Microsoft has devised a Windows Touch Logo Program for its hardware and software partners that are integrating products with Windows 7. The company described some of the details in an announcement issued this week.
The aim of the program is to assure consumers that applications will work with touch-screen hardware using Microsoft's Windows Touch platform. Microsoft claims that Windows 7 will provide a rich platform to support touch on laptop, tablet and mobile devices.
Microsoft has added a feature to Live Search designed to give users up-to-the-minute information linked to a particular search query to help make searches more interactive for users.
Microsoft has enabled a new Active Answers feature for "flight status" queries, although it will expand the feature to include other search queries later, according to a post on theLive Search blog.
Now when users type "flight status" into the Live Search query box, not only do they get results for that query, but also another box at the top of the results page that allows them to type in an airline and the flight number so they can immediately search for information about a particular flight.
MySpace announced on Monday that developers can now build MySpace applications using Silverlight, Microsoft's plug-in for developing multimedia and rich Internet applications. The companies also said that a MySpace application for Windows Mobile that uses Silverlight will be released in a few months.
Microsoft and MySpace have released code that will help developers build OpenSocial applications using Silverlight that run on MySpace's Open Platform. OpenSocial is a platform for developing applications for social-networking sites and is supported by MySpace, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Friendster and others.
GPS navigation device vendor TomTom has agreed to pay Microsoft to settle patent-infringement cases the companies filed against each other in the last five weeks, but Microsoft will not pay fees to TomTom.
TomTom will pay Microsoft to license patents for technologies in its car navigation and file-management system, effectively settling a case Microsoft filed against it last month in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and with the International Trade Commission, Microsoft said via e-mail from its public relations firm Monday.
However, Microsoft is not paying TomTom to license four patents in Microsoft Streets and Trips, which were at the center of TomTom's case against it the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
InformationWeek
A prematurely published note to Microsoft's professional customers indicated that the software maker plans to release a nearly complete version of its highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system in May. If that schedule holds up, consumers and businesses could get their hands on a final version of the OS as soon as September.
If Microsoft is following a timetable similar to that employed for Vista development, then it's highly possible that the company is eyeing September as a release date for Windows 7. The first Windows Vista RC dropped in September 2006, about five months before the final version shipped.
At the Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley 2009, Microsoft will announce the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with Microsoft Developer Network Embedded subscription and Windows Embedded Developer Update service. The company also will announce expanded software-plus-services offerings for the Windows Embedded platform.
At the Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley 2009, Microsoft will announce the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with Microsoft Developer Network Embedded subscription and Windows Embedded Developer Update service. The company also will announce expanded software-plus-services offerings for the Windows Embedded platform.
Steve revealed the new software during a Feb. 24 meeting with financial analysts. Stupid me, I didn't make the competitive connection: IBM's Lotus Foundations. Windows Server 2008 Foundation and Lotus Foundations target the same market segment: Small businesses. Oh, yeah, IBM's server appliance runs Linux.
According to the channel marketing/promotional material I received: "Windows Server Foundation is an alternative to running open source software." Apparently, Microsoft already has sales people promoting the new softwareand there already is some small business confusion about Foundation versus Foundations. It's a tried-and-true strategy for Microsoft, which has used similar naming before.
InformationWeek
In a new ad meant to resonate with consumers slammed by the economic downturn, Microsoft is taking a jab at rival Apple and its relatively expensive Mac computers.
The 60-second spot, which debuted Thursday during the NCAA "March Madness" basketball games, features a thrifty consumer named Lauren, who's out to purchase a laptop for under $1,000.Lauren's first stop is an Apple Store in Southern California, from which she emerges empty-handed. "I would have had to double my budget," complains the 20-something redhead. Lauren then heads for a big-box electronics retailer, where she buys a Windows-powered HP Pavilion laptop for $699.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will travel to Redmond, Wash., next week to try to shake loose money for a Microsoft data center planned near Iowa's capital city.
Microsoft announced in August that the $500 million data center was to be built in West Des Moines, Iowa. But a significant economic downturn followed, and in January, Microsoft cut 5,000 jobs and postponed the project.
Culver said that in the meeting on Monday, he will urge Microsoft to move forward with its plans. Culver says Microsoft can be part of an effort to bring high-quality jobs to the state.
InformationWeek
Charles Simonyi, a former Microsoft executive who oversaw creation of the company's ubiquitous Microsoft Word software and other Office products, on Thursday blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian-made Soyuz-TMA spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.
The trip is the second into space for Simonyi, a software industry billionaire. As such, it's a record for a private citizen.
"We applaud Charles on his continued commitment and investment to commercial spaceflight," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures, in a statement. "Having a repeat orbital client demonstrates to the world that participating in a space mission is truly a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience."