Microsoft and Nokia have recently announced that they will be holding a press conference in the near future to announce a software alliance between the two companies.

Unfortunately for those who thought this would be an exciting announcement, look away as according to the Wall Street Journal this press conference will announce that Microsoft is prepping to release a Symbian version of their Office suite.

This is apparantly an effort by Microsoft to increase their market share in hopes to combat free online office suites offered by companies such as Google. Will it work? Only time will tell.

Tags: alliance, Cell Phones, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Nokia, Nokia, office, suite, symbian

It seems that Microsoft’s iPod touch competitor, the Zune HD, has finally made its way through the FCC and from it we have a slew of pictures like the one above.

What we have learned from this recent FCC filing is that the device will come in both 16 and 32GB capacities and that it will in fact feature a dock (if you couldn’t have guessed).

In terms of a price point and release date well, we’ll still have to wait until Microsoft gives us official word but we’re thinking it will hit store shelves later this year at a price dangerously close to the iPod touch’s.

via FCC

Tags: dock, fcc, microsoft, Mobile News, Mobile Software, MP3 Players, storage, Zune HD

Microsoft has today updated their twitter account with the first real shots of a Microsoft retail store under construction. As you can see, it’s not very spectacular, but what is great is the fact that these retail stores are actually coming sooner rather than later.

And, if you look closely, you’ll see that the picture gives us a hint as to what Microsoft’s retail stores will specialize in; Windows 7, Xbox 360, Bing, Microsoft Office and Zune. Perhaps we will see some Windows Mobile touting handsets on sale at these locations as well.

Tags: Cell Phones, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Picture, retail store, software, twitter, Windows Mobile

Not confused enough about Windows 7 and its various versions? Good, because Microsoft has recently released the above chart adding even more fuss to the confusion.

As you can see, Microsoft has detailed just about every kind of upgrade you could encouter on October 22nd from Windows XP all the way up to Windows Vista Ultimate. While some versions will allow for a painless upgrade, others will require you to completely wipe your harddrive clean and then install Windows 7.

Annoying? Yes. Confusing? Of course.

via AllThingsDigital

Tags: chart, Desktop PCs, Laptops, microsoft, Mobile Software, software, upgrade, Windows 7

What you see above is a tech demo of a pressure sensitive keyboard. This technology is still a ways off but the video demonstrators give us a few examples of how such a keyboard could make our typing lives easier.

For you gamers out there, they show an example where your movement speed and jumping height is determined by the force of key presses. For everyone else, there is example where font sized is determined key press force along with being able to delete whole words or single characters by pressing the delete key harder of softer.

via CNET

Tags: Desktop PCs, keyboard, microsoft, pressure sensitive, tech demo

If you’re a TechNet or MSDN subscriber, there’s some news for you — Microsoft has recently announced that the Windows 7 RTM has been made avaiable for download to subscribers of such services. For TechNet subscribers head here to get the download, and MSDN subscribers, here.

As for the rest of us, we’ll have to wait until October 22nd to get our hands on the 10,000 6 different versions of Windows 7.

via GeekSmack

Tags: Desktop PCs, Laptops, microsoft, Mobile News, msdn, operating system, RTM, technet, Windows 7

Microsoft has recently issued a press release detailing the forthcoming release of their Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000.

As you can see by the keyboard’s curve it’s all about ergonomics and comfort with this one, hell it it even has a soft touch palm press and low-profile quiet type keys. Additionally, the set will include the Wireless Mouse 500 which also features an ergonomic design, Microsoft’s BlueTrack Technology and a mini 2.4GHz dongle.

A major selling point that Microsoft is touting about the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 is that it features dedicated buttons for some of Windows 7’s most prominent features such as Device Stage and Windows Flip.

The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 will be made available later this month for $79.95.

Tags: bluetrack, Desktop PCs, ergonomics, microsoft, wireless comfort desktop 5000, wireless mouse 5000

One of the key features of the HTC Hero is the in-house developed Sense UI for the phone’s Android operating system. It features a beautiful yet useable interface that any user is sure to love, somethign that Windows Mobile has yet to get down.

