Microsoft's Ballmer Swipes at Google

We can learn at least one thing from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco: When it comes to smartphone competition, Microsoft sees Android as a bigger threat than Apple.

I'm basing that solely on the vitriol that Ballmer leveled at Android (and Google in general) while leaving Apple relatively unscathed. Indeed, he offered faint praise for the iPhone, grouping it along with Windows Phone as a device that feels "good in your hand." His most damning criticism was that the iPhone offers "seas of icons," versus Windows Phone's goal of placing "information front and center."

But he launched an attack on Android. First he said, "You don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone," as if you somehow need a Ph.D to use an Android-based device. Then he added, "It is very hard to be excited, for me, about the Android phones," which, well, is exactly what you'd expect the CEO of Microsoft to say under such circumstances.

It makes sense that Ballmer would reserve the bulk of his fire for Android, considering that both Microsoft and Google are following roughly the same strategy in smartphones: Persuade hardware manufacturers to load your software onto as many devices as possible, in a bid to saturate the market. But Android's a dominating platform while Windows Phone, roughly a year after its release, is still struggling for adoption.

At the same time, though, maybe Ballmer should curb some of that ire: The more Android devices sold, the more Microsoft gets paid, thanks to a series of patent-licensing agreements with Android manufacturers.

That Android strategy (Microsoft's alternative for Android manufacturers who refuse to enter into a licensing agreement: an intellectual property lawsuit) is just one piece of Microsoft's larger competitive thrust against Google. During his talk, Ballmer also insisted that, with the release of Office 365 and other cloud-productivity platforms, Microsoft was making more progress against Google in the cloud. "Our ramp rate of sold seats, it's got a nice trajectory," he said, "We've got a highly functional product that's highly available."

He also painted Microsoft as gaining search-engine traction with users despite Google's dominance of the search space. Bing's progress was good "not just for share but for having enough data to continue to improve the product," he said, according to a video of the talk posted on YouTube, "to make search more than just 10 blue links." He sidestepped a moderator question about whether Microsoft would create its own social platform along the lines of Google Plus, suggesting instead that "we're adding what we would call connectivity to our products."

In other words, don't expect this battle to end any time soon.

Windows Phone Will Target Smartphone Midmarket

Next up for Windows Phone: attacking the middle range of the market.

"We are dramatically broadening the set of price points in Mango-related phones that we can reach," Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, told the audience during the Asia D conference Oct. 19. "That's particularly important because going lower down in price point opens up more addressable market."

Until this point, Microsoft had positioned Windows Phone as more of a competitor to high-end devices such as Apple's iPhone and the Motorola Droid. But Microsoft's traditional aim with any of its products has been to capture as big an audience as possible, so a thrust toward the smartphone midmarket is perhaps inevitable.

For a couple of months, rumors have circulated about a stripped-down Windows Phone OS code-named Tango, aimed at lower-cost hardware and developing markets such as India and China. Back in August, Mary Jo Foley wrote on her All About Microsoft blog about two new Tango releases that could expand Windows Phone into new markets and load onto those cheaper devices.

At the moment, Microsoft is mostly concerned with pushing Mango, a wide-ranging update with some 500 tweaks and features, onto Windows Phone. That's happening in conjunction with a host of new manufacturers, including Nokia and Samsung, prepping a host of new Windows Phone devices. Although outside research firms generally place Windows Phone's share of the smartphone market far behind that of the iPhone and Android, Microsoft hopes that the combination of boosted software and new manufacturing partners can give the platform the momentum it needs to seize a bigger portion for itself.

One of those partners, Nokia, reportedly plans to show off its first Windows Phone devices at Nokia World in London, due to start Oct. 26.

That information also came from Lees, who told the Asia D conference Oct. 19: "Next week it's going to be Nokia World, where they're going to announce their phones and how they're going to make the most out of the Windows Phone opportunity."

It'll be interesting to see what rolls out. By tossing out homegrown mobile operating systems such as Symbian in favor of Windows Phone, Nokia is betting its existence on Microsoft software allowing it to push back against Android and other competitors. I'll bet anything that Nokia's push will eventually involve Windows Phone devices targeted at that midrange. The only question is when Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will try to make that happen.

Steve Jobs Biography Criticizes Microsoft, Ballmer

A good chunk of Walter Isaacson's new biography of Steve Jobs focuses on Microsoft and Bill Gates.In the book, he characterizes former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as "a business person" but not someone who necessarily made great products: "He ended up the wealthiest guy around, and if that was his goal, then he achieved it. But it's never been my goal, and I wonder, in the end, if it was his goal."

In the same passage, he also discussed Microsoft as a company. "They've clearly fallen from their dominance," he said. "They've become mostly irrelevant. And yet I appreciate what they did and how hard it was. They were very good at the business side of things. They were never as ambitious product-wise as they should have been."

Microsoft, of course, would strenuously disagree with those assertions. The latest edition of Windows has sold more than 450 million licenses, and the company continues to maintain a dominant position in business software. While the jury's still out with regard to its cloud efforts as revenue generators, platforms such as Office 365 are making inroads against Google and other companies in that area.

But Apple has framed itself as primarily a mobility company, with products such as the tablet and smartphone, and that area has also proven troublesome for Microsoft. Windows Phone has attracted critical praise but not enough sales to dent either the Apple iPhone or the growing family of Google Android devices; and Microsoft remains largely absent from the tablet game until the launch of Windows 8 sometime in 2012.

Jobs also had some things to say about current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don't matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off," he said. "It happened at Apple when Sculley came in, which was my fault, and it happened when Ballmer took over at Microsoft." As a consequence, "I don't think anything will change at Microsoft as long as Ballmer is running it."

Microsoft's efforts with Windows 8 (particularly when it comes to tablets) and its revamped Windows Phone strategy (which involves a host of new manufacturing partners, including Nokia, in conjunction with the wide-ranging "Mango" software update) will determine whether Jobs' prophecy plays out. If those efforts succeed in a big way, then Microsoft could have a turnaround story in mobility to rival Apple's own. If they fail, then Redmond has some very serious problems.

Nokia's Windows Phones: The Games Begin

Last week Nokia unveiled a pair of Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 710 and 800. They'll arrive in the United States sometime in early 2012, according to the Finnish manufacturer.

"Lumia is the first real Windows Phone," Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told the audience during a London keynote Oct. 26. "We are signaling our intent right now to be today's leaders in smartphone design and craftsmanship, no question about it."

Let the games begin.

The Lumia 800 represents the high end of Nokia's smartphone plans, and features a 1.4GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor, and an 8-megapixel camera that uses Carl Zeiss optics. Design-wise, there's a 3.7-inch active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED) ClearBlack curved display integrated into a body rendered from a single piece of polycarbonate. I played with it during a Nokia presentation last week in New York City; it's pretty.

