Kinect in my Operating Room? It's More Likely Than You Think
We knew there would be some creative uses for the Kinect for Windows, and this is no exception. A London hospital has begun testing Kinect in the operating room, helping the doctor to manipulate a camera without having to touch it.
Microsoft Funds a Russian BitTorrent Killer
A Russian startup developer is claiming to have a new method for tracking and shutting down any trading of copyrighted works on BitTorrent, and they are getting help from Microsoft to keep the development going.
The company, called Pirate Pay (a play on The Pirate Bay, the prominent piracy site for BitTorrent users), recently conducted a test in its native Russia. Last December, the film "Vysotsky. Thanks to God, I’m Alive" hit Russian theaters, and for one month, Pirate Pay blocked downloads of torrents of the movie. Read more
Here’s Microsoft’s Impressive Green Datacenter Initiative, Set to Launch this Summer
Starting this July, just as things get hot even in Seattle, Microsoft will launch a green initiative to make all of the company's facilities, "including data centers, software development labs, air travel, and office buildings," go carbon neutral. Read more
Skype May be Windows Phone's Worst Enemy
It was always a mystery how Microsoft would juggle Skype, the VoIP audio and video conferencing software it purchased for $8.5 billion in October 2011, with its mobile phone product. Now that problem appears to be affecting Nokia. Read more
Will Windows 8 Cause a Notebook Price Jump?
A combination of new hardware and a price bump from Microsoft could mean an increase in the cost of laptops, according to recent claims.
The price increase in notebooks will come from pressure from Microsoft to use touchscreens even on notebooks, not just tablets, plus the price of the software will stay high. That's what notebook OEMs are telling Taiwanese tech pub DigiTimes, which can be hit or miss when it comes to the veracity of its rumors. Read more
Will Windows Phone feel any pain after getting dumped by LG?
Ahead of a meeting between their CEOs, Korea's LG Electronics has decided to shun any more Windows Phone products because there have yet to be "meaningful" sales.
That should get the meeting off to a good start.
The electronics manufacturer told the Korean Herald this week that Windows Phone devices are just not selling well enough worldwide to warrant continued manufacturing WP phones. Instead, LG will turn its focus to the Android platform. Read more
Tim Cook's Windows 8 Zinger Hit its Mark
Steve Jobs was a master of one-liners. Like everything else Jobs did, his zingers were simple yet effective, done with just a few words but often devastating. Read more
Panic Time for Dropbox, Carbonite: Microsoft Expands SkyDrive with Paid Tiers
Microsoft is getting serious about its SkyDrive file hosting service, expanding offerings for the desktop as well as bringing it to mobile users of Windows Phone and Apple products.
Microsoft’s Enterprise Windows 8: A true business OS, for once
Microsoft recently introduced a trio of consumer Windows 8 SKUs, two for desktop and the ARM version. Lost in the hoopla was Windows 8 Enterprise edition, which wasn't outlined in great detail.
Well, Microsoft has started to provide information on it, and it sounds like, for once, it will be a true business OS and not just the consumer product with a few extras thrown in. Read more
Your move, VMware: Windows Server '8' Becomes Windows Server 2012
The Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas was the backdrop for a rather unsurprising bit of news: Windows Server "8” will officially be named Windows Server 2012 and will be released this calendar year.
The news came as part of the rollout for System Center 2012, the latest edition of the company’s system management environment. Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson channeled the spirit of Steve Jobs and called Server 2012 "the most amazing release of Windows Server that we've ever done." Read more
Expected Windows Phone 8 features justify Samsung’s decision to hold out
A report on a Taiwanese tech site indicates Samsung may be holding off on any more major Windows Phone devices while it waits for Windows Phone 8, a.k.a. "Apollo," because it feels that WP7 isn't up to snuff.
For once, it wasn't DigiTimes with the news, but ePrice, which is focused on mobile phone news. Assuming the Google Translation is accurate, Samsung feels that even Windows Phone 7.5 isn't powerful enough and the phone maker wants to wait for Windows Phone 8. Read more
The Nokia Lumia 900: Pros and cons compared to the iPhone 4s
So we all know by now that Microsoft and Nokia chose Easter Sunday as the launch day for their most important smartphone. Microsoft tells me it's not about the one-day pop of launch day but sales over time. Ok, fair enough, even if the AT&T store reps were seemed to be in a bad mood when I picked up my phone. Read more
It’s the end of XP, Vista and Office Support as we know it
Tuesday, April 10 marks the end of "Mainstream Support" for Windows Vista, moving it to an "Extended Support" phase that lasts through April 11, 2017, and Windows XP and Office 2003 have begun their countdowns to total extinction in two more years.
By putting Vista on Extended Support, Microsoft will no longer offer free technical support, warranty claims and design fixes for its most poorly received operating system. When it goes off Extended Support, it won’t offer bug fixes, either. Read more
Microsoft shelling out as much as $600,000 for Windows Phone apps
Forget the MegaMillions and its 1-in-178 million odds, I want to learn how to write Windows Phone apps. Microsoft is so anxious to close the apps gap with the iPhone it's paying in the six figures for apps. Read more
Kinect 1.5 for Windows in the Works
Kinect for Windows came out just in February but Microsoft already has a 1.5 release in the works for late May, which will add a new app to help developers debug their products based on recorded user interactions.
Microsoft is also rolling out the sensor bar, first developed for the Xbox 360 game console, in 19 more countries in the coming months, with Asia getting it in May and a variety of EMEA nations in June. Read more
Microsoft Ties With Apple for Smartphone Satisfaction
Microsoft can take some solace in the fact that satisfaction with Windows Phone is equal to that of Apple’s much more successful iPhone, because it sure can't revel in market share. Read more
Microsoft Adds 'Core' Version to Server 8 Lineup
Lost in the hoopla of the Windows 8 client release was Windows Server 8, which came out at the same time. This massively updated server OS will be Microsoft's stake in the ground for cloud computing, built on experiences running Azure and on-premise clouds.
But it's not all big iron for Server 8. Microsoft is also planning on releasing a Windows Server Core product based on the new server technology, despite its own admission that the first version was a stiff. Read more
What Happened to the Windows 8 Critic?
Last week, a number of news outlets ran a story on a blog called Fixing Windows 8, a Tumblr site run by user interface designer and former Microsoft employee Michael Bibik.
One week later, and the HTML page for fixingwindows8.com is blank except for one character, a period. If you view the source, it's also just one character, a period. Bibik did not respond to an email request for comment. His Twitter account has also disappeared. Read more
Ransomware: The Latest Trend in Malware
If the software industry showed as much innovation and initiative as the malware business, we might have some really nice software to choose from. But for now, the bad guys are one step ahead of the rest of us, with a new way to squeeze money out of your pocket. Read more
Internet Explorer: The Underdog?
A decade after it succeeded in strangling Netscape, both the company and the browser, Microsoft is trying to position itself as the underdog in the renewed browser fight. While that would be like a five-term Senator positioning himself as a Washington outsider, in this case, Microsoft may have a point. Read more
- About Microsoft Explorer
- Andy Patrizio is a freelance technology writer based in Orange County, California. He's written for a variety of publications, ranging from Tom's Guide to Wired to Dr. Dobbs Journal, and has been on staff at IT publications like InternetNews, PC Week and InformationWeek.
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