A new rumor credibility to a accessible Barnes & Noble branded book that can admission Xbox Live. Will it be arise today? Later today, Microsoft will authority a columnist appointment to advertise or say something. Microsoft pulled calm the Los Angeles accident rather quickly, but is affliction it rather bluntly: “This will be a aloft Microsoft advertisement — you will not wish to absence it.” What the aloft advertisement is, we aren’t sure, but the rumor comminute is accepting clumsily specific. Last week, we heard that Microsoft may barrage its own tablet, but TechCrunch believes Barnes & Noble is involved. Aback in April, Microsoft and B&N alleged a accord in its apparent activity over the Nook readers’
use of Android, and entered into a “strategic partnership” — a $300 actor in a collective business with B&N. At the time, I alleged it an “Android ability grab” by Microsoft. You can apprehend all about Microsoft’s tactics, and the accusation amid it and Barnes & Noble in that article. Could the fruits of this abutment be accessible for acrimonious afterwards abandoned two months? TechCrunch’s sources say that the collective operation amid the two companies may be alleged and the accessory apparent could be a Barnes & Noble book with Xbox Reside animate capabilities. If not, abounding added rumors point to some array of Windows tablet We’ll acquisition out all of this anon enough. Acceptance the accident will yield abode in Los Angeles, Microsoft has yet to advertise the exact place. The advertisement will arise at 3:30pm Pacific time today.
Story originally arise at 9:40am ET. Update 10:30am: Business Insider, which is about as accurate as TechCrunch, says Barnes & Noble is not complex in today’s announcement. Added as it becomes available. Update 2:30pm: John has accounting an commodity accompanying to this news: 3 agency a Microsoft book will change Xbox. Update 3:30pm: ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley has aggregated some rumors which adumbration that today’s advertisement may be a new tablet-like ambassador for the Xbox 360 that uses Microsoft’s Surface technology. This is odd aback E3 just happened and that’s breadth gaming announcements usually happen. None of these rumors arise to appear from decidedly acclaimed sources. We’ll acquisition out in about three hours. Update 8:30pm: Microsoft has arise the Surface tablets! A band of Microsoft Windows 8 tablets with covers that bifold as keyboards. We aswell accept Pictures of the Surface tablets. icrosoft enters the book wars as a manufacturer, the move will accept a cogent appulse on Xbox, both the brand, the Xbox
Reside online arrangement and storefront, and the Xbox 360 animate itself. A archetypal book activate on technology websites and business newspapers about the world: Microsoft is advertisement something on Monday. What the aggregation will advertise isn’t known, but TechCrunch, Business Insider, and added sources are adage that signs are pointing to Microsoft absolution its own tablet. Not a Windows 8 book produced by Dell, Lenovo, or one of its added abundant partners, but a Windows 8 Book fabricated by Microsoft itself. The book would be the latest affiliate in an absolute club of Microsoft-manufactured devices. These accept ranged from complete failures, as with the Zune, to berserk successful, as with the Xbox 360. The gaming accessory is a added cogent criterion for Microsoft’s abeyant in the table bazaar than the Zune. Zune may accept bootless to displace the iPod, but Microsoft was not a adorable customer cast if the Zune came out in 2006, not like it is today. The Kinect and the Xbox 360 accept afflicted Microsoft from a cast associated with utility—thanks to the beyond of Windows and Office in businesses and schools—to one with entertainment. A Windows tablet, or added chiefly an Xbox tabl
et, has the ability to appropriate a new articulation of the bazaar if not defeat the iPad. A Microsoft book could badly change Microsoft’s Xbox business though. Whether it’s produced in a affiliation with Barnes & Noble or something abroad entirely, the book will change Microsoft gaming. Further abroad from the core Those anxious for the canicule if Microsoft would broadcast Fable, Gears of War, Halo, and Crackdown all aural 12 months of anniversary other, apperceive that those canicule are over. Amount gaming, the multi-hour, big-budget blockbusters, will break allotment of Microsoft’s business, but it will abandoned be a alcove in the abundant bigger tapestry. The button-less attributes of a book will see the Xbox Reside Arcade and Xbox Reside annual itself baby added and added adjoin the simpler adventures already encouraged by Kinect. Streaming future The Xbox business is alteration already. Microsoft is alms the Xbox 360 not as a apparatus you buy but one you charter with a cable to agenda services. Chat is it will absolution a disc drive-less animate that abandoned streams content, alleged Xbox Lite, in the abreast future. A book would added anchor Microsoft’s agenda agreeable strategies, both with the Xbox cast and casework as able-bodied as the ball casework associated with it, like the abundant Xbox television channels. The Smart Glass Trojan Horse Microsoft’s E3 2012 advertisement of Xbox Smart Glass was confusing. How will the aggregation argue agreeable ally to in actuality accomplish additional awning agreeable for tablets? Why would EA bother to accomplish a Madden add on if there’s no affirmed revenue? A Microsoft book could plan symbiotically with Smart Glass though. If the book is successful, it could acquaint biting barter to the
Smart Glass services. If Smart Glass is acknowledged first, Microsoft can advertise its tablets with bigger Smart Glass performance. Microsoft plays catch-up with some much-needed updates to its adaptable offerings in the accessible Windows Buzz 8 adaptable operating system. At a columnist accident in San Francisco today, Microsoft apparent its accessible smartphone operating system, Windows Buzz 8. The OS adapt brings a amount of new appearance — or, at least, they’re new to Windows Buzz — including abutment for multi-core processors, NFC wallet transaction functionality, Nokia maps, and a more-customizable Alpha screen. Below, a quick abandoned of the new appearance promised for Windows Buzz 8, which will activate shipment in accessories this fall. 1. Accouterments abutment improvements Mult-core CPUs: Unlike Windows Buzz 7, WP8 will abutment accessories with multi-core processors. Microsoft says it will focus on WP8 functionality with dual-core devices, but will be able to abutment quad-core CPUs, or higher, as well. Good affair — Android already appears on quad-core handsets. Shared amount with Windows 8: WP8 will allotment one of its cores with Windows 8, authoritative it accessible for d
evelopers to accomplish apps that plan with both operating systems. Micro-SD: Windows Buzz 8 will (finally) plan with accessories that accept microSD agenda slots, acceptance users to aggrandize storage, and added calmly alteration files from their handsets. Screen resolution upgrade: WP8 will abutment three altered awning resolutions: “true 720p,” which is 1280×720 resolution; 1280×768 (WXGA); and 800×600 (WVGA). 2. IE 10 Internet Explorer 10 will appear pre-installed on WP8 devices. Further, the browser will allotment assertive key functionalities (Javascript, apprehension engines, etc) with the book and PC versions of IE 10. (That aswell agency it will allotment some of the aforementioned vulnerabilities to attack.) Microsoft promises faster Web browsing with IE 10, as well. 3. Bigger apps Microsoft says it has fabricated improvements in WP8 that will acquiesce developers to added calmly anchorage apps created for Windows over to the buzz version. The aggregation aswell says WP8 allows for bigger for games, and “more immersive apps.” 4. Microsoft Wallet Again communicable up with Android, Windows Buzz 8 includes a allegedly able-bodied Abreast Field Communication (NFC) agenda wallet transaction arrangement that will plan with both debit cards and acclaim cards, as able-bodied as third-party services, acceptance users to pay for items with their phone. Microsoft promises the “mist complete wallet experience” of any NFC-enabled buzz on the market. 5. Nokia maps
Goodbye, Bing Maps. Hello, Nokia maps. WP8 will appear loaded with Nokia’s custom-built map app, which includes turn-by-turn directions, and offline support, so you won’t get absent if you don’t accept a wireless signal. Nokia maps will aswell be accessible to third-party app developers. 6. Enterprise upgrades Hoping to breeze up some of the beat Blackberry users in the business sector, Microsoft has added in encryption and defended cossack appearance into WP8, which are based on Microsoft’s Bitlocker technology. WP8 will, of course, appear loaded with Microsoft Office. 7. New user interface
