Microsoft News Center
@MSFTNews
It’s the start of a new month today, so what better way to mark the occasion than to lift the veil on a new look for one of the best known destinations on the Web?
Two weeks ago, I wrote about how a Microsoft study looking into unsecure supply chains led to the discovery of the emerging Nitol botnet, which was hosted by the 3322.org domain. In order to address this threat, Microsoft filed suit to take control of the 70,000 malicious subdomains hosted on 3322.org.
Today, I am pleased to announce that Microsoft has resolved the issues in the case and has dismissed the lawsuit pursuant to the agreement.
Two big stories out of Microsoft today:
· Today, in front of 2,000 students and teachers at Federal Way High School in Washington state, Microsoft General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Legal & Corporate Affairs Brad Smith joined Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger and Seattle Seahawks’ Head Coach Pete Carroll to announce We Day Seattle - an exciting new, year-long program at that will educate, engage and empower 15,000 youth in Washington to become involved global citizens. To get the rest of this story, read Brad’s post over on the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship Blog.
In this edition of The Midweek Download, we’ve got stories on pricing strategies for Windows Phone 8 app developers, a new programming language that gets JavaScript development to scale and more.
How I price my Windows Phone apps. One key question some Windows Phone developers struggle with when putting an app on sale is: how much should I charge? This post from Bernardo Zamora will help you get started. The Windows Phone Dev Center gives developers more control over pricing because Dev Center now lets developers set a unique price for every country or region where paid apps can be sold. This capability, not found in all major app stores, provides an exciting new way to fine-tune your sales strategy. And now that you can price by country and region, you might want to pay closer attention to user reviews from around the world – easily accomplished, thanks to the new translation feature you’ll find at the Dev Center.
TypeScript: JavaScript development at application scale. In addition to supporting industry-standard programming languages, such as C++, Python, and JavaScript, Microsoft has always been at the forefront of creating great programming languages – Visual Basic, C#, and F# being the most recent examples. We create programming languages to solve problems and to enable a broad set of people to build software. On Monday, we introduced a new programming language that solves a very specific problem – getting JavaScript development to scale. That language is TypeScript. Head over to S. Somasegar’s blog to learn more about the TypeScript project, get links to the early preview, online playground and watch the “Introducing TypeScript” video (also below).
In September, Microsoft announced the launch of more than 30 U.S. and Canadian pop-up stores for the holiday season. Today, we are pleased to announce that all Microsoft holiday stores will be open on Oct. 26.
More information about specific store locations and hours can be found here. Additional details about the holiday stores will be made available soon.
Posted by Jeff MeisnerEditor, The Official Microsoft Blog
Today’s edition of the Daily Update has a stories on Skype as well as profiles on some of the employees involved with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, which is being held in Baltimore, Maryland from Oct. 3 to Oct. 6.
Windows Phone fans, have we got some news for you today. AT&T just announced that the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 are officially part of the carrier’s fall lineup. As Ben Rudolph tells you in a Windows Phone Blog post this morning, “You’re going to be able to get the Lumia 920 in-store in Red, Black and White, and through direct order (i.e., online) in Yellow and Cyan.” To the right is a screenshot of the Lumia 920 and 820.
In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on schools that are transforming education, more Halo 4, and, in case you missed it, the unveiling of MSN for Windows 8 and news that the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 are headed to AT&T.
Halo 4 soundtrack remix contest. Halo 4 is just around the corner and Next at Microsoft Editor Steve Clayton confesses he’s almost as excited about the soundtrack as the game. With Neil Davidge at the helm of the audio accompaniment to the game, it promises to be epic and will be available on October 22. And now you have the chance to create your own bit of epic by remixing one of three tracks Davidge has laid down. Prize winning remixes will be announced Oct. 29 and some sweet Halo 4 gear will get doled out. Head over to Next at Microsoft for details and watch this video to see artists who have already remixed the soundtrack.
Two great stories from Microsoft today:
First: Halo fans, it’s finally here – Episode one of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. You can watch it over on Halo Waypoint.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a live-action digital series that takes you back to the beginning of the human and Covenant war and leads directly into the events of Halo 4. Be sure to tune in every Friday to Halo Waypoint and Machinima Prime, where you can watch the story unfold through a series of five episodes.
In today’s edition of The Official Microsoft Blog’s Daily update, we have two big stories for you:
· The latest Kinect for Windows runtime and software development kit (SDK) was released today and the Kinect for Windows sensor is now available in China. The updated SDK gives developers more powerful sensor data tools and better ease of use, while offering businesses the ability to deploy in more places. Also, over the next few months we will be making Kinect for Windows sensors available in seven more markets: Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Puerto Rico.
Today, Microsoft announced two new holiday stores scheduled to open on Oct. 26 in New York City’s Times Square and at the Shops at North Bridge in Chicago. These stores will carry a variety of Microsoft-enabled products and offerings, in addition to Answer Desk services. Customers can learn how to get the most out of their software, as well as personalize their Microsoft devices.
Beginning Oct. 26, consumers can shop at the holiday store locations, designed to meet the expected demand for new Microsoft technology available this fall.
