Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that it will add live updates from micro-blogging service Twitter to its search engine - Bing. Following that, Google too announced plans for live Twitter updates integration in its search engine. At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft mentioned about its public access to public Twitter feed and also got Bing Twitter search beta; only for U.S. residents as of now. Google promised to roll out Twitter integration in its search engine “in the coming months”.

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The newest release of Microsoft’s flagship product Windows is to be released on Thursday.

There are a great many changes to the operating system, which has already been described by one analyst as “a polishing release of Windows Vista”.
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Microsoft and Giorgio Armani, with a little help from Samsung, have launched a mobile phone.

The Armani phone runs Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5, and if you’re wearing a baggy Armani suit, you might even have room in your pocket for it. The latest, and least bad, version of Windows Mobile launched earlier this month. The company is hoping its applications store will create some of the buzz which surrounds iPhone apps.
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Microsoft Corp said it would lower the price of its high-end Xbox 360 model by a quarter in Japan, keeping pace with Sony’s launch of a cheaper PlayStation 3 ahead of the critical shopping season.

Microsoft plans to cut the price of the Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive, to 29,800 yen ($321) on Sept. 10 from 39,800 yen.

The price of the entry-level Xbox Arcade model will stay at 19,800 yen in Japan, and the company will phase out its mid-range Xbox 360 model with a 60-GB hard drive, in line with its announcements last week for outside Japan.

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Intel and Microsoft say the Windows 7 operating system (OS) will give “better battery life and quicker boot times”.

The firms made the claim at a press event in San Francisco where engineers put the new OS through its paces.

Microsoft are hoping their new system will perform as promised and avoid a repeat of the negative publicity associated with Windows Vista.

Both firms said they collaborated more closely than ever before to deliver a product “they are proud of”.

“We both made a larger investment than ever before on the engineer side to improve on the hardware and software,” Microsoft’s Mike Angiulo told the BBC.

The two firms, colloquially known as Wintel, said that the partnership involved hundreds of engineers and was started the day after Windows Vista was released over two years ago.

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The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 is the first Windows 7 compatible desktop solution from Microsoft to feature the new “Taskbar Favourites” buttons along the top of the keyboard.

Building on the now standard “Windows key”, the result promises to give you instant access to the first five applications on the taskbar without the need to manually set it up all from your keyboard, but do you need it? We got typing to find out.

The keyboard features Microsoft’s Comfort Curve layout, which means that the key layout is slightly curved and the keys have an irregular size. It takes a few minutes to get used to, but it’s by no means as bad as some of the more “exotic” ergonomic keyboards out there that we’ve tried - remember the first ergonomic split keyboard anyone?

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If you have an iPhone, you are familiar with the iPhone App Store and probably use it quite extensively. Same thing if you use Google’s Android OS.

If you own a Nokia phone like the n97, you are familiar with the Ovi Store that with a little more polish is going to be great.

If you own a Palm Pre, you probably heard Palm Pre’s Mojo SDK has been leaked news and are getting excited about the possibilities for applications this summer.

And if you own a device powered by Windows Mobile, you have probably been shaking your head about the lack of a centralized place to find applications for your smartphone.

Shake your head no more.

With Windows Mobile 6.5 supposedly being released this year and next year’s release of the highly anticipated Windows Mobile 7.0, the underachieving but very powerful Windows Mobile operating system is going to be getting a big shot in the arm.

Why?

According to Microsoft France’s Windows Mobile product manager, when the Windows Marketplace for Mobile is more than likely concurrently released with Windows Mobile 6.5, it’s going to include a mind-boggling 600 applications for immediate download.

Pre owners, take a deep breath, and cut Palm some slack. They’re new at this.

While it isn’t clear what the 600 or so applications will be, it’s a safe bet that they will include a mixture of some old applications as well as new and exciting ones. In comparison, the Apple store began with around 500 applications and within a year, as developers began to program day and night, that number has extended to more than 50,000.

And how does that number compare to the others?

Android features around 5,000 applications. Nokia and BlackBerry hover a little over 1000. And we won’t get into numbers for the Pre.

The fact that the Windows Marketplace is starting with 600 apps or so is a sign that they are committed to both the 6.5 and the 7.0 OS releases, their customers and fans, and raising the bar in the battle for smartphone supremacy.

Catching Apple after that head start will obviously be tough to do.

But let’s play a little devil’s advocate for a second.

If you subscribe to the notion of ‘quality over quantity,’ the fact that they are releasing 600 applications right off the bat might mean while they have strength in numbers at the release, the quality of those 600 applications will be suspect at best.

In response, you could also argue that even though the quality of every single one of those 600 applications might not be five stars, it sure beats Microsoft releasing the Marketplace with only a few options.

This debate will probably go back and forth until both 6.5 and the Windows Marketplace launch sometime later this year.

WinMo already has a great developer community and a library of useful applications but what it has needed for quite some time is the inclusion of a store for applications to be purchased by consumers and showcased by developers.

With this news, Microsoft and potentially Google seem to be the biggest competitors to Apple in the app world, so while they might pose a threat, overtaking them might be wishful thinking.

Source:[examiner.com]

Microsoft wants those using the trial version of its next OS to switch to the Release Candidate.

Microsoft is urging consumers who are using the beta version of its Windows 7 operating system to switch to the more fully developed Release Candidate as the Windows 7 Beta will enter its expiration period next week.

“Still on Windows 7 Beta? You need to move to the RC and fast,” Microsoft’s Stephen Rose said in a blog post Tuesday.

Users who continue with Windows 7 Beta beyond next week are in for a nasty surprise. “Starting July 1, the Beta will start to reboot every 2 hours and expire Aug 1st,” wrote Rose. Microsoft will continue to offer Windows 7 RC as a free download until Aug. 15.

Windows 7 RC is close to the final version of Windows 7 that Microsoft plans to release on Oct. 22. Windows 7 RC will function until June 1, 2010.

Microsoft last week released a beta version of a toolkit for businesses mulling an upgrade of their desktop systems to the Windows 7 operating system.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit version 4.0 is designed to analyze computers and other devices on a network to determine if they’re compatible with Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and other software products, including Microsoft Office 2007.

MAP also identifies candidates for virtualization, power-saving opportunities, and security vulnerabilities.

MAP can be downloaded from Microsoft’s TechNet Web site. The company has not stated when a final version of the tool would be available.

Microsoft is counting on Windows 7 to erase memories of Vista, which flopped in the business market and drew numerous gripes from consumers. Complaints ranged from Vista’s intrusive security measures to its heavy desktop footprint.

Windows 7 is said to be lighter and easier to use than its predecessor. It also includes slick new tools that improve everyday tasks such as desktop searches and PC-to-PC file transfers.

One of the many criticisms of Windows Vista was the incredibly complex packaging that Microsoft used for both Vista and Office 2007. In an effort to prevent theft and piracy, Microsoft created boxes that required their own set of instructions to open.

In a blog posting on Wednesday, Microsoft said it will use a package that is shaped similarly to the Vista one. However, the box will open more like a standard DVD case.

The case, which will be recyclable, will contain just the disc and a getting started guide. Overall, Microsoft said it reduced the packaging weight by 37 percent.

Microsoft plans to start selling Windows 7 on October 22, although pre-sales of the product as well as a free upgrade program for new PC buyers are expected to both kick off on Friday.