A different kind of “march of the penguins” (the penguin being the Linux mascot) occurred as technology users and enthusiasts from around the world descended upon San Francisco, CA Aug. 4- 7 for the 18th annual LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.

In support of open source technology and Linux-based initiatives, the conference sessions and presentations highlighted Linux’s new role in consumer technologies, including operating systems, mobile phone capabilities, and the corporate desktop.

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In an interview with the BBC, Steven Prentice, analyst for the information technology research and advisory firm Gartner, says that the mouse will largely be replaced with other means of interface within the next five years. The mouse’s place will be taken by technology developed for entertainment, video games, and computer access for the disabled.

“You’ve got Panasonic showing forward facing video in the home entertainment environment. Instead of using a conventional remote control you hold up your hand and it recognises you have done that,” Prentice says in the article.

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Our friends at Ubergizmo.com were right to cover the rumor back in February 2008. Movie rental service Netflix [NFLX] and Microsoft [MSFT] are joining forces for a movie-streaming partnership for Xbox 360. The software giant announced the deal at the E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles.

“The new Xbox experience represents the first time in history that a mass-market consumer electronics device has been re-invented through free software, giving people more fun and intuitive ways to interact, play, and enjoy entertainment content,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The partnership gives Microsoft access to a slew of advantage to put to use on its gaming console. Not only does the company get the over 10,000 movie and television library Netflix owns, but it also gets access to its large customer base.

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Staunch competition has propelled software giant Microsoft [MSFT] to unveil plans for developing more online-based software, and although it carries a fee, the plan seems like a viable solution for a serious threat from free software.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it will begin selling a package of four products for consumers by the end of 2009 and the same package for business by the beginning of 2009.

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Hackers behind the Coreflood Trojan virus used administrator computers to reach hundreds of thousands of computers on their respective networks, with Microsoft’s PsExec program a vital program in the infections.

The infections have led to the loss of banking account usernames and passwords as well as other sensitive financial information.

Hackers trick administrators into downloading malicious software. Once the administrator log into the computer again and runs PsExec, the malware attempts to infect the computers associated with the networks, unknowingly giving away their passwords and, consequently, the power to reach thousands of computers.

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Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) announced it would purchase the year old company Powerset, a start-up using principals of linguistics in an attempt to make Internet keyword search easier.

Though cell phones offer an “autotexting” function, one that finishes words begun by the writer, Powerset’s technology goes further.

It takes a given word, breaking it down based on meaning, with the end of allowing users to type in inexact concepts that would, thesaurus-like, bring up the intended word(s).

“Powerset has always been a small company with big dreams,” explained company product manager Mark Johnson in a Powerset blog post regarding the deal.

He continued the post by saying the company has the ambitious “ultimate goal of changing the way humans interact with computers through language.”

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Digital music retailer Rhapsody is aiming to make competition with rival iTunes a lot fiercer with a marketing campaign that is said to be worth around $50 million.

ITunes has long been the premier destination for digital music since its inception in 2003, but with its newest marketing partnerships and advertisements, Rhapsody hopes to put a significant dent in the company’s sales.

The digital music retailer, owned by Real Networks and Viacom’s MTV Networks, has brokered deals with Yahoo and Verizon Wireless among other retailers in order to appeal to a wider audience.

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Greenpeace released its periodic “Guide to Greener Electronics” with the top 18 manufactures of consumer electronics, mobile phones, and PCs ranked according to how environmentally friendly they are.

Sony and Sony Ericsson topped the list as the greenest manufacturing companies because of their commitment of toxic chemical phase-outs in the production of their items and their low greenhouse gas emissions.

At the bottom of the list were Nintendo, Microsoft, LG, and Fujitsu Siemens mostly because of their products’ energy usage.

Since 2006, Greenpeace has released the “Guide to Greener Electronics” based on how companies manufacture their products and make attempts to safely recycle old ones, but the newest list has a wider criteria.

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Taking notes manually or going to a cafe with a journal seem like acts that are becoming esoteric if not obsolete as more and more people acquire personal computers. On Monday, CNBC wrote that no fewer than 1 billion PCs are now in use.

The article did not specify whether by “personal computer” it meant any and all brands of machine or those hosting solely Microsoft desktop systems, but that is a great deal of computers.

Moreover, research firm Gartner told CNBC that that number was set to double by 2014. The firm’s representatives also explained that while mature markets accounted for 58 percent of this first billion, they would only contribute 30 percent to the next.

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Bill Gates, the oft lauded, oft loathed mastermind behind Microsoft has said he is ready to step down from full-time work at his company in order to devote himself to another brainchild: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to MSNBC Monday.

Gates founded Microsoft and ruled the company ‘with an iron fist’ for 33 years. Once the richest man in the world, he is now the third wealthiest due mostly to his work with the philanthropic foundation he began with his own capital in 2000.

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