Microsoft news

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft to Kick Off 2009 with Single Security Fix

After being forced to rush out an emergency patch for its Internet Explorer browser last month, Microsoft plans to release just one security update in its first patch release of 2009.

The update will be a critical fix for server and desktop versions of Windows, Microsoft said Thursday. It fixes at least one bug that could allow attackers to install unauthorized software on a victim's computer.

Microsoft did not say which bugs it would be fixing with next week's updates, but the company has several to choose from.

In the past month, Microsoft has warned of flaws in its WordPad Text Converter and SQL Server database software

The researcher who disclosed the SQL Server flaw said recently that Microsoft has known about the issue since April, and had written a patch for it back in September.

One security researcher has also claimed that there is a bug in Microsoft's Windows Media Player, but Microsoft has disputed his findings.

But none of these flaws is in all versions of the underlying Windows operating system, which are being patched next week. According to nCircle Director of Security Operations Andrew Storms, Microsoft could be fixing a known Windows flaw that would allow hackers to gain unauthorized privileges on a computer. "An exploit has already been published for some time along with a whitepaper by the author," Storms said in an instant-message interview.

Microsoft has offered work-arounds for this flaw already, but it has now had enough time to prepare a full-blown security patch, Storms said.

However, the security researcher who found the flaw said he doesn't expect to see it patched next week. "I don't think they will patch my bug because it's rated critical (remote code execution) and my bug is about local elevation of privileges," said Cesar Cerrudo, chief executive of security research firm Argeniss, via instant message.

Local elevation of privilege flaws are not typically considered critical, although Storms said Microsoft may have discovered while fixing the problem that it was more severe than previously thought.

Microsoft's security updates will come nearly a month after the company scrambled to push out an emergency patch for Internet Explorer, after criminals began exploiting the flaw to install password-stealing software on victims' machines.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft considering 'significant' job cuts: Report

Microsoft Corp. is considering "significant" layoffs across various divisions that could be announced as early as next week, The Wall
Street Journal reported late Wednesday.

The newspaper, in its online edition, said the Redmond, Washington, software giant was "seriously exploring significant work force reductions."

Citing "people familiar with its plans," the Journal said Microsoft was "considering layoffs across its various divisions," what it called "a rare occurrence for the world's largest software company."

"However, plans for the cutbacks are still in flux and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods of reining in costs," the Journal quoted one unidentified source as saying.

The Journal said the number of potential job cuts was "likely to be far less than the 15,000 positions that have been rumored in recent weeks."

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer declined in an interview with the Journal last week to say whether the company was planning layoffs, though he said the economic slowdown was forcing it to think seriously about cost-cutting moves.

"We're finding our right balance," Ballmer said. "When we find it, I'm sure we'll communicate that publicly."

Ballmer said deep job cuts were unlikely. "That's not our company culture," he said.

The Journal said Microsoft, which had 91,000 employees at the end of June, might announce the job cuts when it reports its financial results on January 22.

The software giant has already said that with the weak economy it could not sustain the headcount growth of the last two fiscal years which reached as much as 15 percent.

A slowdown in computer sales is also affecting Microsoft and the research firm Gartner reported on Wednesday that worldwide PC sales grew by just 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from a year ago, the worst growth rate for the industry since 2002.

[nithyasubramanian]

In past downturns, Microsoft has been able to manage to trim around the edges and avoid large, widespread layoffs. But, as Steve Ballmer made clear in an interview with me last week, this is no ordinary downturn.

"The fact of the matter is, this is not a downturn, this is a bit of a reset," he said. "Those are quite different and we're trying to really suss through what we think that means for us."

For some weeks now, the company has been considering whether it would need to cut a significant number of jobs, with some analysts predicting layoffs of anywhere from 10 percent to 17 percent of Microsoft's 95,000 employee workforce, though I am hearing the number could be significantly less than those figures.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that cuts could come as early as next week; the company is scheduled to deliver its earnings report on Thursday.

Microsoft has cut jobs in a particular area or product group in the past, even in the hundreds of jobs, although it has never had companywide cuts in the scale currently being contemplated.
A Microsoft representative declined comment.
In our interview and others last week, Ballmer didn't specifically guarantee layoffs, but that seemed the logical inference.

"Revenue will be lower in aggregate in our industry than it would have been, and that will (affect) Microsoft, Cisco--you name the company--Intel," he said. "We'll all be affected by that."

I have spoken with a number of other Microsoft executives in the past week, all of whom have talked about adjusting their plans to deal with the downturn, though none would comment specifically on layoffs.

The company has already been cutting costs in other areas, including vendors and contractors. It has also significantly slowed hiring, though it has stopped short of an all-out freeze.

Meanwhile, Google said Wednesday that it is cutting 100 recruiters from its payroll as the company significantly slows its once torrid hiring pace.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft launches Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009

Microsoft has announced the availability of the latest offering from its Windows Embedded Ready product line for key device categories - Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009, the next generation of Windows Embedded for Point of Service (POS) - at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & Expo.

Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 is Microsoft's embedded operating system, optimised for OEMs building POS solutions and enterprises using POS devices. The net-generation POS platform is a system designed to seamlessly connect POS solutions with peripherals, servers and services.

Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 accounted for 36 per cent of retail and hospitality POS shipments in 2007. Ilya Bukshteyn, senior director of Windows Embedded Marketing at Microsoft said that Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 is designed specifically to help the transition from transaction processing to enhanced customer service and relationship building.

The new Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 platform will offer retailers and hospitality organisations a familiar next-generation solution that is easily deployed and remotely managed, and that provides new storage options lowering the total cost of ownership of POS devices.

[dwarakesh]

Antivirus Solutions Available For Windows 7 Beta

Microsoft's Windows 7 Beta already has a few vendors' workable antivirus solutions on hand for the eventual release of the new operating system, Microsoft says.

In anticipation of the Windows 7 Beta release, Microsoft maintains it has been collaboratively working with several security vendors in an effort to start ramping up antivirus solutions, blogger Brandon LeBlanc said in a post. Among the solutions available for Windows 7 Beta, which became available for download earlier this month, are Symantec's Norton 360 3.0 Beta, AVG Internet Security, AVG Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7 -- all of which are available on the Windows Security Provider page.

However, while antivirus solutions that work well with Windows 7 Beta might be available now, partners aren't knocking themselves out to push them onto their customers. For one, partners who have tested Microsoft's new operating system say that Windows 7 Beta seems to have similar security issues to Vista -- which Microsoft once touted as its most secure operating system -- and partners don't expect subsequent antivirus solutions to be radically different.

"It's really going to be a similar situation to Vista. It's a pretty similar technology," said Nathan Ware, CTO of Rain Networks, based in Bothell, Wash. "The software packages that were successful in running on Vista, I would expect those same ones to run on Windows 7."

And Windows 7 Beta is just that -- a beta. By its very definition, it could change significantly between now and its final release later this year. It will be used and tested by users but ultimately replaced by a final version, potentially rendering antivirus software less than effective, if not obsolete.

Ware said he probably would start to promote antivirus products for Microsoft's new operating system closer to the time of its final release, which will likely be in July, around the time of Windows 7 Beta's expiration date of Aug. 1. Until then, he said that "nobody's rushing out to buy (antivirus)."

[dwarakesh]

EU tells Microsoft to change IE marketing

The European Union has said that Microsoft Corporation's practice of selling the Internet Explorer browser together with its Windows operating system violates EU antitrust rules.

It ordered the software giant to untie the browser from its operating system in the 27-nation EU, enabling makers of rival browsers to compete fairly.

"Microsoft's tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice," the EU said in a statement yesterday.

It gave Microsoft eight weeks to respond, adding that the company can defend its position in a hearing if it finds that useful.

Microsoft issued a statement saying, "We are committed to conducting our business in full compliance with European law."

The commission's investigation into Microsoft's Web-surfing software began a year ago, after the Norwegian browser-maker Opera Software ASA filed a complaint. Opera argued that Microsoft hurt competitors not only by bundling the software, in effect giving away the browser, but also by not following accepted Web standards.

That meant programmers who built Web pages would have to tweak their codes for different browsers. In many cases, they simply designed pages that worked with market-leading Internet Explorer but showed up garbled on competing browsers.

At the time of the complaint, Opera said it was asking EU regulators to either force Microsoft to market a version of Windows without the browser, or to include other browsers with Windows.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft Windows users vulnerable to digital hijacking

A computer virus that may leave Microsoft Windows users vulnerable to digital hijacking is spreading through companies in the U.S., MS-Windows Europe and Asia, already infecting close to 9 million machines, according to a private online security firm.

Fortunately, however, it may be a dud.

Though computer bugs have become a common affliction, Finland-based F-Secure says a virus it has been tracking for the past several weeks has surged more rapidly through corporate networks than anything they've seen in years.