Two big stories today in The Official Microsoft Blog’s Daily Update:
After a busy summer with The Find, Pulse and Atari, Internet Explorer 10 today brings another well-known gaming experience to the Web in HTML5. The experience immerses users into a game rich with artistry and music, all while main character Petit – the one-eyed creature – seeks to save his love, The Rose. This world is "Contre Jour," which is now available to play online as an interactive multitouch experience on the Web with Internet Explorer 10. You can read more about it on the Exploring IE Blog. Check out the video below.
In this edition of The Midweek Download, we’ve got stories on Windows 8 General Availability, the Multilingual App Toolkit for developing Windows 8 apps, plus tips for designing Windows Phone apps.
Countdown to Windows 8…On Oct. 26, Windows 8 will be available to people worldwide. And we’re excited! To celebrate, we have several events taking place in cities all around the world. Just a few weeks ago, we held a coding marathon with developers in Bangalore, India—which set the Guinness World Record for Most Participants in a Software Development Marathon in One Location. Coming up, there are launch events happening in cities around the world including Shanghai, Tokyo, Paris, New York City and many more. Don’t worry if you didn’t get an invite, we’ll be doing a live webcast of the event, too! To see what else is in store, head over to this post from Brandon LeBlanc on Blogging Windows.
Updating our built-in apps for Windows 8. We’re super excited to be approaching general availability (GA) of Windows 8 and Windows RT. With thousands of new apps in the Store, there are a lot to choose from, and tens of thousands of developers have been very busy around the world creating new apps. Across Microsoft, we’ve been busy since August adding new features and improving the apps that come with Windows, and will be updating these apps before GA. Gabriel Aul from our program management team details the lineup of built-in apps and their features in his post on Building Windows 8.
Earlier this morning, we released our annual Citizenship Report, which provides an overview of our citizenship work over the past fiscal year, from July 2011 to June 2012. This is the third year in a row that we have released the Citizenship Report at the same time as our annual financial report. Together, these two milestones give our shareholders, customers, employees and many community partners a full view of Microsoft’s financial and non-financial performance across all business operations. Read more about it over on Microsoft on the Issues.
Also this morning, it was announced that the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (EPHEC), a university college renowned for its business curriculum is adopting Microsoft Office 365 for education.
In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got more news on Windows Phone 8 devices, the Halo 4 frenzy continues and a video of two slick Lenovo Windows 8 PCs.
Windows 8 on Lenovo’s Yoga. Next at Microsoft Editor Steve Clayton files this video in the “too good not to share” category. Courtesy of ABC news – Joanna Stern’s post has all the details on Lenovo’s range of Windows 8 PCs including the IdeaPad Yoga and ThinkPad Twist. Check out these impressive devices for yourself in the video over on Next (courtesy of ABC news).
T-Mobile adds the Nokia Lumia 810 to its Windows Phone 8 lineup. A few weeks ago T-Mobile announced that it’s bringing the Windows Phone 8X by HTC to its portfolio this fall. On Monday, it added the Nokia Lumia 810 to the mix. The Lumia 810 is an exclusive to T-Mobile. Inside you’ll get similar specs as the Lumia 820 – 4.3” ClearBlack display and 8MP Carl Zeiss camera, etc. – but you’ll also get a 1.2MP wide-angle, Skype HD-certified front-facing camera that’s 720p video-capable, a long-lasting 1800mAh battery and optimizations to make it screaming fast on T-Mobile’s 4G network. Catch more on this and other Windows Phone 8 devices from Ben Rudolph on the Windows Phone Blog.
Xbox 360 kept its lead in the U.S. console market in September, marking the 21st month in a row as the top-selling current-generation console in the U.S.
September 2012 U.S. NPD highlights include:
· Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units in September, more units than any other current-generation console, and held 49 percent share of current-generation console sales in the U.S. This marks the 19th consecutive month that Xbox 360 has held more than a 40 percent share of current-generation console sales in the U.S.
Four big stories out of Microsoft today, including a sneak preview of new Windows 8 tablets, pre-order information for Windows 8 Pro, the second episode of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and an update on the TV White Spaces wireless broadband question.
· Microsoft’s hardware partners are about to unleash a wave of new Windows 8 devices in all shapes and sizes. For consumers and businesses, that breadth offers the chance to find just the right PC no matter their needs. Head on over to the Microsoft News Center to see a slideshow of these slick new devices. To the left is a screenshot of the Asus VivoTa RT.
· Starting today, you can reserve a packaged DVD of the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $69.99 USD ERP* (U.S.) at select retailers. You will want to upgrade your PC to Windows 8 Pro sooner rather than later - this upgrade promotion for Windows 8 Pro both online and at retail runs only through to Jan. 31, 2013.
The big news out of Microsoft today is the launch of Xbox Music, a new all-in-one music service, specially designed to let users listen to music in exactly the way they want, begins rolling out to millions of people around the world Oct. 16 on the Xbox 360, then to the masses with Windows 8 on Oct. 26.
