You are here: Home / Search for "Microsoft"

Search Results for: Microsoft

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Microsoft Ticks off OEMs, Apple to Invest in Twitter?

July 30, 2012 by

The China Times, via Endgadget, is reporting the Microsoft is limiting the number of OEMs that can build a tablet that runs the RT version of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system. This is the version that can be run on a tablet built using an ARM-based processor.

According to the piece the lucky few include Asus and Lenovo, which can use Nvidia processors, Texas instrument processors will be in Toshiba products while Samsung and Hewlett-Packard opting into the Qualcomm camp, with HP later dropping out at least in the near term.

Apple looking to invest in Twitter?
The New York Times has reported that Apple is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Twitter, according to unnamed sources familiar with the talks. It appears that the talks are informal at this point so do not cross your fingers just yet if you like the deal. However it could lead to tighter integration between Twitter and Apple’s operating systems, much like what Apple is doing with Facebook.

Google breaks down Motorola Mobility purchase
Ever wonder what $12.5 billion will get you? Well that is the price that Google paid for Motorola and the company has recently explained what each of the major components was valued. The 17,000 patents in its portfolio were worth roughly $5.5 billion. It paid $2.9 bn for the cash acquired, $2.6 bn was goodwill, $670 million was other assets and $730 million was customer relations. You can look here for more details or head over to its 10-Q filings with the SEC.

Microsoft wins around in Germany vs Motorola
Microsoft has won a round when a German court ruled that Motorola Mobility has infringed on a patent that deals with common names for long and short file allocation tables. The two sides have been battling around the globe on the issues of patents and both sides have won, and so of course lost, various patent rulings in the last six months so if this sounds like a repeat, it is close to one.

Microsoft admits hostility over Surface
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft has said that there could be potential problems with its introduction of a table that would compete with its OEMs that purchase the Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft said that smartphones and tablets from rivals such as Apple represent a threat to its current business, in part because their increased popularity coupled with declining PC sales makes Microsoft’s existing platforms less appealing to application developers.

Kickstarter favorite Pebble to deliver late
The Pebble smart watch, one of the real success stories in regards to funding via Kickstarter, has said that it will be delivering its product later than it had originally expected, IT Business is reporting. Part of the problem, according to the company, is the very success it had with Kickstarter.

The people that funded the company were to receive watches as part of compensation for their pledge, and originally the company had expected to produce 1,000 watches to meet that demand. Since it went off the rails in terms of funding the company now needs to produce over 68,000 watches for the investors.

Major settlement in patent case brings in major mobile players
The patent holding firm NTP has reached what is possibly an unprecedented settlement with 13 major mobile technology developers over the use of a number of patents that NTP owns. The companies included in the settlement are: Apple, Google, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, HTC, Motorola Mobility (now owned by Google), Palm (now owned by Hewlett-Packard), LG Electronics, Samsung, and Yahoo.

According to a piece in InfoWorld the terms of the deal were not revealed but it did say that all of the tech companies could use a number of NTP’s patents and that NTP will receive a licensing fee from the firms and that in turn it has ended its patent infringement suits against these companies.

Apple vs Samsung starts today in Calif.
The on again off again suit between the two will start in front of US District Court Judge Lucy Koh today as Apple seeks to prove its damage claims against rival Samsung revolving around a number of Apple patents that it claims Samsung has infringed on. The stakes are high as Apple has claimed that it is entitled to $2.525 billion in damages.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Asus, AT&T, Google, Lawsuit, Mashable, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, SEC, Sprint, Surface, T-Mobile, Tablets, The New York Times, Verizon Wireless, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , ,

Microsoft Delivers Surface: Its own Tablet Family

June 18, 2012 by

Microsoft used the created hype of a short notice major press event held in the heart of Hollywood to debut a major new product family, and a hardware one at that- welcome to the Microsoft Surface, a tablet family.

This is part of a much bigger effort by the company that when combined with its next generation Windows 8 operating system launch later this year the company hopes will propel it into the midst of two large high tech trends it has missed-smartphones and tablets.