But the virus doesn't appear to be working as its designers intended. F-Secure's chief security adviser, Patrik Runald, said the virus's coding suggests a type of bug that alerts computer users to bogus infections on their machines and offers to help by selling them antivirus software.

Instead, the virus is simply spreading to little effect, though it may still pose a threat to infected computers.

"The gang behind this worm haven't used it yet," F-Secure's chief research officer, Nikko Hypponen said by phone. "But they could do anything they like with any of these machines at any time."

Microsoft issued a security update Tuesday to deal with the so-called "Downadup" or "Conficker" virus, which appears to be a new version of a bug that popped up in October.

"Over the last couple of weeks, a new variant of this worm has been affecting customers," the company acknowledged in a blog post. Microsoft said the virus is spreading by gaining access to one computerand then guessing at passwords of other users in the same network: "If the password is weak, it may succeed."

A company representative couldn't immediately be reached Saturday to comment on F-Secure's estimate of infected machines.

Most computers with Windows will automatically download Microsoft's security update, but Hypponen said the virus disables updates on infected machines.

While the origin of the virus is a mystery, F-Secure's best guess is it came from Ukraine. Hypponen said it is coded to avoid computers there, which may indicate whoever wrote the virus was trying to avoid drawing attention from local authorities.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft expected to cut jobs as profit weakens

Microsoft Corp is expected to post a quarterly profit that misses its own target and announce thousands of job cuts this week slump hurts even the technology industry's biggest players.

When the leading software maker reports fiscal second quarter results on Thursday, investors are likely to press for comments on its outlook and on Yahoo Inc, whose search business has been the object of Microsoft's desires.

The report comes against a backdrop of a wounded global economy that has stifled demand for everything from personal computers to business software and video games, all markets in which Microsoft is a significant player.

Analysts on average put Microsoft's profit at 49 cents a share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, which includes a U.S. holiday shopping season that has been called the worst in at least four decades. The Redmond, Washington-based company had forecast a per-share profit of 51 cents to 53 cents for the quarter.

Wall Street is looking for quarterly revenue of $17.1 billion, according to Reuters Estimates, also short of Microsoft's own target of $17.3 billion to $17.8 billion.

Egbert says she expects Microsoft to report sales of its Windows software
for PCs and laptops to drop 3 percent from a year earlier, making it the toughest quarter in eight years. She blames the shortfall on weak consumer sales, noting that businesses have yet to cut back as much as retail shoppers.

Wall Street's expectations for Microsoft's performance for its fiscal year ending in June 2009 have declined since it last reported results three months ago.

Analyst forecasts for full-year net income have dropped 10 percent to $17.77 billion, while revenue projections are down 4.4 percent at $63.68 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

POSSIBLE JOB CUTS With an eye on reducing costs, Microsoft is widely expected to announce that it will cut jobs, following similar moves by other tech firms, including AT&T Inc, Dell Inc, Motorola Inc and Advance Micro Devices Inc.

Other analysts suggest the cost reductions may occur in the next few weeks and could also include more targeted cutbacks and attrition, rather than the big number of layoffs that some have speculated.

Microsoft has declined to comment on any likelihood of job cuts. Its shares have dropped 41 percent over the past year, while shares in another technology bellwether, IBM, have lost 16 percent. The S&P 500 Index .SPX> has dropped 38 percent during the same period.

Analysts are also expected to pepper Chief Executive Steve Ballmer with questions about the status of the company's relationship with Yahoo, now that the Internet company has named Diane Bartz as its new CEO.

Bartz told employees earlier this week that she had a phone conversation with Ballmer, who has repeatedly said he remains interested in pursuing a search partnership with Yahoo but does not intend to renew an offer for the whole company.

Microsoft made a bid for Yahoo last year, but walked away after they disagreed on price. Investors have been skeptical about whether the software company can win online advertising revenue away from Google and Yahoo, which are both stronger than Microsoft in the Internet search market.

Source: Economictimes

[sajiv]

Microsoft is stifling browser competition

The European Commission accused Microsoft Corp, on Friday, of stymieing competition by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with Windows systems, firing the latest salvo in an expensive, years-long battle with the software titan.

The executive arm of the European Union reached the preliminary view that the company, which controls roughly three-quarters of the Web browser arena, had prevented rival browsers from competing and had infringed EU rules by abusing its dominant position.

It added that Microsoft had eight weeks to reply to a "statement of objections" sent to the company, in which it threatened to impose a fine on the U.S. software giant if its preliminary findings were confirmed. Microsoft has had to shell out over $1 billion in fines to the commission in the past. The Commission "sets out evidence and outlines its preliminary conclusion that Microsoft's tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between Web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice," the EU executive said in a statement.

"If the preliminary views expressed in the statement of objection are confirmed, the Commission may impose a fine on Microsoft, require Microsoft to cease the abuse and impose a remedy that would restore genuine consumer choice and enable competition on the merits."

Microsoft and the EU have engaged in a running spat over competition issues for years, and the U.S. company has been fined several times for allegedly abusing its 95 per cent dominance of personal computer systems through its ubiquitous Windows software. "This case is about the future, about maintaining an open and dynamic Internet," said Thomas Vinje, a Clifford Chance lawyer representing ECIS, a non-profit organisation that promotes market conditions in the tech sector.

"Microsoft has achieved ubiquity for IE (Internet Explorer). This ubiquity distorts competition and favours Microsoft's monopolies in ways completely unrelated to the merits of Microsoft's products."
Microsoft said in a separate statement, on Friday, that it was studying the Commission's views and did not rule out requesting a formal hearing.

It cited the Commission as saying that remedies put in place by US courts in 2002 after antitrust proceedings also did not make Windows-Explorer bundling lawful.

[dhilipkumar]

MS to miss target, may cut jobs

NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp is expected to post a quarterly profit that misses its own target and announce thousands of job cuts this week as the global economic slump hurts even the technology industry's biggest players. When the leading software maker reports fiscal second quarter results on Thursday, investors are likely to press for comments on its outlook and on Yahoo Inc, whose search business has been the object of Microsoft's desires.

The report comes against a backdrop of a wounded global economy that has stifled demand for everything from personal computers to business software and video games, all markets in which Microsoft is a significant player. "All eyes are on the forecast," said Jefferies & Co analyst Katherine Egbert. "Expectations for the guidance are pretty low."

Analysts on average put Microsoft's profit at 49 cents a share for the quarter ended December 31, which includes a US holiday shopping season that has been called the worst in at least four decades. The Redmond, Washington-based company had forecast a per-share profit of 51 cents to 53 cents for the quarter.

Wall Street is looking for quarterly revenue of $17.1 billion, according to Reuters Estimates, also short of Microsoft's own target of $17.3 billion to $17.8 billion. Egbert says she expects Microsoft to report sales of its Windows software for PCs and laptops to drop 3 per cent from a year earlier, making it the toughest quarter in eight years. She blames the shortfall on weak consumer sales, noting that businesses have yet to cut back as much as retail shoppers.

Wall Street's expectations for Microsoft's performance for its fiscal year ending in June 2009 have declined since it last reported results three months ago.
Analyst forecasts for full-year net income have dropped 10 per cent to $17.77 billion, while revenue projections are down 4.4 per cent at $63.68 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Possible job cuts

With an eye on reducing costs, Microsoft is widely expected to announce that it will cut jobs, following similar moves by other tech firms, including AT&T Inc, Dell Inc, Motorola Inc and Advance Micro Devices Inc. "Checks indicate that Microsoft is likely to engage in headcount reductions to the tune of 6,000 to 8,000 employees or 6 per cent to 8 per cent of its 95,000 workforce," said McAdams Wright Ragen analyst Sid Parakh. "Our checks also revealed some speculation over the potential for a second round of cuts in some groups sometime later in the year."

Other analysts suggest the cost reductions may occur in the next few weeks and could also include more targeted cutbacks and attrition, rather than the big number of layoffs that some have speculated. Microsoft has declined to comment on any likelihood of job cuts. Its shares have dropped 41 per cent over the past year, while shares in another technology bellwether, IBM, have lost 16 per cent. The S&P 500 Index has dropped 38 per cent during the same period.

Analysts are also expected to pepper Chief Executive Steve Ballmer with questions about the status of the company's relationship with Yahoo, now that the Internet company has named Diane Bartz as its new CEO. Bartz told employees earlier this week that she had a phone conversation with Ballmer, who has repeatedly said he remains interested in pursuing a search partnership with Yahoo but does not intend to renew an offer for the whole company.

Microsoft made a bid for Yahoo last year, but walked away after they disagreed on price. Investors have been skeptical about whether the software company can win online advertising revenue away from Google and Yahoo, which are both stronger than Microsoft in the Internet search market.

[dhilipkumar]

Will user interfaces be the downfall of Microsoft?

Microsoft has made, what I think are, mistakes in changing the user interfaces on their two most important products, Windows and Office. Each is doing it's best to drive away existing customers. The techies at Microsoft seem to lack an understanding of the needs of normal people and thus may have started the company on its inevitable decline.

Computerworld may not be the place to make this argument, as many readers, no doubt, enjoy playing with new software. But others don't. I'm speaking of the vast majority of the world whose jobs are not IT related. These people may use computers, even need them, but they view them as a tool to get their job done. Nothing more. As a consultant, I see this all the time in my clients.

Last week, in making a case for cloud computing, fellow Computerworld blogger Mark Everett Hall also spoke out for non-techies:   
Like me, working people think of their computers and the software they run as tools. Nothing more. So when it's time to upgrade an operating system or download a new application, we consider it a burden and a waste of our time.
For the most part non-techies know Windows XP. They're comfortable with it and changing is a hassle, perhaps one they can't afford. Or, one they just can't be bothered with.

In Vista, lots of stuff got moved around. Techies adapt easily. Normal people, not so much. User interface changes that seem trivial to techies are a pain to the rest of humanity. 

If non-techies ruled at Microsoft, they would have forced Vista to look and act as much like XP as possible. But no. Many Vista reviews, even positive ones, complained about the user interface changes saying much of it was change for changes sake. Big mistake.

And now Microsoft is doing the same with Windows 7 which, again, sports another new user interface, including big changes to the task bar. 

The techies in the Redmond home office seem unaware of the millions of people to whom the computer is just a tool, rather than the be all and end all of their existence.

Techies will tell you that most of the driver issues with Vista have been resolved. Perhaps that's true. But try telling that to a someone whose old printer doesn't work with their new Vista computer. Someone to whom a driver is the person that makes buses and trucks move. If non-techies had power at Microsoft they would have insisted that Vista support every printer that XP supports. But no, backward compatibility was sacrificed at the altar of a new driver model. The techies win, normal people lose.

Perhaps the best example of how clueless Microsoft is regarding user interfaces is, of course, Vista's annoying UAC. The concept is fine, but the implementation was too much of a pain. Microsoft tried to do the right thing, but did such a poor job on the user interface that some opted to turn off UAC altogether. It's not like Microsoft didn't know that UAC was annoying. I recall reading complaints about UAC while Vista was still in beta and Microsoft claimed they would make it less annoying when the OS was finally finished.

This pattern has continued with Office where the 2007 edition looks and acts drastically different from its predecessors (not to mention introducing new file formats). Compared to Office 2000, XP/2002 and 2003 it's as if Office 2007 threw all the cards up in the air and reshuffled the deck. Here too, I don't think Microsoft appreciated how entrenched the classic Office interface is and how difficult it will be for non-techies to use the newer software.

Perhaps there are yardsticks by which the user interface in Office 2007 is judged better, my point isn't to make that judgement. My point is simply that many people can't or won't change. By no longer selling Office 2003, Microsoft is forcing them to eventually change. Where will they go?

Years ago, IBM thought they ruled the world in PCs. After all, they had invented the standard. But the corporate ego was bigger than their power to lead. They introduced a new hardware design called Micro Channel and no one used it. While it solved a problem at the time, there were other ways to solve the same problem and the personal computer industry didn't like Micro Channel. IBM thought they could dictate to the industry, but they were wrong.

Can Microsoft dictate?

Many times they tried to put their foot down on Windows XP, but they keep extending the deadline for selling it. It's been fascinating to watch this tug of war, between what the market wants and what Microsoft wants.Most companies would be glad to keep selling a product that customers want to buy. Not Microsoft.
Microsoft can force people to change, but they can't force them to change to the latest version of Windows or Office.

On many computers, I've installed the free Open Office, not so much because it's free but because its interface is similar to the older versions of Office and thus it's better suited for someone accustomed to that interface. Open Office will never be great at converting Microsoft Office documents, so I also install the free Office viewers. Often I've wished that Microsoft still sold Office 2003. 

When the time comes that Windows XP can no longer be pre-installed on new computers, Macs and Linux will both benefit, of course. How much? I can't wait to see. If someone has to learn a new operating system, they may as well do it on a system that's immune to most malicious software. I hear that the tech support from Apple is terrific, certainly the price on Linux can't be beat. And they can both run Open Office.

As techies, Microsoft builds software for techies. It's only natural. But, they may become irrelevant as normal people look elsewhere.

[nandagopal]

Microsoft stunned its investors on Thursday, announcing the first broad layoffs in its history and offering a pessimistic forecast for the second half of its fiscal year.

Rather than issuing its second-quarter results in the customary fashion after the market closed, Microsoft rushed out the news Thursday morning that it will lay off up to 5,000 of its 94,000 employees over the next 18 months, including 1,400 people Thursday. The layoffs span across research, sales, finance and technology roles, the company said.

"We will continue to manage expenses and invest in long-term opportunities to deliver value to customers and shareholders, and we will emerge an even stronger industry leader than we are today," said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive.

Microsoft's shares dropped $1.50, or 8 percent, to $17.88 in early trading.

For its second quarter, Microsoft posted net income of $4.17 billion – a figure 11 percent lower the $4.71 billion reported in the comparable period last year. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter rose 2 percent year-over-year to $16.63 billion.

Microsoft's earnings of 47 cents during the quarter missed the forecast from Thomson Reuters by 2 cents.

The direct impact of falling personal-computer sales, which roiled Intel last week, were evident in Microsoft's results, as sales of its PC operating-system software dove 8 percent to $3.98 billion from $4.33 billion last year.

Blaming market uncertainty, Microsoft declined to issue a revenue or earnings forecast for the rest of its fiscal year.

"We are planning for economic uncertainty to continue through the remainder of the fiscal year, almost certainly leading to lower revenue and earnings for the second half relative to the previous year," said Chris Liddell, the company's chief financial officer.

[sajiv]

Microsoft job cuts evenly spread

Microsoft spread the 1,400 immediate layoffs broadly across the company's units, according to a source familiar with the cuts.

The software maker announced plans early Thursday to cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, with the first round coming right away.

Hardest hit in those initial cuts, according to the source, were Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, followed by the Server and Tools unit and the Microsoft Business Division, which houses Office and Microsoft's Dynamics products.
Microsoft declined to go into detail on its job cuts, though it said in its press release that it was thinning everything from product research and development to support functions such as HR, finance, and information technology. As would be expected, Microsoft said the vast majority of its cuts to be in the greater Seattle area where most of the company's workers are based.

The software maker indicated it is not cutting any specific products, though it is re-evaluating its priorities in some areas. It is still hiring in some businesses, such as search, CEO Steve Ballmer noted on a conference call with analysts.

Anyone who wants to share more detail should feel free to drop me a line.

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft Cuts Jobs, Local Businesses Fall

The Redmond giant is forced to trim many jobs in Seattle, affecting people who have small businesses in the area

On Thursday, Microsoft announced that it would send away over 4,000 people from all the company's departments. It seems that the software giant's decision not only has affected the ex-employees, but also it has dramatically reduced the revenues of the local businesses that have been relying on the impressive flow of Microsoft workers.

One of the most illustrative examples of the businesses that were affected is the Seattle-based bike shop owned by Matt Chapman. Chapman has been traditionally relying on employees that were coming every summer at Microsoft's development department in the city and who were given $300 checks from the company in order to provide them with transport means from their residences to work. According to Chapman, while typical workers were happy to get an ordinary bicycle and a helmet, executives were provided with $1599 full carbon fiber racing bikes.

Nonetheless, this is not just an isolated case, as there are many other people who have started business whose revenues were depending mostly on Microsoft's activity in the city. As an example, many gyms used to be typically filled with the Redmond giant's workers, so the company's decision to suddenly cut so many jobs hit them hard.

What is more, even rental and real estate companies now have to deal with the exodus. Sheryl Rodriguez, a long time rental consultant from Redmond, stated that an important fraction of her furniture-rental and relocation business has been sustained by the permanent stream of season workers who have been sent in the area at a steady rate. According to Rodriguez, 30 percent of her business revenue was based on Microsoft's activity in the area. She also stated that she has observed an overall decline of her business since last November.

Even if through Bill Gates, Microsoft helped the city of Seattle to develop at an impressive rate, especially during the last decade, it is now clear for everyone that the economic crisis is hitting all companies, including the big players.

Microsoft announced that there would be 5,000 jobs cut and another 5,000 contract workers, but the company would hire several thousand other employees, adding up to about 2,000 to 3,000 job cuts overall.

Microsoft has already started to cut costs of all of its departments. Recently, the Redmond giant announced that there will be no more wage increase and moreover, travel costs will be cut by 20 percent, general expenses will be reduced and the current expansion process of its campus will be suspended.

