While Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has been under pressure for years to improve the company's performance and share price, this appears to be the first time that major shareholders are taking aim at Gates, who remains one of the most respected and influential figures in technology.
A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on Tuesday.
There is no indication that Microsoft's board will heed the wishes of the three investors, who collectively hold more than 5 percent of the company's stock, according to the sources. They requested the identity of the investors be kept anonymous because the discussions were private.
Gates owns about 4.5 percent of the $277 billion company and is its largest individual shareholder.
The three investors are concerned that Gates' role as chairman effectively blocks the adoption of new strategies and would limit the power of a new chief executive to make substantial changes. In particular, they point to Gates' role on the special committee searching for Ballmer's successor.
They are also worried that Gates - who spends most of his time on his philanthropic foundation - wields power out of proportion to his declining shareholding.
Gates, who owned 49 percent of Microsoft before it went public in 1986, sells about 80 million Microsoft shares a year under a pre-set plan, which if continued would leave him with no financial stake in the company by 2018.
He lowered his profile at Microsoft after he handed the CEO role to Ballmer in 2000, giving up his day-to-day work there in 2008 to focus on the $38 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In August, Ballmer said he would retire within 12 months, amid pressure from activist fund manager ValueAct Capital Management.
Microsoft is now looking for a new CEO, though its board has said Ballmer's strategy will go forward. He has focused on making devices, such as the Surface tablet and Xbox gaming console, and turning key software into services provided over the Internet. Some investors say that a new chief should not be bound by that strategy.
News that some investors were pushing for Gates to be ousted as chairman provoked mixed reactions from other shareholders.
"This is long overdue," said Todd Lowenstein, a portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management, which owns Microsoft shares. "Replacing the old guard with some fresh eyes can provide the oxygen needed to properly evaluate their corporate strategy."
Kim Caughey Forrest, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, suggested now was not the time for Microsoft to ditch Gates, and that he could even play a larger role.
"I've thought that the company has been missing a technology visionary," she said. "Bill (Gates) would fit the bill."
Microsoft is still one of the world's most valuable technology companies, making a net profit of $22 billion last fiscal year. But its core Windows computing operating system, and to a lesser extent the Office software suite, are under pressure from the decline in personal computers as smartphones and tablets grow more popular.
Shares of Microsoft have been essentially static for a decade, and the company has lost ground to Apple and Google in the move toward mobile computing.
One of the sources said Gates was one of the technology industry's greatest pioneers, but the investors felt he was more effective as chief executive than as chairman.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Appeals court revives Microsoft claim against Google
A federal appeals court on Thursday instructed the U.S. International Trade Commission to reconsider a ruling that gave Google Inc a victory over Microsoft Corp in a patent dispute.
Acting on an appeal by Microsoft, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the ITC erred in its reasoning when it found that the Google unit Motorola Mobility did not infringe a Microsoft graphical interface patent.
After a critical discussion of the ITC judge's reasoning, the appeals court said: "This conclusion requires reversal of the 133 patent non-infringement judgment."
But it also said it agreed with the ITC that Motorola Mobility had successfully changed its smartphones so they no longer infringed the patent.
It also found the ITC was correct in ruling that Motorola Mobility, which was acquired by Google during the legal fight, did not infringe three other patents.
The dispute is one of dozens globally between various smartphone makers. Google's Android system has become the top-selling smartphone operating system, ahead of mobile systems by Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry Ltd and others.
In the original case, the ITC found in May 2012 that Motorola Mobility infringed a patent for meeting-scheduling technology but did not infringe several other Microsoft patents. An order was issued banning infringing mobile phones from the marketplace.
Motorola Mobility says it removed the infringing software from its phones. Microsoft disagrees, and has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, accusing the agency of failing to properly enforce the ITC order.
Microsoft said it was happy with the appeals court decision.
"We're pleased the court determined Google unfairly uses Microsoft technology," said David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel. "Google is free to license our inventions, but we're equally pleased if Google makes product adjustments to avoid using them."
A Motorola Mobility spokesman also saw good news in the appeals court decision. "Today's favorable opinion confirms our position that our products don't infringe the Microsoft patents," said spokesman Matt Kallman.
U.S. courts continue to work during the shutdown of the federal government but the ITC is largely shut down.
The case at the ITC was No. 337-744. At the Federal Circuit, the case is No. 2012-1445, -1535.
Acting on an appeal by Microsoft, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the ITC erred in its reasoning when it found that the Google unit Motorola Mobility did not infringe a Microsoft graphical interface patent.
After a critical discussion of the ITC judge's reasoning, the appeals court said: "This conclusion requires reversal of the 133 patent non-infringement judgment."
But it also said it agreed with the ITC that Motorola Mobility had successfully changed its smartphones so they no longer infringed the patent.
It also found the ITC was correct in ruling that Motorola Mobility, which was acquired by Google during the legal fight, did not infringe three other patents.
The dispute is one of dozens globally between various smartphone makers. Google's Android system has become the top-selling smartphone operating system, ahead of mobile systems by Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry Ltd and others.
In the original case, the ITC found in May 2012 that Motorola Mobility infringed a patent for meeting-scheduling technology but did not infringe several other Microsoft patents. An order was issued banning infringing mobile phones from the marketplace.
Motorola Mobility says it removed the infringing software from its phones. Microsoft disagrees, and has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, accusing the agency of failing to properly enforce the ITC order.
Microsoft said it was happy with the appeals court decision.
"We're pleased the court determined Google unfairly uses Microsoft technology," said David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel. "Google is free to license our inventions, but we're equally pleased if Google makes product adjustments to avoid using them."
A Motorola Mobility spokesman also saw good news in the appeals court decision. "Today's favorable opinion confirms our position that our products don't infringe the Microsoft patents," said spokesman Matt Kallman.
U.S. courts continue to work during the shutdown of the federal government but the ITC is largely shut down.
The case at the ITC was No. 337-744. At the Federal Circuit, the case is No. 2012-1445, -1535.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) – Nokia Licensing Terms Allegedly Misused By Samsung
A court is considering a sanction against Samsung for allowing some of its employees to view confidential documents between Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Nokia.
At least 50 employees of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) are accused of keeping access to some confidential documents from one of the patent battles between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Samsung. That’s according to a court order spotted by Florian Mueller of Foss Patents.
Apple – Nokia documents exposed
The documents explained the terms of a licensing deal between Apple and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V). Those terms were supposed to only be disclosed to Samsung’s outside counsel. Currently Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seeking sanctions against Samsung for allowing its employees to view the confidential documents.
According to the claims, Samsung executive Dr. Seungho Ahn told Nokia that he knew the terms of its deal with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) while negotiating with Nokia for their own licensing terms with the company. He also said referenced a statement made by Nokia’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer Paul Melin. He said Apple had disclosed the licensing deal in its legal battle with Samsung and that Samsung’s outside counsel gave his team the terms of that deal. Dr. Ahn even went so far as to recite the terms of the deal, saying that “all information leaks.”
Dr. Ahn tried to push Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) into making the same deal it did with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that the terms between those two companies should be the same as the terms between Nokia and Samsung. Nokia now says Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) executives unfairly used knowledge of the confidential information to obtain an unfair advantage in the negotiations.
Apple pushes for a sanction against Samsung
The court is now attempting to learn more about exactly how Samsung employees received access to the confidential documents. The court wants to consider all the evidence before deciding whether sanctions should be imposed against Samsung. However, Samsung has not been cooperating with the court as it tries to determine exactly what happened. The company has chosen not to provide sworn testimony from the executives involved.
Lawyers for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) claim that there is no need for formal discovery into the case and say that the company can’t provide evidence about who had access to the confidential information, what it was used for, and when and where it was used. The court has ordered some emails and communications to be delivered, however, in addition to depositions from Samsung employees who were able to view the documents.
At least 50 employees of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) are accused of keeping access to some confidential documents from one of the patent battles between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Samsung. That’s according to a court order spotted by Florian Mueller of Foss Patents.
Apple – Nokia documents exposed
The documents explained the terms of a licensing deal between Apple and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V). Those terms were supposed to only be disclosed to Samsung’s outside counsel. Currently Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seeking sanctions against Samsung for allowing its employees to view the confidential documents.
According to the claims, Samsung executive Dr. Seungho Ahn told Nokia that he knew the terms of its deal with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) while negotiating with Nokia for their own licensing terms with the company. He also said referenced a statement made by Nokia’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer Paul Melin. He said Apple had disclosed the licensing deal in its legal battle with Samsung and that Samsung’s outside counsel gave his team the terms of that deal. Dr. Ahn even went so far as to recite the terms of the deal, saying that “all information leaks.”
Dr. Ahn tried to push Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) into making the same deal it did with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that the terms between those two companies should be the same as the terms between Nokia and Samsung. Nokia now says Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) executives unfairly used knowledge of the confidential information to obtain an unfair advantage in the negotiations.
Apple pushes for a sanction against Samsung
The court is now attempting to learn more about exactly how Samsung employees received access to the confidential documents. The court wants to consider all the evidence before deciding whether sanctions should be imposed against Samsung. However, Samsung has not been cooperating with the court as it tries to determine exactly what happened. The company has chosen not to provide sworn testimony from the executives involved.
Lawyers for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) claim that there is no need for formal discovery into the case and say that the company can’t provide evidence about who had access to the confidential information, what it was used for, and when and where it was used. The court has ordered some emails and communications to be delivered, however, in addition to depositions from Samsung employees who were able to view the documents.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Nokia's handset business bought by Microsoft for €5.44bn
Microsoft has swooped in to buy the handset business of Finland's Nokia, an audacious move that confirms the Redmond software company's intention to compete with Apple and Google head-on as a "devices and services" business.
The deal, for €5.44bn (£4.6bn), gives Microsoft a company which used to dominate the mobile and smartphone market in 2006 but has been overshadowed by the rise of Apple and, latterly, Samsung and companies using Google's Android software.
For Nokia, it means that a decades-long heritage as one of the world's leading mobile phone makers - which had been a source of huge pride in Finland - is over.
As part of the deal Stephen Elop, now Nokia's chief executive, will rejoin Microsoft, which he left in September 2010 to take over the then-struggling Finnish company. Elop, 49, has been tipped as a leading contender to become the next chief executive of Microsoft, after the announcement at the end of August by Steve Ballmer that he would depart within 12 months. A total of 32,000 Nokia staff will join Microsoft, including 4,700 based in Finland.
Microsoft is also providing €1.5bn of "immediate financing" to Nokia, implying that the Finnish company has hit a cash crunch. Its debt has already been reduced to "junk" status. If used, the loan will be repayable when the deal closes.
"For Nokia, this is an important moment of reinvention and from a position of financial strength, we can build our next chapter," said Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors, who now takes over as the interim chief executive of the remaining parts of Nokia. Those are Nokia Siemens Networks, which builds mobile phone infrastructure and its HERE mapping platform. The NSN and mapping business are now just over 50% of revenues, and barely profitable. Elop recently completed the acquisition of 50% of NSN that was owned by Siemens.
But even inside cash-rich Microsoft, Nokia's phone business faces serious challenges. Its handset business has slumped in size from a peak in the third quarter of 2010, with revenues of €7.2bn, to just €2.72 in the second quarter of this year, its smallest size in more than a decade. It has also been lossmaking for five of the past six quarters.
While it is strong in the "feature phone" business in the developing world, it has struggled in the all-important smartphone business. Apple's iPhone and handsets running Google's Android together make up over 95% of sales in the US and China, the world's two largest smartphone markets, according to Kantar Worldpanel's latest figures. Windows Phone only has shares above 10% in Mexico and France, according to the company's figures.
Under the deal, Microsoft is buying the "Lumia" and "Asha" brand names that Nokia has used for its smart and intermediate phones. It has licensed the use of the Nokia brand on handsets for ten years, but the Finnish business will retain ownership of the brand. That will probably mean that the Nokia brand disappearing from handsets in the next decade, ending over 30 years' history in the business.
Having started in 1865 with a pulp mill in the Finnish town of Tampere, Nokia reinvented itself repeatedly, shifting to rubber boot production early in the 20th century, and then making its first telephone exchange in the 1970s. Its first mobile phone appeared in 1981.
Rumours that Microsoft intended to buy Nokia had been floated since Elop joined the company. When he chose to dump its home-grown Symbian and Meego smartphone software in favour of Microsoft's newer Windows Phone software in February 2011, a number of Finnish observers accused him of being a "Trojan horse" for Microsoft.
Ballmer said in a statement: "It's a bold step into the future – a win-win for employees, shareholders and consumers of both companies. Bringing these great teams together will accelerate Microsoft's share and profits in phones, and strengthen the overall opportunities for both Microsoft and our partners across our entire family of devices and services."
But the deal could also mean that BlackBerry's best chance of being acquired, by Microsoft, is over. The Canadian handset maker, which has seen its revenues and handset sales plummet, has formed a committee seeking alternatives including a sale. But Carolina Milanesi, smartphone analyst at research group Gartner, commented: "In case there was still hope out there for BlackBerry, this [purchase by Microsoft] is pretty much it. Microsoft will be more aggressive than Nokia in pursuing enterprises."
The deal, for €5.44bn (£4.6bn), gives Microsoft a company which used to dominate the mobile and smartphone market in 2006 but has been overshadowed by the rise of Apple and, latterly, Samsung and companies using Google's Android software.
For Nokia, it means that a decades-long heritage as one of the world's leading mobile phone makers - which had been a source of huge pride in Finland - is over.
As part of the deal Stephen Elop, now Nokia's chief executive, will rejoin Microsoft, which he left in September 2010 to take over the then-struggling Finnish company. Elop, 49, has been tipped as a leading contender to become the next chief executive of Microsoft, after the announcement at the end of August by Steve Ballmer that he would depart within 12 months. A total of 32,000 Nokia staff will join Microsoft, including 4,700 based in Finland.
Microsoft is also providing €1.5bn of "immediate financing" to Nokia, implying that the Finnish company has hit a cash crunch. Its debt has already been reduced to "junk" status. If used, the loan will be repayable when the deal closes.
"For Nokia, this is an important moment of reinvention and from a position of financial strength, we can build our next chapter," said Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors, who now takes over as the interim chief executive of the remaining parts of Nokia. Those are Nokia Siemens Networks, which builds mobile phone infrastructure and its HERE mapping platform. The NSN and mapping business are now just over 50% of revenues, and barely profitable. Elop recently completed the acquisition of 50% of NSN that was owned by Siemens.
But even inside cash-rich Microsoft, Nokia's phone business faces serious challenges. Its handset business has slumped in size from a peak in the third quarter of 2010, with revenues of €7.2bn, to just €2.72 in the second quarter of this year, its smallest size in more than a decade. It has also been lossmaking for five of the past six quarters.
