We already know that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a big fan of Nokia's Lumia 900 and of the Windows Phone operating system in general. Now Microsoft has posted up a email on its Windows Phone site which it claims comes from a self-professed fan of Apple products. In short, this Apple user also loves the Lumia 900 and Windows Phone.
The letter, which Microsoft says comes from a person known only as "Scott G.", was written to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "Scott G." admits in the email that it was written on a MacBook Pro and that he has been a fan of Apple's products for a number of years. However, he recently picked up a new Lumia 900, after apparently not liking an Android device, and says he plans to keep it.
One of the thing "Scott G." likes about the Lumia 900 is that it works well as a phone. He states:
It's not exactly a shock to learn that Microsoft is preparing a way for people who will buy a new Windows 7 desktop or laptop in the near future to upgrade to the upcoming Windows 8. Microsoft has made similar upgrade paths available to consumers whenever a new version of Windows was close to launching.
News.com reports that, according to their sources, consumers who buy a Windows 7 PC running Home Basic or higher will be able to get an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro when it is launched later this year. The story claims that the program will begin either on or around June 2nd.
Microsoft has just presented its practical implementation of the well-known Doppler effect. The technology is called SoundWave.
Everybody that has seen it in action is comparing it to the company’s Kinect movement detection system. Yet SoundWave is much different from Kinect, because it doesn’t use any optical viewing device.
SoundWave practically sees using your laptop’s microphone.
It seems that Microsoft has already begun manufacturing the next generation of its Xbox console, in the form of the so-called Xbox 720 (aka Durango), at least according to a brand-new report that has surfaced on the web.
While Microsoft hasn't even acknowledged that it's working on a successor to the current Xbox 360, rumors about the next-generation Xbox 720 are floating all around the web.
We've already heard a list of supposed features, as well as the codename under which the prototype is known, Durango.
Today's surprise announcement of a partnership between Microsoft and bookseller Barnes & Noble on a future Nook spinoff business naturally generated speculation that any future Nook tablets and eReaders might have Microsoft's Windows 8 inside. During a Q&A session on an financial analyst conference call today, one of the analysts asked flat out if a Windows 8-based Nook tablet was in the works.
Unfortunately, the executives at the conference call were not that forthcoming, saying that they were not commenting on any future product roadmaps at this time. Microsoft president Andy Lees also said that the company has yet to do any teardowns of the Nook products to see if they could in fact run Windows 8. However, it was mentioned in the Q&A session that this new agreement naturally lends itself to more collaborative ventures, although no specifics were mentioned.
Sony Announced that Skype is available on the PlayStation Vita (PSVita) starting some time on Tuesday. Skype allows PS Vita users to make both video calls and voice calls to other Skype users. Additionally, for about 2 cents a minute, PS Vita users can use their Vita to make voice calls to landlines (cost estimated).
Sony launched the PlayStation Vita at $249 at launch for the WiFi version, and $299 for the 3G version of the system. This announcement was greeted with applause at the Sony E3 Press Conference, and today, near-cell-phone capabilities have been introduced for the system.
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released just under two months ago by Microsoft on February 29th, but a new claim by the company says the number of people using the preview version of the OS is already past that of the Windows 7 beta release at the same time period for both versions. In a post on the official Windows 8 Twitter page, Microsoft stated:
Windows 8 consumer preview usage more than twice Windows 7 beta at the same point in time. Millions of people using everyday. #thankyou
Naturally, the post doesn't give any more specifics about exactly how many people are using Windows 8, nor how many downloads Microsoft has recorded for the Consumer Preview version since the February 29th launch. Microsoft did say that the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was downloaded one million times in the first day of its release.
While we have seen our share of smartphone designs, nearly all of them have one big touch screen on the front. But what if a smartphone could have two different displays on one case? Microsoft has apparently filed a patent that would create such a product. PatentBolt.com has posted up some images and details from the company's filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The design would have a regular high-powered touch screen on the front of the smartphone, along with a low-powered screen on the back of the case. The rear screen could be used to display a variety of information. For example, it could become an eInk screen for people to read texts more clearly than on the front screen of a smartphone.