[sajiv]

Microsoft deploys student partners

VIJAYAWADA: Prospective software professionals and computer science students may be struggling to find a resource person to learn new technologies introduced by Microsoft and other world companies. They can simply contact student partners of Microsoft to get worthy guidance and help on these emerging technologies.

D. Sai Satish, a Microsoft student partner, has been actively involved in disseminating information about new products of IT majors. He gets online tutorials on every emerging technology from Microsoft and is required to spread the same by visiting colleges and any such platform.

Mr. Satish made a presentation along with Microsoft's professionals at the Academic Developers' Conference 2009 organised by the Microsoft Student Partners and the PG department of computer sciences of the PB Siddhartha College of Arts and Science on Friday. He said students and any other interested person could keep contact with him through his e-mail ' saisatish@student-partner.com' for guidance.

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft Faces Antitrust Complaints

The European Commission's antitrust agency confirmed that it has once again charged Microsoft with breaking competition laws, stating that the company's Internet Explorer browser is having an unfair advantage over other browsers, because it's present on all PCs with Windows OS installed on them.

Furthermore, software companies always try to make products in order to be compatible with Internet Explorer. The complaint was filed by Opera browser representatives. Microsoft said the day before that it had received a formal statement of objections from the EC outlining the commission's preliminary findings in this case.

Microsoft is still studying the charges before deciding whether and how to reply. The company has eight weeks to file a response and can request a hearing before the EC, which hasn't released its full statement of objections yet.

What's interesting is that T3 Technologies, a small mainframe maker in Tampa, has also filed an antitrust complaint, this time against IBM. The company accuses the giant software and hardware maker of refusing to sell its z/OS operating system to T3 customers.

EC spokesman Jonathan Todd said that the commission was already analyzing the mainframe market, but it's not a formal investigation. It might become one if the EC believes that there have been abuses.
In response, IBM rejected T3's claims and accused the upstart vendor of trying to violate its intellectual property rights. However, it's hard to believe T3 has been indeed tricked or discriminated by IBM, as the company has no obvious reason to do this. It remains to be seen if IBM will prove guilty and if other major companies will face antitrust claims.

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft Closes Its ACES Studios

Following the news about the 5,000 layoffs that should take place over the next 18 months, Microsoft announced it decision to close the ACES Studios, known as the developer of the Flight Simulator game series. The company has quite a history with this product, being its first one ever released and dating from 1982.

Even though the decision is final, the company's officials said that they will remain committed to the Flight Simulator franchise, without saying anything else.

"You should expect us to continue to invest in enabling great Live experiences on Windows, including flying games, but we have nothing specific to announce at this time," stated one of the company's spokesmen.

The latest version in the series is called Flight Simulator X. It provides top quality graphics and many aircraft models to choose from. The FSX was designed to allow online collaboration between users who set themselves up as virtual pilots or air traffic controllers. It also includes users who have organized entire virtual airlines flying virtual passengers around in cyberspace.

According to several reports that surfaced online, the company's move marks the cut of the first 1,400 jobs, as many of the personnel from ACES, including the game testers, were let go. The economic crisis managed to hit everyone one way or another, causing a worldwide state of uncertainty and panic. It is believed that things could get back to some sort of normality over the next 2 years, but considering the fact that nothing is certain, the general fear remains present.

[sajiv]

Follow your muse, Microsoft--get out of hardware

About a year ago, I blogged about a study conducted by Yahoo researcher Duncan Watts that showed there's almost no link between quality and popularity in music. In that study, if subjects could see how other subjects were voting on a particular song, they tended to vote the same way. Each song's popularity had almost no correlation with "objective" quality, as measured by a control group who voted based on their ears alone.

Music industry blogger Bob Lefsetz took this point a bit further the other day in a post advising young musicians that they shouldn't pin their hopes on the traditional gatekeepers of the music business--the record labels, radio programmers, and so on--because these folks are only interested in what they can sell, not what's good. He wasn't exactly advising kids to sell out, only warning them that if they follow their muse, they shouldn't expect success. Heck, calculated commercialism seems to have worked out fine for Billy Joel.

This drew a response from legendary producer Bob Ezrin, who produced Pink Floyd's The Wall, Lou Reed's Berlin, and a lot of Alice Cooper's albums. He argues that beginning musicians have to follow their muse, not only because it's the only way to lasting success, but because most young musicians don't have enough mastery to aim for a particular genre or market anyway. As he put it, "No one is born a hack. Hacks are failed or jaded artists, each and every one." (Case in point: Jane's Addiction's last album, Strays, recorded a decade after the band's heyday, minus the essential sound provided by original bassist Eric Avery, and produced by...Bob Ezrin.)

Here's how I'd break it down. Making a decent living--much less making millions--as a pop musician has about the same odds as becoming an NFL football player. If you follow your muse and fail, at least you've had fun and can look back with pride. If you try to sell out and fail, you're left with nothing.

Which brings me, in however so roundabout a way, to the poor, nearly departed Zune. I'm sorry to see that Cesar Menendez, who was in charge of Microsoft's Zune Insider blog, was included in the company's recent layoffs. I know there are many passionate music fans working on the Zune team, not least of all Kyle Hopkins, aka DJ Kid Hops, who produces not one but two consistently amazing shows on Seattle community radio station KEXP.

But overall, I agree with fellow network blogger Matt Asay: the Zune initiative always had a "me too" feel, as if somebody high in the ranks at Microsoft decided that the company needed an answer to the iPod for business and strategic reasons, but didn't have any particular passion for music, or MP3 players, or even hardware. Everybody saw through it, right from the beginning.

As CNET's Ina Fried uncovered, Zune revenue over the holiday quarter was anemic. If you run the numbers, it looks like the company earned $85 million from Zune in the December quarter. Given an average price per unit of about $150, that means Microsoft sold a little more than half a million units. And that was in the peak quarter. Compare that with 22.7 million iPods, and it smells an awful lot like failure to me.

Microsoft's passion is software, not hardware. It's time for Microsoft to follow its muse and get out of the hardware business.

[sajiv]

Microsoft ready with near-final IE 8

Microsoft on Monday released a near-final "release candidate" version of Internet Explorer 8, the next version of its Web browser.

The software maker plans to say more on its Web site around noon, but, as noted by enthusiast site Neowin, the code is already available from Microsoft's download center.

With IE 8, Microsoft is hoping to regain some lost ground by adding features such as private browsing, improved security, and a new type of add-ons, called accelerators.

On the security front, Microsoft is adding a cross-site scripting filter, as well as protections against a type of attack known as clickjacking.

In an interview, IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said there will be little change between the release candidate and the final version, though he declined to say when the final version will be released.

"The ecosystem should expect the final candidate to behave like the release candidate," Hachamovitch said.

Internet Explorer 8 will work with Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or later) and Windows Vista. A version of IE 8 is also being built into Windows 7.

However, the IE code in Windows 7 is a pre-release candidate version.

"Windows 7 enables unique features and functionality in Internet Explorer 8 including Windows Touch and Jump Lists which require additional product tests to ensure we are providing the best Windows experience for our customers," the software maker said in a statement. "Microsoft will continue to update the version of Internet Explorer 8 running on Windows 7 as the development cycles of Windows 7 progress."

[dwarakesh]

Internet Explorer 8 nearly launches
   
Microsoft's next version of Internet Explorer is a step closer to full release. Users can now download the RC1 version of IE8 from the MS Website. IE8 has been around in Beta 2 guise for some time, but RC1 is feature complete, says Microsoft.

The new version features better compatibility views for older Websites, 'clickjacking' prevention and a more sophisticated private surfing or 'porn' mode.

Users can specify how many time third party content on a Web page can be activated before triggering diagnostics to find out exactly what the content is up to.

We'll have a more detailed report once we've had a chance to play with it.

Source: Itexaminer

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft launches CRM solution

Microsoft India launched its customer relationship management (CRM) software to help businesses optimise costs and streamline processes amid the current economic scenario.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is a value-driven customer relationship management solution that delivers the ability for organisations to optimise productivity, profitability, infrastructure and their budgets, the company said in a statement.

"With customer service and loyalty becoming increasingly critical to business success, our CRM solution assists organisations place their customers at the centre of all their business activities," Microsoft India Director (Business Solutions) Sushant Dwivedy said.

In India, insurance sector is driving the adoption of CRM followed closely by the IT/ITeS segment, it added.

According to a Forrester Research study, the CRM software and services market is expected to grow from about $8.4 billion in 2006 to $10.9 billion in 2010, with much of the growth coming from the mid-market firms.

Source: Businessstandard

[sajiv]

Microsoft adds fancy search option for Firefox

If you had any doubts Microsoft didn't appreciate the advantages of Firefox's ability to accommodate add-ons, you can dispel them now. The company just released one that makes Microsoft's search service work better with the open-source Web browser.

"We're happy to report that we've officially integrated Live Search into Firefox by popular demand," said Live Search Program Manager Beatrice Oltean and Senior Product Manager Debapriya Ray in a blog post Thursday.

Like Yahoo's Inquisitor, the Microsoft search add-on connects to Microsoft's search site to suggest completions of searches as people start typing them into the browser's search box.

Microsoft is vying with Yahoo and Google to claim a greater share of the search market. Those rivals are more successful at the search advertising business, which places text ads next to search results.

According to Alessandro Catorcini, lead program manager for Live Search API (application programming interface), the add-on uses Microsoft's Live Search API 2.0. That's part of a project called Silk Road.

Source :Cnet

[sajiv]

Microsoft looks for Xbox love from the ladies

Microsoft recently started recruiting women to throw Xbox soirees as part of a branding effort to get women to start playing the Xbox, according to the Gannett news service.

    They got an Xbox party pack of freebies that included microwaveable popcorn, Xbox trivia game "Scene It? Box Office Smash," an Xbox universal media remote control, a three-month subscription to Xbox Live, and 1,600 Xbox Live points (used for game, movie and TV show purchases).

I do think this is a great marketing strategy but as with all Microsoft marketing efforts it feels a bit off. Women have proven to be huge consumers of casual games, and heavily interested in the Wii (Nintendo has been advertising heavily to the ladies for quite a while) but the Xbox feels like a stretch. And, there aren't a ton of Xbox games that are appealing to women--at least not from my informal survey (I asked my wife and a woman in the hotel lobby.)

    "We've sold 20 million consoles to date globally since we launched three years ago," says Heather Snavely, Microsoft's director of interactive entertainment business global platforms. "In order to get to the next 20 million, we need to get a new audience of women and teens. We're going after them in ways that are different than ways we've done before."

Good for Microsoft on this attempt and good for the women who want get involved with playing video games.

Of course, the main thing that comes to mind for me with this program is a free episode I downloaded of The Real Housewives of Orange County, where all the snake-skinned ladies got together for a cocktail and lingerie party. Somehow, I just can't see that crew getting together for a rousing game of Fallout 3 or Grand Theft Auto. Maybe if there was a Botox game or something where you drink until you irreparably insult your husband and isolate your children? (Zing!)

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft Fixing Xbox HDMI Issues

The Microsoft Xbox 360 HDMI sound issue that was reported way back in November still remains unaddressed for many of the game console owners. The problem started when the New Xbox Experience (NXE) was unveiled by Microsoft Team.

Last year, post NXE launch, many users reported about sound issues after installing the new NXE update and specifically using the HDMI cable out with a monitor. However, the sound works perfectly when the audio is channeled through composite/component audio cables.

This issue was reported at the Xbox Forums way back in November and the page count of frustrated users went up to 24 pages! Surprisingly, even though Microsoft is aware of the problem, no fix has been issued for the problem. This is probably because not all Xbox owners using HDMI ports for audio out are affected by this problem.

However, the reason for these issues is still not exactly known. Probably, it is some bad code in the NXE update or the cheap quality of cables used for HDMI out. Microsoft's customer support team was puzzled about the issue too. Hopefully, Microsoft's Xbox team hears the users' woes soon and fix the issue.

Source: Techtree

[Kalyan]

Microsoft streamlines Windows 7 options

Microsoft Corp on Tuesday said it will heavily promote two main versions of the next Windows operating system in an attempt to avoid the
problems it faced by marketing four tiers of the Windows Vista system.

But while the Redmond-based company said it will simplify its message, it did not give up the multitiered approach with Windows 7, which is officially expected at the end of January 2010. All told, there will be at least six different versions.

Microsoft said the primary version for consumers will be called Windows 7 Home Premium, and the one for businesses will be called Windows 7 Professional. Prices have not yet been disclosed.

In addition, it will sell two lower-end versions, Home Basic and Starter edition, to PC makers. The Starter edition is intended for sale in developing countries, while computer makers can install Home Basic on PCs intended for sale anywhere in the world. Neither sport the sleeker appearance introduced with Vista, which is getting a makeover in Windows 7.

The company will also sell a top-end Enterprise version for big corporate customers and a similar Ultimate version for consumers. Those versions will include security features and a few other tools not available in the two main versions.

When Microsoft started widely selling Windows Vista in January 2007, it offered four options: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. Some people who purchased Home Basic complained that they did not realize it lacked the updated user interface.

In the months before Vista was released, Microsoft and PC maker partners promoted certain computers as capable of running the new system. They were disappointed to learn that while their new machines could be upgraded to run the dialed-back Home Basic, they weren't powerful enough for the better-looking Home Premium or Ultimate versions, which led to a class action lawsuit.

Microsoft said in a statement that changes to the way it communicates about Windows 7 should ``make these choices as simple and clear as possible for customers and partners.''

Microsoft also said all versions of Windows 7 will run well on netbooks, a fast-growing category of small, low-powered laptops meant mostly for surfing the Web and checking e-mail.

source : economic times

[nithyasubramanian]

Microsoft introduces computing solutions in 12 Indian languages

BANGALORE: Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled several initiatives aimed at enabling Indian users to compute using several Indian languages. Presenting several of these new modules to the media in Bangalore, Microsoft India Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, said these would help in narrowing the digital divide in India. The company showcased for the first time its beta version of Windows 7 in Hindi.

Windows 7 is being promoted as the precursor to the new operating system that Microsoft is developing as a replacement for Windowes Vista.

The company unveiled Language Interface Packs (LIPs) in 12 Indian languages for use in the Windows environment and Microsoft Office, the popular productivity suite.

The company has also made available for free download 45 virtual keyboards for use in these 12 languages.

Microsoft's suite of web-based applications, Windows Live, will also be available in seven Indian languages. The company offers software developers its Captions Language Interface Pack (CLIP), which will enable them to generate 'tooltips' in eight native languages.

Company sources told The Hindu that Microsoft does not plan to retrench any of its work-force in India. The software major had recently announced that it was sacking 5,000 persons from its global work-force.

courtesy : The Hindu.

[sajiv]

Microsoft introduces computing solutions in 12 Indian languages

BANGALORE: Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled several initiatives aimed at enabling Indian users to compute using several Indian languages. Presenting several of these new modules to the media in Bangalore, Microsoft India Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, said these would help in narrowing the digital divide in India. The company showcased for the first time its beta version of Windows 7 in Hindi.

Windows 7 is being promoted as the precursor to the new operating system that Microsoft is developing as a replacement for Windowes Vista.

The company unveiled Language Interface Packs (LIPs) in 12 Indian languages for use in the Windows environment and Microsoft Office, the popular productivity suite.

The company has also made available for free download 45 virtual keyboards for use in these 12 languages.

Microsoft's suite of web-based applications, Windows Live, will also be available in seven Indian languages. The company offers software developers its Captions Language Interface Pack (CLIP), which will enable them to generate 'tooltips' in eight native languages.

Company sources told The Hindu that Microsoft does not plan to retrench any of its work-force in India. The software major had recently announced that it was sacking 5,000 persons from its global work-force.

[sajiv]

Microsoft's TMG adds antimalware, SSL inspection

Microsoft made its Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) beta 2 version available on Friday, adding antimalware and Secure Sockets Layer inspection but also offering an edge protection service to its latest operating-system platform.

TMG beta 2 is designed to provide a safe Web surfing environment for employees, said Bill Jensen, senior product manager for TMG, which used to be called ISA Server.

Microsoft has added built-in antimalware that detects and blocks infected files from entering the network and a network inspection service, or intrusion prevention, that blocks viruses and other malicious code based on their signature and their behavior, he said.

TMG Beta 2 also allows corporations to monitor SSL traffic. It decrypts the traffic, inspects it for malware, and then re-encrypts it. However, exceptions can be made on an individual basis if, for instance, an executive does not want the SSL traffic between her bank Web site and the office network to be inspected, according to Jensen.

In the future, TMG also will include URL filtering so administrators can block employee access to sites hosting malware and porn, and other undesirable content.

Beyond the new technology features, the big change from TMG's predecessor ISA Server is that it works on 64-bit servers, said Don Retallack, research vice president for systems management and security at Directions on Microsoft.

"ISA Server 2006 won't run on Windows Server 2008 or on 64-bit servers, so this is a migration of one of their edge protection packages to run on their most modern operating system," he said.

Targeting the 64-bit platform enabled Microsoft to really stretch the software, Jensen said.

"Security is a performance-greedy application," he said. "We made the decision to focus on the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 because it allows us to provide scalability up to the largest environments, allows us to provide more memory and more processors, and to do deep levels of inspection into this traffic without sacrificing performance."

General availability of the product is slated for the second half of the year. TMG also is integrated with its Stirling security suite.