After a day full of rumors, primarily that Microsoft was going to deliver its own tablets, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO took the stage a bit after 4 pm PT and kicked the event off by saying that “Windows is the heart and soul of Microsoft”

He then went on to talk about how the company has been successful with a range of hardware products in its past as well from the Soft Card, different lines of mice and the Xbox. Microsoft Surface will now join that list of hardware products from a company known for its software.

The Surface is designed for Windows and will enable users to use Windows apps and games and is designed for both business and entertainment usage. It will feature an ultra ridged yet light, 1.5 lbs, VaporMG magnesium case. It will support high definition video on its 10.6-inch display and has a built-in kickstand so that you can set it up on a table to watch video.

The company will build them in a variety of colors and will have two basic lines; one will run Windows RT and feature either 32GB or 64GB storage and one that will run Windows Pro and have 64GB or 128GB storage.

Microsoft plans to sell them directly via Microsoft Stores in the US and online around the world. Release dates and pricing were not released but the RT version will be available first with the Windows Pro following about 90 days later.

There has been a growing buzz about Windows 8. Intel has been touting the number of its OEMs that are developing tablets that will be designed to run the operating system while Asus and others have given sneak peeks of their tablets at recent trade shows.

Still Apple’s iPad is firmly entrenched in the top position in this market and market research firm IDC has predicted that it will see its share grow over the next year. For 2013 IDC predicted that 142.8 million will be sold, up from its previous forecast of 137.4 and by 2016 it expects that 221.6 million will be sold. Apple’s iPad is expected to own 62.5% of the market this year, up from 58.2% last year. Android is expected to drop from last years’ 38.7% to 36.5% this year.

It is reported that Google will soon be selling its own tablets running its Android operating system, so that will make the two established platforms, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, soon available directly from the manufactures and Microsoft will expand that group. RIM also sells its own products.

Hard to say how this will come out- a lot of naysayers predicted that the Xbox would flop because Microsoft had no business in that market. I suspect a lot will depend on the Windows experience- it could really be a benefit in the corporate space where established security measures would make it much easier to adopt these products rather than the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) that is now occurring.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Asus, Google, iOS, Microsoft, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , ,

Nike and Microsoft Team for Fitness App on Xbox

June 5, 2012 by

The connected athlete just got a bit more connected today as Nike has entered into a partnership with Microsoft that will see the development of games for the Microsoft Xbox that uses the Nike+ technology.

The alliance was announced at the E3 show in Hollywood and the first program to be developed will be called Nike+ Kinect Training and the target date for release will be this year’s holiday season. And it will be exclusively available on Microsoft’s Xbox platform. It is currently estimated that there are 67 million Xboxes worldwide.

The program will connect users wearing shoes or a wristband that has Nike+ technology. Using the Kinect camera in the Xbox a user goes through a set of physical tests and the data is recorded and a personalized workout program is generated.

Then activity is recorded over a month and a reevaluation is made. As a user makes progress in getting in better shape the program evolves to raise the bar on their workouts. The program is capable of providing real time feedback to help keep workouts in line with goals.

Multiple users can share a video and work out at the same time by using the Xbox network. You forgot to work out? No problem as you can set it up to send reminders to your phone (apparently only if it is a Windows Phone).

The effort is expected to help expand the Nike brand, and as part of that effort the program will feature the ability to integrate with Facebook so that a user can share results on the social network.

In other Xbox news Microsoft has released a software program that enables tablets and smartphones to connect to the Xbox console and allows them to be used as a second screen. Called Smart Glass it can be used on devices powered both by Microsoft’s Windows family as well as operating systems from rivals such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Microsoft, Nike

Microsoft Slowly Pushing So.Cl Social Media Engine to Public

May 24, 2012 by

Microsoft has expanded the scope of who can use its So.Cl (pronounced social) social media search technology to everybody after a quiet beta push, as it seeks to establish it as a mainstream player in the social media environment.

So.Cl is a search engine that is designed to find and share social media, enabling you to connect with other users that have similar searches and interests and hopefully create an engagement between the participants. It enables users to take an assortment of media such as video, texts and photos, combine them into posts and then share them.

