered that a number of her books were being illegally shared on the site, after being pirated and uploaded by Scribd members. According to The Times, Rowling’s publishers (along with those representing author Ken Follett) were “battling last night to get free copies of their novels removed” from the site.
At this point it’s unclear just how much ‘battling’ is really going on – Rowling’s lawyer has said that Scribd is “quite helpful and they act immediately, but they won’t police it themselves.” Rowling and her representatives are concerned that Scribd is not proactively searching its database for pirated content, instead waiting for authors to submit complaints before pulling content down. Scribd says that it has an automated system that can prevent content that has previously been marked as pirated from being uploaded again, but given that it apparently isn’t even catching Harry Potter novels (which are likely among the most pirated books ever), I have a hard time believing the system is working very well. → Read More
Andrew Disney’s “Searching for Sonny” hopes to be the first feature film shot entirely with a Canon 5d Mark II. If the teaser trailer is any indication of things to come then Disney might have an indie film worth watching. According to his Vimeo page, cameraman Jeffrey Waldron mostly used a Nikon 50mm lens for the teaser with a Canon body. A full trailer shot with the Canon 5d Mark II is expected to drop on April 15. → Read More
It’s not all that often you see a company issue a press release for a firmware update (that is, except for our lovely iFriends in Cupertino – iPhone 3.0 overkill anyone?), but after all the bad press the 5800 got at launch, Nokia’s probably tryin’ its best to appease its loyal fanboys and girls. → Read More
Harry McCracken’s unfortunately titled article, Smallball, is a round-up of all of those great handheld video games we all played on the toilet back in the 1980s and 90s as well as a few classics from decades past. → Read More
If we’re to believe some guy working at Kmart (and why shouldn’t we!), the PS2 will finally drop to $99 on April 5. So, if you’re planning on picking one up in the next week, don’t! At least wait till April 5 comes and goes to see if this rumor holds up. → Read More
Fast becoming the Sasquatch of the computer world, Apple’s supposed second netbook (the MacBook Air being the first, ROTFLOL!!!) has apparently been spotted in some sort of Russian magazine or newspaper and sent in to 9to5mac.com for everyone to ogle. → Read More
We’re always happy to give a wide berth to people pulling April Fools pranks, but even so it’s pushing it to do it on March 27. If you go that early, you need to be side-splittingly funny or earn our disdain until we’ve forgotten all about it.
The Funded‘s Adeo Ressi is now confirming that the shutdown notice he posted last week is part of an April Fools joke. He was unavailable for comment, he says, because he was “in remote Utah at a wedding.” Weddings are always an excuse for being offline, I guess, so we’re forgiving The Funded for going dark on the situation. And a wedding in Utah must be fascinating. But as to the hilarity of the joke itself, well that’s up to The Funded’s users to decide.
We enjoyed last year’s April Fools joke that involved the launching of a new site that let venture capitalists review founders that pitched them (from First Round Capital). → Read More
Earlier last month, we caught wind of a possible visual voicemail service for AT&T BlackBerry users. Now, on the eve of CTIA Wireless 2009, Comverse has announced its own BlackBerry visual voicemail solution for carriers. → Read More
