The Global Syndicator - microsoft

Microsoft Releases Photosynth

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:43:11 +0000

Spy Hunter writes "Photosynth has graduated from a 'tech preview' to a complete service. Now you can upload your own photos and have them automatically transformed into a 'synth': a 3D fly-through reconstruction of your home, your vacation, or anything else you can take pictures of. Learn more about Photosynth at the official blog, see what Walt Mossberg has to say about it, or just go try it out right now." According to Mossberg, Photosynth works on PCs using IE or Firefox, but not yet on Macs. We've been discussing Photosynth since its introduction.

Microsoft Surface Technology: revolutionizing things with multi touch… codename Milan!!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:47:05 +0000

Microsoft Surface is a highly sophisticated Multi-touch product from Microsoft. It’s developed as an amazing combination of software and hardware technology allowing multiple users, to manipulate digital content by the use of natural motions such as hand gestures, and even physical objects. Microsoft Surface has been optimized to respond to as many as 52 touches at [...]

Microsoft's Decade-old Patent On Tree-view Mode!

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:21:30 +0000

BhaKi writes "Remember the Tree-View mode in many file management applications? It's shocking to know that this omnipresent feature was patented by Microsoft back in 1995 (granted in 1997). I'm not very sure about the implications, though. The patent is so general that it can be related to many things from tree-mode to virtual filesystems. Check out claim no. 3 of the patent for the most clear part."

Innovative Communications Alliance

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:35:03 +0000

ICA

Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA) in telecommunications is an alliance between Microsoft and Nortel to co-develop, integrate, market, sell and support unified communications products. The two companies are working together and creating integrated hardware and software solutions that join together voice, video, and data communications without requiring gateways or middleware. Microsoft Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program Many companies create agreements and partnerships, but most are superficial. Nortel Microsoft chart unified communications progress The Microsoft and Nortel alliance is very different because it is a deep relationship of joint product development, integration and support. The two companies will also share developing technologies and patents within unified communication products.

Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:57:13 +0000

s31523 writes "All of us have one time or another been completely frustrated by certain Windows usability issues, and in many cases our experiences have driven many us over to Linux, or kept us there. For anyone that has ever been frustrated, you will be happy to know you aren't the only one. After reading this leaked Microsoft memo from Bill Gates back in 2003, you will surely have more insight into why Vista is a complete disaster due to Microsoft not learning anything from their experiences from XP."

Microsoft to Extend XPSupport to 2014

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:12:20 +0000

I may have missed this somewhere during my convalescence from surgery on Friday, but it looks like Microsoft, while not directly offering Windows XP for retail purchase after June 30th, has extended support for Windows XP through April, 2014. This is unprecedented in Microsoft's history, as most operating systems are sunsetted within ten years of their release. In this case, however, Microsoft has recognized that many of their corporate and business clients are not rolling over to the new Vista operating system.

Return of the '70s Microsoft Weirdos

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:17:21 +0000

theodp writes "On the eve of the company's move from Albuquerque to Seattle in 1978, a famous photo was taken (in a shopping mall no less) of the original Microsoft team, looking mighty sharp in their '70s outfits. Almost 30 years later, as Bill Gates prepares to depart from Microsoft, the group (looking older, but better) reconvened for a retake."

Arrington Analyzes Yahoo on ABC

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:30:18 +0000

Michael was dragged out of bed at 8AM on Wednesday morning to talk with ABC’s Vinita Nair about the situation at Yahoo, its deal with Google, and where that leaves Microsoft. He wakes up about a minute into the interview when he starts discussing the talent drain at Yahoo and how the deal gives [...]

Yahoo Runs Into Google’s Arms

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:37:55 +0000

Yahoo and Google have confirmed that they are indeed entering into a partnership around search advertising, a story we broke earlier today. Google’s blog post on the agreement is here. —The deal is non-exclusive. Yahoo will be able to run Google ads alongside Yahoo ads or other ad providers. —The deal is expected to add [...]

Yahoo and Microsoft No Longer Speaking. Google Deal May Be The Only Option Left

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:47:35 +0000

Yahoo formally announced today that it is no longer in discussion with Microsoft for a deal of any sort. Both companies had renewed discussions once again exploring either an all-out acquisition or the sale of Yahoo’s search business. But Microsoft was “not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo!, even at [...]

Hitwise: Google Up, Yahoo Down in Search for May, 2008

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:09:35 +0000

This morning, Hitwise came out with its search market share numbers for May, 2008. In the U.S., Google was up slightly to 68.3 percent percent versus 20 percent for Yahoo and 5.9 percent for Microsoft. All the fighting over the fate of Yahoo cannot be helping matters. In the month of [...]

Microsoft Demos "Deep Zoom" Technology

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:46:09 +0000

Barence writes "Yesterday, during a presentation for this year's Imagine Cup, Microsoft's Mark Taylor demonstrated the company's Deep Zoom technology to appreciative gasps of admiration from the computing students present. It's pretty impressive stuff, and you can try 'deep zooming' for yourself at the Hard Rock Memorabilia Site." Unfortunately the demo requires the Silverlight plugin and the story is pretty thin on technical details. I would be interested to see how they captured the image data to that level without massive pixelation.

Microsoft Free, One Year Later

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:28:23 +0000

madgreek writes "Last year I wrote of my switch from XP to Ubuntu at work. Now a year later, I am back to reflect on one year of being extremely productive at work using (almost) nothing but open source software in a Microsoft world."

Bill Gates's Last Speech

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:39:20 +0000

Ian Lamont writes "Bill Gates, in an address to the TechEd Developers conference, talked about Microsoft's plans for hosted services, and revealed that the company is planning data centers on 'a scale that we haven't thought of before' that will apparently enable the company to offer all of its server-based products over the Internet. The talk did not include details in terms of capacity or scale. This was Gates's final publicly scheduled speech as a full-time Microsoft employee, and he acknowledged that Microsoft's success is 'due to our relationship with developers.' On July 1, he will start spending most of his time at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." After that date he will be devoting his "20% time" to Microsoft.

Microsoft Urges Windows Users To Shun Safari

Sat, 31 May 2008 12:58:28 +0000

benjymouse writes "The Register has picked up on a recent Microsoft security bulletin which urges Windows users to 'restrict use of Safari as a web browser until an appropriate update is available from Microsoft and/or Apple.' This controversy comes after Apple has officially refused to promise to do anything about the carpet bombing vulnerability in the Safari browser. Essentially, Apple does not see unsolicited downloads of hundreds or even thousands of executable files to users' desktops as being a security problem." Now while downloading a hundred files to your desktop won't automatically execute them, Microsoft's position is that a secondary attack could execute them for you.