While it is strong in the "feature phone" business in the developing world, it has struggled in the all-important smartphone business. Apple's iPhone and handsets running Google's Android together make up over 95% of sales in the US and China, the world's two largest smartphone markets, according to Kantar Worldpanel's latest figures. Windows Phone only has shares above 10% in Mexico and France, according to the company's figures.
Under the deal, Microsoft is buying the "Lumia" and "Asha" brand names that Nokia has used for its smart and intermediate phones. It has licensed the use of the Nokia brand on handsets for ten years, but the Finnish business will retain ownership of the brand. That will probably mean that the Nokia brand disappearing from handsets in the next decade, ending over 30 years' history in the business.
Having started in 1865 with a pulp mill in the Finnish town of Tampere, Nokia reinvented itself repeatedly, shifting to rubber boot production early in the 20th century, and then making its first telephone exchange in the 1970s. Its first mobile phone appeared in 1981.
Rumours that Microsoft intended to buy Nokia had been floated since Elop joined the company. When he chose to dump its home-grown Symbian and Meego smartphone software in favour of Microsoft's newer Windows Phone software in February 2011, a number of Finnish observers accused him of being a "Trojan horse" for Microsoft.
Ballmer said in a statement: "It's a bold step into the future – a win-win for employees, shareholders and consumers of both companies. Bringing these great teams together will accelerate Microsoft's share and profits in phones, and strengthen the overall opportunities for both Microsoft and our partners across our entire family of devices and services."
But the deal could also mean that BlackBerry's best chance of being acquired, by Microsoft, is over. The Canadian handset maker, which has seen its revenues and handset sales plummet, has formed a committee seeking alternatives including a sale. But Carolina Milanesi, smartphone analyst at research group Gartner, commented: "In case there was still hope out there for BlackBerry, this [purchase by Microsoft] is pretty much it. Microsoft will be more aggressive than Nokia in pursuing enterprises."
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Microsoft announces massive company-wide reorganization
After weeks of "major restructuring" rumors, Microsoft is confirming a company-wide reorganization on Thursday. In a large staff memo, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer details how the company is aiming for a "One Microsoft," by altering its organization around the "devices and services" vision. The restructuring is massive and touches every corner of Microsoft, shifting its executives into different roles.
Terry Myerson will lead a new operating systems engineering group that will span across console, mobile device, and PC. Myerson used to lead the Windows Phone group at Microsoft, but will now oversee the development of Windows across the various ways it's used at Microsoft, including the Xbox OS. Julie Larson-Green takes over a new devices and studios engineering group. Larson-Green took over from former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky to run the Windows division. Her new role will see her lead a group with all hardware development out of Microsoft, including Surface, Xbox, and all PC-related accessories. A separate applications and services engineering group will be led by Qi Lu, focused on the apps, services, and search products from Microsoft.
On the enterprise side, a new cloud and enterprise engineering group led by Satya Nadella will oversee back-end technologies like datacenter, database, and other enterprise IT-related technologies. Nadella will also run Microsoft's tools and datacenter development, construction, and operations. Microsoft is keeping Eric Rudder in charge of the company's massive Research efforts, while Rick Rashid is moving away from Research into the operating systems group.
Marketing will now be led by Tami Reller, former Windows CFO, who will focus on a new marketing group. Mark Penn, the former Clinton electioneer behind Microsoft's anti-Google campaign will "take a broad view" of the marketing strategy according to Microsoft. COO Kevin Turner will continue leading the worldwide sales, field marketing, services, support, and stores.
Tony Bates, former head of Microsoft's Skype division, takes a bigger role that leads the business development and evangelism group. Bates will focus on partnerships like Yahoo and Nokia, while taking the many evangelist groups at Microsoft under his control. Finally, Amy Hood will lead a finance group reporting to Kevin Turner, while the legal group will be run by general counsel Brad Smith. HR responsibilities will continue under Lisa Brummel.
Overall, the changes are sweeping and huge for Microsoft as the company looks to change its structure and management in key areas to try and focus on a Microsoft that works together across divisions, rather than one that has traditionally competed internally. As part of the changes, former Office chief Kurt DelBene is retiring from the company. Ballmer rallies the troops several times in his memo, outlining "One strategy, united together, with great communication, decisiveness and positive energy is the only way to fly." He notes the company's successes, "but we all want more," he says. It's lots of change for Microsoft's 90,000+ employees, and Ballmer simply signed off his company-wide email with "Let’s go."
Source: http://foxhippo.com/698356
Terry Myerson will lead a new operating systems engineering group that will span across console, mobile device, and PC. Myerson used to lead the Windows Phone group at Microsoft, but will now oversee the development of Windows across the various ways it's used at Microsoft, including the Xbox OS. Julie Larson-Green takes over a new devices and studios engineering group. Larson-Green took over from former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky to run the Windows division. Her new role will see her lead a group with all hardware development out of Microsoft, including Surface, Xbox, and all PC-related accessories. A separate applications and services engineering group will be led by Qi Lu, focused on the apps, services, and search products from Microsoft.
On the enterprise side, a new cloud and enterprise engineering group led by Satya Nadella will oversee back-end technologies like datacenter, database, and other enterprise IT-related technologies. Nadella will also run Microsoft's tools and datacenter development, construction, and operations. Microsoft is keeping Eric Rudder in charge of the company's massive Research efforts, while Rick Rashid is moving away from Research into the operating systems group.
Marketing will now be led by Tami Reller, former Windows CFO, who will focus on a new marketing group. Mark Penn, the former Clinton electioneer behind Microsoft's anti-Google campaign will "take a broad view" of the marketing strategy according to Microsoft. COO Kevin Turner will continue leading the worldwide sales, field marketing, services, support, and stores.
Tony Bates, former head of Microsoft's Skype division, takes a bigger role that leads the business development and evangelism group. Bates will focus on partnerships like Yahoo and Nokia, while taking the many evangelist groups at Microsoft under his control. Finally, Amy Hood will lead a finance group reporting to Kevin Turner, while the legal group will be run by general counsel Brad Smith. HR responsibilities will continue under Lisa Brummel.
Overall, the changes are sweeping and huge for Microsoft as the company looks to change its structure and management in key areas to try and focus on a Microsoft that works together across divisions, rather than one that has traditionally competed internally. As part of the changes, former Office chief Kurt DelBene is retiring from the company. Ballmer rallies the troops several times in his memo, outlining "One strategy, united together, with great communication, decisiveness and positive energy is the only way to fly." He notes the company's successes, "but we all want more," he says. It's lots of change for Microsoft's 90,000+ employees, and Ballmer simply signed off his company-wide email with "Let’s go."
Source: http://foxhippo.com/698356
Windows Phone tweaks back Lumia 1020's 41MP camera
Microsoft had to change its Windows Phone 8 architecture to accommodate the Nokia Lumia 1020p's super high-res image capture and processing.
Nokia's new Lumia 1020 may be a Windows 8 phone, but Microsoft's OS division had to do some shuffling before the phone's enormous 41-megapixel camera could work.
First, Microsoft had to tweak Windows Phone 8 architecture to let the Lumia 1020's camera software processes two images, Windows Phone SVP Joe Belfiore said in an interview Microsoft posted online: one that captures a terrific amount of visual detail, and the condensed 5-megapixel version that's actually small enough to upload and e-mail.
In addition, Microsoft also had to code Windows Phone 8's photo viewer to improve its zoom capability in order to handle the far greater information stored within the larger resolution Lumia 1020 shots.
These changes also equipped Nokia's own camera apps, which include the controls to manually change exposure settings as well as extra features like HDR and panorama modes.
Now, did it really take a year and a half to change up the Windows Phone 8 architecture enough to get the 41-megapixel experience of Nokia's 808 PureView Symbian phone transferred over to a Lumia device.
On the Microsoft side, Windows Phone 7, the OS at the time Nokia became a mostly-Windows Phone shop, just didn't have the chops to handle image processing at high levels, and despite knowing about Nokia's 41-megapixel aspirations from the get go, it apparently took some work for Windows Phone 8 OS to gain that capability, too.
On Nokia's side, I suspect they had to tame that huge bulge created by the camera module in the original phone, which undoubtedly took engineering work to pull off, before they could get enough carrier interest to sign on for the device.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/299873
Nokia's new Lumia 1020 may be a Windows 8 phone, but Microsoft's OS division had to do some shuffling before the phone's enormous 41-megapixel camera could work.
First, Microsoft had to tweak Windows Phone 8 architecture to let the Lumia 1020's camera software processes two images, Windows Phone SVP Joe Belfiore said in an interview Microsoft posted online: one that captures a terrific amount of visual detail, and the condensed 5-megapixel version that's actually small enough to upload and e-mail.
In addition, Microsoft also had to code Windows Phone 8's photo viewer to improve its zoom capability in order to handle the far greater information stored within the larger resolution Lumia 1020 shots.
These changes also equipped Nokia's own camera apps, which include the controls to manually change exposure settings as well as extra features like HDR and panorama modes.
Now, did it really take a year and a half to change up the Windows Phone 8 architecture enough to get the 41-megapixel experience of Nokia's 808 PureView Symbian phone transferred over to a Lumia device.
On the Microsoft side, Windows Phone 7, the OS at the time Nokia became a mostly-Windows Phone shop, just didn't have the chops to handle image processing at high levels, and despite knowing about Nokia's 41-megapixel aspirations from the get go, it apparently took some work for Windows Phone 8 OS to gain that capability, too.
On Nokia's side, I suspect they had to tame that huge bulge created by the camera module in the original phone, which undoubtedly took engineering work to pull off, before they could get enough carrier interest to sign on for the device.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/299873
Friday, July 5, 2013
Microsoft Will Pay Ex-Windows Boss Steven Sinofsky For His Unvested Stock Worth Over $14 Million Today
Microsoft has agreed to cash out 418,361 shares of unvested stock awarded to ex-Windows boss Steven Sinofsky before he left the company on November 12, 2012.
If all of them were paid out today, with the stock trading at ~$34, Sinofsky would be getting $14.2 million.
Those were part of the terms of Sinofsky's retirement revealed in a form filed to the SEC and spotted Wednesday by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley.
Specifically, Microsoft will pay Sinofsky for all of his outstanding unvested stock granted prior to its fiscal year 2013, which just ended in June. He'll also get half of the stock awarded for his performance during fiscal year 2013, it said.
Microsoft will pay Sinofsky over time, through August 2016. He'll get the market price on the day the stock is payable so if the stock falls, it will be less than $14 million and if rises, he'll get more.
The SEC agreement also revealed other terms of Sinofsky's retirement. He can't take a job with one of Microsoft's competitors before Dec. 31, 2013. He was forbidden from poaching Microsoft employees or customers, from bashing Microsoft and from revealing Microsoft's intellectual property secrets. They both agreed not to sue each other, too.
Vesting is typically used to ensure that an employee will stick around. In this case, Microsoft PR told Foley that given Sinofsky's 23 years at the company, Microsoft offered him "the economic value of the stock awards he earned during his employment, similar to the retirement benefits we provide employees who work at least 15 years and retire at 55 or older."
With this agreement, Sinofsky is also obligated to help Microsoft "with intellectual property litigation until January 1, 2017," Microsoft PR pointed out. Sinofsky has been involved with at least two such lawsuits in the past few years, Foley reports.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/496469
If all of them were paid out today, with the stock trading at ~$34, Sinofsky would be getting $14.2 million.
Those were part of the terms of Sinofsky's retirement revealed in a form filed to the SEC and spotted Wednesday by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley.
Specifically, Microsoft will pay Sinofsky for all of his outstanding unvested stock granted prior to its fiscal year 2013, which just ended in June. He'll also get half of the stock awarded for his performance during fiscal year 2013, it said.
Microsoft will pay Sinofsky over time, through August 2016. He'll get the market price on the day the stock is payable so if the stock falls, it will be less than $14 million and if rises, he'll get more.
The SEC agreement also revealed other terms of Sinofsky's retirement. He can't take a job with one of Microsoft's competitors before Dec. 31, 2013. He was forbidden from poaching Microsoft employees or customers, from bashing Microsoft and from revealing Microsoft's intellectual property secrets. They both agreed not to sue each other, too.
Vesting is typically used to ensure that an employee will stick around. In this case, Microsoft PR told Foley that given Sinofsky's 23 years at the company, Microsoft offered him "the economic value of the stock awards he earned during his employment, similar to the retirement benefits we provide employees who work at least 15 years and retire at 55 or older."
With this agreement, Sinofsky is also obligated to help Microsoft "with intellectual property litigation until January 1, 2017," Microsoft PR pointed out. Sinofsky has been involved with at least two such lawsuits in the past few years, Foley reports.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/496469
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Microsoft rolls out first Windows 8.1 bug fixes
The new updates correct glitches in Windows Store apps and Internet Explorer 11, among other items.
The Windows 8.1 Preview has received its first set of bug fixes less than a week after its debut.
Rolled out Tuesday, the six updates address several issues, two of which are rated important and four rated as recommended items.
One of the important updates is simply a virus definition update for Windows Defender, the default security program for Windows 8 and 8.1. The other update improves the compatibility between Windows 8.1 and several third-party programs, such as AutoCAD, Parallels Desktop, Norton security software, and AVG Internet Security.
Among the four recommended updates, the first one fixes a problem with Windows Store apps crashing upon launch. The second one says it "improves the robustness of data files in Windows 8.1" but doesn't indicate exactly what that means. The third update resolves a bug that prevented Google account holders from signing in through certain applications. And the final update addresses an issue that kept IE 11 users from resuming file downloads.
The same updates are available for users of the Windows RT 8.1 Preview. As always, Windows users with automatic updates turned on need not do anything for the updates to install. Those with automatic updates turned off will need to access the Windows Update screen in the Updates & Recovery section under PC Settings to manually trigger the updates
Source: http://foxhippo.com/533492
The Windows 8.1 Preview has received its first set of bug fixes less than a week after its debut.
Rolled out Tuesday, the six updates address several issues, two of which are rated important and four rated as recommended items.
One of the important updates is simply a virus definition update for Windows Defender, the default security program for Windows 8 and 8.1. The other update improves the compatibility between Windows 8.1 and several third-party programs, such as AutoCAD, Parallels Desktop, Norton security software, and AVG Internet Security.
Among the four recommended updates, the first one fixes a problem with Windows Store apps crashing upon launch. The second one says it "improves the robustness of data files in Windows 8.1" but doesn't indicate exactly what that means. The third update resolves a bug that prevented Google account holders from signing in through certain applications. And the final update addresses an issue that kept IE 11 users from resuming file downloads.
