March, 2010

Most businesses today use static spreadsheets and presentations that don’t allow for effective collaboration during planning processes. Yet in their personal lives people communicate and collaborate constantly, using dynamic social-networking tools such as Facebook. Collaboration and real-time communication is critical to business success in today’s dynamic environment. That’s why I co-founded sharpcloud , a startup based in Guildford, England: To apply the principles of social networking to...

What does a 16,000-pound semi-trailer truck have in common with a 315-horsepower Ford Mustang GT? When you talk, both vehicles listen. Last week, Ford Motor Co. announced that Ford SYNC, powered by Microsoft, has been installed in 2 million vehicles . This comes only 10 months after Ford delivered the 1 millionth SYNC-equipped car , a 2010 Fusion Hybrid, to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. We’ve been working with Ford on developing in-vehicle technology since before Ford SYNC hit the roads...

One of the many benefits of living in the Pacific Northwest is the annual miracle of the salmon migration. Right now, some of the largest salmon runs are coming back from the ocean and fighting their way hundreds of miles upriver to the streams of their birth to reproduce and continue the cycle. With “swimming upstream” in mind, here are a few suggestions for weekend reading from around the world, each an example of the good things that can happen when people are willing to buck convention...

I am a big fan of the Imagine Cup , an inspiring program I am proud to support. This Microsoft event is the world’s premiere student technology competition, and empowers students to use their creativity to change the world. Students are competing right now to represent their country at the worldwide finals in Poland in July. Starting today in the United States, you can vote for your favorite invention in the People’s Choice category. We are also introducing two new award categories, so students still...

I’m more excited than ever to be attending VoiceCon Orlando 2010 this year, because of the rapid pace of change we’re seeing across the industry. Innovation is accelerating, as more vendors and partners embrace software-powered communications, and as organizations worldwide adopt unified communications to meet their employees’ need to work from anywhere and collaborate with others around the globe. Communications centered solely around the desk phone and built on hardware-based systems are quickly...

Last week we added an hour to evening daylight, and now we’re just hours away from officially hitting spring. I know much of the country hasn’t been seeing very good weather – flooding in Fargo, storms in New York – but in Seattle we’re watching the spring flowers come out, and some of my more adventurous colleagues are even eating their lunch outside. It’s been another busy week. MIX10 , our event focused on web designers and developers, took center stage with a focus on the Windows Phone 7 Series...

Hello all from Austin, TX and the annual South By Southwest conference where Bing seems to have brought the Seattle weather with us. Microsoft was here in full force this week on panels ranging from the future of the semantic web to geolocation services and today we’re wrapping up our participation with a discussion on how we launched Bing, our new Decision Engine. The talk covered the gamut – think of it as a speed-reading class for how large companies sometimes need to go back to their roots when...

It’s a short weekend in the U.S. – on Sunday, we “lose” an hour in the switch to Daylight Saving Time. So to be mindful of everyone’s time, here’s a Weekend Reading list that’s to the point. We’ve been talking about this for a while , and now the new MSN site design is being rolled out. Soon all 100 million U.S. users will see the revamped portal. What people are finding is a whole new look – including a new version of the iconic MSN butterfly logo – that features larger headlines, bigger graphics...

With SXSW about get underway, I wanted to provide a brief snapshot of some of the activities the Microsoft BizSpark team and our many startup partners have planned for the event, and also where you can find us in-person/online to get a better taste for the goings-on and the movers and shakers in attendance. Front and center is the second annual Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator , a forum that is designed to help emerging companies launch the next wave of innovation in software. Starting on Monday...

It’s always nice when the company you ordered your brother’s birthday gift from includes a pre-printed return label in case you need to exchange the shirt for another size. Being able to buy movie tickets online, well before the lines amass for a Saturday night showing of the latest blockbuster, is also a great amenity. Studies show that perks like these, which reduce customer effort, create customer loyalty. This comes as no surprise to me. I know that the more Microsoft invests in online support...

2010 looks like another major year in technology. One clear trend is the focus on more natural ways of interacting with computers, in essence making technology more approachable to more people. The idea that computers can understand how to use our eyes, our voices, our ears and our movements to interact and express ourselves is a concept called the Natural User Interface (NUI).Today, the NUI includes speech, gesture, and touch. Many of these elements are becoming enabled today in PCs, in mobile phones...

For most of us, "home" means sanctuary, a place where we can retreat to rest, relax, and regain peace of mind. But for roughly 2 million seniors in the United States, and many more around the globe, there is nothing else. Their home is their world. Homebound seniors, who for physical or other reasons cannot easily leave their homes, often feel isolated and alone, disconnected from their communities, and excluded from a life going on just outside their doors. That loneliness and isolation can lead...

At Mobile World Congress in February, we unveiled the Windows Phone 7 Series , Microsoft’s new mobile platform that will be available this holiday season. There’s plenty of more info on the announcement on the Windows Phone site . What I’d like to talk about today are opportunities available for game developers on Windows Phone 7 Series. The Windows Phone 7 Series game hub : An exciting feature of Windows Phone 7 Series is the games hub, which delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience...

We are gearing up for the interactive portion of the annual SXSW conference (March 12-16, 2010), in Austin, TX and wanted to share what we have planned and how you can connect with the various Microsoft teams onsite. Also, be sure to check out the Microsoft News Center for daily updates during the event. Opportunities to Connect with the Microsoft Team : Be sure to stop by the Microsoft booth to check out the latest from Windows Azure , Bing , Internet Explorer and WebsiteSpark . We are...

One of the great things about working at Microsoft is watching great minds at work. This week we saw plenty of that. Here in Redmond Microsoft held its annual “TechFest,” for employees. Think of this as a Science Fair for really clever grown-ups – in this case, the brains at Microsoft Research . It’s also something of a time machine, as it gives us a glimpse of technology that might be widespread in the near future. The event is primarily for Microsoft employees but we do have some great videos...

Are you a teacher? Do you have youngsters in school? Think education is important to the future of countries and economies around the world? We do, too. One of the things we hear from teachers around the world is their desire to evolve their teaching practices to meet the needs of 21st century students, and to use technology in the classroom in creative and relevant ways. The digital generation expects this type of interaction – and needs it to stay interested and engaged. This is a language...

History teaches that new tools and technologies catalyze innovation and enable discovery, and the most powerful – and useful – help their users simply and easily do things that were previously unimaginable; they become ubiquitous and invisible. In his 2005 memo, The Internet Services Disruption , Microsoft’s Ray Ozzie envisioned a new world of truly seamless and connected experiences, enabled by rich clients and what we now call cloud services. Today, almost all of Microsoft products and services...

Reducing global carbon emissions is a massive challenge. To help get a grip on this task, governments, private and public organizations will all need to create strategies for progress and change. A critical part of the process will require organizations to improve the way they measure their impact, set reduction targets, make performance improvements and report their impact on the environment. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has created the world’s largest database of primary corporate greenhouse...

The Internet has created incredible opportunities for our society such as e-commerce, new social interactions, and more efficient government. But it has also attracted the attention of criminals due to the Internet’s global connectivity, anonymity, lack of traceability and rich targets of valuable information. While we believe the benefits of using the Internet far outweigh the risks, people still need to be safer online than they are today. End to End Trust is Microsoft’s collaborative vision...