When Windows Mobile 6.5 launched four months ago Microsoft listed eight Windows Mobile 6.1 devices that would be upgradeable to 6.5. Unfortunately, at the time they were all listed as "date not yet available."
Today, T-Mobile announced that the Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrades are available now for the HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Dash 3G (a.k.a., HTC Rhodium).
Since this is a major upgrade, installing the new Windows Mobile ROM requires the user to download an update utility and software package to his PC and install it on the phone via USB. Fortunately, the new upgrades come just ahead of Mobile World Congress, when Microsoft is expected to unveil another update to the Windows Phone platform.
Bill Gates is many things: software giant, philanthropist, and now Twitter user.
As of a few hours ago, the Microsoft chairman is one of the millions offering brief takes on their world to anyone who wants to follow them. I doubt that he'll be sharing what he had for breakfast or bemoaning the fact that his cell phone just dropped a call, but Gates is now on Twitter.
The "@BillGates" account existed before, but it wasn't actually Gates or anyone on his staff doing the posts. Now, though, the account is held by Gates and is also one of the pages that Twitter lists as a "verified account."
In an announcement early this morning, Microsoft stated it is altering the policy of its search engine Bing with regard to retaining personal data collected from its users. Under a new policy that may take as long as 18 months to implement, the company says, it will anonymize its data logs after only six months of retention rather than the previous 18, in compliance with a European Union directive -- perhaps the first major US-based search engine to comply.
In April 2008, the European Union's advisory body of member states' telecommunications ministers, called the Article 29 Working Party, advised that search engines doing business in their region should anonymize the personally identifiable data they've collected on their users after a six-month period.
Microsoft's own branded smartphone may soon be upon us, at least according to one analyst.
"We expect Microsoft to debut its long-rumored 'Pink' phone within the next two months," Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert wrote in a Jan. 19 research note. "We believe the phone will be based on Windows Mobile 7, which has not yet been made generally available."
Egbert added that the device would likely make its debut at either February's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona or else at March's CTIA in Las Vegas. Furthermore, "We think Microsoft is partnering with a few OEM manufactures to create the Zune-like phone, which includes 720p HD video and at least a 5-megapixel camera." Windows Mobile 7 could include premium mobile services such as "a Zune video store and music subscription/purchasing ... [and] it could include social networking apps like Xbox Live, Facebook and Twitter."
No biggie here, but Microsoft this week delayed the release of its next software development suite, Visual Studio 2010, from March 22 until April 12. (Also delayed is the accompanying release of the .NET Framework 4 APIs for developers.) According to the software giant, beta testers have found a couple of problems that the company would like to resolve, so it's pushing back the release by three weeks.
Microsoft researcher Matt MacLaurin came up for the idea for Kodu in his kitchen in the fall of 2006, noticing the way his three-year-old daughter watched her mom browse away on Facebook. MacLaurin saw how different computing is now than when he was a kid. While his Commodore Pet was like a lump of clay that he could mold by writing software in Basic, his daughter's generation is using computers whose functions are already set in stone.
So he set about creating a new developer language that would appeal to the current generation of kids. He settled on one that would work with just a game controller, using basic rules to do things like move an apple across the screen.
Microsoft said on Thursday that senior vice president Bill Veghte is leaving the company after nearly two decades.
Veghte, who began his career as associate product manager on the Office team and who also headed North American sales, was most recently head of the business side of Windows. However, the 19-year veteran had transitioned those responsibilities to Steven Sinofsky, who last July was named to head both business and engineering efforts for the flagship operating system. At the time, Microsoft said Veghte would move to a new, unspecified role.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company intends to stay in business inside of China and obey the laws of that country, following Google's announcement that it is considering going home.
"We've been quite clear that we are going to operate in China, (and) we're going to abide by the law," Ballmer told CNBC following a meeting at the White House with President Obama on ways the government can use technology to cut costs. "Cyberattacks are an unfortunate way of life," he said.
With all eyes on cloud computing -- and figuring out cost-effective ways to leverage it for enterprise applications -- Microsoft and HP are aiming to cash in by joining up in an effort to provide combined solutions. Datamation takes a look.
Microsoft and HP today unveiled a three-year, $250 million partnership that aims "to significantly simplify technology environments for businesses of all sizes," according to company statements.
The two companies said they plan to provide the "deepest" integration to date of datacenter infrastructure from the hardware all the way up to the application level, with an emphasis on cloud computing -- specifically Microsoft's Azure.
Microsoft headed to New York in the hopes of making a splash at the annual trade show gala for retailers. Datamation has the story on the company's plans to court the retail segment with a Windows 7-based digital signage product and other services.
Microsoft kicked off its attendance at the National Retail Federation Annual Convention & Expo in New York this week by introducing a digital signage solution based on Windows Embedded Standard 2011, as well as an edition of its Dynamics AX ERP package designed for the retail sector.