There has been so much talk about the iPad, but I dont think the upcoming release of Windows 7 Phones has received enough press. Anyways, here is a Windows 7 Phone Tablet concept that just great. I must admit it does seem quite similar to a big iPhone, but its still cool.
Sony’s VP of Realistic Movements Kevin Butler is at it again, this time in a video ad for the PlayStation Move. He’s back from the future to thank us all for the success of the motion control device, and make a few jabs towards Nintendo and Microsoft for their efforts. Here’s a few choice quotes.
Microsoft has just launched three new webcams in its LifeCam line. All three webcams are capable of 720p HD video.
The LifeCam HD-5000 and HD-5001 have slightly different styling but their innards are the same, both selling for $49.95.
In May a smaller version of the LifeCam, the $60 HD-6000 that’s aimed at notebooks. It’s also rocking that 720p video and autofocus, and has a 360° rotation view so you can swing the camera around to show the world your surroundings. All of these cameras feature TrueColor tech, tracking your face and making you look good even in backlit situations.
Microsoft has just released their preview to Internet Explorer 9 with HTML 5. If you want to check it out you can get it free here.
Here is a quick look at the new Windows 7 Phone apps.
The phone itself will run a tiled interface, almost a cross between the app screens on the iPhone and the app elements on the Android. The big difference on the Windows 7 phone is that the tiles are live – they can show you content even while they sit there.
The first think you will notice is that there are only three buttons at the bottom of the phone. These are the standard buttons that work across the phone, namely back, search and home – the same functions as found on the Android phones.
The panoramic design is something we havent really seen much of, but it looks great. The design actually means that applications arent restricted by the screen szie and have potential to grow quite quickly and easily. This example from AP demonstrates the scale an app can achieve. This app is wide with the ability for the user to zoom into the particular bit they wish to focus on.
Apart from that location based services have really been thought about for the new Windows 7 phones and in general the graphics and feel of the phone are great.
Will the new range of Windows 7 phones really make people move from their current devices over? Im really not too sure. The phones look a million times better than the previous Windows mobile OS.
Microsoft has just launched their new MSN video player in the UK. The video on demand service competes directly with recently-launched SeeSaw in offering a range of commercial TV shows for viewers to watch for free in their browser. The service is monetised using 30-second preroll ads.
Unlike SeeSaw, Microsoft appears to have done deals with independent TV production companies as opposed to TV stations. As a result, MSN Video Player can’t claim to have a full range of Channel 4 or 5 shows, but what it does have is certainly presented in a much more appealing way than SeeSaw.
This is a partnership between Nokia and Microsoft which could see Silverlight on Symbian mobile phones as early as next week.
Microsoft posted the developer tools and the beta version of the code on March 11th but then quickly pulled them down again. Mary Jo Foley thinks it may launch at Mix next week.
Mobile may be the killer app to get Silverlight in more users hands. With Silverlight being heavily integrated with the up coming Windows Phone 7, soon with Symbian and even talk of a port to Android, Microsoft will significantly expand its reach with the platform.
The MIX conference next week will certainly be interesting as Microsoft pushes to reclaim the mobile space.
Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, has just launched its first UK TV advert. Its an interesting ad, but doesn’t seem very inventive.
Are you sure that you firstly need to delete your cookies? There is a lot of misinformation surrounding browser cookies, and unfounded paranoia that they can harm your computer. Typically, all that a cookie can do, is remember that you have visited a website before, and display some information indicating that it “recognizes” you. You log in to Facebook, you log out, you go back a day later, and Facebook has already filled in the login form with your e-mail address, so you don’t have to type it in again. Facebook uses a cookie to “recognize” you and pre-fill your e-mail address. 9 times out of 10, nothing worth worrying about.
Steps:
If you want to make absolutely sure all your cookies are deleted, you should restart Internet Explorer as well, since the IE help file advises that this is necessary to make sure all cookies are well and truly gone:
You should close Internet Explorer when you’re done to clear cookies that are still in memory from your current browsing session. This is especially important when using a public computer.
Microsoft’s search engine Bing, that offers 41 different languages, just removed and banned from the Arabic language search any sexual related term.
A very complete report made from Open Net Initiative where they describe about the words that have been tested in Arabic and English languages from Bing. Here’s a summary:
You are probably thinking that since the religion that prevails in most of the countries in Middle East is Islamic (and some variations), it could sound normal that Microsoft was obligated to remove sexual and explicit content; but the restriction also applies for other countries like India, Turkey, Thailand, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
There’s always going to be a lot of discussion regarding to sexual content available on the internet, restricting content over the web, religions involved, etc. etc. But someone actually starts thinking if any of these measures actually solves anything? Banning these words would prevent from any kid to access some of unrated material?
Microsoft’s answering the European Commission after a lot of struggling and starting tomorrow, March 1st, Windows users will have the chance to decide which browser will be your default in your machine.
Web Browser Ballot will be available in Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems as a Windows update. Soon as you download the update, a window will appear where the browsers will be listed randomly from which you’ll select your default browser.
I found very interesting the feature available for randomly listing the browsers, which avoids any suggestion that could induce a user to make a pick according to the location in your screen of the browsers. Here’s evidence of the random is actually working:
Internet Explorer 8 showing third in browser’s list.
Internet Explorer 8 showing first in browser’s list.
From what we know, the ballot will only appear to users that have Internet Explorer as the default browser; if you have any other as default, the list won’t appear to you.
For more information, here’s the official document with Microsoft’s commitment.
Internet Explorer 7 and now 8 have pretty much put IE6 to bed. It’s become useless with many sites killing off support or will be soon. YouTube is due to pull the plug on IE6 on March 13th. Many others are following suite. This is seen as the final blow to IE6, a once great browser that has been battered and bruised by allegations of security weakness and fierce competition from Google Chrome and Mozilla.
A Denver based design company are holding a funeral for the browser at their headquarters and they have built a website at IE6Funeral.com to mark the occasion. You can RSVP to the event on the site and those who are attending are encouraged to wear “funeral attire”.
“Internet Explorer Six, resident of the interwebs for over 8 years, died the morning of March 1, 2010 in Mountain View, California, as a result of a workplace injury sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc. Internet Explorer Six, known to friends and family as “IE6,” is survived by son Internet Explorer Seven, and grand-daughter Internet Explorer Eight.”
