Posts Tagged 'Microsoft'

Windows prepares to battle it out for phone throne

Nokia had it’s heyday, Apple’s currently having theirs, now it’s Microsoft’s attempt for the mobile phone throne with the Windows Phone 7. The operating platform has functionality advantages over the iPhone and Android, primarily the less distracting layout which means reduced time glued to your handset going incessantly in and out of apps. There’s one central ‘Marketplace’ for downloading apps, music and games, and a hub for ‘People’, with integrated contacts, calling, text messaging and social networking. Other perks include the built in office hub with mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint; and although we’re satisfied with a bit of Tetris on the commute to work, for gamers there’s multiplayer gaming with exclusive access to Xbox Live. Windows have had some flops in the past with the Kin phone aimed at teenagers, following the previous Windows Phone model failing to compete with popular touchscreen rivals.

Facebook most effective content sharing platform

When it comes to content sharing, Facebook has proved a more popular platform than other social networks including Twitter according to a report by NMA with research from GoViral. Commenting and other interactions on Facebook are almost five times higher than on Twitter, spurred on by the introduction of the ‘like’ button which opens up interaction with content on third party sites. Other research by YouTube validated that while social networks are the primary places people interact with content, social features are increasingly expected across all sites. A sentiment echoed amongst younger web users (18-24) who ‘described the web as social.’

Mind/Body Kinection

The next leap in gaming technology has arrived with another big release from Microsoft (see Windows Phone 7 above). Joypads? Controllers? No need; this little beauty can respond to the mere wave of a hand or the sound of your voice. Kinect is a compact device connecting to the Xbox 360, containing a camera, audio sensors, and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body, and has the ability to recognize your face and voice. Players use their whole body to have a fully interactive and immersive experience.

HP fashion Facebook app

Just for fun star in your own movie with a paparazzi style app launching HP’s new range of laptops. It pulls photo’s from your Facebook page to make you look like the hedonistic rock and roll star you always knew you were.

Stuff on the web we think you might like:

Mad Men – starring you: JibJab lets you cast yourself and your friends in Mad Men. In true Blue Peter style, here’s one we made earlier, starring a few faces you may recognise from our creative team.

Sign Language: Winner of first prize in Virgin Shorts, this short film tugs on the heart strings

Draw and fold over: Nothing beats finding the stuff you played as a kid, online so you can play it all over again.

A smoother stroll down your virtual street

‘Hyper-perspective view’- now there’s a term you don’t hear everyday, but it best describes Microsoft’s new street level imaging system ‘Street Slide,’ an enhancement of their Streetside offering. Google Street View and Bing Maps Streetside users, will recognise the jumpy transition as you navigate along the street, caused by moving from one ‘bubble’ to the next – Street Slide eradicates this by overlaying perspective projections of the bubble images, which display  sideways along the street. Dubbed by Microsoft as being ‘As perspective as possible’ there are many user benefits outside of the smoother transition such as making it easier for people to find and recognise places quickly and easily by creating a more true to life perspective. Navigation is impressive too, achieved by either ‘smooth scrolling sideways’ (see video), widening the field of view once you find something you’re interested in, 360 degree view turn and a simple icon to flip to the opposite side of the street. Its good news for advertisers too as the wider space is engineered to display company logos or even the inclusion of social information, such as the location of friends – if linked up to a social network. It’s really kind of cool, but don’t take our word for it, check out the above demo video and see for yourself.

Gorillaz in the mist, and on your iPhone

The Gorillaz have launched a game for the iPhone and iPad. The game is based on the artwork for Plastic Beach, Damon Albarn’s bands latest album, tipped for a Mercury music prize this year. ‘Escape to Plastic Beach’ features 8 levels, with the cartoon members of the band represented in 3D animation. With visuals taken from designer Jamie Hewlett’s illustrations and the soundtrack from the album, this looks like a great fantasy land to ease the commute to work.