In a play toward the midmarket, Nokia is also offering the cheaper Lumia 710, also with a 1.4GHz processor, and a 5-megapixel camera. It's pretty, too.

To say that Nokia needs both these devices to succeed is something of an understatement, considering how it's abandoned its other operating systems in favor of Windows Phone. In order to sweeten the deal for consumers, Nokia has installed some exclusive apps with its phones, including Nokia Drive (with turn-by-turn navigation and voice-activated control) and Nokia Maps, which offers up points of interest around the user's location.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Microsoft wants to push Windows Phone more toward the midmarket, and the Lumia 710 seems a big step in that direction. "We are dramatically broadening the set of price points in Mango-related phones that we can reach," Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, told the audience during the Asia D conference Oct. 19. "That's particularly important because going lower down in price point opens up more addressable market."

But it'll still be some months until we know whether Nokia's succeeding in its all-or-nothing effort.

Windows 8, Bill Gates Killed Courier Tablet: Report

Microsoft's innovative "Courier" tablet prototype--which, if produced, would have offered two touch-screens bonded together in a book-style format--now has a cause of death: crushed with extreme prejudice by Windows 8.

According to CNET's Jay Greene, who interviewed a number of unnamed executives with knowledge of the company's tablet deliberations, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had a choice to make: either support Courier, which executive J Allard (famous for helping conceive and push the Xbox) touted as a complementary device to PCs and smartphones, or wait until Windows and Windows Live division President Steven Sinofsky could build a version of Windows capable of running on tablets. The latter would take substantial time.

Ballmer went to former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who in turn focused his laser intellect on the dilemma. And Gates had one big issue with Courier: namely, it wasn't intended to run Exchange or Outlook, instead pulling down email via the browser. "The device wasn't intended to be a computer replacement," Greene wrote. "The key to Courier, Allard's team argued, was its focus on content creation."

Gates, according to an unnamed Courier worker quoted in the article, had an "allergic reaction" to the concept. After all, Microsoft has grown on the concept of supplying an integrated ecosystem of software products, portable across a wide variety of form factors. Something that operates outside that matrix, well, is an outlier.

Within weeks, according to Greene's sources, "Courier was cancelled because the product didn't clearly align with the company's Windows and Office franchises."

Microsoft has now placed all its tablet chips on Windows 8. The operating system, due for arrival sometime in 2012, offers a Start screen loaded with colorful tiles linked to applications, and meant to operate equally well with traditional PCs and touch-centric devices. It also allows users to switch to a "regular" desktop interface.

Tablet interoperability will place Windows 8 in a head-on vector with Apple's iPad, which currently dominates the tablet space. Other touch-screen competitors, including a variety of Google Android tablets and Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad, have crashed and burned in their attempts to seize their own portion of the tablet market. That's either a portent or an opening for Microsoft, depending on how you look at it; certainly, the company intends Windows 8 to offer a robust "no compromises" experience on tablets, which could boost its appeal with the same business users who already constitute a significant portion of Microsoft's core audience.

All that being said, I can't help but feel a little twinge of sadness over Courier's premature death. It was a cool concept, even if it never saw the light of day.

Bing for Mobile Embraces HTML5 for Android, iOS

Microsoft has updated its Bing for Mobile app for iPhone and Android, adding some new features and bringing the experience more in line with the experience offered on Windows Phone.

"Today's update uses HTML5 to blend the mobile browse experience with the app experience so you get a consistent and fast mobile search experience," read a Nov. 2 posting on the Bing Community blog, "whether you're using m.bing.com from your browser or the Bing app."

Microsoft's Windows Phone tightly bakes Bing's search engine into the interface, blurring the line between traditional browser-based search and the platform's "Metro" interface. Evidently, Microsoft seems interested in extending aspects of that experience to other smartphone platforms.

"Rather than tightly binding functions into a mobile client, we want to embrace the drive towards exposing our functions via an HTML5 experience," the blog post added. "Using HTML5, our goal is to build a mobile experience that leverages the unique capabilities" of platforms such as camera support and voice search, while "making the functions the apps can provide consistent across the platforms."

In addition, this app update also includes Deals, which the blog describes as "one-stop deal shopping and convenient mobile phone access for local deals from more than 100 deal providers across the United States." It makes Bing's video domain, launched in October on m.bing, available on the iPhone. The Android version of the app offers a combination of real-time transit routing and news. And the Maps/List Split View allows users to synchronize a list, such as directions, into a single view alongside a map.

Microsoft is apparently aiming to release the same experience for Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices at some unnamed point in the future. For the moment, the Android and iOS apps are available on their respective app stores.

Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL Partner on Advertising

In a bid to counter some of the Internet's larger ad giants--most notably Google and Facebook--Microsoft has joined in an advertising partnership with AOL and Yahoo.

However, Microsoft isn't framing the agreement as a response to its competitors in that arena. "Other players in the industry are welcome to join us," Rik van der Kooi, corporate vice president of Microsoft Advertising Business Group, told Reuters Nov. 8. "This is not in response to anybody in particular."

Under the terms of the agreement, each of the three companies can sell premium display ads belonging to the other two. That will allow the trifecta to more efficiently unload premium advertising inventory, although their competition over advertiser spending and other segments will continue apace.

Facebook and Google continue to battle for their own significant shares of the online advertising pie. Although Microsoft's product portfolio gives it diverse streams of revenue (in contrast to Google, for example, which depends on advertising for an overwhelming percentage of its bottom line), its recent emphasis on Web and cloud services makes advertising a more prominent concern. Greater ad revenues would also allow Microsoft to absorb some of the massive losses its online division accrues on a quarterly basis.

Microsoft is already in partnership with Facebook. A number of the latter's features, including the "Like" button, feed social data into Bing, Microsoft's search engine. That wouldn't stop Microsoft from making a more aggressive play for the same advertising-dollar pool that feeds Facebook, of course, and nor would that stop AOL or Yahoo, which presumably view Facebook as more of an existential threat.

Microsoft Bing's Most-Searched Terms Include Bieber, Xbox

Microsoft has unveiled Bing's top-searched terms for 2011, a list that harbors absolutely no surprises.

Topping the list of most-searched people is Justin Bieber, which suggests a lot of tweens are using Microsoft's search engine for their teen-idol needs. No. 1 in the category of consumer electronics was Xbox/Kinect, followed by the Kindle, then PlayStation.

Top news stories searched out on Bing include the Casey Anthony trial, Osama bin Laden's death, and Hurricane Irene. Top finance queries included real estate agents, "cheap" and "coupons." Vegas ended up the most-searched world destination, and the upcoming "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" the most-hunted movie.

The complete list is available here, for anyone with a burning desire to find out, say, which reality star or morning show topped Bing's search list.