[nithyasubramanian]

Microsoft to introduce the new version of Explorer

The challengers keep coming, but Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds the lion's share of the Web browser market. Most estimates put Internet Explorer's market share at around 72 percent, which means that when a new version of the browser is released, a lot of people will likely be upgrading.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE , the long-awaited successor to IE 7, is about to turn a lot of heads, as Microsoft nears completion of a browser upgrade that does significantly more than tack on enhancements to existing features. Here's what's in store.

Performance:

Perhaps the biggest news about IE 8 is what Microsoft has done for performance of the browser. In short, the browser is faster in almost every respect. It loads faster, switches pages faster, and renders complex graphics and videos faster than in previous versions.

No doubt Microsoft is responding, as it has in Windows 7, to users' insistence that performance is consideration number one when it comes to software. But IE now also has considerable competition from Google's recently released Chrome browser, which loads faster than any other browser on the market.

Load times, while they may seem trivial on the surface, are actually very important to most of us, since the web browser is typically called up many times during the day, and for many different reasons. Waiting for the browser to load, therefore, becomes a serious productivity issue.

With IE 8, Microsoft has recognised that performance is about more than just the speed at which the browser opens, however. A few new features of IE 8 are aimed at recognising the types of activities you perform on a regular basis and helping you to get those tasks done more quickly.

For instance, how many times have you found an address on the Web and then proceeded to Google Maps, MapQuest, or Microsoft's own Live Maps to find directions? If the answer is "plenty", then IE 8 will be a boon to your productivity. Thanks to the browser's new "accelerators" feature, you can highlight an address, right-click, and select Map to get almost instantaneous directions from your location, assuming you've registered your existing address with whatever mapping site you use regularly.

The same principle applies to e-mail addresses, words you'd like to define, words you'd like to translate, or e-mail addresses to which you'd like to send a message.

courtesy : ExpressBuzz.

[sajiv]

Microsoft readying My Phone cloud service

Microsoft appears poised to officially unveil a Web-based service that will let users store, share, and back up data from their mobile phones.

Provided, that is, that the phones run Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 phone operating system. And the service will be available as only a limited beta to start with.

Details of Microsoft's impending My Phone service slipped out inadvertently when the Web site went live ahead of its scheduled debut. The site appears to have been spotted first by Engadget Mobile, which also referred to the service as SkyBox.

According to the Microsoft My Phone site, the service will let users back up and restore the phone's data, access contact and scheduling information, and share photos. Users will get 200MB of free storage, but beware--a synchronization attempt that exceeds the limit will cut off any files beyond the 200MB mark.

Matthew Miller at ZDNet got confirmation of the coming My Phone launch from Microsoft. Here's an excerpt from the company statement, via Miller:

    (W)e are excited about the new Microsoft My Phone service, which will be available as a limited, invite-only beta. This is a significant milestone for Microsoft as it connects the phone to the PC and Web, making mobility a key pillar for the company's software+services strategy.

More details about the service are due at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in mid-February.

Last month, Microsoft's top Windows Mobile executive, Andy Lees, told CNET News' Ina Fried that the company would be using the Barcelona event to unveil the first steps in a renewed mobile phone strategy, including services that help connect the phone to the PC and Web.

"You are going to see a bunch of announcements at Mobile World Congress but also it is going to be the beginning of a 12-, 18-month period where you are going to see a whole bunch of different stuff," Lees told CNET News.

Microsoft is also expected to provide additional information about Windows Mobile 6.5, and people are holding out hope, as well, for information about a possible mobile apps store called SkyMarket.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft launches website

Microsoft India has launched a website for organisations looking to streamline operational costs.

The website provides information and guidance to companies to solve their business dilemmas -- from containing costs to enhancing efficiency, it said in a statement.

With controlcosts.com, Microsoft aims to provide "one stop tool for CFOs, CIOs and CXOs to learn how to identify high cost operations and streamline costs" by leveraging technology solutions such as virtualisation, unified communications, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, business intelligence and hosted services.

Source: Economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft launches new version of Live Search Maps

Microsoft India on Monday said it has added eight cities to the new version of Live Search Maps, which offers multi point routing
ability to enable users to plan multi-city road trips in a single search query.

With this expanded version of Live Search Maps, users can now also search for directions based on common points of interest and landmarks and access detailed street maps for top 17 cities and highway road network covering 48,000 cities and towns, Microsoft said in a statement.

The cities added are Nasik, Indore, Sholapur, Surat, Nagpur, Pimpri/Chinchwad, Chandigarh/Mohali/Panchkula, Panaji/Marmagao.

The key features have been developed by the Live Search and Incubations for Emerging Markets team at Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) based in Hyderabad, it added.

"Our focus is on constantly providing innovative and unique services that meet evolving needs of users on the PC and Mobile, and the release of this version of Live Search Maps India within three months of the first launch in November 2008 is testament to this," Microsoft India Group Manager (Live Search, Consumer and Online) Ravi Datanwala said.

Source: Economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft picks up minority stake in Singapore's Affle

Mobile marketing firm Affle on Tuesday said technology giant Microsoft has picked up a minority stake in the firm for an
undisclosed amount.

"Microsoft has picked up a minority stake in Singapore- based Affle Holdings. This investment will help us leverage Microsoft's brand and expand to countries where we still do not have a presence," Affle Chief Executive Officer Anuj Khanna told media.

In turn, Affle's SMS 2.0 service will help boost the usage of many of the Windows Live services and MSN content on cell phone, and also create a large volume of new mobile advertising inventory, he added.

Asked about the size of investment made and the size of the stake picked up, Khanna declined to comment.

Affle will use the proceeds for building operations and expanding its presence in the country and overseas.

"We have a office in Delhi and now we are looking at Mumbai and Bangalore. Also, we are running test pilots in the US, the UK and Australia and expect to launch services by the end of this year or early next year," he said.

Affle, which has about 100 firms on board as advertisers, has a presence in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Source: Economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft, Hyderabad Police tie-up for traffic alert services

Software major Microsoft and the Hyderabad Police announced a tie-up to offer traffic alert services to the citizens of the city.

The three-phase launch of the service will ultimately result in citizens getting access to information on traffic signals, police jurisdictions, one-ways and parking (and no-parking) areas. Information on agencies that provide emergency services will also be provided as part of the initiative.

"In the future, people would have real time updates and images on traffic conditions in the city. To begin with, we will introduce scrolling on our Web site, giving updates," Dr Praveen Kumar, DCP (Detective), said.

The Police force also launched an updated version of Microsoft's location-based services termed as Live Search Maps.

Source: Telecomtiger

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft Offers Tool to Calculate Carbon Footprint

A new environmental toolset for Microsoft's Dynamics AX enterprise resource management software lets businesses find out the carbon footprint of various aspects of their operations.

The free toolset, called the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard, is aimed at letting small to medium-size businesses figure out their environmental impact without having to pay for outside consultants, according to Microsoft.

The software covers four metrics: direct energy consumption, such as of usage of natural gas on site; indirect energy consumption, such as electricity purchased from a third party; greenhouse gas emissions from an organization's total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from commuting and business travel.

The metrics are based on guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative, which develops ways to measure environmental sustainability.

Microsoft said the dashboard will let businesses choose good environmental practices as well as let them make adjustments to reduce exposure to fluctuating energy prices.

The dashboard has been designed to work with SharePoint, Microsoft's collaboration and portal software. The dashboard's components also integrate into so-called "role centers" in Dynamics, which are customized views used to manage different kinds of information for different jobs.

Source: Economictimes

[sajiv]

Microsoft names new PR chief

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it has hired Nissan Motor communications chief Simon Sproule to serve as vice president of corporate communications.

Sproule will start at Microsoft on March 2, the company said, reporting to Mich Mathews, senior vice president of Microsoft's overall marketing efforts.

The post has been vacant since September, when former communications VP Larry Cohen left to serve as Bill Gates' chief of staff.

Sproule, 40, spent five years at Nissan, and before that held several positions at Ford Motor, including vice president of communications for Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover North America.

[sajiv]

Microsoft nabs another Yahoo exec

Microsoft is continuing its one-employee-at-a-time acquisition of Yahoo.

The software maker confirmed late Wednesday that it has hired Larry Heck, a Yahoo vice president.

Microsoft said that Heck will start in a few weeks and report to Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the online services division of Microsoft's R&D group.

"We look forward to welcoming him to the team," Microsoft said in a statement.

Heck is the latest in a string of executives to move from Yahoo to Microsoft, with the most notable being Qi Lu, who now runs Microsoft's online unit. Other high profile hires by Microsoft include Sean Suchter and Scott Moore.

Heck's early tenure at Yahoo was marked by controversy. After he joined the company from speech recognition technology maker Nuance Communications, Nuance sued Yahoo, saying Heck helped poach a dozen workers from Nuance.

Microsoft, which last year offered billions to buy Yahoo, has said it remains interested in a search partnership.

[nithyasubramanian]

Microsoft picks up minority stake in Affle

New Delhi: Mobile marketing firm Affle on Tuesday said technology giant Microsoft has picked up a minority stake in the firm for an undisclosed amount.
"Microsoft has picked up a minority stake in Singapore-based Affle Holdings. This investment will help us leverage Microsoft's brand and expand to countries where we still do not have a presence," Affle Chief Executive Officer Anuj Khanna said.

In turn, Affle's SMS 2.0 service will help boost the usage of many of the Windows Live services and MSN content on cell phone, and also create a large volume of new mobile advertising inventory, he added.

Asked about the size of investment made and the size of the stake picked up, Khanna declined to comment.

Affle will use the proceeds for building operations and expanding its presence in the country and overseas.

"We have a office in Delhi and now we are looking at Mumbai and Bangalore. Also, we are running test pilots in the US, the UK and Australia and expect to launch services by the end of this year or early next year," he said.

Affle, which has about 100 firms on board as advertisers, has a presence in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
This is the second round of funding for the company.

Earlier, the company had raised about USD 10 million through individual investors and venture capitalists.

Bullish on the Indian market, Affle is also eyeing a 50 per cent market share in the next two years in the display ads vertical.

"India has a huge number of mobile phone users and despite the slowdown, we do not expect the numbers to come down. We expect to capture 50 per cent market share in display ads and banner ads on wap sites (websites on mobiles)," Khanna said.

Asked about the impact of the slowdown on the industry, Khanna said, "Even though companies are cutting their ad budgets, they are now focusing on mobiles as a lucrative means to reach the customer."

courtesy : Indian Express.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft to open own retail stores

Microsoft Corp announced plans to open its own stores despite the economic downturn that has left many retailers
struggling.

The company hired David Porter, a 25-year veteran of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as its corporate vice president of retail stores. Porter was head of worldwide product distribution at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. since 2007.

Porter, who is set to start work on Tuesday, is charged with improving the PC-buying experience. The company said his first task will be to set the timing, locations and design of Microsoft-branded retail stores, which will sell computers installed with Microsoft software as well as other company products.

Microsoft has been working to revive the image of its ubiquitous Windows operating system, starting with a $300 million advertising campaign that began last fall. Vista, the most recent version of the software, was widely criticized for being slow, requiring new and pricer hardware, and not working with devices like printers and scanners. Vista has also been the subject of a series of snarky television ads from Apple Inc.

At the same time it launched upbeat new TV ads last fall, some of which struck right back at Apple, Microsoft posted 144 of its own employees in electronics chain stores around the world to talk with shoppers about Windows.

The ``Gurus'' seemed to be Microsoft's answer to Apple's in-store ``Genius Bar.'' With its newly announced retail store intentions, the Redmond-based software maker is taking yet another page from Apple's play book. Apple credits its stores, concentrated mostly in the U.S., for helping boost its profile and draw new customers.

But Microsoft's timing may be off. The U.S. recession has socked the retail sector, and purveyors of electronics have been hit hard. Circuit City Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and said in January it would liquidate its 567 U.S. stores, cutting more than 34,000 jobs. Best Buy Inc. laid off thousands of corporate employees in December and reported same-store sales _ a key measure of retail health _ sank 6.5 percent.

Even Apple, whose iPods, iMacs and iPhones draw brand-conscious customers willing to spend more for design, was hit in the holiday quarter by the recession as average sales per store dropped to $7 million from $8.5 million in 2007.

Microsoft had no comment on the plight of Apple and the big-box stores, but said its own retail stores can help shoppers make smarter decisions about spending money on technology.

The company had set up a concept store at its headquarters with displays of Windows computers, Xbox 360 consoles and games and other items. But the company said it's meant to help stores like Best Buy see new merchandising ideas in action, and is not a prototype for stand-alone retail stores.

Source: Economictimes

[VelMurugan]

Microsoft to open retail stores

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp has announced plans to open its own stores despite the economic downturn that has left many retailers struggling.

The company hired David Porter, a 25-year veteran of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, as its corporate vice president of retail stores. Porter was head of worldwide product distribution at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc since 2007.

Porter, who is set to start work, is charged with improving the PC-buying experience. The company said his first task will be to set the timing, locations and design of Microsoft-branded retail stores, which will sell computers installed with Microsoft software as well as other company products.

Microsoft has been working to revive the image of its ubiquitous Windows operating system, starting with a $300 million advertising campaign that began last fall. Vista, the most recent version of the software, was widely criticised for being slow, requiring new hardware, and not working with devices like printers and scanners. Vista has also been the subject of a series of snarky television ads from Apple Inc.

At the same time it launched upbeat new TV ads last fall, some of which struck right back at Apple, Microsoft posted 144 of its own employees in electronics chain stores around the world to talk with shoppers about Windows.

The "Gurus" seemed to be Microsoft's answer to Apple's in-store "Genius Bar." With its newly announced retail store intentions, the Redmond-based software maker is taking yet another page from Apple's play book. Apple credits its stores, concentrated mostly in the US, for helping boost its profile and draw new customers.

But Microsoft's timing may be off. The US recession has socked the retail sector, and purveyors of electronics have been hit hard. Circuit City Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and said in January it would liquidate its 567 US stores, cutting more than 34,000 jobs. Best Buy Inc laid off thousands of corporate employees in December and reported same-store sales -- a key measure of retail health -- sank 6.5 per cent.

Even Apple, whose iPods, iMacs and iPhones draw brand-conscious customers willing to spend more for design, was hit in the holiday quarter by the recession as average sales per store dropped to $7 million from $8.5 million in 2007.

Microsoft had no comment on the plight of Apple and the big-box stores, but said its own retail stores can help shoppers make smarter decisions about spending money on technology.

The company had set up a concept store at its headquarters with displays of Windows computers, Xbox 360 consoles and games and other items. But the company said it's meant to help stores like Best Buy see new merchandising ideas in action, and is not a prototype for stand-alone retail stores.

Source : IndiaTimes

[VelMurugan]

Google, Microsoft to clean up Web

NEW YORK: In a rare instance of collaboration among otherwise fierce rivals, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft said they would support a new web standard that will allow millions of publishers to remove duplicate pages from their websites. As a result, search engines would be able to make their search results more comprehensive.

"There is a lot of clutter on the web and with this, publishers will be able to clean up a lot of junk," said Matt Cutts, an engineer who heads Google's spam fighting efforts, the New York Times reported.

"I think it is going to gain traction pretty quickly," said Cutts.

The problem is the following: Many web publishers, especially those that have voluminous sites, like e-commerce companies, have multiple URLs that all point to the same page. This confuses search engines, sometimes causing them to index the same page multiple times. As much as 20 percent of URLs on the web may be duplicates, according to some estimates.

Engineers at Google came up with a simple way for web publishers to indicate when a URL is a duplicate, and if so, which is the principal, or "canonical," URL that search engines should be indexing. Yahoo and Microsoft, the no. 2 and no. 3 search engines, have agreed to support the same standard.

"We are happy that everyone is going to support the same implementation," said Nathan Buggia, a lead programme manager at Microsoft. "This is a clear benefit for publishers as it gives them an opportunity to get more exposure through search engines."

All search engines have developed technologies to detect duplicates that are more or less effective. The so-called Canonical Link Tag, as the standard is known, should make it easier for both publishers and search engines to address the problem, NYT reported.

"It is an important step because all the search engines are coming out with it," said Priyank Garg, director of product management for web search at Yahoo.

Source : IndiaTimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft gains momentum in mobile push

Playing catch-up to rivals such as Apple and Google, Microsoft  beefed up its push into mobile business, touting new services and winning fresh support from handset makers.

The software giant announced that at the Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona, Spain, the company and its key mobile partners were unveiling new smartphones with upgraded Microsoft software.

The next generation of phones will be based on Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft's new version of operating system for handsets, which is expected to be available in the later half this year.

The new mobile operating system will feature a new user interface, providing a dashboard-like experience to items such as new e-mails, texts, missed calls and calendar appointments.

It will include an improved touch-screen interface, making it easy to take action with a finger, Microsoft said.

Another key feature is the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, an online service that allows users to search and download software applications to their handsets. The service is similar to Apple's popular App Store for iPhone users.

Microsoft also announced that South Korea's LG Electronics, world's third-largest mobile handset maker, has agreed to make Windows the primary operating system for its smartphones and will tenfold increase the number of its products using the Windows system from 2008 to 2009.

The agreement may result in more than 50 new LG phones running Windows system in the coming years, Microsoft said.

According to the company, mobile operator Orange and handset maker HTC also make further commitments to use Microsoft's latest Mobile operating system in their new products.

Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2, the two new phones launched by HTC, will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft said.

