Microsoft posts

Microsoft is bold. In this new ad for Windows Phone 7, a simple promise is made: ‘The revolution is coming’. I don’t want to knock Microsoft. I love Microsoft (…most of the time). Sure, they’re kinda boring and suit-y, but they more often than not make great products, and Windows Phone 7 is shaping up to be one of them, from what I’ve seen. That UI absolutely kills me in the best way. Gorgeously unique. Of course, that alone will not an iPhone-killing OS make (despite certainly helping – pay attention, RIM), so we’ll have to just sit tight and see where this goes. You’d better watch out, Microsoft. Might…

Though recently it has been the smartphone market that has garnered the most attention in the tech world, the arrival of a revamped – if slightly disappointing – Apple TV is a reminder that the living room is the next big play for digital transformation. Think about it: unlike so many other sectors of society, the living room is one in which traditional approaches to media still largely dominate. DVD sales still dwarf streaming and online video in both numbers and revenue, while the web has yet to make any serious inroads onto people’s TVs. So there is a massive market ready for the taking – if only someone…

The tech world is a heated place, with cutthroat competition and backstabbing commonplace. Microsoft has been known to be as harsh a competitor as anyone out there, particularly now that the CEO position is occupied by the sweaty blob rather than the nerdy philanthropist. The one company that hoped it would get a break and some cooperation and collaboration from Microsoft is.. Microsoft. But apparently that’s not the case. Google has had push capability on iOS since v3.0, and embarrassingly for Microsoft, it came courtesy of their ActiveSync technology. Now finally, that same technology…

Awhile ago, I punched you in the eye with a tidbit on Microsoft’s mystery device. That device, as you’re probably aware, turned out to be the Arc Touch mouse, and it now seems that German retailer notebooksbilliger has jumped the gun on unveiling the product proper. Oh, it looks like they got hip. But that certainly won’t stop me from punching you in the eye all over again. Stick your ice packs in the freezer, guys. A typical 2.4Ghz dongle hooks up what is, surprisingly, one of the sexiest-designed Microsoft peripherals to date.  The Arc Touch is, of all things, bendable, flattening out for easy transportation…

Fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator are all gathering today to hold hands and weep – the franchise, previously pronounced dead last year, will be resurrected in the form of Microsoft Flight. Though, while some weep with joy, others may be weeping for an entirely different reason. “Microsoft Flight will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre,” raps the press release, “welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.” Magic, huh? I almost thought this was an Apple product for a moment. ‘Everyone’ is a very telling word, here. Previous incarnations…

The success of the iPod touch and iPhone as a gaming platform was a bit of a shock to everyone, even Apple. But now everyone sees the potential, the race is on to see whether it will be Sony or Microsoft that brings their console success to a phone first. Engadget posted a story last week about a Sony Ericsson phone rumored to run Android 3 as a platform for mobile gaming. This week Microsoft is talking about Xbox Live and Windows Phone 7, with titles including Castlevania, Halo: Waypoint, Star Wars, Crackdown, and Guitar Hero. An impressive lineup for sure. There will be over 60 titles available at launch,…

When you start to remember the dawn of things, you’re getting old. I remember the dawn of Internet Explorer and, if you’re over 25, you probably do, too. Since August 16th, 1995, IE has touched the hearts and minds of heroic internet spelunkers everywhere (sometimes, in the worst way – we’re lookin’ at you, IE6), and to this day,  the browser still holds down a 60% market share to Firefox’s measly 23% (and Chrome’s 7%, if you’re wondering). But it wasn’t always that way. Initially a mod of Spyglass Mosaic (which I seem to also recall using in the Long Long Ago, when people used terms like ‘surfing the…

Microsoft just made a dumb move. I decided to recreate how I think the conversation went between the tech guy and his boss. Tech guy: It seems a lot of customers are complaining about the new Hotmail. Bugs throughout the site, some of them can’t even log in. Boss: Fix it. Tech guy: That will take a few weeks, what do we do in the mean time. Boss: It works fine on Google’s Chrome, get them to use that. Tech guy: I don’t know about that, don’t you think we should focus on Internet Explorer? Boss: Who’s the boss? Tech guy: You are… Boss: Exactly. After thousands of complaints from customers over their…

Microsoft used to be a pretty solid company, but these days they’re as shaken up as Justin Bieber’s hair. In the 80s and 90s Microsoft made money from enterprise, with a few small interests elsewhere. Since 2000, Microsoft has been torn between making money in their traditional area of expertise and invading almost every other tech market out there. The Xbox is considered one of Microsoft’s most successful products, despite the fact that the Xbox division consistently loses money. But nothing is guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of Steve Ballmer’s neck stand up like casually dropping into…

Whatever you may think of the iPad – whether you believe it to be the savior of old media or simply “a big iPod Touch” – there is one thing that cannot be denied: the thing has been a massive success. By last count, Apple had sold 3.27  million of them in the last quarter and, if that rate is anything to go by, sales are now probably over 4 million. The tablet computer, it seems, has arrived. Naturally then, Apple’s competitors are gearing up their own versions. This, for better or worse, is the state of our industry: Apple innovates and others then play catch-up. Research in Motion, makers of the Blackberry,…