Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 unveiled

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At the RoboDevelopment Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, Calif., Microsoft Corp. today announced the general availability of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 (Microsoft RDS), the newest version of its robotics programming platform. In April Microsoft unvieled the first version of the Robotics Developer Studio.
The new release version now costs money. The new release offers new licensing options by replacing its formal noncommercial and commercial licenses with three editions: a Standard Edition for professional developers, an Academic Edition for students and educational researchers, and an Express Edition for hobbyists and casual users.
While with previous versions, the user was allowed to distribute only 200 copies of the Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR) and Decentralized Software Services (DSS) runtimes, each license of the new Standard and Academic editions permits the user to distribute an unlimited number of copies of the CCR and DSS runtimes. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Standard Edition is available for $499.95. Read more

Posted on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Store opens, will it have a Black Friday Sale?

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Microsoft is going direct and launches an online store dubbed simply Microsoft Store.
The Microsoft Store is offering the complete software and hardware line-up of Microsoft. Yes this includes the Xbox 360 and the Zune players.
Selling direct is something that Apple has done for a very long time. I am not sure how Microsoft explained the move to open a store to their channel partners. Read more

Posted on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:36:17 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Arc Mouse Review

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Today we are looking at a notebook mouse from Microsoft called the Arc. The Microsoft Arc uses a folding design that makes it compact for storage and portability. Yet when unfolded it is almost the same size as a desktop mouse.

The mouse has programmable buttons and uses wireless connectivity for less clutter. A pouch is included for storing the mouse. Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:16:16 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Microsoft nears Deal on Search with Verizon: Report

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(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is moving closer to an agreement with Verizon Wireless to become the default search provider on the wireless carrier's cellphones, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:27:23 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft reveals Visual Studio 2010 Details

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Microsoft's Ed Zander revealed some details at the Tech Ed EMEA 2008 Developers conference about the next generation Visual Studio 2010 supporting Windows 7 development.
Microsoft is promising of course again that Visual Studio 2010 will simplify programming even more.
Visual Studio 2010 will deliver Windows 7 support, Microsoft Office Business Applications support, WPF-based editor and further C++ investments. Read more

Posted on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Yahoo's Yang says Microsoft Deal still best Option

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By Anupreeta Das

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After nearly a year spent seeking alternatives to Microsoft Corp's buyout offer, Yahoo Inc's Chief Executive Jerry Yang said he believes a deal between the two is still the best option for the beleaguered Internet company.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit hours after archrival Google Inc ditched its search advertising partnership with Yahoo, Yang said he remains open to selling the Internet company to Microsoft, but at the right price.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 6 Nov 2008 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft finds Digital Divas amongst the Female Online Population

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Microsoft, Mindshare and Ogilvy Chicago uncover Digital Divas in a study of women’s online behavior.
The study surveys more than 800 women on their digital domains, revealing insight on topics from everyday technology gadgets to overarching online philosophies and how and when they shop and “unplug.”
Coined Digital Divas, 16% of the women surveyed were found to have a higher propensity to shop, communicate and employ digital devices.
22% of the Digital Divas shop once per day the majority views devices such as cell phones and computers as “extensions of themselves." 86% pass along interesting “finds” to others. On average, they have 171 contacts in e-mail, social networking and cell phone address books. Read more

Posted on Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:37:10 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Research develops SenseWeb

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Microsoft is deploying tiny sensors throughout its datacenters to capture data that will allow it to better regulate energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.
Sensors can also be deployed in the wild to help scientists monitor and track environmental changes. The SenseWeb technology was shown at the PDC 2008 conference.

SensorMap is an application that mashes up sensor data from SenseWeb on a map interface, and provides interactive tools to selectively query sensors and visualize data, along with authenticated access to manage sensors. Read more

Posted on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:33:52 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Boku Game teaches Kids to Program

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Microsoft Research works on Boku, a stimulating game that introduces kids to programming while they play. Through programming Boku, a virtual robot, children learn the basic principles of programming logic, analysis, and design.
It is never too early to scout the next generation of Microsofties.