In a separate announcement on Monday, Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's largest personal computer maker, also threw its support for Microsoft's new mobile operating system.

Source: Economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft revamps mobile push, signs LG deal

Microsoft said  it had signed a deal with LG Electronics, under which the world's third-largest cellphone maker will use Windows software in most of its smartphones.

"A majority of their smartphones will use Windows," Andy Lees, the head of Windows' wireless unit, told Reuters in an interview.

Small handset vendor HTC is currently the world's largest maker of phones using Windows software.

While Samsung Electronics, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have Windows phones on the market, they make up only a small proportion of their offerings.

Microsoft also joined a growing number of companies in the industry launching or revamping online stores for consumers to download and install software directly to their phones for services such as finding directions or playing games.

The company also rebranded its wireless offering to Windows from Windows Mobile, and launched a backup service for data -- like contacts and pictures -- stored on Windows phones.

Microsoft, whose Windows mobile operating system used to be the second-most popular for smartphones after Nokia's Symbian, has been overtaken by Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.

Source: Economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft, Nokia hit back at Apple with virtual stores

Software giant Microsoft and Finnish handset maker Nokia announced the launch of new virtual stores for mobile phone applications on Monday in a clear nod to the success of a similar idea by Apple.

US consumer goods group Apple launched its AppStore last July that enables users of its high-end iPhone to download applications for their devices, with games, travel info or news services on offer.

The California-based company, which allows other developers to provide applications for the phones, claimed it had its 500,000th download at the end of January.

On Monday at industry event Mobile World Congress, Microsoft hit back with its version of the Appstore, which is to be called Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

The site will be "an integrated marketplace for searching, browsing and purchasing mobile applications," the company said, adding that developers would have "unrestricted ability to offer applications."

Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones that is also aiming to become a service provider and software developer, said it would launch its Ovi Store for applications and content in May.

Users of Nokia phones will be offered personalised content on the site based on their location and preferences and developers will also be encouraged to write applications for download.

The applications will only be available for high-end mobile phones, known in the business as "smart phones," which are more like mini computers than traditional mobile phones with their large memories and high processing power.

Apple has demonstrated the benefits of opening up its iPhone to outside developers, who have created new applications to add functionality and personalise the devices.

Nokia is keen to tap into this creativity which offers consumers choices and improve the user experience.

Windows does not manufacture handsets itself, but it is looking to establish its operating system for mobile phones as the industry standard in the same way as it dominates the market for personal computers.

It has therefore decided to open up to outside developers to allow them to improve the core Windows product and encourage handset manufacturers to install Windows instead of rival operating systems.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft Kills Equipt Subscription Offering

After offering it only since July, Microsoft is discontinuing its Equipt package of software and services.

The move follows the company's decision to also kill off OneCare, the security software that was included in the Equipt package, but it may also be related to Circuit City's demise. The retailer, currently in liquidation, was the only outlet to sell the Equipt package in the U.S.

Equipt is a package that includes Office Home and Student 2007, OneCare, Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live Mail, Live Messenger and Live Photo. Users paid US$70(Rs. 3,500) a year for it.

Microsoft began selling Equipt in Circuit City stores on July 15. Late last year, Equipt went on sale in the U.K. also.

Microsoft decided to discontinue Equipt after it announced in November that it is developing a no-cost anti-malware product, Morro, to replace OneCare. "As a result of this new offering and the discontinuation of OneCare, Microsoft Equipt, which includes a subscription to OneCare, will be discontinued after April 30, 2009," the Equipt Web site says.

Equipt users are eligible for a prorated refund for unused months of their subscription and a free copy of Office Home and Student 2007. Users can fill out a form on the Equipt site to receive those benefits.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft unveils new online employment resource

Microsoft Corp on Sunday announced the creation of a website, Elevate America, aimed at improving access to job training tools.

The site, http://www.microsoft.com/ElevateAmerica, provides resources to help individuals gain the technical skills needed for acquiring jobs, the world's largest software company said.

The economy has shed 3.6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007 with about half of the decline occurring in the past three months, recent Labor Department data showed.

The website provides access to several Microsoft online training programs, including how to use the Internet, send e-mail and create a resume, as well as more advanced programs on using specific Microsoft applications.

"We are also providing a full range of work force development resources for state and local governments so they can offer specialised training for their workers," said Pamela Passman, corporate vice president of Microsoft Global Corporate Affairs.

Microsoft tapped Washington state as the first state to provide Elevate America to its residents.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft asks for sacked employees' money back

Loadsamoney Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has decided that he might have paid his ex-employees too much when he laid off 1,400 of them recently and now wants their severence pay back.

When Microsoft laid off 1,400 employees last month it apparently paid them too much in redundancy money, according to Techcrunch

Now the company has decided that those employees should pay back the money and has asked those it fired to be nice and give it back.

In a letter sent to employees, Microsoft said that an inadvertent administrative error occurred that resulted in an overpayment in severance pay by Microsoft. We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to you.'

Microsoft confirmed it has asked for the money back but refused to say more claiming it was 'a private matter between the company and the affected people.'

It is not clear how many of the 1,400 people were over paid, or how much Microsoft lost.  However it also seems that some employees did not get enough severance pay too. 

Microsoft did not say if it was giving this money to the laid off employees. The letter hints that Microsoft might get a bit nasty if the money is not given back, perhaps in the form of tax action.

Source: Itexaminer

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft Introduces Elevate America Free Technology Courses

Microsoft announced a new initiative this week, aimed at providing tech training for 2 million people over the next 3 years. Elevate America will help people get around in the current economic context, by giving them open access to training, information and opportunities.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft has introduced two tools, one already available online, and one to become available later on through partnerships with state governments.

To begin with, people can check this website in order to better understand the technical skills needed for the jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as the resources needed to acquire them, Microsoft explained.

The online training programs will include some basic training on how to use the Internet, create a résumé or send e-mails, as well as more specific training on how to use certain Microsoft applications. In addition to that, Microsoft said state and local governments will also make these resources available.

The initiative comes after an official confirmation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that more and more people are pursuing Microsoft technical certifications.

Pamela Passman, corporate vice president of Microsoft Global Corporate Affairs, said in a statement:

Millions of Americans don't have the technology skills needed in today's economy. Through Elevate America, we want to help workers get the skills they need to succeed.

The program will offer access to basic technology literacy and skills training, intermediate courses with vouchers offered by Microsoft, and access to a Web guide.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft: Laid-off can keep extra pay

A few weeks after launching the first wide-scale layoffs in its history, Microsoft Corp. admits it screwed up a key part of the
plan.

First Microsoft realized that an administrative glitch caused it to pay more severance than intended to some laid-off employees. The company's response: It asked the ex-workers for the money back.

But when one of Microsoft's letters seeking repayment surfaced on the Web on Saturday, the situation turned embarrassing. On Monday, the company reversed course and said the laid-off workers could keep the extra payouts.

Lisa Brummel, Microsoft's senior vice president for human resources, said the letters were mailed to 25 of the 1,400 people let go in January. Most of the checks were off by about $4,000 to $5,000, she said.

Brummel said she learned of the letters over the weekend after one appeared on the technology blog TechCrunch.

``I decided it didn't quite feel right,'' she said in an interview.

The executive called most of the 25 laid-off employees Monday to personally tell them Microsoft would not seek repayment after all.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft also gave about 20 employees too little severance. When the company noticed its mistake, it sent checks and explanations to those people, she said.

Brummel called the glitch a clerical error, and said that at some point in the process of calculating severance packages, communicating with employees and cutting checks, ``we had payments misaligned with people's names.'' (Brummel said she didn't know whether an Excel spreadsheet was at the root of the problem.)

With the recession biting into sales of Microsoft's core Office and Windows software, the company said in January it would let up to 5,000 of its 94,000 employees go, the only mass layoff in its 34-year history. Microsoft remains profitable, however, and has a cash hoard of nearly $21 billion.

Shares of Microsoft sank 79 cents, or 4.4 percent, to close at $17.21.

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft redundancy 'admin error' PR disaster

Microsoft has been left with a considerable amount of egg on its face this week, having to backtrack after asking former employees to repay part of their redundancy payments.

Microsoft is now claiming that the requests were due to an "administrative error" which meant that a number of the 1,400 workers laid off back in January were given $5,000 (£3,450) more than they should have been entitled to.

"Last week, 25 former Microsoft employees were informed that they were overpaid as a part of their severance payments from the company," Microsoft said in a statement.

"This was a mistake on our part. We should have handled this situation in a more thoughtful manner. We are reaching out to those impacted to relay that we will not seek any payment from those individuals."

Slip causes PR disaster

You can see the original latter sent out to employees demanding repayment of their redundancy online, which prompted mass outrage earlier this month.

The admin error is set to cost Microsoft around $125,000.


source : techradar