Luckily, a hacker has been able to port HTC’s Sense UI to run on the Windows Mobile touting HTC Vogue. Sure, the interface is pretty laggy to the point where it’d be more of a pain rather than a pleasure to use but this proves it is possible. Now let’s see where the community will take it.

via BGR

Tags: Cell Phones, Google, HTC, htc hero, htc vogue, microsoft, Sense UI, Windows Mobile

Samsung is working on a new portable media player which seems destined to compete against the iPod touch and most importantly against Microsoft’s Zune HD. The Samsung M1 is the gadget in question and it will come with a 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen and an Nvidia Tegra chipset. Other features will include Bluetooth audio support, DivX video playback, FM radio, photo viewer, text reader, voice recorder and microSD support. Of course there are no prices available just yet so you’ll have to wait a while to make your choice. And what will you choose when the time comes? Samsung’s M1, Microsoft’s Zune HD or Apple’s iPod touch?

via cnet

Tags: ipod, m1, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, MP3 Players, Samsung, Touch, Zune HD

We already know that Microsoft will make us all call Windows Mobile 6.5 and all its future updates as Windows Phone. Apparently Windows Mobile isn’t as appealing as Windows Phone, is it?

And it looks like the final build of Windows Phone is already available and it has been shown off. Check out the video above to see what Windows Phone looks like! You’ll spot a Zune-like interface, the Marketplace for Windows Phone, the My Phone sync service and Microsoft Tag. Are you impressed in any way with Windows Mobile 6.5 Phone?

via theinquirer

Tags: microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Windows Mobile 6.5, windows phone, zune

Microsoft has today announced that they will be offering a free version of Windows 7 Ultimate to those who participated in the Windows 7 Beta Program.

This announcement comes from a letter Microsoft sent to said participants:

Thank you for doing your part in making Windows 7 great! As a member of the technical beta program you took the time to download, install and give us your feedback on Windows 7 during development. Over the last 7 months you have participated in chats, live meetings and newsgroups as well as reported bugs to help us find and fix many issues. To recognize your outstanding contribution to the product we are pleased to offer you a complimentary copy of Windows 7 for your personal use.

Details:

• All current members of our English technical and international mini-beta programs are eligible.
• We are offering you a full (non-upgrade) copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition for your own personal use, not to be resold.
• You will be able to get access to your copy one of two ways:

A) To get up and running quickly you will be able to download your copy and get your product key via Microsoft Connect. English downloads will be available August 6th and other languages will follow as they become available.

B) Members of our English beta program have an alternative. We have reserved a limited amount of boxed retail copies that you can choose to receive instead. These are ‘first come, first served’. If you opt to have us ship you the boxed copy you should be aware that it will take much longer until you will be up and running on the final version. We will need time to manufacture and ship the copies to you. This means that you may not receive them until they are available on shelves October 22nd or later. Also, for people outside the United States you may be required to pay duties or other local taxes upon receipt.

Instructions and forms for choosing one of the above options will be available on Microsoft Connect on Monday August 3rd.

On behalf of the entire Windows product team, THANK YOU!

Paul

via Arstechnica

Tags: beta program, Desktop PCs, free copy, Laptops, microsoft, Mobile Software, testers, Windows 7

What nobody believed possible anymore seems to have happened. Microsoft and Yahoo have signed a search partnership today. That means Microsoft has gotten a 10-year license to use Yahoo’s search technologies and integrate Yahoo in its own search engine, Bing. And Yahoo will get to play with advertising for both parties involved since it will be the “exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers”. We’ll have to wait and see what this means for the mobile business since the deal is subject to regulatory review which will be completed by early 2010. What do you think Google has to say about this Yahoo and Microsoft affair?

via Microsoft

Tags: Bing, Google, Google, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, Other Brands, Search, yahoo

Remember that Microsoft store presentation that got leaked a little while ago? Well it looks like Microsoft has done the grown-up thing and confirmed that the slide-show was indeed true. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Microsoft’s store will look exactly like in those shots but at least we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from it. We’ll be bringing you the real store photos once the first store will be opened to customers this fall.

via PCWorld

Tags: microsoft, microsoft, presentation, store

Acer is proud to announce that their Timeline 1810T will be shipping for €499 within the next 2-3 weeks.

If you’re not familiar with Acer’s Timeline 1810T, let me give you a quick rundown. This laptop will feature a 1366 x 768 11.6-inch display, a 1.4GHz CPU, up to 4GB of RAM and a GMA 45000MHD onboard GPU. Additionally it will have an HDMI out port, Bluetooth 2.1, Vista and the option for 3G.

Again, you’ll be able to pick up one of Acer’s Timeline 1810Ts within the next couple of weeks for €499 or about $709.

via Engadget

Tags: 1810t, Acer, Laptops, microsoft, Mobile News, netbooks, price point, release date, timeline

What you see above may look like a netbook, but it’s not for it’s Avaratec’s N3400 notebook.

Don’t expect much from this machine as it’s basically just a netbook with a bigger screen. you’re lookin’ at a 13.3-inch screen, Pentium Dual Core T3400 processor, 3GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and a Intel GMA X4500HD onboard GPU. To make it even more similar to a netbook it won’t feature a built-in optical drive instead it will come with an external DVD burner.