It is one of the many efforts under development at the company’s FUSE Labs and Microsoft has taken a low and cautious rollout for the product, quite the opposite of some of its efforts in the past. The company designed the technology for students and select schools were the first beta sites including University of Washington and New York University.

The student focus is intentional as the company has said that it believes that the features of the program reflect on how schools are teaching and how students are learning today, and not just computer science or technical students but for a range of scholastic focuses.

While focused on students I wonder how this will evolve, assuming that it does get off the ground. New sports blogs, apps for teaching players what to look for in an NFL defense, with commentary and past results listed in the frame? I have seen some pretty advanced sports pages and the ability to bring a large number of like minded fans, say baseball stat people, with live video examples etc.. could be compelling.

The effort was decidedly low key and that of course might have simply been because Microsoft did not want to try to be heard over all of the noise coming from the Facebook IPO or just because it is taking a different approach to establishing the technology.

So far it has had mixed reviews (I have not tried it yet) with Digital Trends decidedly unimpressed and with Cnet much more impressed with all of the features that the service provides.

Filed Under: Apps, Baseball, Facebook, Fanatic Fans, Google, Microsoft, So.Cl, Social Media, Social Media Data, Sports Social Media, Sports Social Media Data Tagged With: , , ,

AppStori seeks to self fund App Developers-Microsoft delivers strict App guidelines

May 2, 2012 by

I have already said that I enjoy seeing developers apply for funding from Kickstarter, but it has seemed to me that the platform is pretty much device or material oriented. Now an emerging effort is coming on line that will provide a similar opportunity for mobile developers.

Called AppStori, it is a platform that is designed to provide funding opportunities for startups that are developing mobile apps and related technology. Touting itself as a site that brings together mobile enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and developers it has a self funding model that looks a great deal like Kisckstarter.

The goal is to help eliminate funding as an issue to getting an app to market, or at least getting it a good head start. Aside from the funding aspect there is an interesting twist, interaction between users/investors and the design teams.

By posting questions, comments and feedback on project users can also get early access to software, recognition and other benefits. In addition you can offer to join teams and so it could become in some ways an ad hoc job board for developers looking for projects.

There is no cost to get a project listed but it does need to be approved to be on the site. I think that this will be an interesting site to follow to see what is popular and what gets the final green light by getting the greenbacks.

Speaking of apps it has been reported by the BBC that Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace Guidelines ban content that a reasonable person would consider to be adult or borderline adult content, and that Microsoft plans to take a very stringent interpretation of this rule.

The idea here is to get parents feeling comfortable that their children will not be able to download racy apps without their knowing about it. Apple has a very similar policy regarding apps from its iTunes store.

Filed Under: Apps, AppStori, Kickstarter, Microsoft, Startup Tagged With: , ,

Barnes & Noble Partners with Microsoft to Create Subsidiary

April 30, 2012 by

Barnes & Noble has entered into a relationship with Microsoft that will create a Barnes & Noble subsidiary that will handle all of Barnes & Noble’s digital and college businesses in what may be the first step in spinning off the unit as a separate company.

The new unit is as yet unnamed but goes by the temporary title of Newco and with Barnes & Noble throwing in its business units Microsoft will be providing a $300 million investment in the company, a move that will give the software giant a 17.6% equity stake in the new company.

Barnes & Noble will retain the remaining 82.4% equity in the company and Newco will maintain a relationship with Barnes & Noble’s retail outlets. The company said that the move was important for it because it will help it to capitalize on its Nook tablet and help it grow not only in the education market but also in the consumer space.

As part of the deal pending patent litigation Microsoft launched last year against Barnes & Noble was settled and B&N now has a royalty-bearing license under Microsoft’s patents for its NOOK eReader and Tablet products. The first expected product from this partnership will be a Nook application for Windows 8.

There has been speculation for some time that Barnes & Noble might look to spin off its hardware Nook business because wile it has seen solid acceptance, unlike many of the ereaders and tablets available, it is not viewed as a core competency of the company. B&N said that it is exploring the option of completely separating the business but will not comment on the matter unless it reaches a decision on the matter.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, Nook Tagged With: ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »