Microsoft

Businesses Are Blasting Out One Billion IMs Daily
According to a study by IDC, instant messaging in the business world is going bonkers and looks set to continue its huge growth, but experts are warning of security risks.
Their research found that the worldwide enterprise instant messaging market (which includes instant messaging server products as well as enterprise instant messaging security, compliance, and management products) leapt 37% in terms of year-over-year revenue in 2004, and is expected to skyrocket from $315 million in 2005 to $736 million in 2009.
“With more than 28 million business users worldwide using enterprise instant messaging products to send nearly 1 billion messages each day in 2005, and many more crossover corporate consumers who use consumer instant messaging networks in the workplace, these products are clearly reaching more mainstream users,” said Robert P. Mahowald, program director for IDC’s Collaborative Computing research.
“Especially in compliance-driven sectors like Wall Street, financial services, and government, instant messaging is a critical differentiator. In the next few years, IDC expects instant messaging – once the plaything of teenagers – to continue to grow into its role as a substantial business collaboration application,” he added
The growth in the enterprise segment is being fuelled by domestic users of IM tools like MSN Messenger bringing their online chatting habits into the work place and using the service as a business collaboration tool.
The report identified financial services and the public sector as the keenest to take up enterprise IM, with business IM monitoring and archiving tools able to keep a watchful eye on yapping employees.
According to a recent Gartner poll, instant messaging is now used in 70% of all companies, but figures from the Yankee Group reveal that only 15-20% of those companies operate IM administration, leaving 50% of office IM use unmonitored.
This wouldn’t appear to be the brightest idea as a new IMLogic study reveals that an increasing number of virus authors are starting to focus on IM clients as virus spreading agents.
IMLogic says that the attacks on the IM clients have reached record values – up 14 times on last year – with the complexity of the attacks also increasing.
The company’s IM monitoring service showed that MSN Messenger suffered the highest attack rate at 62% of the reported cases, with AOL’s AIM client coming at second with 31% of the attacks and Yahoo third with 7% of the attacks targeting their client.
IMLogic’s research found that the majority of the attacks were worm-based (87%) with 12% of the attacks aimed at spreading a virus.
IDC
IMLogic
6 October, 2005
BT’s IPTV To Launch Summer 2006
BT will roll out IPTV in ‘late summer 2006’, according to Andrew Burke, CEO, BT Entertainment, (pictured right) speaking at the Enhanced TV Show in London today.
Developed in partnership with Microsoft, BT’s new set-top box technology will combine a digital terrestrial television receiver with a broadband receiver, allowing the viewer to move seamlessly between the two signals.
BT’s revenue will come from enhanced services, such as a VOIP facility to dial up friends while watching a football match, or the ability to build your own personal schedules.
Burke didn’t reveal whether the set top box would be entirely new, or an add-on to existing Freeview boxes, nor would he say whether BT aims to first convert existing DTT customers or target its marketing efforts elsewhere.
Elena Branet, Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft TV, (pictured left) said IPTV would allow viewers to use picture in picture channel surfing, see caller ID on their TV sets, or watch TV while messaging a virtual community of friends and family. She said that basic IPTV would be possible with a minimum connection speed of just 1.5 MB.
Branet fought off a suggestion from fellow speaker, BSkyB’s Jim Harrison, that the new IPTV platform would not be interoperable across devices; assuring that it would be open to another operator’s instant messaging system, for example.
Also at the show, David Bainbridge, MD of Yes, Yoo Media, (pictured right) said trials of a new product, ‘Broadband TV’ would start on ntl in October. Not to be confused with IPTV, this is a solution to help content creators repurpose content across platforms – working with cable TV, IPTV and 3.
Enhanced TV Show & Mobile TV Forum
BT
Microsoft TV
Yoomedia
28 September, 2005
Barmy Ballmer; Cracking Mobile Theft; Flogging A Dead Horse On eBay – Teenage Tech News Review
It’s funny, laugh!