Microsoft accounted for 14.8 percent of the U.S. search engine market in October, according to research firm comScore, compared with Google at 65.6 percent. Although Yahoo racked up 15.2 percent of that market, its back-end search is powered by Bing, which for all purposes folds its share into that of Microsoft.

In essence, Microsoft holds a third of the domestic search market. From its inception, the company has tried to differentiate itself from Google in a number of ways, most notably its subdivision of search into a series of subject-specific verticals, including "Shopping" and "Travel." In contrast to the Google search page's famous blank background, Bing also refreshes daily with a new image.

In addition, Microsoft's partnership with Facebook has allowed Bing to take things a step deeper, layering search with social data such as the ability to see which friends "Liked" a particular Website.

Despite the steady stream of new features, though, Microsoft's gains against Google have come in a decidedly gradual game, and the company's online division costs it millions of dollars per quarter in losses. Nonetheless, as Microsoft moves increasingly toward the cloud and mobility, Bing plays an ever-greater role as both a collector of aggregate user data and as a branding tool.

That's more than enough reason (aside from giving Bieber-ites their all-important fix) for the company to continue pouring money into the effort.

Salesforce CEO Benioff Slams Microsoft

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff used a high-profile company event in New York City to engage in one of his favorite activities: swiping at competitors such as Microsoft.

"I think they've lost their relevancy," was how he described Microsoft during a Nov. 30 question-and-answer session, following his company's unveiling of its Social Marketing Cloud. "I just don't think they matter anymore." He was dismissive of the upcoming Windows 8, suggesting that that the "Windows Everywhere" paradigm was terminally outdated.

Microsoft and Salesforce have made a sport of lunging at each other's throats. On the product side, Salesforce.com's browser-based CRM competes with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. On the lawsuit side, the two companies have engaged in tit-for-tat patent battles, the latest of which ended in August 2010 with Salesforce agreeing to pay Microsoft an unspecified amount.

In the wake of that lawsuit, the companies' respective spokespeople took a somewhat conciliatory tone, with Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft (not to mention the bête noire of Google Android), describing the endpoint agreement as "an example of how companies can compete vigorously in the marketplace while respecting each other's intellectual property rights."

But that doesn't stop Benioff from doing his best to rip into Microsoft seemingly at every opportunity. There's a method to his madness: Salesforce products like the new Social Marketing Cloud (a suite of cloud-based analytics and engagement tools built atop Radian6 software) fully embrace the idea of browser-based software as an increasingly important business platform, one whose flexibility and scalability eclipses traditional on-premises software (and associated hardware). Meanwhile, Microsoft is powering toward the cloud as fast as it can, with products like Office 365, but its revenues are still largely tethered to traditional software such as Office and Windows, which it continues to heavily promote. Benioff needs to cast his company as the way of the future, and Microsoft as struggling to catch up.

The flip side is that Microsoft has billions of dollars and thousands of very smart people at its disposal. That means the company can do things like burn through hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter on developing online services. It can also afford to play a much longer game, strategy-wise, than many of its competitors. In other words, it's a dangerous opponent.

So Benioff slams them as outdated, and Microsoft's people fire back, and the game continues.

Microsoft Preps Xbox Dashboard Revamp

At some point soon, Microsoft is going to deliver a radical revamp to the Xbox's Live Dashboard, one that positions the gaming console as more of a home-entertainment center.

It's just a question of when, apparently.

"We are still working to get the release out," Larry Hyrb, a member of Microsoft's Xbox team, wrote in a Dec. 6 Tweet, followed a few others later by another: "No new information to report yet. My earlier update is still the most current."

Those with the Kinect hands-free controller linked to their Xbox will have the ability to navigate through an array of programming via voice and gesture command. New options such as HBO will join old stalwarts like Netflix. Presumably, Microsoft is negotiating to bring additional shows to the platform, although I'm sure the associated rights issues are a veritable hornet's nest of conflicting interests.

Meanwhile, the revamped Xbox interface embraces the same tile-centric "Metro" theme already present in Windows Phone, and soon in Windows 8. Branding-wise, it's a smart move to integrate the same design cues into all your company's major products.

Thanks to millions of Xbox Live subscribers, a robust and content-heavy Xbox dashboard is a challenge to both Google TV and Apple TV, neither of which let you gun down a couple dozen zombies after concluding another episode of "Boardwalk Empire." Apple is heavily rumored to be entering the television-set business sometime in 2012, but actual details remain scarce; it is Cupertino, after all, which rivals the CIA for keeping its secrets locked down.

Microsoft has made no secret about its designs for control of the living room. Now it's about to take one giant step closer to accomplishing that goal. It'll be interesting to see how rivals like Google and Apple respond in the short term.

Windows 8 App Store Promises Apple App Store Battle

 Microsoft has pushed back the curtain from the app store it plans on integrating into Windows 8, in the process kicking off what will surely be a vicious competition with Apple and its own app storefront for Mac OS X Lion.Unlike Windows Phone, whose own app store is growing at a relatively slow rate (and whose total number of apps on offer lags well behind that of Apple's App Store for iOS), Windows comes with a sizable user base. Third-party developers will want to leverage those hundreds of millions of potential customers for profit, and will thus scramble to build "Metro"-style apps to fill the Windows 8 app store. At least, that's how Microsoft hopes the process will unfold.

In order to sweeten the deal for developers, Microsoft will give them 80 percent of every dollar generated off an app's sale, provided the app in question earns more than $25,000. Less than that, and Microsoft will pay out 70 percent, a ratio that has become something of an industry standard.

Microsoft is also designing the store with businesses in mind.

"Enterprise developers have been asking about their path to market with Metro style apps," Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for the Windows Store, wrote in a Dec. 6 posting on the new Windows Store blog. "And, in turn, IT administrators have been asking about deployment and management scenarios, such as compliance and security."

Microsoft's way of fulfilling those enterprise needs, apparently, centers on giving businesses direct control over app deployment. "Enterprises can choose to limit access to the Windows Store catalog by their employees, or allow access but restrict certain apps," he wrote. "In addition, enterprises can choose to deploy Metro style apps directly to PCs, without going through the Store infrastructure."

Windows 8 beta will arrive in February 2012, with the final release later that year. Unlike previous versions of the operating system with their desktop-style interface, the upcoming operating system's start screen centers on a set of colorful, touchable tiles linked to applications--the better to port it onto tablets and other touch-centric form factors.

Microsoft, Nokia Considered RIM Takeover

Microsoft and Nokia apparently toyed with partnering up for a Research In Motion takeover.That bit of news comes from The Wall Street Journal, itself quoting the ever-popular "people familiar with the matter." Those sources described the status of the talks as "unclear."