The same updates are available for users of the Windows RT 8.1 Preview. As always, Windows users with automatic updates turned on need not do anything for the updates to install. Those with automatic updates turned off will need to access the Windows Update screen in the Updates & Recovery section under PC Settings to manually trigger the updates
Source: http://foxhippo.com/533492
Windows 8's Windows Store hits the 100,000 app milestone as it gains momentum
Children have a way of growing up fast, and the new kid on the app-store block certainly hasn’t bucked that trend. Late on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that the Windows Store has crossed the 100,000 app threshold, mere days after the company’s big Build conference and a scant eight months after the launch of Windows 8.
Sure, the store didn’t hit that mark in the three months that one ambitious Microsoft executive predicted, but the Windows Store did reach 100k apps faster than both Google Play and iOS’s App Store (albeit long after those markets established a consumer thirst for apps). And, after a somewhat sluggish start and an extreme slow down shortly after the holidays, it’s no small accomplishment for the Windows Store to hit 100,000 apps so soon after its conception.
The Windows Store isn’t complete despite hitting the lofty number. There’s still a general dearth of big-name apps, and both the quality and the quantity of specific slices of the store can be … questionable, as I covered in-depth earlier this year. Read: A lot of those apps are pretty spammy, or rip-offs playing off the name of more established software and services.
Things have gotten better since then, however. From video to music to games and business, most people will be able to find enough apps to scratch their mobile itch—and many, many more apps have been released since those round-ups were written. There is still work to do, but the bones are there. Desktop aficionados will even find modern-style conversions of old favorites like WinZip and (soon) the VLC media player.
Yes, the Windows Store has 100,000 apps, and it’s a major milestone—but numbers alone do not an app store make. Quantity is nice, but quality is the true differentiator.
And Microsoft finally seems to be putting the pedal to the quality metal. The company has long been wooing developers to the Windows Store, and the number of new apps spiked in the days before Build. And it’s not just small fish swimming down the Windows 8 river; premier offerings like Facebook, Flipboard, Foursquare, and more are going to land on Windows 8 in the coming months, while stars like Twitter and MLB.tv have already landed.
Even better, those apps will have some fancy new digs to call home. The Windows 8.1 update includes a bevy of new apps, including a completely revamped Windows Store with a whole new look, personalized recommendations, a UI that minimizes needless scrolling, and—finally—short text descriptions below each app in the menu screens.
You’d think that hitting 100,000 apps would be the perfect time to pause, take a breath, and reflect on what you’ve done. For Microsoft, all the hard work is just starting to hint at a payoff now that this milestone has been reached.
This is no time to let up steam: Windows 8 and the modern UI lives or dies by the Windows Store. At 100,000 apps strong, Microsoft is just starting to build momentum, and it must be maintained. If Microsoft continues along the trajectory it’s on, in time, the Windows Store could become a source of strength rather than a source of contention.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/969945
Sure, the store didn’t hit that mark in the three months that one ambitious Microsoft executive predicted, but the Windows Store did reach 100k apps faster than both Google Play and iOS’s App Store (albeit long after those markets established a consumer thirst for apps). And, after a somewhat sluggish start and an extreme slow down shortly after the holidays, it’s no small accomplishment for the Windows Store to hit 100,000 apps so soon after its conception.
The Windows Store isn’t complete despite hitting the lofty number. There’s still a general dearth of big-name apps, and both the quality and the quantity of specific slices of the store can be … questionable, as I covered in-depth earlier this year. Read: A lot of those apps are pretty spammy, or rip-offs playing off the name of more established software and services.
Things have gotten better since then, however. From video to music to games and business, most people will be able to find enough apps to scratch their mobile itch—and many, many more apps have been released since those round-ups were written. There is still work to do, but the bones are there. Desktop aficionados will even find modern-style conversions of old favorites like WinZip and (soon) the VLC media player.
Yes, the Windows Store has 100,000 apps, and it’s a major milestone—but numbers alone do not an app store make. Quantity is nice, but quality is the true differentiator.
And Microsoft finally seems to be putting the pedal to the quality metal. The company has long been wooing developers to the Windows Store, and the number of new apps spiked in the days before Build. And it’s not just small fish swimming down the Windows 8 river; premier offerings like Facebook, Flipboard, Foursquare, and more are going to land on Windows 8 in the coming months, while stars like Twitter and MLB.tv have already landed.
Even better, those apps will have some fancy new digs to call home. The Windows 8.1 update includes a bevy of new apps, including a completely revamped Windows Store with a whole new look, personalized recommendations, a UI that minimizes needless scrolling, and—finally—short text descriptions below each app in the menu screens.
You’d think that hitting 100,000 apps would be the perfect time to pause, take a breath, and reflect on what you’ve done. For Microsoft, all the hard work is just starting to hint at a payoff now that this milestone has been reached.
This is no time to let up steam: Windows 8 and the modern UI lives or dies by the Windows Store. At 100,000 apps strong, Microsoft is just starting to build momentum, and it must be maintained. If Microsoft continues along the trajectory it’s on, in time, the Windows Store could become a source of strength rather than a source of contention.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/969945
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Windows 8.1 vs. Apple: Twofer or tablet?
With Windows 8.1 comes scads of hybrids from PC makers eager to show the world that you really don't need to carry around that iPad anymore.
Will new Windows 8.1 hybrids finally expose the iPad for what it really is, a mere tablet?
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
When speaking at the company's Build Conference on Wednesday, he described in colorful -- and maybe just a tad exaggerated -- terms how tablets don't measure up to laptops (or even pencil and paper).
Enter the "2-in-1," as Microsoft likes to call hybrids. During his keynote presentation, Ballmer brandished the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix as an example of a 2-in-1 he has used.
The Helix can be a pure tablet or can snap into a dedicated keyboard and become a full-fledged laptop, replete with a mainstream Core i5 processor and a 1,920x1,080 resolution 11.6-inch display.
That was essentially Ballmer's pitch at Build. The salient advantage Windows 8.1 devices have over Apple tablets is that you need only one hybrid, not two separate devices.
And Ballmer knows that a lot more Helix-like 2-in-1 devices are on the way, packing Intel's battery-life friendly Haswell and Bay Trail processors.
That's all good except that Apple's iPad 5 is coming too. The 2,048x1,536 pixel-density, 9.7-inch tablet is expected to be lighter/thinner and more powerful, sporting iOS 7 and next-gen Apple A7 silicon.
And there's a booming market for third-party keyboards that turn the iPad into a quasi-laptop.
Then there's the next-gen iPad Mini, which will likely be even more popular.
Not to mention the very-well-received 2013 MacBook Air, which no single Windows ultrabook even comes close to in sales.
Is Ballmer right? Will 2-in-1 devices running Windows 8.1 steer consumers away from the next iPad? Maybe even get them to jettison their MacBooks?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/946473
Will new Windows 8.1 hybrids finally expose the iPad for what it really is, a mere tablet?
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
When speaking at the company's Build Conference on Wednesday, he described in colorful -- and maybe just a tad exaggerated -- terms how tablets don't measure up to laptops (or even pencil and paper).
Enter the "2-in-1," as Microsoft likes to call hybrids. During his keynote presentation, Ballmer brandished the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix as an example of a 2-in-1 he has used.
The Helix can be a pure tablet or can snap into a dedicated keyboard and become a full-fledged laptop, replete with a mainstream Core i5 processor and a 1,920x1,080 resolution 11.6-inch display.
That was essentially Ballmer's pitch at Build. The salient advantage Windows 8.1 devices have over Apple tablets is that you need only one hybrid, not two separate devices.
And Ballmer knows that a lot more Helix-like 2-in-1 devices are on the way, packing Intel's battery-life friendly Haswell and Bay Trail processors.
That's all good except that Apple's iPad 5 is coming too. The 2,048x1,536 pixel-density, 9.7-inch tablet is expected to be lighter/thinner and more powerful, sporting iOS 7 and next-gen Apple A7 silicon.
And there's a booming market for third-party keyboards that turn the iPad into a quasi-laptop.
Then there's the next-gen iPad Mini, which will likely be even more popular.
Not to mention the very-well-received 2013 MacBook Air, which no single Windows ultrabook even comes close to in sales.
Is Ballmer right? Will 2-in-1 devices running Windows 8.1 steer consumers away from the next iPad? Maybe even get them to jettison their MacBooks?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/946473
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Windows 8.1 Download ISO
You can download Windows 8.1 Preview ISO images from this website:
http://foxhippo.com/457435
In case you need Windows 8.1 Preview Key:
NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F
http://foxhippo.com/457435
In case you need Windows 8.1 Preview Key:
NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F
Windows 8.1: Meet the new and vastly improved Windows Store
Windows 8.1 (codenamed Windows "Blue") brings a redesigned and much improved Windows Store that should make it easier for users to find applications.
A search box is now present at all times, whereas in Windows 8 users have to swipe from the right or put the cursor in the top or bottom right of the screen to bring up the charm with the search button.
The new store has a bigger emphasis on the promotion of top apps instead of categorization by genre. You can still easily bring up categories, but they are no longer the first thing you're presented with.
Automatic updating of apps will be supported, and people will be able to buy gift cards with stored balances. Microsoft is promising an improved in-app purchase experience, although since all we have now is the preview of the software, we can't say exactly how it will work.
To show how the Store has changed and improved, here is a look at the Windows Store in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (we'll call it "Windows Blue" to make it easier to distinguish).
A search box is now present at all times, whereas in Windows 8 users have to swipe from the right or put the cursor in the top or bottom right of the screen to bring up the charm with the search button.
The new store has a bigger emphasis on the promotion of top apps instead of categorization by genre. You can still easily bring up categories, but they are no longer the first thing you're presented with.
Automatic updating of apps will be supported, and people will be able to buy gift cards with stored balances. Microsoft is promising an improved in-app purchase experience, although since all we have now is the preview of the software, we can't say exactly how it will work.
To show how the Store has changed and improved, here is a look at the Windows Store in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (we'll call it "Windows Blue" to make it easier to distinguish).
Microsoft Launches Windows 8.1 Preview With Start Button, Deep SkyDrive Integration, Smarter Search Tool & More
Microsoft today officially launched Windows 8.1 Preview, the first public beta of its flagship operating system’s next version, at its Build developer conference in San Francisco today. For Microsoft, Windows 8.1 represents a chance to fix some of the issues with Windows 8. The fact that Microsoft is bringing back the Start button and now allowing users to boot right into the desktop is a sign that the company has been listening to its users. In many ways, 8.1 — even in this Preview version — is what Windows 8 should have been.
As Microsoft has said for a while now, the usual three-year update cycles for Windows don’t really work anymore in today’s environment. Even though Microsoft delivered over 700 improvements to Windows 8 since its launch, Windows 8.1 represents quite a bit more than just the culmination of these efforts. It’s not just a service pack but actually includes a good number of new features that do make it far more usable than the previous version.
START BUTTON, BOOT TO DESKTOP AND MORE
The Start button is obviously the main attraction here for many users. It’s worth noting, though, that while the Start button is back, the Start Menu isn’t coming back anytime soon. By default, clicking the Start button takes you to the good-old Start menu. Thankfully, however, Microsoft has added a new Apps screen that can take the place of the Start menu when you click the Start button. The Apps screen simply lists all your apps without the interference of live tiles and other embellishments. You can sort the list by name, most often used and newest apps. You can also invoke the Apps screen by swiping up from the Start screen.
As Microsoft announced earlier this year, it’s also now finally possible to boot directly into the desktop again. When combined with the Apps screen, this allows you to almost completely bypass the Start menu when you use Windows 8.1.
Ahead of the official unveiling, there had been rumors that Windows 8. 1 would also allow users to customize how the OS would handle corner navigation, but so far, it only looks as if the only options are to turn this feature off.
Talking about the Start screen: Microsoft has added quite a few new features to it to improve its usefulness. It’s now much easier to rearrange apps (including multiple apps at the same time), and app tiles can now be both larger and smaller than before. You can also select animated backgrounds for the Start menu (which are actually pretty cool) or choose to use the same background for your desktop and the Start screen.
SEARCH
Another marquee feature of Windows 8.1 is the new search tool. As Microsoft previously revealed, the built-in search tool can now look for way more than files and settings. Instead, it’s now a universal search tool that looks for results on the web (using Bing), your hard drive, SkyDrive, inside your documents and in apps that support this feature. The search charm will, for example, show you results from the revamped Xbox Music service and let you play songs right from the search results. When you open the search results, you can also immediately find links to related Wikipedia entries, see images and, if relevant, nearby attractions, upcoming events and an artist’s songs, albums and similar info.
WINDOWS STORE APPS: UP TO 4 SIDE-BY-SIDE
The other major change in Windows 8.1 is that when you use two Windows Store apps (previously known as Metro or Modern UI apps) side-by-side, you can now resize these windows at will. Previously, you could only choose between relegating one app to a sidebar and having the other fill the rest of the screen. The other issues with Windows 8 and Store apps was that you could only see two of them at a time and if you had a second screen, these apps were stuck on one screen only. Now, Windows Store apps can take over all of your screens and you can see up to four per screen if your resolution is high enough. The general rule is one app for every 500 pixels of screen width. This is one of the many Windows 8. 1 features Windows 8 should’ve had right from the beginning, but it’s good to see that Microsoft has finally added this now.
SKYDRIVE EVERYWHERE (WITH BETTER PHOTO EDITING)
For Windows 8.1, SkyDrive is the cloud. This new version deeply integrates SkyDrive, so you don’t need a separate app for syncing your files with SkyDrive anymore. Many of your PC’s settings are also now stored on SkyDrive, so when you log in to a new PC, everything should quickly feel at home.
It’s worth noting that not every file is automatically synced to every device. Most files will only be available after you have opened them on a given machine.
One feature Microsoft has also added to the SkyDrive app in the Windows 8.1 Preview is basic photo editing with filters and a smart color enhancement feature that lets you pump up the color of the sky or grass in an image.
UPDATED SETTINGS MENU
Here is another annoyance Microsoft fixed: previously, when you wanted to switch certain settings on your PC, there was also quite a bit of confusion about which settings were available through the modern UI and which would invoke the old-school Windows 7-like settings windows on the desktop. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has finally consolidated virtually all the settings you would regularly need in a settings menu in the modern UI mode. From there, you can manage everything from keyboard and Bluetooth settings to how you want to set up your multi-screen desktop and handle SkyDrive syncing with your PC.
