Microsoft Store Dance Video Is A Planned Viral Marketing Stunt

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You might have seen the video of Microsoft Store employees dancing that is really hard to watch because it is so embarrassing. The video got published two days ago and already has close to 250,000 views on Youtube.
I even got a link from a friend today to this video with the subject "PAIN!!!". Well AppleInsider has just published an interesting report that uncovers the source of this video and that it is actually a planned viral marketing campaign. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:30:13 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Courier Interface Details Leak

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I write about gadgets for a living. Since I'm a gadget nerd myself, that often means getting a bit excited about some of the cooler rumors, leaks, and product launches. I try to stay even handed and look at every side of any issue, but sometimes careful journalism like that is very difficult. Take the Microsoft Courier, a dual-screened tablet PC/electronic journal/e-reader. When news of it first leaked, it looked interesting. When a video of the UI leaked, it bumped up from 'interesting' to 'the #1 gadget I would commit unspeakable crimes in order to have right now'.

Today, the saga of the Courier gets a little bit deeper. Our friends at Gizmodo, who seem to have a source from inside Microsoft feeding them goodies, have produced scans of a document that explains in detail how the Courier works. Needless to say, this is going to be one incredibly hot gadget.

Posted on Thu, 5 Nov 2009 09:08:12 CST | by Robert Evans

Microsoft And Samsung Partner On Green Computers

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Samsung and Microsoft announced plans to collaborate on efficient energy usage in computers.
Microsoft and Samsung aim to encourage PC users to purchase more environmentally friendly PC systems.
Samsung expects substantial energy savings when Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system and Samsung's 40nm class DDR3 DRAM are used together.
At the beginning of September, Samsung initiated its own global marketing campaign centered around 'Less Energy, More Speed', initially focused on its energy-efficient, 40nm-class, 2Gb DDR3 DRAM. Read more

Posted on Mon, 2 Nov 2009 01:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Acknowledges Windows 7 Student Edition Issues

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One of the coolest things about the Windows 7 launch was the $29.99 student edition that Redmond was kind enough to offer to us legions of dirt poor college students. Unfortunately, the deal turns out to have been a little too good to be true. As soon as the deal went live, customers started to report issues. Digital River, the company Microsoft contracted to handle the sales and distribution of Windows 7, screwed up the download. Many customers report being entirely unable to get their new OS to install.

While no easily workable fixes have been provided to the students who purchased their discounted operating systems, Microsoft has now acknowledged the problem. PC World reports that a Microsoft support engineer has addressed the issue directly. Here is his posted statement;

Posted on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Q1 Performance: Better Than Expected

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Very recently I challenged a few of my chums to a game of basketball. Since none of us had ever played basketball before, it was expected to be a low-scoring game. A total of three goals were made, one of them by me. That's not very impressive (it's actually pretty sad) but it's a hell of a lot better than I expected to do.

There is a purpose to this story of my embarrassingly poor B-ball (is that what the kids call it these days?) skills. You see, Microsoft released their Q1 earnings today. They had a good quarter in the same way I played a good game of basketball. No one expected very much out of them, but somehow they managed to not hit themselves in the face whilst flailing and failing.

Posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:33:16 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Sells Computers Now

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In yet another bid to be more like Apple, Microsoft has taken to selling computers in their online store (CNet). This isn't much of a surprise. We already knew Microsoft was planning to sell Windows 7 PCs in their new line of Window's Stores, the first of which opens today in Scottsdale, AZ. Still, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit of a surprise when MS updated their store this morning to include a range of computers.

Selection isn't great yet. They have just 9 different laptops, 3 different netbooks, and one desktop in total so far. One presumes they're going to expand their selection regularly over the next few months. If not, I don't really see much reason to buy from this online store. Their prices are about what you'd expect to pay in any big box store, but the selection is far worse.

