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Microsoft launches OneApp software to enhance basic cellphones

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microsoft-oneappMicrosoft has announced a new piece of software that’s designed to allow users of more basic mobile handsets to access web services and more advanced applications than their handset would ordinarily be capable of. This includes a range of GPRS-enabled phones.

The lightweight application (150K) is quick to install and, once on the phone, appears as a single piece of software that users access the rest of their apps from.

It includes cloud services that allow processing and storage online instead of on the phone, and claims to use the mobile network more efficiently, thus reducing data charges.

OneApp is based on industry standards such as JavaScript and XML, with an SDK expected by the end of the year.

Originally posted on August 25, 2009 @ 6:25 am

Microsoft attempting Android/iPhone catchup with dual Windows Mobile development?

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If sources at Taiwanese mobile handset manufacturers can be believed, Microsoft plans to keep both Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Mobile 7 alive well into the next decade, in a bid to compete with Android-based cellphones and the iPhone.

windows-mobile-logoMicrosoft could attack Android phones with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5, expected on October 1 this year with an upgraded touch interface available from February 2010.

A Windows Mobile 7 launch planned for the fourth quarter of 2010 and would potentially compete with the iPhone.

If true, that’s a seriously long lead time and makes me wonder just how serious Microsoft is about keeping and gaining mobile OS market share. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 19, 2009 @ 6:48 am

Microsoft gets HD friendly with LifeCam Cinema webcam

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microsoft-lifecam-cinema-720p-hd-webcamMicrosoft has decided that there’s enough interest in high definition videos online now and has released what it claims is the first consumer webcam with a 720p sensor on board.

I know we don’t usually cover hardware at 901, but this is more about Microsoft’s attitude towards HD video online than it is about the webcam itself.

Microsoft Hardware systems engineer Stuart Milton said that Microsoft was “motivated by the fact that … top social networking sites were allowing widescreen video,” and that the new webcam would allow “uploading widescreen videos with amazing quality to social networking sites and soon chatting live with friends and family in widescreen format”. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 20, 2009 @ 10:48 am

Microsoft censors Bing results, one more episode of Microhoo fail

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901am has reported on a regular base about the shortcomings in the Microhoo era and we can now add one more to the list: PCWorld scooped that when searching on Bing for Why is Windows so expensive the new engine returns as first results Why are Macs so expensive.

Surprisingly this result comes from Yahoo Answers. Is the future of Bing a massive Yahoo! SEO campaign?

why-is-windows-so-expensive

[Read more…]

Originally posted on August 8, 2009 @ 3:52 pm

Microsoft and Nokia to develop “mobile productivity solutions”

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microsoft-nokia-logosIn a press conference earlier today, Microsoft and Nokia announced a partnership which would see them design, develop and market mobile productivity solutions.

Side-stepping the corporate jargon as best we can, it means that Microsoft’s Office Mobile plus a range of its business comms, collaboration and device management software will be available on Nokia devices running the Symbian operating system.

Obviously, it’s been possible to work with Office documents and to interface with other Microsoft products on Nokia devices for years, but this is an official alliance that, in rhetoric at least, will offer a “seamless and integrated productivity experience”.

[Read more…]

Originally posted on August 12, 2009 @ 12:22 pm