Couldn’t believe this one when I read it. Well, almost couldn’t believe it. Following on from the earlier story, Steve Ballmer is now apparently denying ever having thrown a chair across a room in anger and claiming he would “f—ing bury” the executive, Mark Lukovsky, who told Ballmer he was leaving Microsoft for greener pastures offered to him by Google.
Ballmer told the Telegraph: “I’ve never thrown a chair in my life,” which The Register says might raise the idea that he got someone else to do it for him. I probably would if I was as rich as he is!
Lastly, am I the only one who thinks that Steve Ballmer has a certain resemblance with Shrek?
Ew… That’s not nice!
According to The Register, a Romanian woman has tried to evade being caught thieving a mobile phone by sticking it where, well, the sun doesn’t shine.
Police when they caught her were puzzled by their inability to find the phone, but quickly solved this problem by ringing the phone, which, well, pin-pointed the phone’s position and the woman was escorted to the police station to have the device removed. The phone was then given back to its rightful owner after being sprayed down with detergent.
Flogging a dead horse… Literally
Apparently, there was someone selling a dead horse on eBay not so long ago. I do have my suspicions about the sincerety of the auction, seeing as the only details present in the auction were:
Dead horse for sale
Please email me with any questions.
Sadly, the original listing has now been removed from the site
These ridiculous auctions remind me of a lovely list of auctionable tid-bits including:
- 24 Children
- A Linux Geek
- And last but not least Nine used toothbrushes
16 September, 2005
Teleo, VoIP Startup Grabbed By Microsoft
From deep within the Microsoft base, Bill Gates has pulled a few levers and dispatched a corporate grabbing tentacle in the direction of Teleo, a privately held provider of VoIP software and services.
The move comes hot on the heels of Google’s recently announced Google Talk service and suggests that Microsoft is ready to start slopping its considerable weight around the crowded VoIP market and give Skype a run for its money.
The San Francisco-based outfit Teleo was founded just two years ago and got as far offering a beta PC to PC or standard phone Skype-like VoIP service with click-to-call dialing through Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer before Gates grabbed the product.
Microsoft are expected to integrate Teleo technologies into the infrastructure that supports MSN, aiming to eventually deliver new VoIP consumer apps in future releases of MSN services.
“Teleo has great technology to deliver superior VoIP quality and an excellent overall customer experience. This acquisition opens up infinite opportunities for Microsoft to enable even more relationship-centric communications experiences for our customers in the future,” commented Microsoft’s corporate vice president of the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform group Blake Irving.
Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Microsoft have said that members of the Teleo executive team will continue to work closely with MSN, while some Teleo product developers are expected to shuffle across and join MSN.
“It’s going to be very exciting to see Teleo software extended into MSN products and services that millions of consumers worldwide rely upon every day for their information and communication needs,” purred Wendell Brown, co-founder of Teleo. “The union of our respective technologies and talents has the potential to deliver great value to customers.”
Teleo MSN
1 September, 2005
Happy Birthday Win95; PSP Software Upgrade; 12 Hr Batteries; Mobile Flight Mode – Teenage Tech News Review
It’s Tin For Win95
Yes, that’s right, Wednesday marked 10 years of vaguely intelligent computing. 10 years ago, Windows 95 was released. It’s weird, because it’s 10 year old technology, but it really doesn’t seem that old: I still remember using it at school on old computers. Makes you wonder why Microsoft are still using a ten year old interface (OK, it’s shiny and got a plasticky look now, but you know what I mean).
The Washington Post has an interesting read on the subject here, basically an announcement they wrote about it at the time. It’s funny to read how some things about marketing campaigns for high-profile software releases have changed nowadays, and what parts have stayed exactly the same. One thing everyone will likely recognise is the hype!
As granddad would say: “It was better in the old days!”
Browse the Web on PSP
Despite only officially being available in Europe from the 1st of September, the software updates for it have finally reached v.2.0. This latest update includes a host of exciting new features, including a Web browser and the ability to play AAC music tracks. These added features for a handheld gaming system that is already looking very promising, serve to make the gadget a must-have for every technology-conscious teen under the sun. Being able to browse the Web on the device, which incidentally has Wi-Fi technology, might even make it a laptop replacement of sorts. Beware though: The device has no keyboard, so typing long emails on it might become a little tiresome, as it uses a virtual on-screen keyboard for text input.
I have briefly played around with a PSP, as a friend of mine was in Japan and brought one back with him. The graphics look awesome, despite the text being Japanese, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one!
Laptop Battery Low Warning
The Register is running a story on how Panasonic and Intel are working together to make a 12-hour laptop battery. Can’t wait for this technology to filter down to phones and other small consumer electronics, as battery technology is the one thing the vast majority of gadgets still seem way behind on. It’s all fine and dandy having a million and one functions in one device, but if the battery only lasts two hours, then to me, it’s no use.
Apparently, the technology works by adding a small amount of Nickel to the standard ingredients of a battery pack.
Remains to be seen how long this will take to mature, but in the meantime, I can always hope for cold fusion to arrive!
Upgrades To Flight Mode
With all the new gismos appearing on phones nowadays, it seems a shame to be unable to use them on a plane, ofcourse with all the wireless features switched off. This is why phone companies started introducing a concept called flight mode.
The theory behind this simple setting on a handset is to allow users to utilize all the features on their phones, when they’re not allowed to have anything that transmits radio signals. What, then, is the use of this if you’re not allowed to use it? I recently came back from holiday, was sitting there in the plane, minding my own business, trying to reply to some mail on my Blackberry, when a member of the flight-crew and asked me to switch it off. I tried to explain that a) it was in flight mode, and so wasn’t going to harm anyone, and b) that I had some work to do, so could he please leave me alone.
The flight attendant then stated that it was company policy to make people turn their phones totally off at all times, adding that I could use my laptop instead if I so wished. Now bear in mind the stupidity of this statement: My laptop has GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, and would likely broadcast the hell out of anywhere, and the flight attendant would rather I use it than my phone which is innocently sitting in there flight mode, not bothering anyone. Trying to explain this resulted in a rapid degrading of his ability to speak English and ended with him just pointing to my laptop and sticking his thumbs in the air. The airline, which shall remain nameless for now as I don’t want to stir up any trouble, will not be receiving my custom again. When will airlines realise that they have to be nice to people and move with the times a bit more to receive their custom? In these days of cut price travel, it’s all about value-added services, and this certainly is one of them.
I was interested then because of this, about what I read regarding the Consumer Electronics association trying to make it possible to easily determine whether a phone is in flight mode or not. Can’t wait to see some results, but I fear it may then still be a case of training flight crew to know what it means.
26 August, 2005
Apple Cock-Up May Earn Microsoft $10 Per iPod
Apple may be forced to shell out royalties to Microsoft for every single iPod it sells after it emerged that Microsoft was first to file a crucial patent on technology used in its iPod.
With Apple selling more than 18 million iPods in the past year alone, the total bill could result in hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into Bill Gates’ coffers.
Someone at Apple must have royally cocked up because although the iPod was introduced in November 2001, they didn’t get around to filing a provisional patent application until July 2002, with a full application only being submitted in October that year.
In the meantime, Microsoft submitted an application in May 2002 to patent some key elements of music players, including song menu software, letting them claim ownership to some of the iPod technology.
The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Apple’s application in July, saying some ideas were similar to an earlier application filed by John Platt, a Microsoft employee.
The application doesn’t identify the iPod by name (usual for such petitions), describing a “portable, pocket-sized multimedia asset player” capable of managing MP3 music files including “a song title, a song artist, a song album, a song length”
The dispute could lead to Apple having to pay a licence fee for the technology of up to $10 a machine
Microsoft, has magnanimously offered to licence the technology to Apple if awarded the patent with Microsoft intellectual property licensing and business development director David Kaefer smirking, “Our policy is to allow others to licence our patents so they can use our innovative methods in their products.”
Apple representatives have stated they will appeal the decision, a process that could drag on for up to 18 months.
iPod patent rejection shocks Apple
16 August, 2005
MSN Virtual World Goes Live, Apple Vanishes
Microsoft has launched the first public beta of its Virtual Earth, an online mapping application overlaying satellite images with local searches and maps.
MSN’s Virtual Earth will provide both street-map and satellite views of locations and serve up driving directions between places, competing directly with Google’s popular “Google Maps” service.
Virtual Earth has a trick up its sleeve through its ability to transform Wi-Fi enabled PCs into “location-determining devices” without the need for any separate hardware, as we reported earlier.
The system works by noting the latitude and longitude of available Wi-Fi access points and then triangulating a user’s location after consulting Microsoft’s huge database of router MAC addresses.
A user’s current location is then highlighted onscreen with subsequent search results tailored around that location.
Virtual Earth will also have the capability to visually point out locations for ATMs, restaurants, and petrol stations – something that the rival Google Maps service has been able to do since incorporating satellite imagery in April this year.
“MSN Virtual Earth provides a deeply immersive search experience that lets people see what it’s like to be in a location and easily explore what they can do there,” purred Stephen Lawle, general manager of the Microsoft Mappoint business unit.
The service which currently shows US-based satellite images only and users must download the Microsoft Location Finder client application access the location-finding services.
Microsoft plans to knock out updated versions of Virtual Earth every four months, with the next beta release set to incorporate bird’s-eye imagery licensed from Pictometry International which will add cities, landmarks and points of interest to the product.
Microsoft also plans to integrate traffic data and weather data to the service in the coming months.
Mac users, however, will have to wait until autumn for a version that runs on their machines.
MSN Virtual Earth project manager Mark Law has insisted that MSN Virtual Earth is not a purely consumer-based site only, adding that Microsoft will be making the application-programming interface available to developers.
Microsoft has said that future versions of Virtual Earth will allow users to create their own interactive maps, and add their own reviews of restaurants and other places.
Wags on the Internet are claiming that Microsoft has virtually wiped Apple off the face of the Web, noting that Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters – which can be seen in their full glory on Google Maps – appears as nothing more than a deserted parking lot in Virtual Earth.
Microsoft insisted that because the service was still in its testing phase, it’s just a coincidence that they used older, black-and-white photographs to display the barren wasteland around Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California in 1991.
Others might put it down to wishful thinking.
MSN Virtual Earth
26 July, 2005
White PSP: Microsoft Patent Emoticons: Google Rule – News Catch-Up
Microsoft Wants To Own Emoticons
Microsoft has filed an application with the US Patent & Trademark Office to safeguard its rights on “methods and devices for creating and transferring custom emoticons.”
In case you’ve been living under a rock, emoticons are representations of faces made up by keyboard characters and originally all looked like this :) and :-/.
Nowadays, many mobile phones and computers automatically replace the text characters with an appropriate custom image when it spots emoticons in text messages and emails.
It’s far from clear what makes Microsoft think they should own Emoticons – there again, it’s never held them back before.
Microsoft’s patent application
Microsoft emoticons
Sony Whips Out A White PSP
Sony has confirmed that it will be launching a groovy white version of its PSP, but – surprise, surprise – only in Japan.
Sony has a long history of serving up different coloured units in different territories, with the PS2 being released in Aqua, White, Yellow and Silver in the past.
The company has also announced a firmware update (in Japan, natch) so that users can surf the Internet directly from the console.
Some techie users have already been enjoying Web access on their PSPs after a hack was discovered that took advantage of a hole in the operating system used by certain games.
There’s no date set for a US and European patch, although Japanese firmware updates traditionally precede roll-outs in other markets. Sony White PSP
Google Grabs 47% Of All Searches Online
Nielsen//NetRatings “MegaView Search” report has ranked Google as the Big Cheese of search engines, registering 47% of all searches conducted online.
Lagging some way behind was Yahoo! at 22%, with MSN limping into third place at 12% and AOL Search only managing a comparatively feeble 5% of all searches.