ures” Microsoft appears the a lot of aflame about is its new Alpha screen. Now, users accept greater ascendancy over the attending of the Reside Tiles. This includes far greater ascendancy over the admeasurement of anniversary tile, so users can accomplish the ones they use a lot of big, and compress less-important ones. New blush options accept aswell been added. 8. Skype and VoIP integration WP8 will cover “industry leading” VoIP integration. While Skype (which is endemic by Microsoft) will not appear acutely broiled into WP8, the accepted VoIP calling software will appear as a stand-alone app for WP8, and will accomplish use of the OS’s new VoIP support. Check aback with Agenda Trends anon for added all-embracing looks at Windows Buzz 8. As the ITC deliberates over whether or not to ban the Xbox 360 from auction in the United States, Microsoft rejects Motorola's adjustment agreement in its advancing apparent contravention case. Motorola wants to achieve its accusation with Microsoft but Microsoft has abandoned the company’s terms. A board is still apperception on whether or not the International Trade Agency will block the Xbox 360 from acc
epting alien to and awash in the United States. With summer underway, the looming blackmail of a ban advanced of the anniversary division has got to accept Microsoft a little bathed beneath the pits. The acumen the Xbox may be banned is that an ITC adjudicator disqualified in May that Microsoft’s animate infringes on a amount of patents captivated by Google-subsidiary Motorola. Motorola doesn’t wish the Xbox banned from shelves. It’s ridiculous. All Motorola wants is the royalties it believes its due for its technology. To that end, Motorola offered to achieve its altercation with Microsoft provided Steve Ballmer’s aggregation pays Motorola a ability fee of 2.25 percent of every Xbox 360 sale. That may not assume like a lot of money, but accede this: Microsoft awash just beneath 15 actor Xbox 360s in 2011. As of September 2011, the boilerplate amount of an Xbox 360 was $306. Beneath Motorola’s agreement and based on those stastics, Microsoft would accept had to pay Motorola added than $1 billion in absolute ability fees from Xbox 360 sales alone. The Xbox 360 wouldn’t be abandoned though. Microsoft uses Motorola’s ActiveSync technology in not just the Xbox 360, but aswell the Windows Media Player, Windows 7 operating system, and the Internet Explorer web browser. Motorola is was aswell searching for royalties from Windows, ambitious 50 cents of anniversary Windows sale. All in all, Microsoft has estimated that if it pays Motorola its adapted terms, it will amount the aggregation a absolute of $4 billion anniversary year.
Microsoft isn’t abandoned in its activity to accumulate the Xbox 360 on shelves. Companies like Activision and IBM accept filed statements of abutment for Microsoft with the ITC. Even with their abutment though, ITC Adjudicator David Shaw believes that Microsoft is durably in the wrong. He recommended that Microsoft be blocked from importing the animate from Chinese manufacturers, affairs it in stores, and that any auction of Xbox 360s still in food in the US should see Motorola accepting a 7 percent cut. The ITC agency has options. It will either advocate Shaw’s decision, alter the accommodation itself, or ask for a rewritten annual of terms. If they adjudge on a advance of action, President Barack Obama will accept 60 canicule to analysis and accept it. The Cyber Intelligence Administration and Aegis Act (CISPA) may accept calmly anesthetized the House of Representatives endure week, but it appears that abutment for the arguable cybersecurity bill is alpha to crumble. Over the weekend, Microsoft, connected advised a CISPA supporter, told CNet that it now has apropos about the bill apropos claimed privacy. As Declan McCullagh reports: In acceptance to queries from CNET, Microsoft, which has connected been beheld as a adherent of the Cyber Intelligence Administration and Aegis Act, said this black that any law accept to acquiesce “us to annual the aloofness and aegis promises we accomplish to our customers.” Microsoft added that it wants to “ensure the final legislation helps to accouterment the absolute blackmail of cybercrime while attention customer privacy.” While this is far from an absolute accusation of the bill, it is bright that Microsoft shares some of the a
ropos about CISPA that aloofness advocates accept been cogent for months. It is aswell a cogent change in Microsoft’s position (pdf), which was that it “applauded” the bill’s administration for drafting the legislation. Depending on who you allocution to, the primary complaints about CISPA, which allows the government and businesses to added calmly allotment “cyber blackmail intelligence” with anniversary other, are as follows: First, CISPA removes any accountability from companies that allotment advice with the federal government, as connected as the abstracts is somehow accompanying to a amount of categories, including “cybersecurity” or “national security.” Both of these categories abide anytime broad, for some critics. Second, CISPA allows the National Aegis Agency, and added government organizations that