The 3-D interactive game is designed to demystify programming and to spark interest in science. Read more

Posted on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:24:26 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft warns of financial Crisis email Scams

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By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Internet fraudsters will try to exploit the global financial crisis by sending fraudulent emails purporting to offer cash-strapped consumers new mortgages, loans or money from failed banks, a Microsoft executive said on Wednesday.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:18:44 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft says next Office Suite will go on the Web

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By Daisuke Wakabayashi
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The next upgrade of Office business software from Microsoft Corp will include a version that edits word processing documents and spreadsheets inside a Web browser, the software maker said on Tuesday.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:10:38 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Anti-piracy Move irks Chinese Official

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BEIJING (Reuters) - A top Chinese copyright official chided Microsoft for launching an anti-piracy tool that nags users of counterfeit software with a black computer screen and said the company's prices were too high.
The U.S. software giant launched "Windows Genuine Advantage" in China last week, a program that turns the background of the Windows operating system's desktop black if the software fails a validation test.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:05:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft looks to rent Web Cloud Computing Space

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp took the wraps off a new computing service that allows companies to use its data centers to run their Web applications in a bid to become a player in the so-called "cloud computing" trend.
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, said on Monday it will start previewing "Windows Azure," a platform that allows third-party Web developers to host, manage, calculate and store data for applications running on the Internet.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:10:30 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing unveiled

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Microsoft announced at the PDC 2008 conference Azure Services Platform. Azure is Microsoft's Cloud Computing framework.
As anticipated aside from Windows 7, Microsoft's Cloud computing strategy takes center stage at the PDC 2008.

Windows Azure is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting, and service management environment for the Azure Services Platform. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand computing and storage to host and manage web applications on the internet through Microsoft data centers.

Microsoft will fill up developers attending PDC with Windows Azure cool aid. Let’s see if it can compete with Google. Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:05:03 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft to show Windows 7 and possibly their new Strategy for the Future

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The PDC 2008 conference will start today and as reported Microsoft will present the current state of Windows 7 to attending developers. Of course it is exciting to see what Windows 7 will look like and what new features it will bring. ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley has some insights on that. According to her the Windows 7 pre-beta build will include a device stage, action center, StreamOn, animation framework, new taskbar and shell, multi-touch, gesture recognition, improved Bluetooth and UI ribbons. Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:42:24 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Movie Streaming comes to Apple Mac enabled by Microsoft Silverlight

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Apple Mac users can now also stream movies from Netflix with the 2nd generation Netflix Media player based on Microsoft Silverlight.
Netflix started the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:09:37 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Revenue surpasses $15 billion last Quarter

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Microsoft posted another record quarter with revenue of $15.06 billion for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008, a 9% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $6.00 billion, $4.37 billion and $0.48, respectively.
The success is attributed mainly to enterprise software sales as client OS sales where flat (looks like the Seinfeld save Vista ad bonanza did not help). Also running well is the Xbox 360, but MS did not specify exact sales numbers for the Xbox 360. Microsoft should have though a great run with the Xbox this holidays with the new low prices and the upcoming Xbox 360 Experience update. Read more

Posted on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Chinese Surfers see red over Microsoft Black-outs

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BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Internet users have expressed fury at Microsoft's launch of an anti-piracy tool targeting Chinese computer users to ensure they buy genuine software and not a copy.
The "Windows Genuine Advantage" program, which turns the user's desktop black if the installed software fails a validation test, is Microsoft's latest weapon in its war on piracy in China, where the vast majority of 200 million computer users are believed to be using fake software, unwittingly or not.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:50:22 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft SideWinder X5 Mouse Review

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Today we are checking out the Microsoft SideWinder X5 gaming mouse. The mouse offers nice features like programmable buttons and macro recording capability.

Sensitivity for the mouse is adjustable and up to 2000 DPI. There are much more sensitive gaming mice on the market from other manufacturers, but the X5 may be a good alternative for some gamers. Read more

Posted on Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:40:39 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Microsoft Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack Review

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Today we are looking at the latest mouse technology from Microsoft. The mouse is called the Microsoft Explorer Mouse and it uses the new BlueTrack sensor promising improved tracking across a variety of surfaces.

The mouse is comfortable to use and uses wireless technology for connectivity. The full size design is intended for mobile users, but can be used at a desktop computer as well. Read more

Posted on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:47:36 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Norway Police charge Microsoft's Fast with Fraud

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OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian police' economic crimes unit said it had charged Microsoft-owned search technology firm Fast Search & Transfer with accounting fraud on Thursday.
"We are raiding Fast's offices now to secure evidence," police attorney Baard Thorsen said. "The charge is for accounting fraud."
Fast was acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion in February.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:45:32 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr