Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it is launching a desktop application that aims to seamlessly integrate e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, traditional phone service and Internet-based calling.

Microsoft plans to debut the product, code-named “Istanbul,” sometime in the first half of 2005 to compete with efforts by rivals like IBM Corp. to link different channels of communications onto a single platform accessible from a computer.

Microsoft is testing Istanbul with corporate clients, and expects to run similar tests with consumers in the next few months before bringing the product to market, said Anoop Gupta, vice president of Microsoft’s real-time collaboration efforts.

The effort dovetails with Microsoft’s announcement in July of plans to offer business users interoperability between its instant messaging program and users of the other two leading services, AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Istanbul will feature so-called “rich presence” technology, using “buddy” lists to indicate which colleagues or friends are available for a range of communications rather than merely through the IM service itself.

Then, users could choose to immediately respond to an e-mail via instant messenger or another method such as voice-over-Internet within the same application, rather than switching back and forth between applications.

The product also includes capabilities to initiate impromptu, real-time, remote “meetings” by bringing together groups of people without having to arrange Web or phone conferences with dial-in numbers and passwords.

Source: Yahoo
View: Microsoft Unveils New Client Application

On Tuesday, Advanced Micro Devices introduced its two fastest processors yet, a quiet slap at Intel’s latest roadmap revision.

Just days after Intel told its OEM customers that it planned to put its 4-GHz chip on an indefinite hold, AMD released an Athlon 64 4000+ chip, as well as the latest entrant to its Athlon FX line, the Athlon FX-55. Both chips are designed for high-end enthusiasts, and priced accordingly: $729 for the Athlon 64 4000+, and $827 for the FX-55.