Earlier this month, Microsoft made headlines when it announced that it was buying up 800 patents owned by AOL for $1 billion. Now a new report claims that Microsoft intends to sell off most of those patents because it feels doesn't actually need them.
The report from Bloomberg, which cites unnamed sources, doesn't go into detail on which of AOL's patents Microsoft intends to keep and which ones it will sell off. The AOL patents do include those for the Netscape web browser, which AOL acquired several years ago. AOL retained the actual Netscape brand name in the Microsoft deal.
Yahoo's chief executive has confirmed plans to shut down dozens of products that are not seen as core to the firm.
Scott Thompson announced the move to analysts following the firm's latest financial report.
He said he had asked: "How would we build Yahoo from the ground up if we were building it from scratch today?"
As a result he said it would be "shutting down or transitioning roughly 50 properties that don't contribute meaningfully to engagement of revenue".
Mr Thompson did not identify which units would be abandoned, but noted that news, finance, sports, entertainment and mail were safe.
Microsoft's 2011 acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion has been official for several months now. However, Skype has yet to make a lot of impact in terms of integrating itself with Microsoft's products. We have seen a beta version of Skype released for Windows Phone 7.5 in February but we have yet to see Skype integration for other Microsoft products.
Now a new job listing at Microsoft (via WPSauce.com) shows that the Skype division is working on a project that would allow Skype users to connect via a web browser-based client. The listing states:
If you are still using Microsoft Office 2007, you now have six extra months before its official mainstream (or free) support ends. Microsoft was originally supposed to end mainstream support for the software productivity suit on April 9. Now, as reported by ZDNet, Microsoft has confirmed that Office 2007 will see its mainstream support extended to October 9.
That also means that once the mainstream support ends, Office 2007 will enter its Extended support phase. That means Microsoft will continue to offer security updates for free but other support can only be obtained for a fee. Because of the mainstream support getting six months of extra time, the Extended support time period will also get a new end date of October 10, 2017. Microsoft is now urging businesses to go ahead and upgrade Office 2007 to the newer Microsoft Office 2010.
In February, Nokia announced plans to release a version of Microsoft Office for a number of its smartphones running on its Symbian (also known as Belle) operating system. Today, the company announced that Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint are now available to download for the Nokia 701, Nokia 700, Nokia 603, Nokia E7, Nokia X7, Nokia C7, Nokia Oro, and Nokia C6-01 devices.
The software suite can be downloaded by hooking up those smartphones to a PC and connecting to the Nokia Suite program or by using the smartphone's Nokia Software Update tool. The Microsoft Office apps will also be made available from the Nokia Store in a few weeks.
If you own a PC and still have Windows Vista installed, you may want to upgrade ASAP. As previously announced, Microsoft will end its mainstream support for Windows Vista on Tuesday, April 10th. This deadline covers all of the SKUs for Vista, including the Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Business and Ultimate, along with all the 64-bit versions of those ports.
Ending its mainstream support means that Microsoft will no longer offer any free support for Vista users after Tuesday. The OS will still get extended support until April 11th, 2017, where Microsoft will continue to release security patches for free. However, any other updates and customer service support will be subject to a fee after Tuesday.
There's been a lot of debate about the future of Microsoft's Silverlight programming language. Silverlight was first developed as a kind of alternative to Adobe's Flash for presenting web video and content but has also been used to make apps for Windows Phone.
While Microsoft released Silverlight 5 back in December, the company has been quiet about any plans to develop and release future versions. Now a new blog post strongly suggests that Silverlight's days are indeed numbered. The latest update on the official Windows Phone developer blog has Microsoft's Larry Lieberman responding to Windows Phone app creators with their concerns about what the future might be for making apps via Silverlight. Lieberman states:
A few months ago, Microsoft announced a project called Kinect Accelerator. The idea was that Microsoft would pick 10 startup companies that would develop software made especially for the Kinect motion gesture-capture technology. Today, Microsoft announced which companies got the nod to participate in the Kinect Accelerator program. As it turns out, Microsoft decided to pick 11 companies to help out instead of just 10.