Given its age and prominence in the mobile industry, RIM almost certainly has an immense library of patents, which could prove valuable to any Nokias and Microsofts in search of a little more intellectual-property protection in these litigious times. With RIM's stock performance of late, the Canadian mobile device maker is arguably even more of a bargain than it was six months or two years ago, when similar acquisition rumors also surfaced.

But Microsoft has scored a number of significant legal victories against Android of late, between its campaign of cornering Android manufacturers into licensing agreements, and its minor win against Motorola Mobility with the ITC this week.

Any RIM deal would have come with significant drawbacks for both Microsoft and Nokia. For starters, both the latter companies are firmly bonded to Windows Phone, and Microsoft is planning (along with its manufacturing partners) a series of tablets with the upcoming Windows 8. That sort of ecosystem doesn't exactly merge seamlessly with RIM's, which is in the middle of transitioning from BlackBerry 7 to QNX-based BlackBerry 10.

Nor could Microsoft and Nokia have made a play for RIM in order to secure the latter's hardware, considering a.) Microsoft and manufacturing partners, and Nokia, already have their own hardware portfolios and proprietary design language, thank you very much, and b.) the majority of RIM's portfolio is centered on devices with a physical QWERTY keyboard, which doesn't exactly fit with Windows Phone.

Would Microsoft and Nokia have bought RIM for its corporate business and cloud services? Again, Microsoft is already making its own great strides in the business cloud, and has a significant business audience.

At most, Microsoft and Nokia were just performing their due diligence by sniffing around a little. Buying RIM wouldn't be a good move.

Microsoft, CEA Take Different Views on CES Pullout

Microsoft sparked a tech-world furor Dec. 21 with the announcement that, starting in 2013, it will decline to provide a keynote speech or booth at the Consumer Electronics Show.

"We have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES," Frank Shaw, Microsoft's corporate vice president of corporate communications, wrote in a posting that day on The Official Microsoft Blog. "We won't have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing."

Microsoft will continue to participate in CES, he added, "as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries."

Indeed, CES doesn't always coincide with Microsoft's timing for its more high-profile releases. For example, at the 2011 edition of the show, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer used his keynote to hint at Microsoft's movement into tablets with Windows 8, but the company nonetheless chose to wait for several more months before providing a glimpse of the operating system at work.

However, executives at the Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES, seem to dispute Microsoft's pullout as unilateral. Jason Oxman, the CEA's senior vice president of industry affairs, told The New York Times Dec. 21 that Microsoft's ending its show presence was more of a mutual decision. "From our standpoint, it was the right decision as well."

According to Oxman, the CEA wanted a new company for that opening keynote slot long held by Microsoft. The newspaper paraphrased him as saying the split with Microsoft "had not been acrimonious."

For its part, Microsoft could use Ballmer's 2012 CES keynote (if not its significant presence on the show floor) to show off some of the Windows 8 tablets in development. But after that, it seems, all such announcements and unveilings will come on Microsoft's terms. Whether that dampens the ability of CES to draw industry buzz remains to be seen.

Leaked Windows Phone Road Map Traces Future Updates

Now here's something you don't see every day: a leaked road map for Windows Phone's evolution through the end of 2012.

That purported road map comes courtesy of WMPoweruser, which included a screen cap of it in a Dec. 27 posting. The blog also declined to mention its source for the information, which (at least in broad strokes) jibes with past data from other places.

Supposedly, the second quarter of 2012 will see the arrival of a "Tango" update, which according to the road map's handy bullet points will feature "products with the best prices." This likely means Windows Phones aimed at the midmarket, with a possible stripped-down user interface to match the lower cost.

In the fourth quarter of that year would come "Apollo," aimed at both the "superphone" (i.e., higher-end specifications) and "business" categories. A road map bullet point also suggests "increase overall volume," which could mean Microsoft anticipates more Windows Phone units in users' hands by the end of 2012, or else it is hoping that smartphones loaded with some sort of Apollo software update will kick off a higher volume of sales.

Despite the Microsoft brand name and phones from several manufacturers, Windows Phone failed to gain much traction with consumers in 2011. During his July 11 keynote speech at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, CEO Steve Ballmer described Windows Phone's market presence as "very small."

Tango and Apollo rumors have floated for some time. Back in August, Mary-Jo Foley posted on her All About Microsoft blog that she'd heard of "two Tango releases on tap," with the first aiming to expand "the Windows Phone footprint into new markets" while the second "will be targeted at low-cost devices and include fixes and new features."

Meanwhile, Apollo had already been tagged (by Slashgear and other sources) as Microsoft's next big code update. However, possible features remain unclear. In any case, if this road map is accurate, it shows that Microsoft has robust update plans to accompany a hard Windows Phone push by Nokia and some other manufacturers.

Windows Phone 8 Details Revealed

Microsoft's renewed push for its Windows Phone platform centers on Mango, an update with hundreds of tweaks and features. Over the next few months, manufacturers such as Nokia will push an array of new smartphones boasting the software.

It should come as no surprise, of course, that Microsoft is already thinking ahead to subsequent Windows Phone versions. Given the rapid pace of smartphone OS development, they basically have no choice. Until now, though, the nature of those future versions remained totally unclear. But now, two new reports give us a better idea of what might be in store from Windows Phone late in 2012.

On Feb. 2, the blog Pocketnow.com offered a rather extensive rundown of Windows Phone 8's features, claiming it obtained them from a Microsoft-produced video meant for Nokia executives (and hosted by Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore). Many of those details were subsequently confirmed by Paul Thurrott, in a posting that same day on his Supersite for Windows.

Pocketnow paraphrased Belfiore as saying that Windows Phone 8 will "use many of the same components of Windows 8" and that areas of heavy overlap include "kernel, networking stacks, security, and multimedia support." For developers, that apparently means the ability to reuse massive chunks of code when "porting an app from desktop to phone."

Thurrott seconded that finding in his own post, writing that Windows Phone 8 "will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE as are current versions." In other words, apps developed for Windows Phone Mango will apparently continue to play well on the upgraded platform.

Both sources said Windows Phone 8 will include the same 128-bit, full-disk BitLocker encryption that currently runs on Windows. A "Data Smart" feature will give WiFi hotspots priority over using the smartphone's cellular connection, in turn reducing data usage. Thurott noted a Skype app, SkyDrive integration, secure payments via near-field communication (NFC), camera improvements, and Internet Explorer 10 Mobile as other additions.

1 Million Downloads Of Windows 8 Consumer Preview In One Day !

Microsoft today announced that Windows 8 Consumer Preview was downloaded over 1 million times since yesterday. Yes, In 24 hours period. At MWC yesterday, Microsoft released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview along with Visual Studio 11 beta and other development tools. I’m sure the beta download numbers will skyrocket this weekend when most of the people will be ready to download this release.

For first time ever White Xbox 360 Kinect bundle now available

It seems white technology is now all the rage, and Microsoft has followed the trend by announcing a fully while Xbox 360 Kinect Bundle.