WINDOWS STORE NOW FOCUSES ON DISCOVERY, NOT CATEGORIES, TAKES AWAY INSTALL LIMITS
With this update, Microsoft is also introducing a redesigned Windows Store, and apps you buy from the store now automatically update when a new version arrives (this is on by default, but you can always turn it off, too). The new store isn’t focused on categories anymore but now stresses app discovery and recommendations. When you open the store, the first thing you will see, however, is an editorial selection of some of the most interesting new apps according to Microsoft. As you scroll to the right, though, you begin to see personalized recommendations (powered by Bing), lists of popular apps and new releases. Finally, the standard lists of top free and paid apps are displayed. You can still get to the categories view by swiping down from the top of the screen (or right-clicking).
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is bringing the Windows Store to 70 new markets, which takes the total to 191, and it’s also introducing gift cards for loading up your Windows accounts in 41 markets.
With this update, Microsoft is also removing the previous five-device limit of how many devices you could install a given app on. Instead of enforcing a strict limit, Microsoft now uses its fraud detection algorithms to detect cheaters.
OTHER UPDATES
There are obviously plenty of other updates in Windows 8.1 Preview. There’s a new Xbox Music experience with a focus on your music collection and a Pandora-like radio feature, new apps for cooking and fitness and numerous other smaller updates. Internet Explorer 11, for example, isn’t a major revamp of the browser, but you can now open an infinite number of tabs, and bookmarks sync between all of your Windows devices and can even include nested favorites. The Mail app now features automatic filtering for newsletters, shortcuts for finding emails from your favorites and the sweep feature that Outlook.com users are already used to.
Another cool feature in Windows 8.1 is “reading lists,” which let you bookmark virtually anything from within apps or a browser that you want to get back to later.
The lock screen now functions as a personalized picture frame when you are not using the computer and you can answer Skype calls right from the lock screen without having to sign in.
WHAT WINDOWS 8 SHOULD HAVE BEEN
After having spent some time with the Windows 8.1 Preview on a Surface Pro now, it definitely feels like a very robust system already. It’s a shame that many of the features Microsoft is introducing now weren’t in Windows 8 already.
As Microsoft has said for a while now, the usual three-year update cycles for Windows don’t really work anymore in today’s environment. Even though Microsoft delivered over 700 improvements to Windows 8 since its launch, Windows 8.1 represents quite a bit more than just the culmination of these efforts. It’s not just a service pack but actually includes a good number of new features that do make it far more usable than the previous version.
START BUTTON, BOOT TO DESKTOP AND MORE
The Start button is obviously the main attraction here for many users. It’s worth noting, though, that while the Start button is back, the Start Menu isn’t coming back anytime soon. By default, clicking the Start button takes you to the good-old Start menu. Thankfully, however, Microsoft has added a new Apps screen that can take the place of the Start menu when you click the Start button. The Apps screen simply lists all your apps without the interference of live tiles and other embellishments. You can sort the list by name, most often used and newest apps. You can also invoke the Apps screen by swiping up from the Start screen.
As Microsoft announced earlier this year, it’s also now finally possible to boot directly into the desktop again. When combined with the Apps screen, this allows you to almost completely bypass the Start menu when you use Windows 8.1.
Ahead of the official unveiling, there had been rumors that Windows 8. 1 would also allow users to customize how the OS would handle corner navigation, but so far, it only looks as if the only options are to turn this feature off.
Talking about the Start screen: Microsoft has added quite a few new features to it to improve its usefulness. It’s now much easier to rearrange apps (including multiple apps at the same time), and app tiles can now be both larger and smaller than before. You can also select animated backgrounds for the Start menu (which are actually pretty cool) or choose to use the same background for your desktop and the Start screen.
SEARCH
Another marquee feature of Windows 8.1 is the new search tool. As Microsoft previously revealed, the built-in search tool can now look for way more than files and settings. Instead, it’s now a universal search tool that looks for results on the web (using Bing), your hard drive, SkyDrive, inside your documents and in apps that support this feature. The search charm will, for example, show you results from the revamped Xbox Music service and let you play songs right from the search results. When you open the search results, you can also immediately find links to related Wikipedia entries, see images and, if relevant, nearby attractions, upcoming events and an artist’s songs, albums and similar info.
WINDOWS STORE APPS: UP TO 4 SIDE-BY-SIDE
The other major change in Windows 8.1 is that when you use two Windows Store apps (previously known as Metro or Modern UI apps) side-by-side, you can now resize these windows at will. Previously, you could only choose between relegating one app to a sidebar and having the other fill the rest of the screen. The other issues with Windows 8 and Store apps was that you could only see two of them at a time and if you had a second screen, these apps were stuck on one screen only. Now, Windows Store apps can take over all of your screens and you can see up to four per screen if your resolution is high enough. The general rule is one app for every 500 pixels of screen width. This is one of the many Windows 8. 1 features Windows 8 should’ve had right from the beginning, but it’s good to see that Microsoft has finally added this now.
SKYDRIVE EVERYWHERE (WITH BETTER PHOTO EDITING)
For Windows 8.1, SkyDrive is the cloud. This new version deeply integrates SkyDrive, so you don’t need a separate app for syncing your files with SkyDrive anymore. Many of your PC’s settings are also now stored on SkyDrive, so when you log in to a new PC, everything should quickly feel at home.
It’s worth noting that not every file is automatically synced to every device. Most files will only be available after you have opened them on a given machine.
One feature Microsoft has also added to the SkyDrive app in the Windows 8.1 Preview is basic photo editing with filters and a smart color enhancement feature that lets you pump up the color of the sky or grass in an image.
UPDATED SETTINGS MENU
Here is another annoyance Microsoft fixed: previously, when you wanted to switch certain settings on your PC, there was also quite a bit of confusion about which settings were available through the modern UI and which would invoke the old-school Windows 7-like settings windows on the desktop. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has finally consolidated virtually all the settings you would regularly need in a settings menu in the modern UI mode. From there, you can manage everything from keyboard and Bluetooth settings to how you want to set up your multi-screen desktop and handle SkyDrive syncing with your PC.
WINDOWS STORE NOW FOCUSES ON DISCOVERY, NOT CATEGORIES, TAKES AWAY INSTALL LIMITS
With this update, Microsoft is also introducing a redesigned Windows Store, and apps you buy from the store now automatically update when a new version arrives (this is on by default, but you can always turn it off, too). The new store isn’t focused on categories anymore but now stresses app discovery and recommendations. When you open the store, the first thing you will see, however, is an editorial selection of some of the most interesting new apps according to Microsoft. As you scroll to the right, though, you begin to see personalized recommendations (powered by Bing), lists of popular apps and new releases. Finally, the standard lists of top free and paid apps are displayed. You can still get to the categories view by swiping down from the top of the screen (or right-clicking).
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is bringing the Windows Store to 70 new markets, which takes the total to 191, and it’s also introducing gift cards for loading up your Windows accounts in 41 markets.
With this update, Microsoft is also removing the previous five-device limit of how many devices you could install a given app on. Instead of enforcing a strict limit, Microsoft now uses its fraud detection algorithms to detect cheaters.
OTHER UPDATES
There are obviously plenty of other updates in Windows 8.1 Preview. There’s a new Xbox Music experience with a focus on your music collection and a Pandora-like radio feature, new apps for cooking and fitness and numerous other smaller updates. Internet Explorer 11, for example, isn’t a major revamp of the browser, but you can now open an infinite number of tabs, and bookmarks sync between all of your Windows devices and can even include nested favorites. The Mail app now features automatic filtering for newsletters, shortcuts for finding emails from your favorites and the sweep feature that Outlook.com users are already used to.
Another cool feature in Windows 8.1 is “reading lists,” which let you bookmark virtually anything from within apps or a browser that you want to get back to later.
The lock screen now functions as a personalized picture frame when you are not using the computer and you can answer Skype calls right from the lock screen without having to sign in.
WHAT WINDOWS 8 SHOULD HAVE BEEN
After having spent some time with the Windows 8.1 Preview on a Surface Pro now, it definitely feels like a very robust system already. It’s a shame that many of the features Microsoft is introducing now weren’t in Windows 8 already.
Friday, June 14, 2013
The end of Symbian: Nokia ships last handset with the mobile OS
This week, Finnish smartphone creator Nokia announced that it had shipped its final handset running the Symbian operating system. As the last company in the world building phones using the Symbian OS, Nokia's withdrawal from the platform means Symbian is now completely defunct.
Symbian's fall from dominance is a tale about which books can (and should) be written. Its origins date to the '80s, but as of 1998, Symbian's existence was formalized when an old PDA company, Psion, changed its name to Symbian and took funding from the major phone manufacturers at the time, including Ericsson and Motorola, to become the official caretaker of the rising mobile OS.
What killed symbian?
But Nokia has always been Symbian's biggest supporter. The company produced millions of phones running the OS, and the two have always had close ties. Together they dominated the cell phone market throughout the early 2000s; in fact, Symbian remained the top-selling smartphone OS worldwide until late 2010.
That abrupt reversal of fortune was due to a couple of factors: First, the rise of Android and iOS as the dominant phone OSes, sought-after by consumers dropping simplistic handsets in favor of smartphones. Second, Nokia's fall from grace (for much the same reason), along with its fateful 2011 decision to jump into bed with Microsoft and the Windows Phone OS. At that point, the only remaining Symbian backer (and the main contributor to the Symbian code base) said goodbye to the OS, and the writing was on the wall for what would happen next.
Today, Symbian is actually maintained by Accenture, a management consulting company, to which Nokia outsourced development (and shipped off thousands of employees) in 2011. Accenture is supposed to maintain the OS through 2016.
So, what killed Symbian? Complexity, according to Nokia. In reports, the company blamed Symbian's difficult and unfriendly code structure for the extended time it takes for a phone using that OS to be developed. BGR quotes a Nokia spokesperson complaining that a typical Symbian handset required 22 months of development time, compared to less than a year with Windows Phone. In today's environment, when markets are made and lost in a matter of weeks, that just won't fly.
For businesses with large deployments of Symbian smartphones, well, there's probably little need to fret. First, there's no question you've seen this day coming for at least a few years, and chances are you've long since figured out a successor to standardize on. For those stragglers, that deal with Accenture means you'll likely get security updates and other fixes for the next three years—that's plenty of time to decide whether you want to jump to Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or—dare we suggest it—BlackBerry. (The smart money seems to be on moving to Android.)
That said, support agreements tend to be fluid, especially with a product like Symbian that is now effectively off the market. While there's no sign that Symbian support activities are likely to shut down in the near future, it might be a good idea to accelerate any mobile migration plans just in case.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/636732
Symbian's fall from dominance is a tale about which books can (and should) be written. Its origins date to the '80s, but as of 1998, Symbian's existence was formalized when an old PDA company, Psion, changed its name to Symbian and took funding from the major phone manufacturers at the time, including Ericsson and Motorola, to become the official caretaker of the rising mobile OS.
What killed symbian?
But Nokia has always been Symbian's biggest supporter. The company produced millions of phones running the OS, and the two have always had close ties. Together they dominated the cell phone market throughout the early 2000s; in fact, Symbian remained the top-selling smartphone OS worldwide until late 2010.
That abrupt reversal of fortune was due to a couple of factors: First, the rise of Android and iOS as the dominant phone OSes, sought-after by consumers dropping simplistic handsets in favor of smartphones. Second, Nokia's fall from grace (for much the same reason), along with its fateful 2011 decision to jump into bed with Microsoft and the Windows Phone OS. At that point, the only remaining Symbian backer (and the main contributor to the Symbian code base) said goodbye to the OS, and the writing was on the wall for what would happen next.
Today, Symbian is actually maintained by Accenture, a management consulting company, to which Nokia outsourced development (and shipped off thousands of employees) in 2011. Accenture is supposed to maintain the OS through 2016.
So, what killed Symbian? Complexity, according to Nokia. In reports, the company blamed Symbian's difficult and unfriendly code structure for the extended time it takes for a phone using that OS to be developed. BGR quotes a Nokia spokesperson complaining that a typical Symbian handset required 22 months of development time, compared to less than a year with Windows Phone. In today's environment, when markets are made and lost in a matter of weeks, that just won't fly.
For businesses with large deployments of Symbian smartphones, well, there's probably little need to fret. First, there's no question you've seen this day coming for at least a few years, and chances are you've long since figured out a successor to standardize on. For those stragglers, that deal with Accenture means you'll likely get security updates and other fixes for the next three years—that's plenty of time to decide whether you want to jump to Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or—dare we suggest it—BlackBerry. (The smart money seems to be on moving to Android.)
That said, support agreements tend to be fluid, especially with a product like Symbian that is now effectively off the market. While there's no sign that Symbian support activities are likely to shut down in the near future, it might be a good idea to accelerate any mobile migration plans just in case.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/636732
Lightweight Microsoft Office available on iPhone
Even as a pared-down version of Microsoft's Office software package arrived on the iPhone, the company is holding out on extending that to the iPad and Android devices as it tries to boost sales of tablet computers running its own Windows system.
Microsoft also isn't selling Office Mobile for iPhone separately. Instead, it comes as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription, which also lets you use Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft made the app available through Apple's app store Friday.
Microsoft Corp is treading a fine line as it tries to make its subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have, the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft has been pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that has historically been sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis. Microsoft said it wants to give customers yet another reason to embrace subscriptions by offering Office on the iPhone only with a subscription.
The iPhone app will let people read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game. But many people will prefer doing those tasks on a tablet's larger screen. Office is available on those devices through a Web browser, but that requires a constant Internet connection, something many tablets don't have.
``The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better-suited for a larger mobile screen,'' said Josh Olson, an analyst with Edward Jones. ``The issue then becomes, `How do you provide the Office offering in its best-suited mobile environment without negating a distinguishing characteristic of the Windows 8 tablets?'''
He said Microsoft isn't likely to offer Office on the iPad and other tablets until it sees sufficient adoption of Windows tablets first. Because of that, the new mobile app is likely to increase consumer awareness, but it won't significantly increase subscriptions.
Another analyst, Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities, warned that delaying a tablet version on non-Windows devices will merely help competitors. ``Office is a bigger business for Microsoft than Windows, so we see more urgency to preserve and extend the Office franchise cross platform,'' he said.
Apple, for one, is refreshing its iWork package this fall, while Google bought Quickoffice last year. The two offerings are among several that are capable of working with Office files on mobile devices, though people using them may lose formatting and other details. Chris Schneider, a marketing manager with Microsoft's Office team, would not comment on any plans for the iPad or Android.
The regular version of Office works on Windows 8 tablets, and most of the features are available on a version designed for tablets running a lightweight version of Windows called RT. Customers needing to use Office on a larger screen than a phone might be drawn to the Windows tablets, which have lagged behind in sales and cachet compared with Apple's iPad and various devices running Google's Android system.