abridgement bright accessible oversight, to admission the information, which charcoal one of two primary complaints of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a baton in the activity adjoin CISPA. Third — and this is the one breadth Microsoft acceptable has beef with — CISPA would abandon all added laws. Because of this, it is not accessible for companies to action any absolute aloofness aegis for their users whatsoever, aback businesses could artlessly override any aloofness action anytime they like by administration user abstracts with the government. Nothing about that accouterment would acquiesce Microsoft to “honor the aloofness and aegis promises” it makes to its barter — at least, not in any acknowledged way. Now, it is important to agenda that CISPA does not crave anyone to administration anything. Microsoft could artlessly say, “We are never traveling to about-face any cyber blackmail intelligence over to the government,” and in accomplishing so advance users’ aloofness expectations. It could even band all of the abstracts it shares of any alone identifiable details, like name, IP address, or annihilation abroad it fears ability could cause barter to rebel. It could — but it wouldn’t be accurately appropriate to do so, and therein lies the problem: CISPA removes accepted protections for alone aloofness while declining to alter them with annihilation appropriately robust. Another botheration is that CISPA has cutting abutment from the business community. Given Microsoft’s top profile, it’s accessible that added companies will aback off as well. (Though there’s no affirmation that they accept done so yet.) But if they don’t, the pro-CISPA aff
ected will abide all-inclusive and powerful. Regardless, it is auspicious to see Microsoft affective in this direction. And I achievement added companies will chase suit. As I’ve mentioned before, it is awful absurd that CISPA will accomplish it through the Senate afterwards ability some austere changes. And the accouterment in CISPA that allows companies to avoid all absolute laws could possibly be bare from the legislation. All that said, CISPA charcoal awful ambiguous for a amount of reasons, as mentioned above. But the bill’s access by the House appears to accept abandoned incited added action to the bill, not beneath — and none of it has to do with Microsoft, at atomic not yet. CISPA is accepted to go afore the Senate ancient in May. The end of Windows Reside — and aggregate the name represents — may be the affair Microsoft a lot of needs to break animate and healthy. Although technologically capable, the Windows Reside cast has appear to represent all that is amiss with Microsoft’s sprawling accumulated ethos: A name that was declared to arrange an absolute set of disparate articles instead abashed and affronted users to its own detriment. Now that the admirable agreement in branding and technology is assuredly advancing to an end, conceivably Redmond can apprentice from its mistakes. In a blog column beforehand this ages Microsoft’s President of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, explained that although Windows Reside articles are some of the a lot of accepted in the apple — Hotmail, for instance, is the world’s #1 web email service, Messenger is the arch burning messaging application, and SkyDrive, Microsoft’s online book accumulator software, maintains over 170 actor animate users — the articles artlessly did not reside up to the hopes of Microsoft’s development and business teams. In fact, it seems to us that some of these applications thrived in affront of Microsoft’s bearded attempts to dump all of its articles into a individual brand. In Sinofsky’s words, Reside “did not accommodated our expectations of a absolutely affiliated experience. Windows Reside casework and apps were congenital on versions of Windows that were artlessly not advised to be affiliated to a billow annual for annihilation added than updates, and as a result, they acquainted “bolted on” to the experience.” He connected to busy on the inherent frustrations of the branding, acknowledgment that “The names we acclimated to call our articles added to that complexity: we acclimated “Windows Live” to accredit to software for your PC (Windows Reside Essentials), a apartment of web-based casework (Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Messenger), your annual accord with Microsoft (Windows Reside ID), and a host of added offers.” Anyone who has anytime had to cross the labyrinthine action of signing in to a Microsoft annual will absolutely acknowledge this acceptance from the arch of Windows — it’s like Fidel Castro acceptance that communism may not accept been the best idea.
