Computer history - 2006
Major computer events in 2006
jQuery was introduced on January 26, 2006.
Twttr, now known as Twitter, was founded on March 21, 2006, and officially launched on July 15, 2006.
Apple introduced the first Mac Pro on August 7, 2006.
Google announced plans to purchase YouTube for $1.65 billion on October 9, 2006.
2006 computer and technology top terms
The following are some top computer and technology-related terms in alphabetical order that were introduced or popularized during 2006.
New computer products and services introduced in 2006
On January 5, 2006, Intel introduced the Intel Core, Core Duo, and Viiv.
Google introduced Picasa in 2006.
Apple announced Boot Camp, which allows users to run Microsoft Windows XP on their computers, on April 5, 2006.
Google launched Google Calendar in April 2006.
Intel released the Core 2 Duo processor E6320 (4 M cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) on April 22, 2006.
AMD released Socket AM2 architecture in May 2006.
Apple released the MacBook on May 16, 2006.
Toshiba released the first HD DVD player in a computer, introducing the Toshiba Qosmio 35 on May 16, 2006.
Microsoft released Word 2007 in 2006.
Xubuntu was released in June 2006.
BitTorrent Inc. released the Cache Discovery Protocol on June 22, 2006.
AMD announced its acquisition of ATI on July 24, 2006.
Hong Jen Lee introduced LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) in 2006.
Intel introduced the Intel Core 2 Duo processors with the Core 2 Duo processor E6300 (2 MB cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) on July 27, 2006.
The Intel Core 2 Extreme was released on July 29, 2006.
Chi Mei Optoelectronics announced the first WQHD (Wide Quad High Definition) LCD (liquid-crystal display) in the fall of 2006.
Intel introduced the Intel Core 2 Duo processors for the laptop computer with the Core 2 Duo processor T5500, and other Core 2 Duo T series processors in August 2006.
AMD introduced the Socket F CPU (central processing unit) socket on August 15, 2006.
The Microsoft XNA (XNA's Not Acronymed) toolset was released on August 30, 2006.
Apple introduced the iTV (now known as the Apple TV) on September 12, 2006.
VKontakte was released on October 10, 2006. Today, it is known as VK.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 was introduced on October 18, 2006.
Google launched its Custom Search Engine service on October 23, 2006.
Microsoft released Windows Defender on October 24, 2006.
Sony released the PlayStation 3 on November 11, 2006.
On November 14, 2006, Microsoft released its portable Zune media player that also used Metro.
Nintendo released the Wii on November 19, 2006.
Garry's Mod was made available on Steam on November 29, 2006.
Microsoft released Microsoft Windows Vista to corporations on November 30, 2006.
Google introduced a patent search on December 13, 2006, which searches over 7 million patents.
Apple released iWeb in 2006, included with the iLife software suite.
The MagSafe connector was introduced in 2006.
Mint Linux was introduced in 2006.
Optiarc was founded in 2006.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, a PlayStation Portable exclusive version of GTA (Grand Theft Auto) released in 2006, by Rockstar North.
PaintTool SAI was released in 2006.
In 2006, the Apple PowerBook series was replaced by the MacBook.
PureVPN was introduced in 2006.
FreeMap Israel, now known as Waze, was released in 2006.
PowerShell originated in 2006 when Monad (Microsoft Shell) was renamed to Windows PowerShell.
The Prime update was applied to the Haskell programming language.
Dell released the XPS 410, XPS 210, XPS 700, XPS 710, XPS M2010, XPS M1710, and XPS M1210 in 2006.
Computer and technology-related events in 2006
The Colemak keyboard layout was released on January 1, 2006 by Shai Coleman.
The Blu-ray was first announced and introduced at the 2006 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) on January 4, 2006.
On March 2, 2006, Wikipedia volunteers created the article that passed the 1,000,000 article mark.
Totally Awesome Computers went out of business on March 3, 2006. All customers who need additional assistance should contact PC laptops.
Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, posted the first Twitter post, "Just setting up my twttr," on his account on March 21, 2006.
Toshiba released the first HD DVD player in Japan on March 31, 2006.
Riverstone (RNI Wind Down Corporation) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 1, 2006. All assets were liquidated to Lucent.
On August 6, 2006, MySpace announced its 106 millionth account was created.
Amazon.com opened AWS (Amazon Web Services) in 2006.