The limited edition bundle includes a glossy white Xbox 360 4GB console, glossy white Kinect sensor, white Xbox 360 wireless controller and a copy of two of the most popular Kinect tiles: Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures.

The package also includes a three month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold will be available while supplies last for US $ 299.99.

If you do not want to splash out for the full bundle, but is still desperate for the glossy white controller or need a second to complete the package, it is available for purchase separately for US $49.99.

Both the controller and the white Bundle begin shipping today to retailers in the US & around the world starting today, and will be available in Europe and Brazil in the next few months.

See Major Nelson explain the package in the video below.

Microsoft Reveals First Look Of Halo 4 And Its Multiplayer Spaces

Microsoft revealed the first look of upcoming sequel of its Halo Franchise, Halo 4.

For the first time ever, see Halo 4 in action as we take you behind the scenes with the developers at 343 Industries. Enjoy your first in-game look at the Master Chief, the updated Battle Rifle, and the exciting multiplayer spaces coming your way holiday 2012.

Microsoft’s 343 Industries didn’t provide any other details on the game so far other than the video. So, Enjoy the video and get ready for  holiday 2012.

Microsoft Releases Device Center Beta For Windows 8

Microsoft released a new app called Device Center which will help you manage devices connected to your Windows 8 tablets, PC’s, etc,. This new app which is designed for touch UI may replace our old Device Center in Windows.

Device Center helps you personalize and customize how you work on your PC

• Tailor your mouse and keyboard to meet your unique needs and work style.
• Modify your mouse and keyboard settings to make it easier to use the unique features of most PC apps.

Effortlessly transition to Device Center from existing device management apps

• Launch the app from the Windows 8 Start screen.
• View and change basic and application-specific settings for all connected devices in one place.
• Explore features with pop-up descriptive and “how-to” InfoTips.
• Includes access to an online How-To/Troubleshooting library.
• Includes access to an online Healthy Computing Guide for tips on how to work more comfortably on your computer.

Microsoft Shows Off Interactive Wearable Multitouch Projector

Microsoft Research is continuing its efforts into Natural User Interaction space. The latest project they demoed is a Interactive Wearable Multi-touch Projector. The project is in its early stage, but you can see the potential from the video above. People can project their computing interfaces over any surface and start interacting with it. Microsoft Research has done similar projects in the past with the name of wearable computing.

Read more on this at Microsoft.com/next

Microsoft Research Shows Off “Cliplets”, A New Type Of Imagery

Microsoft Research today releases a desktop app that lets you create a new type of imagery called “Cliplets”.

A still photograph is a limited format for capturing moments that span an interval of time. Video is the traditional method for recording durations of time, but the subjective “moment” that one desires to capture is often lost in the chaos of shaky camerawork, irrelevant background clutter, and noise that dominates most casually recorded video clips. Microsoft Research Cliplets is an interactive app that uses semi-automated methods to give users the power to create “cliplets”—a type of imagery that sits between stills and video from handheld videos. The tool provides a creative lens one can use to focus on important aspects of a moment by performing spatiotemporal compositing and editing on a video-clip input.

Download it here.

Can OEMs Match The New iPad Specs For Windows 8 Tablets?

Today, Apple unveiled their next generation iPad. Even though there was no revolutionary announcements, a resolutionary  announcement was made. The new iPad will sport a new Retina display.

The Retina display on the new iPad features a 2048-by-1536 resolution, 264 pixels per inch (ppi), 44 percent greater color saturation, and an astounding 3.1 million pixels — in the same 9.7-inch space. That’s four times the number of pixels in iPad 2 and a million more than an HDTV. Those pixels are so close together, your eyes can’t discern individual ones at a normal viewing distance.

The new Retina display will be powered by Dual-core Apple A5X custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics. It will also have 1GB RAM with 10 hours battery life packed in a 650gm machine with 9.2mm thickness.

Can Windows OEMs match the above specs of iPad for Windows 8 tablets ? The answer is Yes. Samsung’s Exynos 5250 SoC based on Cortex-A15 architecture will support  a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. Even other chip makers and OEMs like Nvidia and LG are cooking up their own chip-sets to support such resolutions. So, specs wise OEMs will match iPad with Windows 8 hardware.

But is that enough to compete with iPad ? No. The most impressive part of iPad is the 200,000 apps and the $499 price tag. Microsoft should take its best possible effort to court developers for Windows 8 apps. I’m expecting 2000-3000 quality apps at Windows Store when Windows 8 launches later this year.  And regarding the price tag, its all in the OEMs hands..

Young People Will Change the World

Editor’s Note: At the 2012 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates participated in a roundtable discussion on Opportunity for Youth. It’s a subject Bill is passionate about, because solving the world’s big problems will require energy and creativity of people of all ages, and from future generations. This post also appears on Bill’s personal blog, The Gates Notes.In my annual letter for 2012, I invited students globally to write their own annual letters about what we need to do to extend the progress the world has made in improving the lives of its poorest people over the past 50 years. I’ve received some innovative and inspiring letters, which I’ve featured on my website. All the insight and ideas these young people brought forward are amazing.

I saw this same level of insight and creativity today at the World Economic Forum, when I sat down with young innovators and leaders, including students who’ve received Imagine Cup grants, to discuss how we can help their peers around the world achieve their dreams. Whether young people want to start a business or a nonprofit, or they want to be the first in their family to go to college, it’s critical to make sure they have what they need to succeed.

Improving access to quality education is essential to putting students on a path to compete for good jobs or become entrepreneurs. Worldwide, we must invest more in education. In addition, access to technology and technology skills will be increasingly important elements of economic opportunity—whether you grow up in Africa or Alaska.

And finally, we need to make sure young people – no matter what their socio-economic background – have the opportunity to make their great ideas a reality, whether it’s through startup funding, connections or mentorship. The Microsoft Imagine Cup is an annual competition where students around the world are challenged to develop creative technology solutions to the world’s toughest problems. Today, I met with Imagine Cup Grants Winners from Croatia, Ecuador, Jordan and the U.S., all of whose innovative technology projects have the potential to make a tremendous impact on society. One of the Imagine Cup grant winners I met with today was Gerardo Francisco Pérez Layedra – or, as he likes to go by, Paco.

Paco and his team came up with an idea called SkillBox, an affordable solution to help children who are hearing impaired by translating all audio received from a teacher in a classroom into sign language. A wireless headset captures the sound and sends it to the computer, and SkillBox then shows the corresponding sign for the word or phrase. Yesterday, all the team had was an idea. Today, that idea can become a reality because Microsoft is giving them the resources they need to start their own business: cash, software and support, as well as connections to investors, NGO partners and business partners. I’m optimistic about the impact that they will have on helping hearing-impaired children get a great education.