Posted on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:38:43 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Starts Up 7 Days of Windows 7 Savings Promotion

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Microsoft launches Windows 7 today and to kick start hardware sales Microsoft partnered with retailers and PC makers to offer Windows 7 deals for the next 7 days.
The 7 Days of Windows 7 Savings start today with for instance the Best Buy PC Home Makeover including an HP laptop, netbook, desktop & monitor package with Windows 7, Geek Squad wireless home network with router and new PC set-up included for $1,199.99. More details on this big package deal on Best Buy.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:35:03 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Signs Bing Deal With Facebook, Twitter

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Microsoft made waves today with the announcement that they signed two separate, non-exclusive deals with Facebook AND Twitter. (All Things Digital) This deal will allow Bing to integrate a real-time feed of updates from both websites into the Bing search engine. The deal will be announced officially by Microsoft digital head Qi Lu later today at the Web 2.0 Summit.

Both Twitter and Facebook are also in talks with Google to provide a similar service, but no agreement has yet been reached. This marks the first time that data and services are available through Bing, but not through Google. At least, theoretically it does. Integration of both sites will take several weeks (if not more) to nail down. It's still possible for Google to sign an agreement and beat Redmond to the punch, albeit not likely.

Posted on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:33:12 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Starts To Restore Sidekick Data

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The terrible saga of the Sidekick disaster is finally at an end. Electronista reports that Microsoft and T-Mo have started to restore Sidekick data today. There is a guide for owners posted online as well. If you lost data that existed on October 1st, MS and T-Mobile now say you'll be able to get it back.

That's very good news, and could help to stem the tide of lawsuits already brewing amongst the irate Sidekick user community. There's no denying that Microsoft screwed up big time here. They failed to take care of the servers like they were contractually obligated to do, and they had no or minimal back-ups.

Posted on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:10:32 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Plug-In Makes Firefox Vulnerable

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It's so hard to like Microsoft. Whenever I see pictures of the Courier or use Windows 7, I want to sing Redmond's praises from the highest mountain. Unfortunately, MS seems incapable as a company of doing something awesome without doing something else terrible. For example; it's just come out that Microsoft sneakily forced an update on Firefox users that makes them ridiculously vulnerable to being hacked.

According to Computerworld, Microsoft released several updates in Febuary that affected both Firefox and IE, and one of the plug-ins MS pushed to Firefox added in a terrible vulnerability. It adds a Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in to Firefox. This add-on makes it possible for attackers to gain access to a computer using Firefox if the user is lured to the wrong web site.

Posted on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:30:48 CDT | by Robert Evans

Sidekick Outage Cost Microsoft $700k Per Day?

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The Sidekick data loss debacle stands tall as one of the most extreme IT failures by a major corporation in recent memory. Thankfully the data has been recovered, but that still doesn't mean this story has a happy ending. It now looks like Microsoft could be out a big chunk of change as a result of this whole error. If TechCrunch is correct, we're talking something in the neighborhood of $700,000 a day.

A 'reliable' source has informed TechCrunch that Danger's contract with T-Mobile stipulated that the company would pay damages if they allowed a service downtime of more than 99.5%. When Microsoft bought Danger, they gained that responsibility. We don't know the exact details of the contract, but TechCrunch's source says that, back when the Sidekick user base was 800,000 people, the penalty was 700 grand per day.

Posted on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Data Recovery for Sidekick Users Successful Says Microsoft

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Microsoft issued an official statement regarding the T-Mobile Sidekick Data Loss disaster. The statement is signed by VP Premium Mobile Experience Roz Ho and says that Microsoft recovered most, if not all, customer data for those Sidekick customers whose data was affected by the recent outage.

Microsoft plans to begin restoring personal data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after the company has validated the data and restoration plan. Read more

Posted on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:28:06 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Huge Microsoft Security Patch Hits Tuesday, Includes Windows 7 Updates

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Microsoft will release a huge security patch tomorrow October 13th containing eight critical and five important security bulletins fixing 34 vulnerabilities.
Affected software includes Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Silverlight, Forefront, Developer Tools, and SQL Server.
Windows 7 is also affected by this monster patch fixing a critical IE 8 bug and two important marked issues found in the Operating System. Windows 7's release is still 10 days away. So you will already have a security update waiting for your new Windows 7 computer when you get it. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:41:50 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Very In-depth Details About Alleged Microsoft Pink Phone Crisis

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Yesterday a rumor appeared that Microsoft's Project Pink will be scrapped. Today AppleInsider published an in-depth story fueled with information from an insider on what is apparentely really going on behind the scenes at Microsoft.