Sure, Avaratec’s N3400 may not act like a notebook, but it’s sure priced like one at a whopping $799.

Tags: avaratec, Laptops, microsoft, Mobile News, n3400, netbooks, notebook

This is not the first time we get to look at Microsoft trying to please the European Union and its various commissions. Last time Microsoft offered to remove Internet Explorer all together from Windows 7. Why wasn’t that offer any good? Well it looks like it’s pretty difficult to download the browser of your choice without having a default browser like Internet Explorer to find your favorite browser with. So Microsoft decided to leave Internet Explorer on the future Windows 7 machines made for Europe but to also present a screen with various browser choices on it. That way users will be able to select their favorite, complete the installation and forever forget that Internet Explorer even exists:

In addition, (computer makers) would be able to install competing Web browsers, set those as default and disable Internet Explorer should they so wish. The Commission welcomes this proposal, and will now investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice.

Will the EU Commission be happy now? What’s your favorite Internet browser?

via cnet

Tags: European Commission, European Union, internet explorer, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile Software

The idea of a Microsoft Store it’s just a little bit strange, but hey it should be interesting to walk into one and check out their Genius bar. And today the whole Microsoft Store presentation has been leaked out for the general public. The Store will include a Genius-like “Answer Bar”, lots of Surface demos, various stage areas for Windows 7, Media Center, Windows Mobile, Project Natal and Project Pink. Microsoft will host various events centered on some of its hottest products and it will even let you organize your birthday party in Store. We’ll be keeping tabs on Microsoft’s Store development. Maybe they will change their mind now that everyone saw the concept presentation.

via Gizmodo

Tags: concept, microsoft, microsoft, Mobile News, Portable Devices, presentation, store

AdMob has a new report in and this time it’s taking a look at the geographic distribution of the iPhone and its little brother, the iPod touch. It also focuses on the increased popularity of the Android OS over Windows Mobile but let’s take a closer look at everything!

First things first then! Let’s look at how AdMob analyzed everything. The company offers mobile ads and its quite popular with developers. Therefone it analyzed data from over 16.8 million unique iPhones and iPod touch players which browsed over 7,000 web sites and used over 2,500 apps in June.

That’s how AdMob to reach some of the conclusions we have already presented. But let’s start with some numbers! 54% of iPhone and iPod users are based in the USA while the remaining 46% are spread around the globe. France, Germany and the UK have all more than 5% of all iPod and iPod touch units. 38% of the total iPhone OS devices in North America is represented by iPod touch units. Apple has sold over 45 million iPhones and iPod touch units worldwide which means that about 13 million iPhones and 12 million iPod touch players arrived in the USA alone. These are some impressive numbers and we expect them to grow as soon as the iPhone 3GS will hit other markets.

Next is Android, another hot OS which is also gaining momentum. According to AdMob:

Requests from the Android OS increased 25 percent month over month. Android has five percent worldwide OS share and is slightly ahead of Windows Mobile for the first time.

It looks like Android users like to browse a lot more and use a lot of apps compared to Windows Mobile users.

via Press

Tags: AdMob, Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, iPhone OS, iPod Touch, microsoft, Mobile News, Windows Mobile

Chinese handset maker ZTE hasn’t really stirred upmuch hype on North American shores but in Asia, they’re all the rage.

What you see above is one of their handsets they recently put up on display at the Wireless Japan convention. In addition to Windows Mobile devices, they also have a Linux powered one. The RAISE and XIANG are the ones running Windows Mobile and will feature 5MP and 3.2MP cameras and will use HSPA over the Wo netork.

The D820, on the other hand, is the Linux-touting device and will feature WiFi, CDMA, GPS and a 2MP camera. No word on worldwide availability but if I had to guess, from the looks of this, there are definitely some American consumers who would take interest in these thing.

Read (AkihabaraNews) via EngadgetMobile

Tags: 2mp, 3.2mp, 5mp, Cell Phones, China, d820, GPS, HSPA, microsoft, Mobile News, Mobile Software, raise, wifi cdma, Windows Mobile, wireless japan, xiang, ZTE

Microsoft has officially announced that their latest operating system, Windows 7, has been shipped to manufacturing.

This means, Windows 7 is done and closer than ever to hitting store shelves. In fact, Gizmodo reports that the finished product is so similar to the RC1 currently out that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Here’s to hoping Microsoft can return Windows to greatness with Windows 7 after the brand had been tarnished with bad Vista publicity.

Tags: Desktop PCs, Laptops, manufacturing, microsoft, netbooks, operating system, rc1, software, windows, Windows 7