The 11 startups will now head to Seattle for the next three months. While there, they will receive office space, an Xbox development kit, the Windows Kinect SDK and $20,000 for their initial software investment. While the teams develop their Kinect applications during this time period, they will also receive help and advice from Microsoft representatives along with entrepreneurs and investors.
The final part of the Kinect Accelerator program will involve the startups showing off their Kinect software products to potential investors and venture capitalists along with Microsoft executives and others.
If you want to be the cool kid on the block with your Xbox 360 game console, Microsoft has just announced plans to offer some new models of its Xbox 360 controller. Microsoft, via Major Nelson, announced that it will release three special chrome colored controllers for the Xbox 360 sometime in mid-May.
You can check out all three controllers in the pics above and below and as you can see, they come in silver, red and blue shades. The controllers will be priced at $54.99 each which is about $5 more than the standard price for the Xbox 360 gamepad. All of the controllers will be wireless and all will also have the transforming D-pad.
Tomorrow the whole world becomes Irish for one day as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day by wearing green, going to parades and, if you are over 21 in the US, having a few pints of beer. Microsoft has decided to start celebrating the day a little early via a new web site designed to showcase the features of Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8.
The Irish Spring web site is similar to other Microsoft web sites launched for Christmas and Valentine's Day in that they are created to show off the hardware accelerated HTML5 features that web site creators can use for browsers such as Internet Explorer 10. If you are using IE 10 with a Windows 8 touch screen device, you can use your finger to manipulate the four leaf clover. You can also do it the old fashioned way with the mouse cursor if you have a mouse and keyboard set up.
Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 10 browser for Windows 8 will come in two versions — one a streamlined, "Metro-style" program designed to resemble a smartphone or tablet app, the other a more standard desktop browser.
In other words, everyone who wants to use IE10 will have to choose which version they want — and could even end up switching from one to the other mid-task. Microsoft is clearly thumbing the scales toward the Metro version of the browser, although it knows that some, possibly many, users will still prefer a more familiar, fully fledged desktop version.
A few days ago, Microsoft released a new internally developed app for Windows Phone users called Emporium. Now a new report on ZDNet claims that Microsoft is aiming to launch this new app on other non-Microsoft platforms later this year.
The app itself is designed specifically to help promote and sell Microsoft-based products. Users can access the app to check out prices and reviews along with viewing images and video for a variety of Microsoft retail products. That includes Windows and Office software, Xbox 360 games, Windows Phone devices and other hardware products.
A still image can create a lasting impression. A video of the same scene can also leave an impression but of a different kind. Now Microsoft has launched a free app, via its Microsoft Research division that basically creates a hybrid of those two media forms. It's called Cliplets and its available to download from the application's web site. It comes in both 64-bit and 32-bit Windows 7 versions; Microsoft is not offering any official support for the product.
The web site states:
Microsoft Research Cliplets is an interactive app that uses semi-automated methods to give users the power to create "Cliplets" -- a type of imagery that sits between stills and video from handheld videos. The app provides a creative lens one can use to focus on important aspects of a moment by mixing static and dynamic elements from a video clip.
Internet users waiting for a Web page to load find a delay of even just milliseconds too long, engineers at U.S. search giant Google say.
A delay of 400 milliseconds, about the blink of an eye, causes people to search less, they said.
"Subconsciously, you don't like to wait," Arvind Jain, Google's resident speed guru, told The New York Times. "Every millisecond matters."
Internet users will visit a commercial or news Web site less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds, experts said.
Innovation, it seems, is alive and well at Microsoft. In the last few hours, we’ve taken a look at two projects from Microsoft Research – make sure you check out both Illumishare and the Holoflector; now, Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group has shared a video of another project that combines Kinect technology with a transparent OLED screen, to create a transparent 3D desktop interface.
As you can see in the video, the unique form factor of the test device enables the transparent OLED to act as a ‘window’ through which you can see your hands, and use them to manipulate virtual elements that appear on the display. As a result, the interface appears to have ‘real’ depth, with your hands being able to virtually interact on three axes with components visible through the display.
Earlier today we reported that Microsoft had quietly extended its official support for Windows Vista by five years, until April 2017. Now it appears that Microsoft has done the same thing with the current version of its PC operating system, Windows 7. While its mainstream support is still scheduled to end on January 13, 2015, Windows 7's product support page now says it will offer extended support until January 14, 2020.
As with the Extended Support for Windows Vista, users of Windows 7 can expect to get security patches for the operating system for another eight years but don't expect to see massive patches for new features and content beyond January 13, 2015.
Microsoft has unveiled a new logo for the upcoming Windows 8, featuring a clean one-colour design that leans heavily on its new Metro user interface.
The new logo has a single colour with a thin white cross in the middle, making it look like a window. The window is angled slightly. That was done in order to give a sense of motion, "aligning with the fast and fluid style you'll find throughout Windows 8", Sam Moreau, principal director of user experience for Windows, noted in a blog post on Friday.
One of the biggest web sites in the world was briefly identified by two Microsoft security software products as being infected with malware. ZDNet UK reports that on Tuesday the programs, Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Security Essentials, got an update that mistakenly tagged Google.com as being infected with the Blackhole exploit kit.
Because of the erroneous update, users of those software programs around the world posted word on Microsoft support forums that the applications were not allowing them to access Google.com. In a few hours, yet another update was sent out to both programs. In a post on the Sans Institute web site, the security group said, "As of 20:11 GMT-5 Feb 14 2012, we received confirmation from Microsoft stating that this problem is a false positive and will be corrected in the update 1.119.1986.0 or higher for the antivirus."
In January, Microsoft showed Gmail users how to switch over their accounts to Microsoft's Hotmail. Today, Microsoft launched another volley in its war with Google's Gmail. In a new post on the Windows Live blog, Microsoft said its own research, combined with a third party study, show that Hotmail offers the best spam protection of any email service.
The third party study came from Cascade Insights. The company ran a similar study back in 2009, where it said that Gmail had the best spam protection. In the new report, Cascade Insights said that it created email addresses for Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail and posted those address on Facebook pages. blog sites and other placed on the Internet. The group also signed up for a number of web-based services with those email addresses.
Microsoft is continuing to release its software products for other mobile platforms. Today the company announced that its OneNote application now has a version for Android users. In December, Microsoft released a version that was optimized for the Apple iPad.
The new Android port can now be downloaded from the Android Market for free. The note taking software has a number of features in its Android version including to-do lists with clickable checkboxes, photo capturing with the Android device's camera, allowing users to sync up to their free SkyDrive account, offline access to notes, a way to sync up to OneNote on a PC or notebook via a WiFi connection and more.
Microsoft clearly wants to get the word out about its Windows Phone devices. The mobile operating system, despite solid reviews, is still not getting much love from the general public in terms of sales. However, the company has been trying to do some out-of-the-box marketing for Windows Phone such as the recent "Smoked by Windows Phone" campaigns and more recently the Droid Rage Twitter campaign.
Now Microsoft is asking for Windows Phone fans for their marketing and PR ideas. In a post on the official Windows Phone web site, it states, "We’re looking for ad concepts, contest ideas, social media campaigns, and whatever other wacky but worthwhile ideas you can up with ..."
Microsoft is testing out a Skype application for Windows Phone that could make its debut by the end of next month.
That's according to the Verge, which reported today that the app would have a Metro UI-style look, keeping it consistent with the rest of the Windows Phone user interface.
This version of Skype reportedly will be a standalone app when it launches and be integrated into the People Hub part of the phone with the release of Windows Phone 8. Skype could be introduced as early as Mobile World Congress, which begins in the last week of February.