Condé Nast purchased Wired News in 2006. Wired News and Wired magazine started operating together as WIRED.
Skype announced that it had over 100 million registered users.
Intel announced it was stopping all future development of the BTX (balanced technology extended) motherboard form factor.
John Hui, the former owner of eMachines, purchased Packard Bell in September 2006.
On October 1, 2006, The Software Freedom Law Center announced that all Unisys patent claims interfering with the employment of the CompuServe GIF (graphics interchange format) have expired. All users should no longer fear patent claims when using the GIF format.
U.S. President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law on October 26, 2006. The law gave law enforcement reduced restrictions on searching telephone, e-mail, and other forms of communication and records.
Microsoft introduced exFAT in November 2006.
TIME magazine named "You" the person of the year on December 13, 2006, with the continued growth and success of community-driven websites and content.
Wibree, which was a short-range wireless communication technology designed to operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, was released by Nokia in 2006.
The software suite for Windows, known as Emergency Repair Disk Commander (ERD Commander), changed its name to the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT).
The name PowerPC was changed to Power ISA in 2006.
Computer companies and organizations founded in 2006
23andMe was founded in 2006.
The non-profit Digital Wish was founded by Heather Chirtea in 2006.
Funambol was founded in 2006.
Pure Digital Technologies was founded in 2006.
Riot Games was founded in 2006.
Shopify started in 2006.
Windstream was founded in 2006.
Wix was started in 2006.
Zotac was founded in 2006.
Computer company events in 2006
Yahoo! announced it would acquire the Webjay music playlist service on January 9, 2006.
Google announced the acquisition of Writely in March 2006, that helped create Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Drive on March 9, 2006.
McAfee bought SiteAdvisor in 2006.
Corel finalized the acquisition of WinZip on April 26, 2006.
ABIT was acquired by Universal Scientific Industrial Co., Ltd. in May 2006.
Dell purchased Alienware on May 8, 2006.
As of May 2006, Angstrom Microsystems is no longer in business.
In June 2006, Bit 3 and SBS were acquired by GE Embedded Systems.
Microsoft acquired Winternals Software on July 18, 2006.
On August 28, 2006, Corel announced its plans to acquire InterVideo.
Hewlett-Packard announced its plans to purchase the PC maker VoodooPC on September 28, 2006.
EICON purchased the Media & Signalling Division of Intel in October 2006.
Reddit was purchased by the Conde Nast corporation for a reported $10 million on October 31, 2006.
Google acquired JotSpot on October 31, 2006, which became Google Sites.
SanDisk completed its acquisition of M-Systems on November 19, 2006.
In 2006, Emerson Network Power launched its own business called Vertiv.
Aspire International changed its name to Apevia in 2006.
Ethereal changed its name to Wireshark in 2006 because of trademark issues.
The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar for $7.4 billion, making Steve Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.
In October 2006, Comcast folded G4 under E! and is now a division of NBCUniversal.
Maxtor was acquired by Seagate Technology in 2006. Maxtor is now a subsidiary of Seagate, and is still using the Maxtor name.
Redbubble was released in 2006.
Tandberg Data acquired Exabyte in 2006.
In 2006, The Learning Company became a brand of Houghton Mifflin Company, which later changed its name in 2017 to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Toggl was founded in 2006.
CTX went out of business in 2006.
Computer-related TV shows and movies released in 2006
The first episode of the IT Crowd was aired on February 3, 2006.
The Belgian documentary Technocalyps was released in May 2006.
Discontinued products and services in 2006
On January 27, 2006, Western Union in the United States discontinued all telegram and commercial messaging services.
Google discontinued its Google Answers service in 2006.
Microsoft discontinued FrontPage in December 2006.
Computer pioneer deaths in 2006
Enid Mumford passed away on April 7, 2006 (Age: 82).
Kathleen Antonelli passed away on April 20, 2006 (Age: 85).
Alan Kotok passed away on May 26, 2006 (Age: 65).
William Norris passed away on August 21, 2006 (Age: 95).
Bernard Galler passed away on September 4, 2006 (Age: 78).
Ralph Griswold passed away on October 4, 2006 (Age: 72).
Raymond Noorda passed away on October 9, 2006 (Age: 52).
Alan F. Shugart passed away on December 12, 2006 (Age: 76).