Image searching grew hugely in popularity across all the search engines, with MSN seeing the largest increase in its image searches with a massive 90% surge. AOL’s image search zipped up 74%, Yahoo!’s soared 55%, and Google’s jumped by a rather modest 12%. Nielsen//NetRatings
25 July, 2005
Microsoft Vista Announced
After a morning of fishwife-hot rumours, it’s been officially announced that the next version of Microsoft Windows – previously code-named Longhorn – will be known as Microsoft Vista.
Although wags are already suggesting that the word might apply to the distant view of the product consumers will get for many months/years, Microsoft remains confident of an ontime release in the second half of next year.
Naturally, a big new product needs a suitably uplifting tag line, so the cappuccino-supping, flipchart-flapping, brainstormin’ visioneers at Redwood have come up with:
“MicrosoftVista. Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing clarity to your world.”
The story was first broken by anonymous sources close to the company (that generally covers anyone from the cleaner to the guy who delivers the water cooler) who revealed that Microsoft had unveiled their new name in Atlanta during the company’s internal sales event, known as the Microsoft Global Sales Briefing (that’s ‘MGB’ to those in the know).
Possibly because of a fear of failing to release the product in the year bearing its name, Microsoft has once again shied away from its earlier practice of releasing dated operating systems (Windows95, Windows98 etc).
The current major version of Windows originally regaled under the name of ‘Whistler’ during development before being christened WindowsXP prior to its public release.
Brad Goldberg, a Microsoft product manager, said that the first beta of Vista is slated for release on Aug. 3 and will be targeted at developers and IT professionals.
Goldberg stated that Vista’s three design goals include better security, new ways to organize information, and seamless connectivity to external devices.
A second test release is anticipated to be debuted before Vista’s full release next year.
More details about the new operating system’s features will be announced on August 3.
Video of whooping Microsoft Execs
22 July, 2005
MSN IM To Vodafone Handsets
The ability to disconnect from the world has taken a further blow as Vodafone and Microsoft announce a global tied up to offer MSN Messenger IM to Vodafone’s mobile phone customers. People sitting at their MSN Instant Messaging (IM) client on their computers will be able to carry out chats with their Vodafone carrying chums.
The function goes beyond the simple exchange of messages, extending to showing the “presence” of their contacts and exchange instant messages between MSN Messenger on a PC and Vodafone Messenger on mobile phones and vice versa.
It’s the matching of equals – MSN Messenger has 165m customers against Vodafone’s global totally of 155m. Both of them are seeing it as a way to raise additional income – while IM PC-PC is free, this Vodafone/MSN offering will be paid for. Time will tell if the consumers that are the focus of this will be willing to pay for the privilege.
Putting on his best tech-savvy face, Peter Bamford, Chief Marketing Officer for Vodafone glowed, “IM is a growing part of the increasingly important mobile messaging market. By bringing our collective customers together, we’ll deliver more options for staying in touch when messaging. Our agreement will grow IM and SMS, meaning additional revenue for Vodafone.”
This type of PC-to-mobile messaging isn’t new. About nine months ago there was a rash of mobile phone companies announcing PC to SMS messaging, some with more success than others.
Digital-Lifestyles understand that this IM deal will not be unique or exclusive to either party. Vodafone will be working with other IM services and MS will hookup with other mobile phone companies.
The official Vodafone word on the new service didn’t give us any information on pricing of the service, so we went digging.
While we didn’t get to any exact figures, we were able to find out the service will be charged on the basis of each message sent. This will cause current IM users to radically change the way they use IM. No more will they be quickly replying with short witticisms, but will need to become more Bard-like in their compositions – if they don’t want to end up with huge bills at the end of the month.
A finger-in-the-air estimate to the per message cost? A Vodafoner told us it will be around, but under the cost of SMS, which should be made slightly more palatable by bundles being available.
Vodafone Messenger, a form of IM on their mobiles, currently run on Vodafone Live! This WAP-based service is embedded into the latest Vodafone handsets. The new offering will use this, and if it isn’t available, straight SMS will be used.
Trials for the new service will start in July, with the product being introduced in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in the next two months. Other European countries will follow by the end of the year.
Vodafone Messenger MSN Messenger
30 June, 2005