Young people have the ideas, energy and creativity to make the world a better place. We should help them try.

Gone Google? Got Concerns? We Have Alternatives

During the last week or so, there has been a fair amount of discussion about how Google is making some unpopular changes to some of its most popular products. You can see some of the concerns and worries about lack of choice and so on in these links.When we read the coverage last week, it was clear people were honestly wrestling with the choices that had been made for them and were looking for options or alternatives.

The changes Google announced make it harder, not easier, for people to stay in control of their own information. We take a different approach – we work to keep you safe and secure online, to give you control over your data, and to offer you the choice of saving your information on your hard drive, in the cloud, or on both.

So, if the news about Google has you feeling frustrated, or concerned, or both, we have some great, award-winning alternatives:

Hotmail: Join the hundreds of millions of people who enjoy not worrying about the content of their private e-mails being used to serve ads.Bing: The search engine that gives you great experiences using the whole Web.Office 365: The award-winning online collaboration solution for businesses who don’t want their documents and mail used to benefit advertisers.Internet Explorer: The world’s most popular browser, now with Tracking Protection, offering controls over your privacy as you browse.

And to help remind people of these alternatives, we’re placing a series of ads in some major newspapers this week.

If you haven’t tried these Microsoft products and services, give ‘em a shot. If you’ve tried them before and moved on, come on back. We’ve left the light on for you.

Looking for Options? Try the Dynamic Duo of IE9 and Bing

For the last couple of days we’ve been running a series of Microsoft advertisements in some major newspapers, focused on some key differences between some Google products and practices and some Microsoft products and services. This conversation was really spurred by some pretty unpopular changes Google has made, all designed to make you more valuable to them. We have a different view.So to wrap up the week, we’re highlighting Internet Explorer and Bing. Great products on their own, each clearly different than what Google offers, each designed with people first.

Download Internet Explorer 9, and install an appropriate Tracking Protection List from the Internet Explorer Gallery. You can also find Tracking Protection Lists created by well-known privacy experts at http://privacyonline.org.uk/about.html. That way, you can browse the Web without simultaneously being “browsed” by others. It’s unique to IE9 in that, regardless of the privacy policy of the site you happen to be visiting, Tracking Protection helps ensure your information stays with you…not with the third parties whose content is on the websites you visit. In fact, the privacy protections in IE9 are so extensive that two of the world’s leading privacy researchers, Simon Davies and Alexander Hanff of Privacy International, said:
“IE9 Tracking Protection has huge potential and is a powerful tool for providing verifiable privacy protections for consumers. Alex and I were delighted when Microsoft decided to heavily support this area, since it has empowered independent parties like us to author rich Tracking Protection Lists—available free to consumers—that span Child Protection, Analytics and general Behavioral Profiling.”



And for a great search experience, all you have to do is click on Bing.com. Over the past two-plus years, it’s really matured into a great search engine – relevant results, experiences designed to help you do more, as opposed to searching more, and we think it’s every bit as good as any search product out there. I’d encourage you to try it for a day or a week or a month, really get to know it, and see what you think.

The overall theme we hit in our ads and here on this blog has been that while Google has one customer – its advertisers – we have many customers. Of course we have advertising customers, and we love them and are working to make sure we improve the advertising experience for you, and for them. But we think of YOU as our customer as well, customers for Office and Windows and Windows Azure and Bing and Internet Explorer and Hotmail and so on – and because we have a big view of who our customers are, we naturally make some different choices than Google does.


We think you care about this difference. And of course, all of Microsoft’s products and services, like Internet Explorer or Bing or Hotmail, are designed to put you first. And that’s a great experience, one you don’t have to “share” with Google.

We had some fun this week. But the choices you make really do impact how your personal information is treated. So, thanks for thinking it over, and I want you to know that Microsoft remains committed, as always, to designing products for you.

Update on Kelihos Botnet and New Related Malware

There have been some recent confusing reports regarding whether the Kelihos botnet, which Microsoft partnered with Kyrus Tech Inc. and Kaspersky Lab to take down in September 2011, has been resurrected.Contrary to some reports, Kaspersky and Microsoft have no evidence that the botnet that was taken down in September has returned to the control of cybercriminals or is spamming again at this time. However, we have seen evidence of distribution of new malware that appears to be a slightly updated variant of the malware that built the original Kelihos botnet. This does not mean that the Kelihos botnet we took down is back in operation, but that a new version of Kelihos malware known as “Backdoor:Win32/Kelihos.B” is being used to create a new botnet. Microsoft has already made protection from this new malware variant available in the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT). This kind of effort by botherders to try to rebuild a botnet from the ashes of the old is not new.

In fact, it is believed that Kelihos itself may have been built based at least in part on code from Waledac, the first botnet Microsoft took down. Malware authors often recycle previous versions of malware. The challenge for the ‘good guys’ is to stay on top of such emerging threats and continue to build protections for computer owners and strategies for further cybercrime disruption. This is why taking down a single threat has never been Microsoft’s ultimate goal in our fight against botnets, but rather to transform the fight against cybercrime by developing, testing and advancing impactful and disruptive strategies that can help the industry as a whole better fight those that attack our customers. This is a long term effort and, despite the constant evolution of cybercrime, we’ve seen strong positive progress in recent years.

Confusing media reports about the status of the botnet developed this week following a post from Kaspersky Labs that new samples of malware, built on code that is very similar to that used by Kelihos, had been detected. However, analysis of these samples and continuing observations of Kelihos-infected computers have demonstrated no known re-employment of the original Kelihos botnet by botherders. Microsoft took down the Kelihos botnet in partnership with Kyrus Tech, which served as a declarant in the legal case that made this takedown possible, and Kaspersky Lab researchers, who provided technical analysis to help dismantle the botnet.
Microsoft’s role in this operation was in coordinating the overall takedown, investigation and legal case, taking down the command and control (C&C) and backup domains associated with the botnet’s operations and working to make sure affected computer owners could clean the malware from their computers. Kaspersky’s role, as outlined previously by its researchers, included peer-to-peer disruption and sinkholing the botnet – a process that reroutes all botnet traffic toward Kaspersky-controlled machines, or “nodes,” and away from the network of infected machines. Kaspersky has reported no loss of control of the peer-to-peer operations and Microsoft researchers have confirmed this week that the original Kelihos C&C and backup infrastructure remains down, but it appears new botnet infrastructure may be being built with the new variant of Kelihos malware.

In terms of the scope of the threat this represents, it is worth noting that the size of the original Kelihos botnet taken down was relatively small. At the time of the takedown, the Kelihos botnet was estimated to include approximately 41,000 infected computers worldwide. Of course, botnet malware continues to spread and need cleaning over time, so the overall size of a particular botnet might fluctuate.

