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Tag: microsoft

  • WinMo And Mobile Services Microsoft


    Interest continues to grow over Microsoft’s intentions for next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

    Among the expectations are an update to its mobile software and services strategy.

    This could extend to the unveiling of three mobile services:

    • SkyBox to synchronize a phone’s information with the web
    • SkyLine to synchronize with Microsoft Exchange servers
    • SkyMarket – a mobile marketplace.

    If they take place, the announcements will set them up against Apple’s MobileMe and App Store.

    Microsoft is also expected to reveal the latest update of Windows Mobile – version 6.5 – at the telco show.

    The first tranche of WinMo 6.5-based devices could then be available in the third quarter of the year.

  • fring Mobile VoIP Gets WinMo Approval


    Microsoft has awarded fring’s mobile VoIP application its “Designed for Window Mobile” certification.

    The approval is the latest for fring, which has been working to develop its popular IM/ VOIP application for different platforms.

    In October, fring was approved by Apple for use on its iPhone and iPod devices.

    The company has also released a new version of fring for Windows Mobile devices (version 3.34), including Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia multimedia device.

    New features include the ability to send files over IP to fring, Skype, MSN and Yahoo contacts at the touch of a button.

    Navigation has been improved with a new ‘Go- To menu’, ‘Privacy’, and ‘Joystick-In’ settings, while Add-ons have been extended and improved and can be managed more easily through a new Add-Ons Management screen.

    Fring for Windows Mobile also allows HTC users to use earpieces for extra privacy.

    The application is available to to download from fring now.

  • Snom Favors Italy Over UK For Expansion


    The VoIP phone maker and developer Snom Technology is making a push into Italy and opening an office in Milan.

    In what could be a barometer of the current state of Europe’s economies, the German company ruled out a move to the UK.

    Heike Cantzler, marketing manager for Snom Technology, said both the UK and Italy were considered for the expansion.

    She told voip.biz-news that both Italy and the UK had very active Web markets – which had made the decision about where to expand difficult.

    Ultimately, concerns over the UK’s economic situation and the perception that the Italian market was more receptive to new technology, tipped the balance in Italy’s favor.

    "The financial problems in the UK are worse than in Italy," said Cantzler.

    "The UK and US economies have big problems. With the rest of Europe, we are still waiting to see what will happen.

    "Maybe next year will be hard but at the moment we do not feel any difference."

    Snom develops and manufacturers VoIP telephones based on an open standard for enterprise communications.

    It employs 50 people worldwide, with offices in Germany, Italy, the US and China.

    In common with other VoIP industry businesses, Cantzler said a recession was likely to benefit Snom as companies sought ways to reduce costs.

    She said that as Snom phones can be operated with a large number of compatible IP-PBX that support SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), they offer customers a wider choice for enterprise communication systems.

    In October, the Berlin-based company launched the Snom 820, a VoIP business telephone with a high-resolution TFT color display.

    Cantzler said the 820 typified Snom’s philosophy of adding as many features to products while keeping prices down.

    "The 820 is the only phone worldwide – aside from Microsoft’s phones – that integrates with Microsoft Outlook," she said.

    "This is really interesting because the Microsoft phone is one that is very expensive and very difficult to handle. Even Microsoft developers tell us that they use a Snom phone because it’s easier."

    Praise indeed.

  • Seadragon App Is Microsoft's First For iPhone


    Microsoft’s Live Labs has released its first application for the iPhone.

    Seadragon Mobile is an experimental image viewer that aims to make high-resolution images easier to handle on a small screen.

    It allows users to view enormous photo collections and high-resolution imagery using the iPhone’s multi-touch intuitive interface.

    The application provides a Deep Zoom feature to enable smooth image browsing of lots of images as well as simple manipulation of massive, gigapixel images.

    Alex Daley, group product manager for Microsoft Live Labs, said the iPhone had been chosen to launch the app because it is the most widely distributed phone with a graphics processing unit.

    "Most phones out today don’t have accelerated graphics in them," he said. "The iPhone does and so it enabled us to do something that has been previously difficult to do.

    "I couldn’t just pick up a Blackberry or a Nokia off the shelf and build Seadragon for it without GPU support."

    Microsoft’s goal for Seadragon is nothing if not ambitious – essentially it wants to change the way screens are used, be they wall-sized displays or smartphone screens, so that graphics and photos are smoothly browsed, regardless of the amount of data or the bandwidth of the network.

    Seadragon Mobile is available immediately on the iTunes App Store as a free download.

  • How will Xbox's streaming HD Fare Against PS3's Blu-ray?


    For a while now, Sony’s PS3 has done very well out of being the best Blu-ray player in its price range – oh, and you can play games with it too.

    So it will be interesting to see how it fares now that Microsoft’s Xbox is offering US users streaming HD content from Netflix.

    That, and the fact that Blu-ray player prices generally are falling drastically, may have some impact on the Sony console.

    PS3 sales figures for the third quarter showed a very respectable 56 per cent increase year-over-year, even if total numbers were lagging behind Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360.

    There are also now 14 million active PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts worldwide – equalling the number of Xbox Live (XBL) subscribers, according to Sony.

    Registered PSN users have leapt by four million since July, with the total amount of content downloaded shooting up from 170 million pieces to 273 million pieces.

    That said, the Xbox 360 isn’t doing badly. Microsoft forecasts that by the end of this month, 25 million Xbox 360 consoles will have been sold worldwide.

    The NPD Group reported in September that the Xbox 360 was ahead of the PlayStation 3 in sales for the first time in months – even if only by a slim margin.

    So Microsoft will be hoping that today’s Xbox update will add further appeal to its console and keep those totals climbing higher.

    It will be offering HD content from Netflix, the latest entrant to the rapidly growing streaming digital market that has seen a series of set-top boxes begin offering the service.