The bearing of Live But the basic of Windows Reside were advantageous ones. The name originated with the badly accepted Xbox Reside network, a adult and game-changing (pun intended) annual that continues to let gamers play anniversary added over a broadband connection, alleviate achievement achievements, and download absolute content. As a brand, it was a homerun: It absolutely was “live” in that you could in fact allege to your adversary in absolute time as you delivered that baleful headshot in Halo. And the technology that backed it up was sound, alms few outages and about abundant service. It was if Microsoft approved to capitalize on Xbox Live’s success that the ambience began to fade. According to Randall Stross of The New York Times, the new branding accommodation was arise by Bill Gates at a annual conference in 2005, with the appetite to “make Windows, Office and Xbox added appear animate for our barter at work, home and play.” The name has aback been added to a assemblage of amount Windows components, such as Windows Reside Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail, Messenger, Messenger Companion (??), Family Safety, and the ahead-of-its-time Windows Reside Mesh. But the name aswell belongs to online services, breadth it at atomic initially fabricated added sense: Windows Reside SkyDrive, Hotmail, ID, Calendar, Contacts — in actuality it seemed at one time that every artefact from the aboriginal incremental amend to the bigger
development-heavy addition on which the company’s success hinged, had the chat “live” tacked on, added muddying the already anarchic waters. For a abounding annual of Reside products, we’ll accredit you to the Wiki page, but be forewarned — it’s like aggravating to bare a hidden cipher in apparent English: All the words are there, but they accomplish little sense. Ultimately, Microsoft is allotment to accumulate its casework access just as it has simplified its user interface for the awful advancing next abundance of Windows. Gone will be assorted annual sign-ins — a individual Microsoft Annual will plan beyond all the company’s online products, including Xbox. And demography a page from Apple, a Microsoft Annual will aswell automatically accept you in a assembly of cloud-based services, such as Calendar, Contact List, Mail, and thankfully, storage, which will accumulate the SkyDrive nomenclature. Although some pundits accept agape Windows 8 for its evidently simplified access to user interface, we anticipate it’s time Microsoft abstruse from the errors of its past: Simple isn’t a bad thing, abnormally if it comes to casework that users charge and love. Windows 8 isn’t accepting rid of anything, it’s just traveling to do a bigger job of implementing the things we use the most. And it may accord Microsoft the bang it needs to abide aggressive in a apple of accessories with abandoned one button. Microsoft has consistently been a aggregation with abundant developers and groundbreaking products, but it has never absolutely had or bare the business accord to accomplish those visions flash like Apple or Google. As connected as Redmond’s accumulated impulses are kept in check, Windows 8 will be a success, and a footfall in the appropriate direction. Rest in accord Windows Live, but we won’t absence you. Does the absolution of Surface, Microsoft's aboriginal internally-manufactured book device, beggarly that the aggregation is traveling to move into the business of accomplishment its own phones? Conceivably anyone should ask anyone at Microsoft and see if they can get a beeline answer. Following the annual that Microsoft will be affective into accouterments assembly with its accessible Surface tablet, there’s been a lot of allocution about whether or not the book is just the alpha of an all-new, all-round Microsoft archetypal that will added carefully resemble Apple, with the aggregation demography on both software and accouterments development and assembly for a amount of products. In particular, abundant abstract comment has been spent on the accountable of whether or not Microsoft – accepting baffled how to accomplish a book – will go abate and alpha accomplishment its own buzz hardware. Thankfully, anyone anticipation to in actuality ask an
yone at Microsoft, and the acknowledgment they accustomed was adequately definitive. When InformationWeek’s Paul McDougall asked Greg Sullivan, the chief business administrator for Windows Phone, whether or not Microsoft had affairs to move appear creating the accouterments for a new phone, his acknowledgment was abbreviate but sweet: “No, we do not.” As if to accentuate the decidedly unvague response, Sullivan explained that “We accept a able ecosystem of ally that we are actual annoyed with,” pointing to HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Huawei, and suggesting that Microsoft artlessly has no charge to move into buzz accouterments accomplishment as a aftereffect of that ecosystem. (What the architecture and absolution of Surface agency about Microsoft’s accord with added PC and book manufacturers like HP and Dell charcoal to be seen, but let’s yield Sullivan’s acceptance at face amount and not go account in problems with the company’s added partners. Although, if you arise to plan at HP, Dell or added Microsoft ally in the PC accomplishment business and can ability out to the aggregation to analysis that everything’s okay, you ability wish to yield the chance, just in case.) That abnegation flies in the face of a agenda appear endure anniversary by Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund, who told investors that Microsoft has a accord with a architect to aftermath its own Windows Buzz 8 devices. While he belted bets as to whether or not it was a customer accessory or some affectionate of advertence belvedere for centralized use, Sherlund’s agenda did accurate that he “would not be afraid if Microsoft were to adjudge to accompany their own handset to bazaar next year.”
While Sullivan’s acceptance may assume uncharacteristically bright – Don’t companies commonly action some aberration on “No comment” if faced with questions like this, just to ensure jerk allowance at some abroad point in the approaching if accepted affairs accept changed? – it doesn’t necessarily force Microsoft into a apple breadth it can never action its own buzz hardware; afterwards all, he didn’t say that the aggregation would never accomplish its own phones, just that there aren’t any affairs appropriate at the moment if he was asked – and plans, as we know, accept a way of alteration if you atomic apprehend it…