Microsoft's antitrust case stifled innovation
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hit me with a club yesterday -- okay, figuratively, but it didn't feel that way. He boomed onto the BUILD developer conference Day 2 keynote stage with an unexpected message: Microsoft is re-imaging -- that is reinventing -- around Windows. Now that's talk I haven't heard from the big boss in about 10 years.
"Our point of view is Windows is at the center", Ballmer told financial analysts a few hours later. The proclamation is stunning because of timing and what Microsoft is doing with Windows 8. In mid May, US trustbusters finally ended oversight of Microsoft; the company plans to integrate into Windows 8 the kind of stuff it hasn't since, well, XP launched a decade ago next month.
Google launches first Google+ APIs
Since Google launched its new social network Google+ last June, developers have been promised eventual access to the site's data through APIs. Today, Google+ developer advocate Chris Chabot announced that the first Google+ APIs are now available to the public.
"These APIs allow you to retrieve the public profile information and public posts of the Google+ users, and they lay the foundation for us to build on together - Nothing great is ever built in a vacuum so I’m excited to start the conversation about what the Google+ platform should look like," Chabot said today.
Identify TV shows with your iPhone camera and VideoSurf
Deep video search company VideoSurf on Thursday launched its mobile application for iOS which lets users point their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad camera at a TV screen and the app can identify what show is currently being displayed.
Something like Google Goggles and Shazam combined, the app can identify shows, episodes and actors as they appear on the screen to give viewers more information more immediately.
AT&T launches first 4G LTE networks in Georgia, Illinois, Texas on Sunday
According to a statement made by AT&T CFO John Stephens at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications, and Entertainment Conference 2011, AT&T will be launching its "real" 4G network this Sunday in its first five markets.
AT&T announced earlier this year that these first LTE markets would be: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The rollout roadmap includes 15 total markets for the year 2011.
Lost your laptop? Norton Anti-Theft could recover it
If you’re worried about losing your smartphone or tablet then there’s no shortage of services around that claim they can help you to protect it. There’s not quite as much choice for laptop and PC owners, of course. But if you’re worried about thieves, help is at hand in the shape of a new Symantec web service, Norton Anti-Theft, released this week in beta form.
If you’ve ever tried one of the mobile device location and recovery services then Symantec’s take will seem quite familiar. After creating a Norton Beta account, all you have to do is install the Anti-Theft client and leave it running on your system. And if your laptop is stolen, then logging in to the Anti-Theft website will provide all the recovery features you’d expect, as well as one or two you might not.
Netflix expects 1 million fewer subscribers thanks to new pricing
In a message to its shareholders on Thursday, DVD rental and video streaming company Netflix revealed that its subscriber acquisition has significantly slowed due to the revised subscription rates it announced two months ago.
Under the company's new pricing structure, its unlimited video streaming feature, which was previously included freely in its DVD-by-mail subscription packages, would incur its own subscription cost for all subscribers. The effect this had on the price at the consumer's end was shocking, and for some subscribers, it represented a 90% price increase in their subscription packages.
Windows 8 Developer Build is...what's the word? [video]
PlayBook, TouchPad steal share from Android tablets
Android's recent success in the tablet market seems to have hit a minor roadblock, as increased competition from RIM's PlayBook and now HP's fire-saled TouchPad chip away at its slice of the pie. Apple seems unaffected for the time being, with its market share increasing quarter-to-quarter.
Apple took a 68.3 percent share in the second quarter, up about 3 percent from the previous period, according to research firm IDC. Android tablet share on the other hand dropped significantly, falling to 26.8 percent from 34 percent in the first quarter.
Bing brings voice search to Xbox
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made absolutely clear today why the company continues to invest in search, even though it's a money-losing business and Google's market share is so big (and not really declining). He described Bing as a "fundamental set of core technologies" that Microsoft plans to leverage seemingly everywhere.
Earlier in the day, during the BUILD developer conference Day 2 keynote, Server and Tools President Satya Nadella gave several examples how developers can incorporate Bing datasets into their applications development. Bing isn't just about search, but about information made available for third-party applications and services and for software development.
SharePoint is 'Facebook for the enterprise'
Make no mistake. Microsoft's big development push this week is around Windows, but Office and supporting software, such as SharePoint, are more important at the bottom line. During today's Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting, COO Kevin Turner said that the Business division "is 32 percent of the company". Windows is 27 percent and Server and Tools is 24 percent.
Microsoft typically holds FAM during July, within weeks of closing its fiscal year on June 30. But this year Ballmer and his team delayed the annual event until this week's BUILD developer conference. That's smart, because Wall Street analysts have a chance to see some new Microsoft's products, Windows 8 in particular.
Aging Facebook tries to evolve into Google+ with new 'subscribe' feature
Popular social network Facebook today unveiled a new feature to help the seven and a half year old site stay competitive as newer sites redefine the norms of social sharing.
Facebook's new feature is simply called "the subscribe button," and it lets users receive only the updates of users they have subscribed to, just like microblogging service Twitter and its progenies.
Windows 8 Developer Preview downloads top 500,000
"We still have a long ways to go with Windows 8", Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told BUILD developer conference attendees today. "We've got a lot of work to do". But the work is off to a good start, as he announced 500,000 downloads of the developer preview released last night at 11 p.m. ET.
Yesterday, Steven Sinofsky, Windows & Windows Live president, described the "re-imaging" of Windows. Today, Ballmer went further, calling the strategy bigger -- the re-imaging of Microsoft. "We're all in. We're retooling all that we do" around all Microsoft's platforms.
Stream TV anytime, anywhere with OrbLive
Few people could imagine a TV viewing life that involved the rigid scheduling of a few years ago. The advent of devices such as Tivo and services such as Hulu and Netflix means that TV programms can be watched whenever it suits you. But while it can be useful to be able to timeshift you viewing in this way, OrbLive, used in conjunction with Orb Caster, can be used to stream video from your PC or Mac or your iOS or Android device.
Videos can be watched away from your computer without the need to synchronize files -- all that is required is that the streaming software be installed and your computer be left switched on. With these two conditions met, install the OrbLive app on your mobile and you’re good to go. The ability to stream your existing video library from one device to another is great news, but it doesn’t end there.
Microsoft takes Visual Studio and Windows 8 Server to the cloud
Today, Microsoft dropped the other ball during the second big BUILD developer conference keynote. The company is releasing Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview and Windows Server 8 Developer Preview. The software will be available for MSDN subscribers.
Yesterday, Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows & Windows Live division, formally unveiled Windows 8, which is available in a developer preview you can download now. Today, Jason Zander, vice president for the Visual Studio team, connected the dots to developing apps supporting Azure services also connected to Windows Phone 7.5. He created the Windows 8 Metro-style game pictured above.
VMware releases new virtualization clients for Mac and Windows
Virtualization specialist VMware has announced the release of VMware Workstation 8 for PC and VMware Fusion 4 for Mac. Both tools allow users to run different operating systems in virtual windows through one computer.
Both releases include a number of new features, additional hardware support and are updated to take advantage of the latest operating systems (VMWare Fusion 4 has been optimized for Lion). VMware Workstation 8 also introduces a new system requirement: it will only run on PCs with 64-bit processors.
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