The iPhone app comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will sync with Microsoft's SkyDrive online storage service. Microsoft said people will be able to pick up a Word document exactly where they left off on another computer tied to the same account, while comments they add to a Word or Excel file will appear when they open it up on another machine.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/279239
Microsoft also isn't selling Office Mobile for iPhone separately. Instead, it comes as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription, which also lets you use Office on up to five Mac and Windows computers. Microsoft made the app available through Apple's app store Friday.
Microsoft Corp is treading a fine line as it tries to make its subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have, the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft has been pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that has historically been sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis. Microsoft said it wants to give customers yet another reason to embrace subscriptions by offering Office on the iPhone only with a subscription.
The iPhone app will let people read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game. But many people will prefer doing those tasks on a tablet's larger screen. Office is available on those devices through a Web browser, but that requires a constant Internet connection, something many tablets don't have.
``The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better-suited for a larger mobile screen,'' said Josh Olson, an analyst with Edward Jones. ``The issue then becomes, `How do you provide the Office offering in its best-suited mobile environment without negating a distinguishing characteristic of the Windows 8 tablets?'''
He said Microsoft isn't likely to offer Office on the iPad and other tablets until it sees sufficient adoption of Windows tablets first. Because of that, the new mobile app is likely to increase consumer awareness, but it won't significantly increase subscriptions.
Another analyst, Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities, warned that delaying a tablet version on non-Windows devices will merely help competitors. ``Office is a bigger business for Microsoft than Windows, so we see more urgency to preserve and extend the Office franchise cross platform,'' he said.
Apple, for one, is refreshing its iWork package this fall, while Google bought Quickoffice last year. The two offerings are among several that are capable of working with Office files on mobile devices, though people using them may lose formatting and other details. Chris Schneider, a marketing manager with Microsoft's Office team, would not comment on any plans for the iPad or Android.
The regular version of Office works on Windows 8 tablets, and most of the features are available on a version designed for tablets running a lightweight version of Windows called RT. Customers needing to use Office on a larger screen than a phone might be drawn to the Windows tablets, which have lagged behind in sales and cachet compared with Apple's iPad and various devices running Google's Android system.
The iPhone app comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will sync with Microsoft's SkyDrive online storage service. Microsoft said people will be able to pick up a Word document exactly where they left off on another computer tied to the same account, while comments they add to a Word or Excel file will appear when they open it up on another machine.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/279239
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is aiming squarely at mobile devices
With Windows 8 roughly halfway through its first year, and look how things have changed. A decade ago, you had a PC (maybe two) and you probably had a cell phone, which you used for making phone calls and not for Internet access. Today the average American adult has multiple devices capable of doing PC-like things, including a smartphone and, increasingly, a tablet or ebook reader. And we expect to be able to pick up any one of those devices and doing the kinds of tasks that used to be reserved exclusively for PCs.
Give Microsoft credit for spotting the rise of the tablet a year before it began. When they started planning Windows 8 in 2009, they focused on making it a worthy engine for tablets the size of a small notebook PC. But they didn't think small enough, because the real growth in tablets now is in the "bigger than a smartphone, smaller than a notebook" category.
That's where new Windows devices like the Acer Iconia W3-810 are intended to fit in.
Its 8.1-inch screen is too small to meet the original Windows 8 logo requirements. Even if you ignored that technicality, the initial release of Windows 8 wasn't designed to run on a device that small. And to add the final insult, most configuration options require you to go back to the desktop, which feels downright bizarre and decidedly not-touch-friendly on a device of this size.
Windows 8.1 addresses all of those issues. It specifically supports the 1280x800 resolution and screen size of this device, allowing two modern apps to run side by side. Virtually every configuration option has been redone in a touch-friendly style that doesn't require visiting the desktop.
Imagine that Start screen flipped to its more natural portrait orientation and only a few icons on the screen: the Kindle app, Music, Video, Mail, Skype. In that configuration, it's functionally not that different from an iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7.
The Acer lists for $380 with 32 GB of storage or $430 for 64 GB. Street prices will probably drop slightly thanks to online discounts, making its price comparable to an iPad Mini but at least $100 more than a Nexus 7. Similar devices from other manufacturers will no doubt appear around the same time as Windows 8.1, at the same or lower price points.
But that Windows 8.1 device can do something its competitors can't. It has the power to transform itself into a full-fledged desktop PC, capable of running Microsoft Office and other desktop apps. Use the HDMI cable to connect a large monitor (or use the wireless projection mode in Windows 8.1), add a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you've temporarily turned this small tablet into a full-fledged desktop PC. Unplug the monitor and throw the tablet into your traveling bag and it's a mobile device again.
Microsoft's gamble is that Windows users will see that capability as a positive, rather than as needless complexity. They're betting that frugal PC buyers will be attracted to the possibility of versatile devices. But in a world where we've become used to thinking of small, cheap devices as disposable, single-purpose tools, can that philosophy succeed?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/767638
Give Microsoft credit for spotting the rise of the tablet a year before it began. When they started planning Windows 8 in 2009, they focused on making it a worthy engine for tablets the size of a small notebook PC. But they didn't think small enough, because the real growth in tablets now is in the "bigger than a smartphone, smaller than a notebook" category.
That's where new Windows devices like the Acer Iconia W3-810 are intended to fit in.
Its 8.1-inch screen is too small to meet the original Windows 8 logo requirements. Even if you ignored that technicality, the initial release of Windows 8 wasn't designed to run on a device that small. And to add the final insult, most configuration options require you to go back to the desktop, which feels downright bizarre and decidedly not-touch-friendly on a device of this size.
Windows 8.1 addresses all of those issues. It specifically supports the 1280x800 resolution and screen size of this device, allowing two modern apps to run side by side. Virtually every configuration option has been redone in a touch-friendly style that doesn't require visiting the desktop.
Imagine that Start screen flipped to its more natural portrait orientation and only a few icons on the screen: the Kindle app, Music, Video, Mail, Skype. In that configuration, it's functionally not that different from an iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7.
The Acer lists for $380 with 32 GB of storage or $430 for 64 GB. Street prices will probably drop slightly thanks to online discounts, making its price comparable to an iPad Mini but at least $100 more than a Nexus 7. Similar devices from other manufacturers will no doubt appear around the same time as Windows 8.1, at the same or lower price points.
But that Windows 8.1 device can do something its competitors can't. It has the power to transform itself into a full-fledged desktop PC, capable of running Microsoft Office and other desktop apps. Use the HDMI cable to connect a large monitor (or use the wireless projection mode in Windows 8.1), add a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you've temporarily turned this small tablet into a full-fledged desktop PC. Unplug the monitor and throw the tablet into your traveling bag and it's a mobile device again.
Microsoft's gamble is that Windows users will see that capability as a positive, rather than as needless complexity. They're betting that frugal PC buyers will be attracted to the possibility of versatile devices. But in a world where we've become used to thinking of small, cheap devices as disposable, single-purpose tools, can that philosophy succeed?
Source: http://foxhippo.com/767638
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Windows 8.1 Start Button has finally been caught on video
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YTR8_-UVmHc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Source: http://foxhippo.com/596653
Source: http://foxhippo.com/596653
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Microsoft: 1 million Office 365 Home Premium subscribers on board
Microsoft has reached the 1 million subscriber mark with its Office 365 Home Premium product, officials said on May 29.
The company launched Office 365 Home Premium on January 29. For $99.99 per year, Office 365 Home Premium allows users to install Office client apps on up to five PCs and/or Macs in total. Users who subscribe rather than buy the single-use Office 2013 complement outright, also are supposed to receive regular feature updates and synchronization capabilities by signing in through Office.com.
Microsoft is trying to convince more users to subscribe to its software as if it were a service.
Microsoft officials are saying that the company reached the 1 million mark in about 100 days, or 3.5 months, according to the graphic in today's Office News Blog post. Microsoft officials compare that growth rate to those of other subscription services, like Instagram (which took 2.5 months to reach the 1 million mark, according to Microsoft); HuluPlus (5 months to 1 million); Spotify (5 months to 1 million); Dropbox (7 months to 1 million) and Facebook (10 months to 1 million).
I've asked Microsoft how many copies of Office 2013 (the local, non-subscription version) the company has sold to date. I'm doubtful the Softies are sharing that number, but if they do, I will update this post.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/388828
The company launched Office 365 Home Premium on January 29. For $99.99 per year, Office 365 Home Premium allows users to install Office client apps on up to five PCs and/or Macs in total. Users who subscribe rather than buy the single-use Office 2013 complement outright, also are supposed to receive regular feature updates and synchronization capabilities by signing in through Office.com.
Microsoft is trying to convince more users to subscribe to its software as if it were a service.
Microsoft officials are saying that the company reached the 1 million mark in about 100 days, or 3.5 months, according to the graphic in today's Office News Blog post. Microsoft officials compare that growth rate to those of other subscription services, like Instagram (which took 2.5 months to reach the 1 million mark, according to Microsoft); HuluPlus (5 months to 1 million); Spotify (5 months to 1 million); Dropbox (7 months to 1 million) and Facebook (10 months to 1 million).
I've asked Microsoft how many copies of Office 2013 (the local, non-subscription version) the company has sold to date. I'm doubtful the Softies are sharing that number, but if they do, I will update this post.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/388828
5 Windows 8 Gripes Microsoft Must Address
Thanks to low-cost tablets and Ultrabooks, more powerful processors and a growing diversity of form factors, Windows 8 might be primed to make gains.
The OS remains unpopular, though, so the appeal of better, cheaper machines will take hold only if Win8 itself becomes more satisfying. That puts the pressure squarely on Windows 8.1.
All the pieces will need to come together by this fall, lest Redmond suffer poor back-to-school and holiday sales for the second consecutive year. But June will still be the OS's first major proving ground. At the beginning of the month, the company will face many of its corporate customers and developers at its TechEd conference in New Orleans, and at the end of the month, it is expected to debut a preview version of Windows 8.1 during its developer-centric Build conference in San Francisco.
[ Is Windows 8.1 doomed by its own release date? Read Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong. ]
Until Redmond actually divulges new details, it remains to be seen how much -- and how quickly -- its new OS will change. Even so, June represents an opportunity for Redmond to reclaim the Win8 narrative and to circumvent a summer of continued negative buzz. Here are five Windows 8 criticisms Microsoft is likely to address in the next 30 days:
1. Windows 8's learning curve is too confusing.
Even Windows CMO/CFO Tami Reller now admits that Windows 8 needs to be easier to use, but Microsoft officials have also stalwartly defended the new OS's Live Tile-oriented Modern UI as a key part of the Windows line's long-term vision. Redmond recognizes, in other words, the need to mollify confused and dissatisfied users, but it's not clear how willing the company is to make tweaks.
The rumor mill has already concentrated on several potential fixes -- namely, whether Microsoft will restore the Start button or allow desktop users to boot directly to the desktop. If Win 8.1 integrates these features, aggravated users will no doubt appreciate that familiar tools have been resurrected to help them along. But it won't be enough.
Many Win8 features rely on hidden controls, such as the Charms Bar, which is central to navigating the OS but only accessible if users know how to swipe it into visibility. This sort of absence of visual clues or other guides has contributed to Win8 user frustration, and many will expect Microsoft not only to implement key features -- such as a "boot to desktop" mode -- but also to make the OS more intuitive from top to bottom.
2. Windows 8 is too schizophrenic.
This criticism is related to the above but deserves its own breakout category. For all the success Microsoft users have enjoyed syncing documents across devices via SkyDrive, it's ironic that cohesion between Win8's two interfaces is so poor. Internet Explorer is a particularly notable offender; if a user switches from IE in the Modern UI to IE in the traditional desktop mode, the Web browser will behave like a distinct app in each environment. Open tabs can't be synced as the user jumps from one UI to the other, for example. Windows 8.1 is rumored to include IE11, so Microsoft will have a chance to address this problem, and it's also rumored to include similar fixes, such as making the Control Panel equally accessible in each environment.
3. Windows 8 doesn't have enough apps.
The Windows Store now included nearly 80,000 Modern apps -- a far cry from the 700,000 or so that both iOS and Android enjoy, but still a substantial tally that somewhat negates the "not enough" criticisms. Microsoft isn't out of the woods, though; if the problem was originally "not enough," it's morphed into "not good enough."
Indeed, at least one study has suggested that Win8 users barely touch Modern apps, and it's not unreasonable to implicate Microsoft's lackluster native apps for setting a weak example. The OS's built-in Mail app, for example, lacks the functionality offered in Outlook.com, Microsoft's free Web mail service. To Redmond's credit, the company has been making efforts to attract developers, and Windows Store submissions have picked up after leveling off during the first few months of the year. Even so, there's still more work to be done.
4. Windows RT seems pointless.
Windows 8 has attracted its share of criticism, but Windows RT has been an absolute dud, with -- literally -- a 0% share of the OS market, and little support from OEMs. Microsoft raised many eyebrows when it decided to split its new OS into full-fledged and lightweight versions, and the decision makes even less sense today than it did then.
By this fall, Atom-based Win8 tablets could cost as little as $300 to $400 -- less, in other words, than Microsoft initially charged for its Surface RT. If the complete OS -- including its x86 access, which RT lacks -- can be had for such a low price, why should anyone pay comparable sums for an RT device? Will Redmond and its partners produce RT offerings that are cheaper than low-cost Android tablets? Will Microsoft and company reveal some other appeal?
Rumors have suggested Microsoft will debut a smaller Surface model this month, possibly an RT-based tablet to compete with the iPad Mini. It remains to be seen if this gossip translates to a real product, but it certainly adds to the intrigue in the meantime.
5. Windows 8 offers nothing for desktop users.
Windows chief Julie Larson-Green has insisted in recent weeks that Windows 8's new Start Screen is superior to the Start button it replaces. So far, desktop users haven't been persuaded. Worse, some traditional users have felt alienated by Redmond's recent touch-centricism. For desktop users, Win8 features some stability improvements under the hood -- but the benefits of the Modern UI, such as they are, have so far been most apparent on tablets.
Microsoft knows that many enterprises are still moving to Windows 7, and that a large portion of its user base might consequently wait to upgrade again until Windows 9 appears. Nevertheless, many will look for the company to reassert its dedication to not only today's mobile-oriented BYOD users but also the desktop-minded users who've helped Microsoft make its name.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/883764
The OS remains unpopular, though, so the appeal of better, cheaper machines will take hold only if Win8 itself becomes more satisfying. That puts the pressure squarely on Windows 8.1.
