Earlier today, Microsoft and Samsung disclosed that they reached a cross-licensing agreement over patents. The key point: it’s a bad blow to the notion that Android is free. Instead, it’s more like “free” with huge Android OEM partners like HTC and now Samsung agreeing to pay Microsoft to use Android. Google must be pissed off.
After opening its doors to the public last Tuesday, Google+ may now have more than as 43 million users.
So says Ancestry.com co-founder and Google+ unofficial statistician Paul Allen, who’s been keeping a running tally of how big the social network is growing.
Microsoft is in talks with the world’s largest cable provider, Comcast, to bolster its upcoming live TV service on the Xbox 360, according to a new report.
The blog Digiday, citing anonymous sources, reported today that Microsoft is nearing a deal with Comcast that would allow Xbox 360 owners to sign up for the cable provider’s service, and watch its programming from the game console. Digiday says that Microsoft is also in talks with Verizon Fios to form a similar deal with that company.
Microsoft says it is “reinventing the OS” with Windows 8, the company’s next-generation operating system. Microsoft fired off dozens of announcements and showed off countless features of the new OS at its Build conference in Anaheim, California. Features such as the Metro interface, support for touchscreens, improved performance and a Windows Store for apps are making headlines.
Microsoft, addressing a painful part of using the company’s operating system, says Windows 8 starts up 30 percent to 70 percent faster than the same machines running Windows 7.
That’s music to my ears.
Alas, I’ve heard Microsoft say it’s speeding up Windows startup so many times over the years that I’m skeptical it’ll ever really happen, especially given that part of the responsibility lies with third-party software out of Microsoft’s direct control. This time, though, Microsoft is tackling the problem with a more dramatic approach that preserves some of the computer’s state from before the restart.
When you look at the combined 70 percent smartphone market share of Android and Apple in the U.S. compared to Microsoft’s measly and shrinking 6 percent, it seems like it’s game over before it really began for Windows Phone. Windows Phone is a decent mobile OS, even promising, but so far it has failed to capture the hearts and minds of developers or consumers. Can Microsoft do anything to change that and will it involve tying Windows Phone more tightly to its next desktop operating system, Windows 8? (more…)
Bezel gestures for touch displays are described. In at least some embodiments, the bezel of a device is used to extend functionality that is accessible through the use of so-called bezel gestures. In at least some embodiments, off-screen motion can be used, by virtue of the bezel, to create screen input through a bezel gesture. Bezel gestures can include single-finger bezel gestures, multiple-finger/same-hand bezel gestures, and/or multiple-finger, different-hand bezel gestures. (more…)
The latest version of Yahoo Mail opened up to users a few months ago and the company is announcing a new milestone today—100 million monthly active users. Additional features in the new version of Yahoo Mail include integrated notifications and messages from Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and other email providers within the interface. Yahoo has also made the client more customizable with 50 themes, improved search and made the client is speedier. Within Yahoo Mail, users can also use IM clients from Yahoo, Facebook, and Windows Live.
Windows 8 is set to hit the prerelease stage over the coming months, according to a blog posted yesterday by Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky.
Though the term prerelease version is a bit vague, Sinofsky is likely referring to the beta of Windows 8 since he said that the company wants to “begin an open dialogue with those of you who will be trying out the prerelease version over the coming months.”
Aiming the new blog series, “Building Windows 8,” at customers, developers, and users in general, Sinofsky used the post to provide tidbits of information but not much detail yet as he acknowledged that “people express frustration over how little we’ve communicated so far about Windows 8.”
There’s no question that the mobile market was turned on its head yesterday when Google announced its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola.
So what’s it mean for the rest of the industry? Typically, industry consolidation begets more consolidation. CNET offers five predictions for how this mega-merger may affect other players in the mobile market from highlighting the potential alliances that might form to the companies that may be possible acquisition targets.
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