However, since the time of the takedown, we know MSRT alone has cleaned nearly 28,000 infected computers. Based on Kaspersky’s analysis this week, they estimate that the size of the botnet has gone down by approximately 25 percent in just the last two months. Since the time of the original takedown in September, we estimate that the botnet is less than a quarter of the size it was and now involves less than 10,000 infected computers. We have no statistics to share at this time with respect to the size of the new botnet in development, but while those numbers are likely small as well, it is a threat we will continue to monitor. We are also continuing our efforts to clean the computers that are infected with all known forms of Kelihos malware, including this new variant.

Fighting cybercrime, including botnets, requires a collaborative effort among industry, academia and the public sector, and as we learn more about the status of the Kelihos malware, we will apply those lessons to future takedowns. To date, our collaborative approach has produced key victories, including the previous takedowns of Waledac and Rustock botnets. Again, no single action or takedown will put an end to malware or cybercrime, but through continued cooperation, creativity and vigilance we can help prevent and disrupt it.

Microsoft, as ever, remains committed to following botnet cases wherever they lead us and to holding those responsible accountable for their actions. As you may have seen, Microsoft recently named a new defendant in the legal case on Kelihos and we continue to move forward with those legal proceedings. We will continue to provide updates as the ongoing Kelihos investigation unfolds.

For free tools and information to remove Kelihos or other botnet malware from your computer, go to http://support.microsoft.com/botnets. And, to stay up to date on the latest developments on the fight against cybercrime, follow the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit on Facebook and Twitter.

A Better Way to Get Home

Today, Microsoft announced an agreement with 24/7 Inc. which I believe will redefine what customer service looks like. We’ve come a long way towards improving everyday life using technology, but there is always more we can do. The modern consumer, and I count myself in these ranks, is evolving with the technology we use. Customer service hasn’t kept pace with our evolution. I think this announcement goes a long way toward correcting this.

By way of a personal example, I live in the Seattle area and a couple of weeks ago we were hit with a fairly heavy snow storm. I was traveling in the Silicon Valley area at the time and my flight home, like many others that day, was canceled. Around 6 a.m., the airline notified me of the cancelled flight with an e-mail, a robo-call to my cell phone and, for good measure, a text message. Each notification had the same message, “Your flight has been canceled. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. Please call our 1-800 number to reschedule.”

I called the customer service number and, after a 35-minute wait, got through to a representative. Even though the airline had sent me multiple notifications, the agent had no context for my call. They didn’t know who I was or why I was calling. The first agent told me my flight wasn’t canceled. I was then transferred and I found out the flight was in fact canceled, but I had to start over to provide all my details again to get that answer.

Even though I had been sent multiple alerts, I was only given one choice and that was to call an agent. This was a poor experience for me, and not really a great thing for the airline either. All the calls overwhelmed their phone queues and each call started from scratch. It was frustrating, inefficient, and a missed opportunity for the customer (me) and the business (the airline). In short, there has got to be a better way.

Most of you reading this are likely to be technology savvy. If you’re like me, you’re surrounded by smart, connected devices and you expect to transition seamlessly between using your PCs, smartphone, tablet, entertainment console and other devices. We are increasingly able to interact with devices using natural user interfaces (NUI) including touch, voice and gestures. Chances are that you are also increasingly using a combination of these devices as you do everyday tasks such as finding local restaurants, making dinner reservations, finding movies and watching TV shows. Asking a device like your smartphone to do something is quickly becoming as natural as talking to a friend.

Why then shouldn’t we be able to use that same device just as naturally to get customer service? Why shouldn’t I be able to get the change-of-flight notification and then interact with my device to re-book my flight just as naturally as I could speak with an airline agent? And why shouldn’t I have the ability to just point and select the flight I’d like to re-book on my tablet instead of having the customer service representative read them to me? After all, the customer service representative likely had to double click the flight with a mouse on their screen. I could have done the same thing on my device and saved both myself and the airline a lot of time.
All of us are quickly coming to expect companies to communicate with us in proactive, more natural and intuitive ways, and on the devices we use in our daily lives. We should expect businesses to reach out to us when we need service, and to do so in a way that anticipates how we want to be communicated with; whether that’s through our smartphone, our PC or through our TV if we happen to be in the living room.

These consumer expectations, in turn, translate into requirements for businesses. Companies recognize the huge opportunity this presents. They know they can build loyalty by communicating with their customers in a way their customers want: across devices. In addition, they can analyze the data from these interactions and increasingly other data (such as purchase, viewing, social context) to gain insight on how to best serve their customers. The companies that take this “Big Data” approach to their customer service and use the insight they gain to become more proactive and predictive, stand to reap huge benefits in building loyalty with their customers.

There’s a pioneering company that has been helping businesses apply Big Data analytics to customer service for over a decade. That company, 24/7, uses its Predictive Experience (PX) solutions to help companies analyze their customer interactions across Web and phone channels, bringing together silos of information and enabling breakthrough predictive customer experiences.

That’s why I’m thrilled that Microsoft has entered into an agreement with 24/7 Inc. to create a next-generation cloud platform for customer service. The combined Predictive Experiences (PX) platform will combine Microsoft’s experience in NUI with 24/7’s expertise in Big Data to help companies deliver the type of natural and intuitive service consumers expect and demand of companies.

Here’s one example of the kind of customer service journey that this agreement will enable:

Just as most of us have experienced the kind of flight cancellation I described earlier, I’m sure many of you have also had an experience with your bank notifying you that your credit card has been blocked due to suspected “fishy” activity. In the near-future when you get one of these notifications, say for instance telling you thately not in Spain), your bank will know how to send you the notifely not in Spain), your bank will know how to send you the notification in a way that is best suited for where you happen to be (for instance, on your smartphone if you’re on the go), and the notification will not only already include the critical details you need to evaluate whether there actually was an unauthorized charge, but will also anticipate the actions you most likely will want to take immediately.

You’ll be able to reply directly to the notification on your phone and use your voice to highlight the charges that are bogus and then take action, such as cancel your card and have a new one issued. NUI makes the process natural and Big Data makes it predictive and intuitive.

When companies bring Big Data together with NUI, they’ll have customer service magic. They’ll have an experience that will literally create new industry leaders. They will improve communication with consumers, simplify customer service, anticipate needs, and learn from every customer interaction. This is the future of customer service, from Microsoft and 24/7.

Xbox 360 Maintains Lead in U.S. Console Market in January, Ends 2011 as No. 1 Console Worldwide

Kicking off 2012, Xbox 360 continues to lead the console market, turning in another month as the best-selling console in the U.S.

NPD highlights from January include:

· Xbox 360 sold more than 270,000 units in January, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. This marks the thirteenth straight month Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in the U.S.

