Microsoft Corp started testing on Thursday a new dashboard view for its various Windows Live online services.

A Windows Live user can sign onto home.live.com and quickly scan for new e-mails, blog postings from friends, contact updates or try out other Microsoft services such as online antivirus and spyware scans.

"It's a quick view and summary for all of the services you are using on Windows Live," Chris Jones, a Microsoft corporate vice president in the Windows Live group, said in a phone interview.

The world's largest software company aims to create a large and engaged audience in order to compete against Web rivals Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc for tens of billions of dollars in online advertising.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com

The Indian epic Ramayana will form the basis of a new online video game for which global entertainment major Sony has teamed up with Richard Branson and new age guru Deepak Chopra.

In a world increasingly dominated by games influenced by western myths, Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) multi-player game will be based on Ramayan 3392 AD -- a comic book from Branson and Chopra's Virgin Comics that re-imagines the epic in a futuristic realm.

Acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, a co-founder of Virgin Comics, is also involved in the project.

"Ramayana has inspired the lives of millions of people through the ages. The re-imagining of this great ancient epic through the creativity of a game platform reaffirms the fact that Ramayana is one of the greatest stories ever told, Chopra said in a statement.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com