All the pieces will need to come together by this fall, lest Redmond suffer poor back-to-school and holiday sales for the second consecutive year. But June will still be the OS's first major proving ground. At the beginning of the month, the company will face many of its corporate customers and developers at its TechEd conference in New Orleans, and at the end of the month, it is expected to debut a preview version of Windows 8.1 during its developer-centric Build conference in San Francisco.
[ Is Windows 8.1 doomed by its own release date? Read Windows 8.1 Timing All Wrong. ]
Until Redmond actually divulges new details, it remains to be seen how much -- and how quickly -- its new OS will change. Even so, June represents an opportunity for Redmond to reclaim the Win8 narrative and to circumvent a summer of continued negative buzz. Here are five Windows 8 criticisms Microsoft is likely to address in the next 30 days:
1. Windows 8's learning curve is too confusing.
Even Windows CMO/CFO Tami Reller now admits that Windows 8 needs to be easier to use, but Microsoft officials have also stalwartly defended the new OS's Live Tile-oriented Modern UI as a key part of the Windows line's long-term vision. Redmond recognizes, in other words, the need to mollify confused and dissatisfied users, but it's not clear how willing the company is to make tweaks.
The rumor mill has already concentrated on several potential fixes -- namely, whether Microsoft will restore the Start button or allow desktop users to boot directly to the desktop. If Win 8.1 integrates these features, aggravated users will no doubt appreciate that familiar tools have been resurrected to help them along. But it won't be enough.
Many Win8 features rely on hidden controls, such as the Charms Bar, which is central to navigating the OS but only accessible if users know how to swipe it into visibility. This sort of absence of visual clues or other guides has contributed to Win8 user frustration, and many will expect Microsoft not only to implement key features -- such as a "boot to desktop" mode -- but also to make the OS more intuitive from top to bottom.
2. Windows 8 is too schizophrenic.
This criticism is related to the above but deserves its own breakout category. For all the success Microsoft users have enjoyed syncing documents across devices via SkyDrive, it's ironic that cohesion between Win8's two interfaces is so poor. Internet Explorer is a particularly notable offender; if a user switches from IE in the Modern UI to IE in the traditional desktop mode, the Web browser will behave like a distinct app in each environment. Open tabs can't be synced as the user jumps from one UI to the other, for example. Windows 8.1 is rumored to include IE11, so Microsoft will have a chance to address this problem, and it's also rumored to include similar fixes, such as making the Control Panel equally accessible in each environment.
3. Windows 8 doesn't have enough apps.
The Windows Store now included nearly 80,000 Modern apps -- a far cry from the 700,000 or so that both iOS and Android enjoy, but still a substantial tally that somewhat negates the "not enough" criticisms. Microsoft isn't out of the woods, though; if the problem was originally "not enough," it's morphed into "not good enough."
Indeed, at least one study has suggested that Win8 users barely touch Modern apps, and it's not unreasonable to implicate Microsoft's lackluster native apps for setting a weak example. The OS's built-in Mail app, for example, lacks the functionality offered in Outlook.com, Microsoft's free Web mail service. To Redmond's credit, the company has been making efforts to attract developers, and Windows Store submissions have picked up after leveling off during the first few months of the year. Even so, there's still more work to be done.
4. Windows RT seems pointless.
Windows 8 has attracted its share of criticism, but Windows RT has been an absolute dud, with -- literally -- a 0% share of the OS market, and little support from OEMs. Microsoft raised many eyebrows when it decided to split its new OS into full-fledged and lightweight versions, and the decision makes even less sense today than it did then.
By this fall, Atom-based Win8 tablets could cost as little as $300 to $400 -- less, in other words, than Microsoft initially charged for its Surface RT. If the complete OS -- including its x86 access, which RT lacks -- can be had for such a low price, why should anyone pay comparable sums for an RT device? Will Redmond and its partners produce RT offerings that are cheaper than low-cost Android tablets? Will Microsoft and company reveal some other appeal?
Rumors have suggested Microsoft will debut a smaller Surface model this month, possibly an RT-based tablet to compete with the iPad Mini. It remains to be seen if this gossip translates to a real product, but it certainly adds to the intrigue in the meantime.
5. Windows 8 offers nothing for desktop users.
Windows chief Julie Larson-Green has insisted in recent weeks that Windows 8's new Start Screen is superior to the Start button it replaces. So far, desktop users haven't been persuaded. Worse, some traditional users have felt alienated by Redmond's recent touch-centricism. For desktop users, Win8 features some stability improvements under the hood -- but the benefits of the Modern UI, such as they are, have so far been most apparent on tablets.
Microsoft knows that many enterprises are still moving to Windows 7, and that a large portion of its user base might consequently wait to upgrade again until Windows 9 appears. Nevertheless, many will look for the company to reassert its dedication to not only today's mobile-oriented BYOD users but also the desktop-minded users who've helped Microsoft make its name.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/883764
Microsoft Announces Skype And Lync Interoperability With IM & Audio To Start, Video Soon
Microsoft announced today that two of its big-name communications services – consumer-facing Skype and enterprise-ready Lync – will now interoperate, meaning users can access their Lync contacts via Skype and vice versa, and then message them or place an audio call. Support for video calling and other features, as well as support for additional platforms, are still in the works.
This news was pre-announced in February at a three-day conference solely dedicated to Lync, when the company spoke of Lync’s enterprise traction, noting that 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies use the service, and the entire ecosystem includes over 1,000 partners. Lync subscriptions have also grown from 3 million over a year ago to over 5 million, as of February, Microsoft said at the time.
But as Tony Bates, President of the Skype division at Microsoft, explained then, the idea with Lync and Skype interoperability is to enable what he dubbed “B2X.” “B2X places the focus of business communication on enabling human interactions. B2X puts people first and looks at communications in a unified way, not as disparate technology silos focused on one task or protocol,” he had said.
With the latest version of Skype, the Lync connectivity goes live just a couple of days ahead of the promised June launch timeframe. After signing in with a Microsoft ID, Skype users can search for Lync contacts by email, send them contact requests, then start chatting or Skype call them. (More detailed instructions are here http://foxhippo.com/523892).
Meanwhile, Lync users, too, can follow a similar process to communicate with their friends and family on Skype. However, in this case, the setup process has to first be kicked off by the Lync administrators. Enterprise I.T. staff has to enable Lync-Skype connectivity in either Lync Server, or in the admin center within the Office 365 portal for Lync Online. Again, Skype users will need to have the latest client (Mac and Windows only for now), while Lync users can use either Lync 2010 or Lync 2013 to initiate the communications, including any of the 2013 mobile clients. (Instructions for Lync are here http://foxhippo.com/332776).
Though Lync has been designed for the enterprise with those needs in mind, including things like administration with Active Directory, archiving and compliance tools, integration with Microsoft Office, extensibility with public APIs, and more, being able to reach any of Skype’s now 300 million active monthly users dramatically broadens the service’s reach going forward.
The effort to make this happen was no small undertaking. As TechCrunch previously reported, Microsoft made a lot of changes to Skype’s underlying P2P architecture as it scaled the service for the Live Messenger to Skype upgrade in advance of this move.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/759964
This news was pre-announced in February at a three-day conference solely dedicated to Lync, when the company spoke of Lync’s enterprise traction, noting that 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies use the service, and the entire ecosystem includes over 1,000 partners. Lync subscriptions have also grown from 3 million over a year ago to over 5 million, as of February, Microsoft said at the time.
But as Tony Bates, President of the Skype division at Microsoft, explained then, the idea with Lync and Skype interoperability is to enable what he dubbed “B2X.” “B2X places the focus of business communication on enabling human interactions. B2X puts people first and looks at communications in a unified way, not as disparate technology silos focused on one task or protocol,” he had said.
With the latest version of Skype, the Lync connectivity goes live just a couple of days ahead of the promised June launch timeframe. After signing in with a Microsoft ID, Skype users can search for Lync contacts by email, send them contact requests, then start chatting or Skype call them. (More detailed instructions are here http://foxhippo.com/523892).
Meanwhile, Lync users, too, can follow a similar process to communicate with their friends and family on Skype. However, in this case, the setup process has to first be kicked off by the Lync administrators. Enterprise I.T. staff has to enable Lync-Skype connectivity in either Lync Server, or in the admin center within the Office 365 portal for Lync Online. Again, Skype users will need to have the latest client (Mac and Windows only for now), while Lync users can use either Lync 2010 or Lync 2013 to initiate the communications, including any of the 2013 mobile clients. (Instructions for Lync are here http://foxhippo.com/332776).
Though Lync has been designed for the enterprise with those needs in mind, including things like administration with Active Directory, archiving and compliance tools, integration with Microsoft Office, extensibility with public APIs, and more, being able to reach any of Skype’s now 300 million active monthly users dramatically broadens the service’s reach going forward.
The effort to make this happen was no small undertaking. As TechCrunch previously reported, Microsoft made a lot of changes to Skype’s underlying P2P architecture as it scaled the service for the Live Messenger to Skype upgrade in advance of this move.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/759964
It pays to watch the advert breaks: Patent shows Microsoft's new Xbox One could reward watching adverts and TV
Have you gorged on an entire series of Game of Thrones? Then you deserve a reward. Microsoft plans to give special “awards” to viewers in return for watching television shows and adverts on its new Xbox One console.
A patent application lodged by the computer giant reveals that the company wants to incentivise television viewing by offering tangible “achievements” to everyone watching video content on its devices.
The concept, an extension of the “achievements” which Xbox 360 users unlock by completing in-game tasks, could lead to viewers getting free Microsoft products in return for watching television.
But the awards system would also require a hi-tech monitoring system to track every programme and advert watched by its users and confirm that they have actively engaged with the rewardable content.
The Microsoft patent states that television watching currently “tends to be a passive experience for a viewer.”
To increase interactive viewing and “encourage a user to watch one or more particular items of video content, awards and achievements may be tied to those items of video content,” the document logged with the US Patent and Trademark Office said.
“Producers, distributors, and advertisers of the video content may set viewing goals and award a viewer who has reached the goals.”
The reward could be virtual, in the form of extra scores on a game, or “coupons for an advertised product or service, or an actual product.” Viewers who complete a series could be rewarded with free downloads of a future show or a new game.
What if a viewer simply leaves their device in “play” mode before disappearing to play with their iPad? The patent suggests that the reward system could me made compatibile with Microsoft’s Kinect sensor.
The viewing behaviour could include “an action performable by the viewer and detectable by one or more sensors, such as a depth camera.” A sensor could detect whether a viewer’s eyes were really on the screen.
The patent also mentions a system “configured to track the viewing behaviours of one or more viewers” that can “compile one or more user-specific reports of the viewing behaviors, and send the user-specific reports to a remote device to determine whether the user-viewing goal has been met.”
Microsoft believes its patent, which it called The Awards and Achievements Across TV Ecosystem, will find favour with advertisers struggling to target viewers who can now speed through commercial breaks at high speed using digital catch-up services.
However Jeremy Toeman, CEO of Dijit Media, a startup which aims to transform the way in which people discover television programmes, said the Microsoft plan failed to grasp the motivation behind the viewing experience.
“The accomplishment of finishing Game of Thrones or (Netflix download series) House of Cards is that you watched it, you enjoyed it, and you gave up thirteen hours of your life to have that enjoyment,” Mr Toeman said. “I haven’t seen any success yet from any TV reward programme. What the industry doesn’t get is that watching the show is the reward.”
The patent did not state which platform the reward system would operate through but it is believed that the new Xbox One and 360 consoles are the likeliest targets.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/528587
A patent application lodged by the computer giant reveals that the company wants to incentivise television viewing by offering tangible “achievements” to everyone watching video content on its devices.
The concept, an extension of the “achievements” which Xbox 360 users unlock by completing in-game tasks, could lead to viewers getting free Microsoft products in return for watching television.
But the awards system would also require a hi-tech monitoring system to track every programme and advert watched by its users and confirm that they have actively engaged with the rewardable content.
The Microsoft patent states that television watching currently “tends to be a passive experience for a viewer.”
To increase interactive viewing and “encourage a user to watch one or more particular items of video content, awards and achievements may be tied to those items of video content,” the document logged with the US Patent and Trademark Office said.
“Producers, distributors, and advertisers of the video content may set viewing goals and award a viewer who has reached the goals.”
The reward could be virtual, in the form of extra scores on a game, or “coupons for an advertised product or service, or an actual product.” Viewers who complete a series could be rewarded with free downloads of a future show or a new game.
What if a viewer simply leaves their device in “play” mode before disappearing to play with their iPad? The patent suggests that the reward system could me made compatibile with Microsoft’s Kinect sensor.
The viewing behaviour could include “an action performable by the viewer and detectable by one or more sensors, such as a depth camera.” A sensor could detect whether a viewer’s eyes were really on the screen.
The patent also mentions a system “configured to track the viewing behaviours of one or more viewers” that can “compile one or more user-specific reports of the viewing behaviors, and send the user-specific reports to a remote device to determine whether the user-viewing goal has been met.”
Microsoft believes its patent, which it called The Awards and Achievements Across TV Ecosystem, will find favour with advertisers struggling to target viewers who can now speed through commercial breaks at high speed using digital catch-up services.
However Jeremy Toeman, CEO of Dijit Media, a startup which aims to transform the way in which people discover television programmes, said the Microsoft plan failed to grasp the motivation behind the viewing experience.
“The accomplishment of finishing Game of Thrones or (Netflix download series) House of Cards is that you watched it, you enjoyed it, and you gave up thirteen hours of your life to have that enjoyment,” Mr Toeman said. “I haven’t seen any success yet from any TV reward programme. What the industry doesn’t get is that watching the show is the reward.”
The patent did not state which platform the reward system would operate through but it is believed that the new Xbox One and 360 consoles are the likeliest targets.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/528587
Cisco: Microsoft's Deal With Skype Is Monopolistic
Cisco Systems, the world's leading network equipment maker, asked an EU court on Wednesday to annul the approval of Microsoft's purchase of Skype, saying EU regulators were wrong to allow the creation of a monopoly.
Cisco's challenge at the Luxembourg-based General Court follows the European Commission's approval of the $8.5 billion deal in 2011. Microsoft was not required to make any concessions for buying the Internet video and voice messaging company, which Cisco argues has given Microsoft/Skype an unfair advantage.
A third of the world's voice calls are now on Skype while over 280 million users use the service more than 100 minutes every month, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner said in March. Skype had 170 million users at the time of the deal.
The case is important as Internet-based voice and video has become a vast market, with many consumers and corporates abandoning traditional fixed-line and mobile as a result, and is an area in which Cisco had hoped to expand its presence.
The Microsoft acquisition "marked a tipping point in the video communications market,'' Cisco's lawyer, Luis Ortiz Blanco, told judges at Europe's second-highest court.