· Holding a 49 percent share of current-generation console sales, total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in January (hardware, software and accessories) reached $301 million, the most for any console in the U.S. This marks the eleventh consecutive month Xbox 360 has held more than 40 percent of the current-generation console market share.

· During the month of January, Xbox 360 held five of the top 10 U.S. console game titles, including: “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” “Battlefield 3,” “NBA 2K12” and “Just Dance 3.”

Last week, Xbox 360 was revealed as the number-one selling console worldwide in 2011, according to publicly disclosed financial data from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Historically, after several years in a console’s lifecycle, demand softens, but Xbox 360 continues to defy that convention. Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend the lifecycle of the console by re-imagining entertainment and delivering new technologies like Kinect for Xbox 360, a new Xbox dashboard, and new entertainment content partners in 2011. (See the chart below.)



In 2012, Xbox 360 will again launch new games, including additions to the famed “Halo” and “Fable” franchises. Xbox LIVE’s group of more than 50 entertainment partners will continue to expand with Comcast and many more launching this year. Xbox 360 will also launch entirely new ways to interact with popular television shows with groundbreaking experiences like “Kinect Sesame Street TV” and “Nat Geo TV.”

The Cloud’s Role in Creating U.S. Jobs

 Robert Youngjohns

I have been in the technology industry for more than 30 years, so you can imagine the many technological changes I have seen during my career. One reason I have stayed in this industry is because I get to experience the major impact that technological advancements can have on small businesses, large corporations, educational institutions and consumers. Improvements in technology open new opportunities that were once almost unimaginable. We witnessed it when Bill Gates transformed the industry into what at the time seemed unthinkable – a PC on every desk and in every home.

Perhaps the biggest transformation affecting technology today is the transition to the cloud from the previous client-server computing model. The cloud gives businesses efficient ways to reduce IT costs and invest in broad innovation, creating economic growth and new job opportunities. In fact, an IDC study commissioned by Microsoft and released today discovered that cloud computing will help create nearly 1.1 million U.S. jobs by 2015 and that the U.S. accounted for 62 percent of worldwide spending for public IT cloud services last year.



According to a study by IDC and commissioned by Microsoft, Cloud services will help generate over 3 million jobs in the U.S. by 2014.

In my current role, I have the unique opportunity to interact with customers across the United States in various industries including manufacturing, education, healthcare, banking and government.  I have had many discussions with them about the cloud and how it has helped transform their business and improve economic health. What has come out of those discussions is a customer belief that Microsoft has the best cloud solution to meet their business needs. What I find most interesting is that the efficiencies our customers gain from the cloud can be reinvented in innovation, hiring and development.

For example, one of our customers is a national retailer trying to expand its footprint by being a more innovative, customer service oriented company. By using Microsoft Lync and Exchange (two of our software-as-a-service solutions), the company was able to advance their strategy and improve the level of sales service provided, which helped increase the revenue capture rate of customers. Consequently, the added revenue enabled the company to build more stores and hire more employees – all thanks to the cloud.

Another example that comes to mind is a health care customer that provides consult services to hospitals throughout the United States. This customer relies heavily on cloud infrastructure to not only scale their business, but to help their clients see more patients. After adopting Dynamics CRM Online, the company increased its efficiency of consults, which led to a significant reduction in costs they were then able to apply towards hiring new employees and growing their business.

These are just two examples of the many discussions I have had with customers about how optimizing for the cloud has allowed them to focus on what they do best, be more agile and meet their customers’ needs more effectively. Given the current difficult economic environment, every business is looking to empower their people, reduce costs, improve their customer connections and create new opportunities through their technology investments.

When it comes to the cloud, Microsoft is “All In” – helping customers realize the benefits from one of the most profound transformations in computing history.  But leading with the cloud also has the potential of doing much more – improving economic health in the U.S. and all over the world. And that is why I am proud to work for Microsoft.

The Data Explosion – Making Sense of it All

The rapid growth of data volume presents a real opportunity. It’s also a challenge that most organizations are either wrestling with now, or soon will be. As the cost of storing data continues to fall and cloud-hosted storage is increasingly adopted, more IT organizations are transitioning to a “save everything” or ”save more” approach. Accordingly, the question of what to do with all this “big data” comes up frequently in IT conversations.

However, big data by itself glosses over the real story. While most industry talk today focuses on the mechanics of data collection and storage, the opportunity lies in deriving actionable insights from the data you have. Data is an incredibly valuable asset whose value grows and grows as you’re able to gain insight from it.

To obtain actionable insights from data of every type and size – including unstructured data such as video files, social media streams and Web logs – you need a data platform that can store, manage and analyze all of your information. This includes business-critical relational databases and data warehouses, as well as data from inside the organization and in the cloud. But a modern data platform goes a step beyond, offering a set of tools to analyze both structured and unstructured data and deliver insights that everyone can easily interpret and act upon.


Today, that modern platform is here, with our release to manufacturing of SQL Server 2012.  It’s more scalable, more reliable and delivers greater performance than ever before. It also includes Power View, our industry-leading business intelligence functionality. Power View provides users with a powerful interactive capability that transforms the exploration of any data, anywhere, into a more natural, immersive experience. Ultimately this encourages better decision-making – a significant benefit, with massive implications in today’s era of big data. Take a look at the numbers: Microsoft customers are already working with vast amounts of complex data to create insights that drive business value.

With today's release of SQL Server 2012, now more than ever Microsoft is helping customers manage any data, any size, anywhere, with a data platform and tools that can extract valuable insights that lead to action.  To learn more about SQL Server 2012, including the new features and benefits that are delivered in this release, visit our virtual launch event that kicks off tomorrow at www.SQLServerLaunch.com.

Xbox 360 Continues as Number One Selling Console in the U.S.

Xbox 360 continues to hold the number one spot in the U.S., selling more units than any other console for 14 consecutive months. Sustained consumer demand for Xbox 360 and Kinect have helped maintain its top position, even in the seventh year on the market.



Holding 42 percent share of current-generation console sales, Xbox 360 sold 426,000 units in February, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S.  This marks the twelfth consecutive month Xbox 360 has held more than 40 percent of the current-generation console market share. (Source: NPD Group, February 2012)Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in February (hardware, software and accessories) reached US$383 million, the most for any console in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, February 2012)During the month of February, Xbox 360 held five of the top 10 U.S. console game titles including: “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” “UFC Undisputed,” “NBA 2K12,” and “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”

This year, Xbox 360 will again deliver an interactive entertainment portfolio of blockbuster titles, experiences and add-on content, including additions to the famed “Halo” and “Fable” franchises. The more than 50 Xbox LIVE entertainment partners will continue to expand with many more launching throughout the year.
Later this year, Xbox 360 will deliver entirely new groundbreaking experiences like “Kinect Sesame Street TV” and “Nat Geo TV,” designed to fundamentally change the way people interact with their favorite TV entertainment.