The all-in-one music service combines the best aspects of free-streaming radio, music subscription services and music purchasing options, all in one elegant package, says Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Marketing and Strategy. Watch the video below to find out more.
In this edition of The Midweek Download, we’ve got Windows Phone Developer news and how-to’s, new tools and tips for a secure and stable cloud environment, plus how we’re delivering the most up-to-date Windows 8 on day one.
Windows Phone developer registration opens in 13 new markets. In Todd Brix’s last post, he talked about how we’re planning to roll out periodic updates to the Windows Phone Dev Center and Store infrastructure that address issues you report and occasionally include small feature enhancements. Well, it’s that time once again, and in addition to another 100 or so fixes, Microsoft is enabling developer registration in 13 new markets via Dev Center with this release: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mongolia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Timor-Leste. For the rest of the story, head over to The Windows Phone Developer Blog.
Updating Windows 8 for general availability. In an Oct. 9 post, Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division, announced the release of a set of improvements to Windows 8 in broad areas of performance, power management and battery efficiency, media playback and compatibility.
Microsoft today released new details about its highly anticipated Microsoft Surface, a tablet PC designed to be the ultimate stage for Windows. Originally unveiled in June, Surface with Windows RT will initially be available in three SKUs: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599 and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699.
Two stories out of Microsoft today:
· Microsoft announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of MarketingPilot. MarketingPilot provides integrated marketing management solutions that allow organizations to better understand their customers, manage and streamline marketing operations and create automated and measurable multi-channel marketing campaigns. This acquisition will accelerate Microsoft’s ability to better meet the needs of CMO's through rich business intelligence, and better enable marketers to successfully plan, execute, monitor and optimize customer interactions across digital, social and traditional channels, and measure ROI.
· Registration has launched for Microsoft’s WOWZAPP 2012, Worldwide Hackathon for Windows, which will take place Nov. 9–11 in more than 30 locations worldwide. Students and other types of developers across countries such as India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland, Chile and Greece will work in teams to develop apps that will be published and available for download in the Windows Store.
Last September, I shared that Microsoft, Kaspersky and Kyrus Inc. took action against the Kelihos botnet, the first case in which Microsoft named a defendant in one of its civil cases involving a botnet. In January, based on new evidence in the case, Microsoft amended its original complaint and named Andrey N. Sabelnikov, a Russian software programmer, as a new defendant in the lawsuit. Today, I am pleased to say we have reached an agreement with Mr. Sabelnikov, and have officially settled and closed the Kelihos botnet case.
Late last week, Microsoft and Andrey Sabelnikov agreed to the following joint statement, which closed the case:
“Microsoft and St. Petersburg software programmer Andrey Sabelnikov have entered into a Settlement Agreement in the matter of Microsoft v. Sabelnikov. During the negotiations, after reviewing the evidence provided by Microsoft and engaging in discussions, the parties have come to an understanding that Mr. Sabelnikov wrote code that was used in the Kelihos botnet code, but the programmer is not the operator of the botnet or involved in its activities.
October is a magical month at Microsoft. There’s a sense of something powerful happening. There are clues everywhere, such as the frantic bidding for the (often quirky) items in the online auction and the brochures in the kitchens seeking submissions for the annual cat calendar. Or the thousands of employees and their families who take to the streets around our headquarters to participate in the 5k run.
The signs are different but the outcome is always the same – millions of dollars raised to help people in real need.
October is the time when employees on our Redmond campus and in offices across the U.S. unleash their creativity and passion to raise funds for nonprofit and community organizations in their home towns and around the world. This year is our 30th Employee Giving Campaign and today we announced that our U.S. employees have raised $1 billion in cash for more than 31,000 nonprofit and community organizations since the start of the campaign.
In this edition of Weekend Reading, employees achieve historic giving campaign milestone, the new Microsoft Surface – inside and out, and Xbox news: from Xbox Music to Internet Explorer on Xbox to the presidential elections.
All about Surface. Next at Microsoft Editor Steve Clayton says to check out the updated Surface site. The “learn more” section details the specs, materials, display tech and more. Optical bonding, 22 degree kick stand, device walls that measure just 0.65mm, a Touch Cover that’s just 3mm thin and weighs less than half a pound. Get the scoop and specs in Steve’s Wednesday post, and even more scoop in Some questions, and answers about Surface, plus two great videos to watch: The making of Microsoft Surface, featuring the design team behind Surface, and a Learn more about Surface demo video.
Three stories out of Microsoft today:
Microsoft today announced new academic institutions and medical schools that are adopting Microsoft Office 365 for education, the company’s next-generation cloud productivity service, to improve communication and collaboration across campuses while helping meet security, privacy and other regulatory requirements as mandated by the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Those institutions include Duke University, Emory University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Iowa and University of Washington. You can read more about it in this Office 365 Blog post and in this post on the Microsoft in Education Blog.
Also, today we're introducing a new offering for university and college students called Office 365 University. Available in the first quarter of 2013, Office 365 University will be offered online, at retail locations and at Microsoft Stores in 52 markets worldwide. Head on over to the Office Blog to read more about it and see the top 10 reasons why higher education students will love Office 365 University.