    Movies from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary, Columbia Pictures, will not be available to Xbox 360 users streaming via Netflix, though.

    Shortly before Xbox 360’s update went live, the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming suddenly dropped all Columbia’s offerings.

    All the blocked content can still be viewed online and through all other Netflix enabled TV devices except for the 360.

    Rivalry issues aside, as well as the lure of high-def programming, the Xbox changes offer a new interface with a simpler panel and new customizable avatars to display users in the friends list and certain games.

    A LIVE Party function can be used to virtually host up to seven friends for voice chat, game play, and photo sharing.

    There is also a community games channel which allows users to play games that have been created by private individuals.

    Among the new games to be launched are "You’re in the Movies" and "Lips".

    So, plenty of entertaiment for Xbox users to get their teeth into – but will it be enough to halt the march of the PS3?

  • Will Microsoft's Cloud-Computing Initiative Be Good For The Storage Industry?


    Microsoft this week finally laid out its cloud-computing strategy during a keynote speech at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008.

    Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, announced Windows Azure, a cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform.

    He explained Windows Azure’s role in delivering a software-plus-services approach to computing.

    The Azure Services Platform is intended to help developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise data center and deliver compelling new experiences across the PC, web and phone.

    Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect, Microsoft

    Azure gives Microsoft’s customers the choice of deploying applications via cloud-based Internet services or through on-premises servers, or to combine them in any way that makes the most sense for the needs of their business.

    While the much-awaited news makes clear Microsoft’s intentions, how will it affect the storage industry generally?

    The Register’s Chris Mellor has no doubt that the move towards a few large providers of cloud computing services will spell trouble for many storage vendors.

    Noting that Microsoft has now joined Amazon and Google in offering cloud computing services he cited IDC research, which says cloud computing will grow 16 per cent a year through to 2012.

    He points out that by 2012 there could be six major cloud computing suppliers – Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Dell, HP and IBM – with half a million customers each by 2012, meaning 3 million fewer customers directly buying servers and storage for their apps because they’ve been transferred to the Cloud.

    While Mellor concedes that the storage industry is seen by some as being "ridiculously over-supplied", he concludes that the news that cloud computing is set to grow is very bad news for the storage industry.

    What do you think? Please send us your comment.

  • Windows Mobile Not Coming To The iPhone

    Suggestions that a Norweigan developer produced software that allowed Windows Mobile to be run on the iPhone look like being a hoax.

    A demonstration shown by iphonefreakz.com of an application that gave users a choice of OS when the iPhone is booted up was part of a viral marketing campaign.

    It was claimed that the application worked much like Bootcamp and would be released in January.

    Seems like that isn’t about to happen – at least not from this particular Nordic hoaxer.

  • Microsoft Delays Windows Mobile 7


    Microsoft is not expected to complete a final build of its Windows Mobile 7 operating system until the second half of 2009.

    ZD Net Asia said the software maker has informed some of its partners that it has had to delay the much anticipated update to its cell phone operating system.

    The report describes the delay is a significant blow for Microsoft, which has been counting on the next version of WinMo to enable devices that better rival Apple’s iPhone.

    It points out that the delay also comes as competition steps up in the smartphone market.

    Google is preparing to launch the G1, first phone running its Android operating system, while Apple has its updated iPhone 3G, and new models are also debuting from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

    While no major update to its core operating system is expected ahead of Windows Mobile 7 other improvements are likely to take place before then, including an improved browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile.

    That update should allow Windows Mobile phones to display rich Web pages, including those that are home to Flash content and Ajax applications.

  • Microsoft Follows Apple and Google With App Store Plan


    Microsoft is to create an online software store for its Windows Mobile platform.

    The move follows similar endeavours, first by Apple with its already launched iPhone App Store and then more recently with Google’s plans to set up an App Market for its Android smartphone platform.

    Microsoft’s version of an online store for mobile software – understood to be called Skymarket – was revealed in a job listing Microsoft posted at computerjobs.com for a Senior Product Manager to oversee a marketplace service for Windows Mobile.

    The platform is a software operating system used on smartphones, version 6.1 of which was launched earlier this year.

    With an updated browser it is meant to make the experience of surfing the web on a smartphone more like that of a desktop.

    Launch planned for 2009

    Skymarket will not be commercially launched until the release of Windows Mobile 7, expected in late 2009.

    However, Microsoft is hoping to recruit someone who can handle “driving the cross group collaboration for the initial launch of the marketplace offering to the developer community this fall”.

  • Sony adds HD downloads to PS3

    High Definition choice on game consoles boosted as Sony launches an HD movie download service for the Play Station 3 in the US

    Sony has signed up the major studios, including Fox, Disney and Warner, to offer HD movies on its US download service.
    The downloads can be transferred from the console to the Play Station Portable handheld device.

    This latest development follows Microsoft’s announcement that it will add a NetFlix movie streaming service to its XBox 360 video game console.

    While the NetFlix service will not include high-def movies, Microsoft does offer HD TV shows and movies on its XBox Live (link to other story) service.

    The rivalry between the console makers is good news for consumers.

    Microsoft has said it will triple the storage capacity of the Xbox 360 and sell the consoles with 60-gigabytes of storage starting in early August in the US and Canada.

    Meanwhile Sony is to introduce an 80GB Play Station 3 for US$399 in September.

    Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said the new 80Gb console was “perfectly suited for high-definition downloads of games, movies and more”.

    However, the new movie download service does not permit viewers to purchase HD programmes.
    PS3 owners can rent movies in HD, but they can only purchase them in standard-def.

    The HD-rental only policy is understood to have been the decision of the Hollywood studios, perhaps fuelled by the concern that PS3 owners could illegally copy and sell the high-def movies.