Virgin Media ramps up cross-platform strategy

Virgin Media have rolled out a Beta version of their new TV-on-demand service online to subscribers of its XL TV package, with plans to roll out to other subscription packages after the initial trial period. The move comes as competition in the sector is hotting up with imminent launches of Sky’s Anytime+ and Project Canvas. So what will it take to gain crucial advantage in the battle of VOD when long-form video content is readily available from a multitude of places? Perhaps as Nic Howell puts it, the issue issue boils down to a question of what matters more: content or convenience? “Virgin has more than 4,600 hours of on-demand content, but its challenge is to combine nice-to-have features with must-have content – exclusive content you really can’t get elsewhere. Anything else risks being incremental rather than game-changing.”

Amazon e-readers saving the Amazon

You didn’t know you needed one, but you do, so save the trees and cram all your books into one dinky palm sized device. Amazon have launched two new and improved versions of the Kindle, their e-book reader.  The new model has 50% better contrast, is 21% smaller and 15% lighter and weighs less than 250 grams. Its battery will now last for a month on a single charge if the wireless connectivity is switched off. The 6 inch display device comes with free 3G, Wi-Fi and will hold up to 3,500 books, magazines, newspapers and blogs which you can download wirelessly from Amazon directly to the Kindle. Amazon have been secretive about exactly how many Kindle’s have been sold but boast that the  Kindle has been their number one best selling item for two years running and has the most 5-star reviews of any of the products they sell and insist that it serves a different market to the popular iPad. This week Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, became the first writer to sell one million e-books in the Kindle store and Amazon announced that it is now selling more e-books than hard backs.

Stuff on the web we think you might like…

Street Museum iPhone app: This clever app uses augmented reality, geo tagging and Google Maps to overlay a historical view of London over your real-world street scene. We couldn’t resist having a play, the above pic is round the corner from Pancentric Towers by the Thames.

Pixelise the world: Stunningly imaginative video illustrating the world as it would be if infiltrated by pixels.

So That’s How They Filmed the Star Wars Opening Crawl: For a film that was light year’s ahead the filming techniques for the opening crawls were ‘wonderfully quaint.’

How to suck at Facebook: The Oatmeal brings you the best of Facebook faux-pas. Laugh-your-socks-off stuff.

Accepting meetings honestly: Imagine if you could express or see how people felt about coming or going to meetings.

Google world domination, starting with your TV

Combining the best aspects of television and the web, Google have announced the launch of their TV box set. The platform opens up your TV to millions of channels of entertainment, type in what you’re looking for and Google will help you find it on the web or on TV channels. Alternatively, if you just want to browse, you can use your standard program guide, your DVR or the Google TV home screen. Check the latest pop video’s on Youtube, show friends your photo’s or play online games, all on your big shiny 50 inch plasma screen.

Sky are rumoured to be interested in having Sky TV on the Google TV set, and Sony and Logitech are due to be the first to integrate Google TV into their devices. Sony announced production of TV’s and Blu-Ray DVD player’s with Google TV built in, while Logitech have plans to introduce an HDTV camera and video chat, along with apps to turn a smart phone into an advanced remote control. We need never leave the sofa again.

New Facebook privacy settings

In the wake of mounting public concern and a media backlash, Facebook have announced their new and improved privacy settings, releasing a detailed list of the proposed changes. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has already admitted in his Washington Post column that they ‘missed the mark’ with changes in privacy settings last December,  but comments that users will now be offered simpler privacy settings to give them more control over their personal information. They have acknowledged that their 50 privacy settings and 170 privacy options can be confusing for users.

The unpopular changes made in December 2009, dubbed The Great Facebook Betrayal by Gawker, removed the ability to hide your profile pictures, fan pages and network membership from all strangers. They also allowed advertisers within Facebook to trace back to individual users every time they followed a link to their ad, and due to the changes in privacy settings an increasing amount of user’s personal information was shared on the site by default. Check out this video of Mashable’s Pete Casmore discussing Facebook’s response to the user backlash.

A milestone moment

Apple has taken over Microsoft as the biggest tech company, pushing past its biggest Rival Microsoft. While Microsoft remains the highest profit making of the two companies, Apple is leading the way in terms of share price value thanks to the introduction of iPods, iPhones and iPads. Now, depending on your interpretation of the stats, you could see this as Apple taking nearly 20 years to get back to the position it held in 1989…