Microsoft posts

Japan and the US are teaming up with two automotive powerhouses announcing a deal today to develop new hybrid systems and telematics standards. The joint venture will put Ford and Toyota as equal partners to accelerate bringing advanced hybrid systems to market. They will also be working towards next-generation standards, bringing the automotive industry in line with internet and GPS-based technologies. The hybrid systems will be developed specifically for light trucks and SUVs, a market that is currently behind the smaller-vehicle market currently dominated by the Toyota Prius. While…

What if every wall in your home was a digital display? What if your kitchen table would set itself and also be a touchscreen-enabled entertainment device. What if your kitchen counters were “smart” enough to know what items were on it and had the ability to react accordingly, keeping coffee cups warm and iced-tea cold? These are some of the questions that Microsoft asked when designing what they consider to be the “home of the future.” If it seems very much like Star Trek, only better in many ways, many would agree. The difference is that all of this is possible in the early 21st century, well ahead of…

When it comes to funny competitive attack commercials, many have tried and failed to capture the magic of “I’m a Mac”. Microsoft was finally able to put out a cute (not hilarious, but point made) video taking a jab at Google services that will be competing against Microsoft Office 365. Introducing Gmail Man. The video does make some good points that many people know but that most try to ignore. Google has and probably always will algorithmically comb our emails in an effort to serve more relevant ads on their email service. It’s a controversial practice that Google has been able to sidestep for years….

The designers at Loft117 and programmer Jason Belmonti have teamed up to tap the Kinect for something that has been suspiciously absent from its ever-growing palette of applications: advertising. Behold the slick, stylish, and interactive ad potential exhibited in this installation, and marvel at what the future might bring. Would you stop and spend more time in front of an ad if you could control the action? Would a slammin’ soundtrack and kaleidoscopic visuals help? I think we can agree that the answer to both questions is a crystal-clear, resonant ‘most likely’. …

Back in the day, we used to watch television. That was before the internet, gaming, and iPads. Xbox is making a move to revive the old television channels that many people once watched. At E3 today, Microsoft announced that they will partner with regional cable companies to bring live TV onto the Xbox. At this point, nobody we have talked to sees a real use in this. Certainly, there’s something that can be said about staying logged into Xbox and still be able to watch television. Being able to search through Bing for channels rather than normal methods is nice. Is it a game changer? No. Mark it down as…

I suppose we should have expected it. Those of us who have dreamed of battling as a Jedi with real lightsabers have been waiting for a virtual version (so that we don’t chop off our own arms, of course). Microsoft appears to have attempted to oblige us at E3 with their initial release of a demonstration of next year’s release. While some would say that they “can’t wait,” I’ll have to pass until a better version is made available. It looks bad. It looks boring. It looks like a game that will be a novelty for an hour or less and then retired forever. Here are a couple of videos – the official release and YouTube…

The barriers between Apple and PC users often creates humorous results “when geeks collide.” Such was the case in Hamburg, Germany last week when some clever pranksters vandalized the under-construction Apple store with a Windows logo. All it takes sometimes is desire, some sheet metal, and orange vests. As you can see in the video below, they nonchalantly walked up with a ladder, “installed” the windows logo on the side of the construction facade, and walked away. At the end of the video, notice that a passerby quickly started snapping shots with her camera. Well played, sirs. Well played. …

After reading some of the thoughts and speculations about Windows 8 over the past few days, it’s possible that Microsoft may be onto something here. That’s hard to say in a tech world that is so focused on the innovations of Apple, Google, and Facebook, a world that has viewed Microsoft under the scrutiny of being a has-been player for so long. That perception may be changing soon. Check out the first video that Microsoft put out about the new interface. …

Microsoft always knew they would be successful in the mobile phone industry. With the Windows Phone 7 not making the splash that they’d hoped, they turned to another business model that seems to be working out just fine for them. With a mere 2 million licenses for WP7 sold so far (compared to 350,000 Android phones activated daily) and with an estimate $15 per WP7 license, revenues from that end are around $30 million. Compare that to the patent settlement they received from HTC over intellectual property infringement in which they receive $5 for every HTC phone running Android. At approximately…

E3, the gaming world’s biggest show, is almost here. The annual event has become the place for a large portion of the industry’s biggest announcements, and every year, gamers sit with bated breath listening to what will come. Last year, we took a guess at what the big three might have. We were right, oh, on about 50% of our predictions which isn’t half bad. So, let’s gaze into our crystal ball and wonder: what will Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony be offering at this year’s E3? And what does each platform holder have at stake? Nintendo The Stakes Given that we know that Nintendo is announcing a new home console…