"The merger created an effective monopoly and condemned competitors to a niche. The reasoning applied (by the commission) incurred numerous errors,'' he said.
Corneliu Hoedlmayr, a lawyer for the commission, said Cisco's arguments were unconvincing.
"The applicants have failed to provide evidence of competitive harm,'' he told the court, citing the existence of other rivals to Skype such as Google Talk and Cyprus-based calling and messaging servicer Viber.
"Other technologies are emerging. If these succeed, it may render Skype a relic,'' he said.
Cisco is appealing together with Italian fixed-line and Internet telephone provider Messagenet SpA.
udges will rule in the coming months. Their verdict can be appealed to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court.
The last successful challenge to a commission merger-approval decision at the court was in 2002 in a case involving the Sony Music and BMG record labels. In the vast majority of cases, the court rules with the commission.
Cisco's challenge is one of four cases against the European Commission's rulings in merger cases, underlining the increasing willingness by companies to challenge decisions which they disagree with.
Deutsche Boerse last year filed an appeal against the commission's rejection of its merger with NYSE Euronext while UPS has also gone to court against a regulatory veto of its proposed TNT buy.
Ryanair has similarly said it will fight the commission's veto of its plan to buy Aer Lingus.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/542263
Cisco's challenge at the Luxembourg-based General Court follows the European Commission's approval of the $8.5 billion deal in 2011. Microsoft was not required to make any concessions for buying the Internet video and voice messaging company, which Cisco argues has given Microsoft/Skype an unfair advantage.
A third of the world's voice calls are now on Skype while over 280 million users use the service more than 100 minutes every month, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner said in March. Skype had 170 million users at the time of the deal.
The case is important as Internet-based voice and video has become a vast market, with many consumers and corporates abandoning traditional fixed-line and mobile as a result, and is an area in which Cisco had hoped to expand its presence.
The Microsoft acquisition "marked a tipping point in the video communications market,'' Cisco's lawyer, Luis Ortiz Blanco, told judges at Europe's second-highest court.
"The merger created an effective monopoly and condemned competitors to a niche. The reasoning applied (by the commission) incurred numerous errors,'' he said.
Corneliu Hoedlmayr, a lawyer for the commission, said Cisco's arguments were unconvincing.
"The applicants have failed to provide evidence of competitive harm,'' he told the court, citing the existence of other rivals to Skype such as Google Talk and Cyprus-based calling and messaging servicer Viber.
"Other technologies are emerging. If these succeed, it may render Skype a relic,'' he said.
Cisco is appealing together with Italian fixed-line and Internet telephone provider Messagenet SpA.
udges will rule in the coming months. Their verdict can be appealed to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court.
The last successful challenge to a commission merger-approval decision at the court was in 2002 in a case involving the Sony Music and BMG record labels. In the vast majority of cases, the court rules with the commission.
Cisco's challenge is one of four cases against the European Commission's rulings in merger cases, underlining the increasing willingness by companies to challenge decisions which they disagree with.
Deutsche Boerse last year filed an appeal against the commission's rejection of its merger with NYSE Euronext while UPS has also gone to court against a regulatory veto of its proposed TNT buy.
Ryanair has similarly said it will fight the commission's veto of its plan to buy Aer Lingus.
Source: http://foxhippo.com/542263
Friday, May 24, 2013
Nokia EOS With 41-Megapixel PureView Camera Confirmed; Release Date Rumored For July 9
Nokia is reportedly working on a Windows-running Lumia smartphone with a monstrous 41-megapixel PuerView camera technology.
Last year, Nokia had set the benchmark for smartphone camera that sports a monstrous 41 megapixel in its Nokia 808 PureView smartphone running Symbian operating system.
Since the launch of Nokia 808 PureView, there have been rumors about the company working on Windows-running Lumia smartphone with PureView camera technology, code-named EOS, but the rumors were silenced after the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC) that took place in Barcelona back in February.
Now, new rumors have again surfaced which say that the device would look similar to the recently launched Lumia 920 and will be launched in the second week of July or on July 9, according to MobileGeeks.
The most recent rumor indicates that the device will come with polycarbonate case and that it spots a 4.5-inch display at 1280 x 720-pixel resolution. The Nokia EOS will feature the 41-megapixel camera at the back with a Carl Zeiss lens along with a new Nokia Pro Camera application, a new Camera UI.
The PureView Camera will allow capturing at a maximum of 34-megapixel resolution just like the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone. It will also have a Full HD and HD video recording capabilities at different frames rates.
Earlier, rumor by MyNokiaBlog suggested that Nokia built two different models of EOS smartphone with similar PureView camera technology. Both EOS smartphones had the same specifications although each will be powered by different processors; one with dual-core CPU and another with Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU.
Though Nokia is working on both versions of EOS handsets, the blog mentions that the company is likely to release only one smartphone. The blog also explains that the quad-core model of EOS has poor battery performances, which ultimately led Nokia to release a dual-core variant of EOS smartphone. Nokia tested the quad-core version with a 2000 mAh battery similar to that of the Lumia 920.
Last year, Nokia had set the benchmark for smartphone camera that sports a monstrous 41 megapixel in its Nokia 808 PureView smartphone running Symbian operating system.
Since the launch of Nokia 808 PureView, there have been rumors about the company working on Windows-running Lumia smartphone with PureView camera technology, code-named EOS, but the rumors were silenced after the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC) that took place in Barcelona back in February.
Now, new rumors have again surfaced which say that the device would look similar to the recently launched Lumia 920 and will be launched in the second week of July or on July 9, according to MobileGeeks.
The most recent rumor indicates that the device will come with polycarbonate case and that it spots a 4.5-inch display at 1280 x 720-pixel resolution. The Nokia EOS will feature the 41-megapixel camera at the back with a Carl Zeiss lens along with a new Nokia Pro Camera application, a new Camera UI.
The PureView Camera will allow capturing at a maximum of 34-megapixel resolution just like the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone. It will also have a Full HD and HD video recording capabilities at different frames rates.
Earlier, rumor by MyNokiaBlog suggested that Nokia built two different models of EOS smartphone with similar PureView camera technology. Both EOS smartphones had the same specifications although each will be powered by different processors; one with dual-core CPU and another with Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU.
Though Nokia is working on both versions of EOS handsets, the blog mentions that the company is likely to release only one smartphone. The blog also explains that the quad-core model of EOS has poor battery performances, which ultimately led Nokia to release a dual-core variant of EOS smartphone. Nokia tested the quad-core version with a 2000 mAh battery similar to that of the Lumia 920.
Microsoft and Google working together on new YouTube Windows Phone app
Google is announcing today that it's working together with Microsoft on a new YouTube application for Windows Phone. Following a fight with Microsoft over its unauthorized YouTube app, the pair appear to have resolved their differences.
Google demanded that Microsoft should remove its app by May 22nd, but Microsoft issued an update to address some of Google's concerns earlier this week. Google says "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks."
Microsoft, for its part, has said that it's happy to include ads in its YouTube Windows Phone application if Google allows it and provides access to an official API. It appears that Google is now willing to grant Microsoft access to its official API, following complaints from the software giant that Google has previously prevented it from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for Windows Phone.
Microsoft's move to release its own full YouTube Windows Phone application, instead of a simple link to a mobile site, was a clear move to thrust the issue into the public domain and apply pressure to Google to open up its API or face the risk of appearing unreasonable. Microsoft will now work with Google on the new app, and will "replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time," according to a Google spokesperson.
The controversy follows months of bickering between the two technology giants, and this latest episode follows an uproar that led to Google removing a block of its Maps service for Windows Phone users. A collaboration will clearly benefit mutual customers of Microsoft and Google who simply want to use a Windows Phone with Google's web services.
Google demanded that Microsoft should remove its app by May 22nd, but Microsoft issued an update to address some of Google's concerns earlier this week. Google says "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks."
Microsoft, for its part, has said that it's happy to include ads in its YouTube Windows Phone application if Google allows it and provides access to an official API. It appears that Google is now willing to grant Microsoft access to its official API, following complaints from the software giant that Google has previously prevented it from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for Windows Phone.
Microsoft's move to release its own full YouTube Windows Phone application, instead of a simple link to a mobile site, was a clear move to thrust the issue into the public domain and apply pressure to Google to open up its API or face the risk of appearing unreasonable. Microsoft will now work with Google on the new app, and will "replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time," according to a Google spokesperson.
The controversy follows months of bickering between the two technology giants, and this latest episode follows an uproar that led to Google removing a block of its Maps service for Windows Phone users. A collaboration will clearly benefit mutual customers of Microsoft and Google who simply want to use a Windows Phone with Google's web services.
Microsoft: Over 1 Billion Next-Gen Consoles Will be Sold
"Most industry experts think the next generation will get upwards of about 400 million units."
Microsoft believes there will be over 1 billion lifetime sales of next-generation consoles, and is also hoping to break the 100 million sales mark for Xbox 360s in the next five years.
In an interview with OXM, the company's senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business Yusuf Mehdi explained that the consoles' broad multimedia focus would help them transcend the sales figures traditionally seen by consoles.
Microsoft believes there will be over 1 billion lifetime sales of next-generation consoles, and is also hoping to break the 100 million sales mark for Xbox 360s in the next five years.
In an interview with OXM, the company's senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business Yusuf Mehdi explained that the consoles' broad multimedia focus would help them transcend the sales figures traditionally seen by consoles.
"Every generation, as you’ve probably heard, has grown approximately 30%. So this generation is about 300 million units," he shared. "Most industry experts think the next generation will get upwards of about 400 million units. That’s if it’s a game console, over the next decade.
"We think you can go broader than a game console, that’s our aim, and you can go from 400 million to potentially upwards of a billion units. That’s how we’re thinking of the Xbox opportunity as we go forward."
As it currently stands, the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console of all time with 155 million units shipped, though the Nintendo DS is a close second with 153.87 million units sold. At the end of last year it was reported that the PlayStation 3 has now surpassed the worldwide shipped total of Xbox 360; the former has moved 77 million units, compared to the 76 million of the latter.
Despite this, Mehdi went on to say he's hopeful the Xbox 360 will break the 100 million unit sales mark within the next five years, and confirmed that the company has a number of ideas to help make this happen.
"We believe over the next five years we can break a 100 million unit installed base," he explained. "That’s something we’re shooting for, it’s not a financial plan as such, it’s just rough numbers if you will.
"To sell another 25 million, half of those will probably come from replacements, but half will come from new buyers. And the way we’ll break into those segments is by hitting new price points, getting new classes of entertainment to come with the Xbox, and breaking into new customer segments. So you’ll see the Xbox 360 continue to exist, even as we launch the next generation Xbox One."
Friday, May 10, 2013
No iTunes for Windows 8 devices anytime soon
Microsoft Windows 8 users will likely get access to all the most popular apps in Apple's iTunes store. But it's doubtful they'll get iTunes anytime soon, according to a recent interview a Microsoft exec gave to CNN Money.
Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division, said that by the holiday season the Microsoft will support the most popular apps in Apple's App Store in its own app store. Microsoft now has more than 60,000 apps available, and users have downloaded about 250 million of them.
But the one app that is likely to elude Windows 8 users for some time will be Apple's music and video app iTunes, Reller said.
"You shouldn't expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon," she told CNN Money. "ITunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It's not for lack of trying."
This doesn't mean that Windows 8 PC andtablet users can't get iTunes at all. They can. But their devices must be in "desktop mode." This is the traditional PC interface that works much better with a keyboard and mouse than a touch screen interface.
Apple has a long history of offering software for Windows computers, including iTunes as well as its Safari browser and its multimedia software Quicktime. It makes sense for Apple to play nice with Microsoft when it comes to providing software for its computers. After all, Apple is still a niche player in this market compared to Microsoft.
But when it comes to tablets, Apple still rules the roost with its own iPad product line. And it's clear that the company is not looking to make it any easier for Microsoft to compete in the tablet arena with its Windows 8 tablets.
Microsoft offers its own Music app for Windows 8 devices that helps people organize their music. But Reller admitted to CNN Money that iTunes is still more popular.
Microsoft's tablets using Windows 8 RT have struggled against the competition. And analysts aren't expecting strong sales for some time. Next year, the market for Windows 8 tablets that use Windows RT, will only be about 4 million. By 2014, that figure is expected to grow to 11.6 million, according to market research firm NPD Display Search.
There's no question Apple still dominates the tablet market with about 72 percent of all tablet sales in 2012, NPD Display Search has said. Apple may lose some ground to competitors in the next few years. But it won't be much. By 2017, the market research firm estimates Apple will control 50.9 percent of the market. Android, which has about 22.5 percent of the market today will grow to 40.5 percent by 2017. Meanwhile, Windows RT is forecast to garner only 7.5 percent of the tablet market by 2017.
Nokia unveils Lumia 928 in attempt to break into US market
Nokia has unveiled a new high-end smartphone, the Lumia 928, which it will sell exclusively through the second-largest US carrier, Verizon, aiming to expand its share in the premium market after years in which it has fallen behind rivals Samsung and Apple.
The announcement comes ahead of a high-profile announcement next Tuesday in London where the company is expected to outline its strategy for its smartphone business, now tied entirely to Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. Analysts reckon success in the high-margin smartphone market will be crucial for the Finnish company's long-term survival.
The new Lumia 928, priced at $99 if customers mail in a $50 rebate and sign to a two-year deal with Verizon, is similar to the Lumia 920 model currently sold through AT&T, but is lighter and slightly different in appearance.
It weighs 162g compared with 185g for the 920, which some critics had said was too heavy. The 4.5in screen also extends to the edge of the phone, giving a sharper impression than the curved edges of the 920. The new models also come in black and white, compared with the colourful options including blue, red and yellow, of the earlier Lumia range.
Most other features, such as a 8.7MP camera and 1.5GHz dual core processor by Qualcomm, are the same as the 920.
The 920 had only limited success for Nokia in the US; in the past four quarters the company has sold a total of just 2m phones in North America, and just 400,000 in the first quarter, according to its financial figures. But demonstrating the promise of the region, North America has had the highest average selling prices for phones for seven of the last eight quarters – despite also being the Finnish company's smallest region by volume and revenue. The US is the richest phone market in the world, though Samsung and Apple have increasingly cornered its smartphone segment: according to ComScore, 82m of the 137m smartphone users there use on or the other, while Windows Phone has around 3m users.
The 928 is the latest in Nokia's Lumia range of smartphones which use Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software.
Nokia switched to Windows Phone in 2011, aiming to compete with Apple's iPhones and rivals using Google's Android system. Though worldwide sales of Lumia phones have grown in recent quarters, at 5.6m in first quarter they still account for only around 5% of the overall smartphone market, which now makes up more than half of all mobile phone sales.
Earlier this week chief executive Stephen Elop launched a series of new products running Nokia's "Asha" software, which gives it some smartphone-like capability, priced in the lower and mid-tier range to protect its position in emerging markets such as India and China. However Nokia itself doesn't class Asha phones as smartphones, and the new models don't have 3G data capability.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
A Humbled Microsoft Outlines How It’s Rebooting Windows 8
A Microsoft executive is acknowledging what many tech-watchers already knew: The company’s Windows 8 software hasn’t gone off without a hitch, and Microsoft is turning itself inside out to respond.
Last fall’s launch of the new operating system was supposed to be a milestone to catapult Microsoft and its allies into the market for new kinds of computing devices–including tablets and convertible products–and help generally get consumers more interested in buying new PCs. Six months after the operating software’s debut, it isn’t yet a hit by the accounts of some PC executives and research firms.
One market-research firm, IDC, went so far as to say that Windows 8 did more than fail to revive the PC market–it actually turned off users with changes to basic elements of the widely used operating system.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Windows co-head Tami Reller was more candid than other Microsoft executives in saying Windows 8 hasn’t come on like gangbusters, though she said the company is seeing steady if not steep sales progress. She said Microsoft has sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses.
Without offering many details yet, Ms. Reller outlined how Microsoft is working on changing software features, helping people overcome obstacles to learning the revamped software, altering the shopping experience for consumers, getting more of people’s favorite apps available for Windows 8 and making sure a wider array of Windows 8 computing devices will be on sale.
Ms. Reller said Windows 8 was built to be ready to “evolve” to changing demand. “We didn’t get everything we dreamed of done,” she said in a meeting at Microsoft’s San Francisco offices.
She said Microsoft executives will make two sets of relevant disclosures in coming weeks. They will focus on Windows Blue, which Ms. Reller confirmed is both the codename for a coming update to Windows 8–with additional features and improved services–as well as a name for a broader strategy shift to provide faster changes to its key software than the typical pattern of providing new version once every three years or so.
First up soon will be details about pricing, packaging and an official name. (The “Blue” name will give way to an official brand, just as Microsoft’s Web-search engine was dubbed “Kumo” internally before it was launched as Bing.) The updated software will be available later this year in time for the holiday season, Ms. Reller said.
Ms. Reller said a second Blue update is expected before late June explaining the technical vision, addressing user gripes about Windows 8, and outlining options for new Windows 8 devices. Microsoft previously has acknowledged it is working to make Windows 8 available to power the suddenly popular smaller tablets, in the mold of the 7-inch Google GOOG -0.38% Nexus.
Ms. Reller declined to discuss Microsoft’s plans for more homegrown computing devices in addition to two models of its Surface tablet-style computer introduced since October. The Wall Street Journal has reported Microsoft’s is working on a new lineup of devices including a 7-inch version of the Surface.
Ms. Reller said people shouldn’t expected the company to discuss its Surface roadmap in coming weeks, dousing expectations of some analysts who had expected the company might do so at a June conference for software developers.
Ms. Reller also said what Windows 8 users and retailers have said for many months–Windows 8 is a better experience on touchscreen computers–and vowed that Microsoft will put all its weight behind touchscreen devices. She said Microsoft is spreading the message to retailers that if they want help from Microsoft’s marketing and promotional muscle, they will need to offer more and more variety of touchscreen Windows 8 machines.
Ms. Reller said by the fall, and certainly by the holiday shopping season, Microsoft expects there will be a wider array of touchscreen Windows 8 PCs at many different screen sizes, types and prices. She said Microsoft’s marketing push behind the updated Windows 8 will rival the hundreds of millions of dollars the company spent on TV commercials and other promotions around the fall Windows 8 launch.
Still, Ms. Reller acknowledged Windows 8 device sales would have been better if Microsoft and its allies had gotten a better mix of touchscreen devices last year. “If we could have done a better job accomplishing that in the holiday launch or [the] selling season following, that certainly would have made a positive difference,” Ms. Reller said.
Since the November departure of Steven Sinofsky, who had led Windows 8 development at Microsoft, Ms. Reller has overseen the Windows division with Julie Larson-Green. In their power-sharing role, Ms. Reller is responsible for the business functions of Windows, while Larson oversees engineering and other technical aspects of Windows software and hardware.
It remains to be seen whether Ms. Reller will stick around long enough to see Windows 8 through its changes. Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein recently said he plans to step down from his post and leave the company at the end of June, and Microsoft-watchers have speculated Ms. Reller’s professional experience seems to make her a good fit as his replacement.
Ms. Reller said, “I do love my current job,” but demurred when asked whether she might take the CFO post.
And a willingness to discuss Windows 8’s faults didn’t mean Ms. Reller was willing to concede to all the critics of Windows 8. She said she disagreed with IDC’s conclusions that Windows 8 was responsible for the first-quarter dropoff in PC shipments.
She said it is difficult for IDC and others to measure PC shipments at times of transition in the computing market. Ms. Reller showed a PowerPoint slide of weekly Windows 8 sales since its Oct launched that showed a slow trend of increasing sales.
Last fall’s launch of the new operating system was supposed to be a milestone to catapult Microsoft and its allies into the market for new kinds of computing devices–including tablets and convertible products–and help generally get consumers more interested in buying new PCs. Six months after the operating software’s debut, it isn’t yet a hit by the accounts of some PC executives and research firms.
One market-research firm, IDC, went so far as to say that Windows 8 did more than fail to revive the PC market–it actually turned off users with changes to basic elements of the widely used operating system.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Windows co-head Tami Reller was more candid than other Microsoft executives in saying Windows 8 hasn’t come on like gangbusters, though she said the company is seeing steady if not steep sales progress. She said Microsoft has sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses.
Without offering many details yet, Ms. Reller outlined how Microsoft is working on changing software features, helping people overcome obstacles to learning the revamped software, altering the shopping experience for consumers, getting more of people’s favorite apps available for Windows 8 and making sure a wider array of Windows 8 computing devices will be on sale.
Ms. Reller said Windows 8 was built to be ready to “evolve” to changing demand. “We didn’t get everything we dreamed of done,” she said in a meeting at Microsoft’s San Francisco offices.
She said Microsoft executives will make two sets of relevant disclosures in coming weeks. They will focus on Windows Blue, which Ms. Reller confirmed is both the codename for a coming update to Windows 8–with additional features and improved services–as well as a name for a broader strategy shift to provide faster changes to its key software than the typical pattern of providing new version once every three years or so.
First up soon will be details about pricing, packaging and an official name. (The “Blue” name will give way to an official brand, just as Microsoft’s Web-search engine was dubbed “Kumo” internally before it was launched as Bing.) The updated software will be available later this year in time for the holiday season, Ms. Reller said.
Ms. Reller said a second Blue update is expected before late June explaining the technical vision, addressing user gripes about Windows 8, and outlining options for new Windows 8 devices. Microsoft previously has acknowledged it is working to make Windows 8 available to power the suddenly popular smaller tablets, in the mold of the 7-inch Google GOOG -0.38% Nexus.
Ms. Reller declined to discuss Microsoft’s plans for more homegrown computing devices in addition to two models of its Surface tablet-style computer introduced since October. The Wall Street Journal has reported Microsoft’s is working on a new lineup of devices including a 7-inch version of the Surface.
Ms. Reller said people shouldn’t expected the company to discuss its Surface roadmap in coming weeks, dousing expectations of some analysts who had expected the company might do so at a June conference for software developers.
Ms. Reller also said what Windows 8 users and retailers have said for many months–Windows 8 is a better experience on touchscreen computers–and vowed that Microsoft will put all its weight behind touchscreen devices. She said Microsoft is spreading the message to retailers that if they want help from Microsoft’s marketing and promotional muscle, they will need to offer more and more variety of touchscreen Windows 8 machines.
Ms. Reller said by the fall, and certainly by the holiday shopping season, Microsoft expects there will be a wider array of touchscreen Windows 8 PCs at many different screen sizes, types and prices. She said Microsoft’s marketing push behind the updated Windows 8 will rival the hundreds of millions of dollars the company spent on TV commercials and other promotions around the fall Windows 8 launch.
Still, Ms. Reller acknowledged Windows 8 device sales would have been better if Microsoft and its allies had gotten a better mix of touchscreen devices last year. “If we could have done a better job accomplishing that in the holiday launch or [the] selling season following, that certainly would have made a positive difference,” Ms. Reller said.
Since the November departure of Steven Sinofsky, who had led Windows 8 development at Microsoft, Ms. Reller has overseen the Windows division with Julie Larson-Green. In their power-sharing role, Ms. Reller is responsible for the business functions of Windows, while Larson oversees engineering and other technical aspects of Windows software and hardware.
It remains to be seen whether Ms. Reller will stick around long enough to see Windows 8 through its changes. Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein recently said he plans to step down from his post and leave the company at the end of June, and Microsoft-watchers have speculated Ms. Reller’s professional experience seems to make her a good fit as his replacement.
Ms. Reller said, “I do love my current job,” but demurred when asked whether she might take the CFO post.
And a willingness to discuss Windows 8’s faults didn’t mean Ms. Reller was willing to concede to all the critics of Windows 8. She said she disagreed with IDC’s conclusions that Windows 8 was responsible for the first-quarter dropoff in PC shipments.
She said it is difficult for IDC and others to measure PC shipments at times of transition in the computing market. Ms. Reller showed a PowerPoint slide of weekly Windows 8 sales since its Oct launched that showed a slow trend of increasing sales.
Steve Ballmer: The boss who bet his company on Windows 8 – and lost as computer giant announces 'biggest product U-turn since New Coke'
Updated version of operating system will take into account complaints made by users as decision to overhaul the much-maligned operating system has put Bill Gates’s successor under pressure
It was, proclaimed Microsoft’s irrepressible salesman Steve Ballmer, a “bet-the-company” moment.
But the wager on Windows 8, a new operating system which would halt the slide in PC sales and challenge Apple’s iPad, has turned sour after the computer giant announced a humiliating U-turn.
In what has been described as the biggest admission of commercial failure for a major product launch since “new Coke” was withdrawn 30 years ago, Microsoft is to overhaul Windows 8, the software update which prompted a backlash from customers who found it impossible to navigate.
Pitched as an operating system for both desktop computers and tablets, Windows 8’s touch-screen interface confused Microsoft’s customers with its interactive “tile”-based start screen and the omission of the brand’s famous “Start” button.
Mr Ballmer, the Microsoft CEO, said he was “betting the company” on the worldwide launch of a range of Windows 8 desktops, laptops, notebooks and the company’s answer to the iPad, the new “Surface” tablet.
However, the Surface has failed to make an impression in the tablet market, and the lack of affordable touch-laptops able to use Windows 8 meant customers were left flailing with an operating system they had little idea how to use.
Despite selling 100 million licences, interest in Windows 8 has flagged and Tammy Reller, head of marketing and finance for the Windows business, announced a retreat, admitting that the software had defeated many users. “The learning curve is definitely real and we need to address it,” she said.
A new update, provisionally called Microsoft Blue, will be rolled out by the end of the year. Analysts expect it to restore the Start button. A “boot-to-desktop” option could bypass the unloved Windows 8 interface altogether. Ms Reller said: “We’ve considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward as well as making usability that much better on all devices.”
Investors are beginning to ask whether the exuberant Mr Ballmer, 57, who took over as CEO from Bill Gates in 2000, is still the man to take Microsoft forward after allowing rivals to revolutionise the market with touch-based mobile computing devices. Global PC sales slumped by 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
Mr Ballmer should quit now, said Joachim Kempin, a former Microsoft executive who helped to build the Windows business. “Microsoft is going into surface tablets. These tablets are OK products, but nothing really distinguishes them either,” he told the BBC.
Microsoft has alienated its manufacturing partners, Mr Kempin said, noting how Hewlett-Packard and Samsung are now producing tablets for Android, not Windows.
Investors talk of a “lost decade” at Microsoft but if they want Mr Ballmer out, it will require the support of Mr Gates, who remains the largest individual shareholder. Mr Gates hand-picked Mr Ballmer and has supported his attempts to move the company from desktop software to a cloud-based, networked future.
Under Mr Ballmer, Microsoft revenues have nearly tripled from $25.3bn (£16.6bn) in 2001 to $74.3bn in 2012. But the share price has failed to match rival Apple’s soaring stock-value.
The Windows 8 U-turn was inevitable, according to analysts. Richard Doherty, of technology research firm Envisioneering, said: “This is like New Coke, going on for seven months.”
Microsoft will make Windows 8 compatible with smaller, seven and eight inch tablets, which would allow hardware makers to compete against such popular devices as the iPad mini, Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire.
Bill Gates: iPad Users 'Frustrated,' Need Microsoft Surface
Only the Surface can provide a keyboard, apparently. -Bill Gates
The Microsoft Surface had a bit of a slow start over the past year, but Bill Gates still thinks the hybrid tablet offers some advantages over its main competition. Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stated iPad users are upset by a lack of physical keyboard and the unavailability of the Office productivity suite .
"With Windows 8, Microsoft is trying to gain market share in what has been dominated by the iPad-type device. But a lot those users are frustrated," said Gates. "They can't type. They can't create documents. They don't have Microsoft Office there."
As you might have guessed, Gates is referring to the Surface and Surface Pro. Admittedly, there's a lot to be gained from the addition of a physical keyboard, when compared with the sometimes aggravating inaccuracy of Apple's virtual offering in iOS. But at the same time, there's a wide assortment of third-party peripherals on the market, and apps like Google Docs are growing in popularity with tablet users.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with promoting your own company's products. And according to a report from research firm IDC, the Surface could use the boost. Microsoft's device only moved 900,000 units in the last quarter, compared to 19.5 million iPads.
Windows Phone Boss Terry Myerson on Microsoft’s Challenges, Android’s Messiness
Windows Phone head Terry Myerson is happy to talk about the limitations of his rivals.
From Microsoft’s way of thinking, the iPhone is too closed, and Android is too open.
Or, as Myerson puts it, Android “is still kind of a mess.” So why then is Windows Phone still struggling to expand beyond the single digits in market share?
Myerson did his best to address that, and more, while in the hot seat at D: Dive Into Mobile. He also foreshadowed more aggressive ads that take direct aim at rivals, as well as the need for Microsoft to better compete on price.
As for whether Microsoft needs its own phone, Myerson didn’t explicitly rule it out, but suggested that — for now, at least — Redmond is happy with the work being done by Nokia, HTC and others.
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