This report is trying to put everything into perspective from the beginning. It tries to show the dynamics between Danger, Microsoft, Android and the iPhone in the battle for smartphone OS dominance. Read more

Posted on Fri, 9 Oct 2009 02:26:53 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft Opening Zune Services To Apple Users?

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Zune isn't just a brand of media player, it's also a subscription-based music and video service that exists outside of any one set of devices. At least, that's the way Microsoft is increasingly starting to view the Zune service in light of disappointing media player sales. While the HD has been a fairly successful device, it's become increasingly clear to all observers that it isn't going to 'kill' the iPod. That's why, according to ZDNet, Microsoft is looking into providing the Zune subscription service to Apple users.

Apparently Redmond's thinking is, "If you can't beat 'em, sell them a $15/month subscription service and get their money that way." Jose Pinero, a Director of Communications at Microsoft, told ZDNet that his company was looking into making their Zune services available on a wider variety of platforms, including the iPod/iPhone.

Posted on Thu, 8 Oct 2009 09:49:18 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Windows 8 And Windows 9 Going 128-Bit Architecture

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Windows 7 has not even launched yet, but of course the developers at Microsoft are already busy cooking up the next versions of Windows.
Arstechnica published a report about what is known of Windows 8 and even Windows 9.
Apparently Microsoft is thinking about supporting 128-bit architectures on the next generation Windows operating systems. Read more

Posted on Thu, 8 Oct 2009 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Mossberg Says Windows 7 Is The Best Version Of Windows Microsoft has Produced

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Windows 7 will launch on October 22nd. Computer makers are already busy announcing new Windows 7 hardware like Sony with the hot VAIO X.
Walter S. Mossberg just published his Windows 7 review that he titled with "A Windows to Help You Forget". Of course he means Vista. Vista turned out to be a marketing nightmare for Microsoft. Since Windows 7 has been out in the open with beta and release candidates there are no surprises in his review. Read more

Posted on Thu, 8 Oct 2009 02:20:34 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft's Project Pink: Doomed?

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Late last month, the first details of Project Pink, Microsoft's first smartphone, leaked out to the press. Responses varied from apathy over the design, to excitement at the idea of a Microsoft branded mobile. Now however, it looks like the whole project could be on the edge of being scrapped. According to "anonymous sources" that talked to MobileCrunch, "Project Pink" was never really meant for release anyway.

Apparently, Microsoft started the project as a way to provide a 'carrot' of sorts to the Windows Mobile 7 team. The goal was to "upset them into competing". The source states that much of the Sidekick team that was originally hired in 2008 to build the phone has been fired, and that there are currently no designers left who understand how to finish the product. Neither of the new smartphones are ready for production yet, and the touchscreen on the "Turtle" is said to be totally unusable.

Posted on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 06:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Cuts Top Executive Salaries

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Alright guys, I'm seriously starting to get worried here. Between Project Natal, the Zune HD, Windows 7, and the oh-so-gorgeous Courier, Microsoft has been hitting home runs left and right. Normally they spend their efforts releasing derivative products, putting innovators like Netscape out of business, and arguing with Congress. How on earth did the lumbering dinosaur of the tech world suddenly get so cool?

This new found Microsoft-awesomeness extends even beyond their product line. Microsoft recently ended their worst fiscal year in history. Profits for the software giant are down 3%, which marks the first sales decline in the corporation's history. Considering the state of the economy (and the myriad failures of Vista) that's not surprising. What is surprising, is how they reacted to it.

Posted on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:41 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Security Essentials Gets Thumbs Up

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Microsoft released the free PC Security software Microsoft Security Essentials yesterday. I am running on Symantec Norton right now and have no time to test MSE. Good thing Ars Technica found the time and published a first look at the Microsoft Security Essentials and they are actually impressed with it. Read more

Posted on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:39:34 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Free Microsoft Security Essentials Download Available Now

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Microsoft just launched the download for their free Microsoft Security Essentials we reported about earlier today.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

The new free security software, independently certified by West Coast Labs, is backed by the company’s global security response team and is built on the same award-winning core security technology found in the company’s security solutions for businesses. Read more

Posted on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:57:41 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr