Microsoft has recently said that it has no plans to discontinue its tradition of large-scale, heavyweight software offerings, like Office and Windows. Seeing as these two franchises continue to be huge money makers for the company, its stance is understandable. But if it has no plans to change its business model, then it needs to fix the problems associated with its current one, such as long development times and quality control. So far, anyway, these problems don't seem to be going away. The company has announced that its forthcoming Office for Mac 2008 will be released late. The company had hoped to have it ready by the coming Christmas season, but it will now be released in 2008, which is appropriate, given the name. Despite their high profile, Macs still make up a small share of the overall computer market, so it's likely that Microsoft isn't devoting a tremendous amount of resources to this area. Still, the delay is indicative of the ongoing problems facing the company.

Apple on Thursday released an update for its iTunes jukebox software.

Blog: New iMacs could be coming next week, as Apple schedules a presentation for the press at its Cupertino headquarters.

Blog: Canon releases an update to some inner workings of its high-end SLR, tweaking autofocus and trying to stomp some bugs.

A 30-year scientific debate over how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to the latest research. The finding could explain why dogs, cats, humans and other mammals have such sensitive hearing and the ability to discriminate among frequencies.

New research shows that calcium-activated cation channels in capillaries surrounding spinal cord tissue are critical to the process that causes spinal cord tissue loss after acute cord injury, and as such are a potential target in the therapy of spinal cord injuries.