The following is a post by Shari Weisenberg, Marketing Brand Strategist, Microsoft Advertising.

 If you find yourself at a SoHo bar this week, and you spot a discarded napkin with scribbles on it, you might want to take a second look: The odds are slightly better than usual that those scribbles will be Madison Avenue’s next winning idea.

That’s because an eclectic group of creative professionals are meeting up in the New York City neighborhood for the 5^th annual Creative Week, a wide-ranging 5-day conversation about creativity in advertising, design, digital media and the arts. More pop-up think tank than standard conference, the event brings together creative types of all stripes, including some of Microsoft Advertising’s leading creative and marketing minds.

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on new features in Outlook.com, the release of the “Star Trek Into Darkness” app for Windows Phone (among a bevy of new apps made available this week), Bing Rewards expanding to MSN and a hilarious new Windows Phone ad. Check ‘em out!

Outlook.com: 400 million active accounts. On Thursday, we announced that we've completed upgrading all Hotmail customers to Outlook.com. Coupled with the growing organic excitement for Outlook.com, this has pushed us to more than 400 million active Outlook.com accounts, including 125 million that are accessing email, calendar and contacts on a mobile device using Exchange ActiveSync. We're also pleased to announce that we're adding two new features to Outlook.com: SMTP send, so it's easier to send mail from different email addresses, and deeper integration with SkyDrive. Read this post over on the Outlook Blog for the full story.

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on major Xbox news, new apps (Tumblr and Fidelity Investments) coming to Windows Phone, expanding Surface Pro and Surface RT availability and more. Don’t miss any of them!

#XboxReveal. Lots of Xbox news to talk about this week. First and foremost, we revealed that on May 21, we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, we’ll be holding a special press event on the Xbox campus, and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE and broadcast on Spike TV if you are in the U.S. or Canada. On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Read this post over on Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson to get the full story. Also, on Tuesday, it was announced that Pizza Hut is launching the first-of-a-kind ordering app, allowing Xbox LIVE members in the U.S. to purchase pizza, wings, pasta and more from Xbox 360. The full menu, including new products, can be ordered from the Xbox LIVE dashboard and operated using an Xbox 360 controller or hand gestures and voices commands via Kinect for Xbox 360. And, last but not least, don’t miss this Tuesday announcement on the CW app coming to Xbox.

On May 21, we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, we’ll be holding a special press event on the Xbox campus, and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE and broadcast on Spike TV if you are in the U.S. or Canada.

On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19 days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games.

Though concern for the environment is always top of mind at Microsoft, Earth Day is a good moment in time for taking a step back and reflecting on environmental initiatives and activities across the entire company.

To that end, I’ve put together a roundup of environmentally themed stories from across several different groups here at Microsoft.

New LiveANDES app helps citizens give endangered species a fighting chance. It’s easy to feel helpless when we hear about species falling into extinction in far-away lands. But now, thanks to a new app that Microsoft Research developed in partnership with researchers from two organizations in Latin America, hikers and other nature enthusiasts can play an important role in keeping endangered species alive. The app is called LiveANDES and is part of a system designed to collect, house and analyze data about Latin America’s wildlife. Watch the video below and then head on over to the Microsoft Research Connections Blog to get the rest of this great story.

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got some great stories for you, including an in-depth and visually rich look at Microsoft’s 500-acre, 125-building campus and the small team of Microsoft facilities engineers that runs it.

How a scrappy team of Microsoft engineers quietly built the city of the future. In 1986, Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash. campus was still a grass- and forest-covered 88-acre plot of land in a sleepy, one-stoplight suburb of Seattle. Today, the campus spans 500 acres and 125 buildings. There’s a soccer field and cricket pitch, miles of wooded walking paths – and 14.9 million square feet of office space and labs that function as an interconnected “smart city” thanks to an “Internet of Things meets Big Data” software solution developed by a small team of Microsoft facilities engineers. Head on over to the Microsoft News Center and check out this visual piece of storytelling.

In March, Xbox 360 maintained its position as the number one console in the U.S., selling more units than any other console and marking the 27th consecutive month as the best-selling console.

March highlights from The NPD Group include:

· Xbox 360 sold 261,000 units, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S.

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform reached $402 million, (hardware, software and accessories), the most for any console in the U.S.

· During the month of March, Xbox 360 held six of the top 10 console game titles including: “Bioshock Infinite,” “NBA 2K13,” “Gears of War: Judgment,” “Tomb Raider,” “The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II.”

Four very cool apps for Windows 8 made their debut at DEMO Mobile2013 today as teams from as far away as Poland and Australia competed for attention in front of Silicon Valley’s leading mobile investors, developers and designers in San Francisco.

Two Windows 8 apps launched on stage. They were TouchMail, a modern, touch-first e-mail app that inspired tweets marveling at how easy it made visual e-mail look, and KinectHealth, a mobile-ready exercise solution created by Bob Summers. KinectHealth was demonstrated by his founding partner Amanda Russell, a fitness entrepreneur who has used the opportunity working with Microsoft and Summers to get her very own TV show.

Her workout videos currently run in the app, but the attention the app is receiving and the high quality she delivers have created a perfect collaboration between KinectHealth and a major TV network, she said.

Summers, who ­used KinectHealth to shed 30 pounds and 18 percent of his body mass in preparation for a marathon, says the app utilizes cameras and accelerometers to deliver fun workouts to the phone. It also makes fitness social, by using the camera to port in fitness fanatics with other members of the lifestyle community around the world.

Today, we announced several new customers who have adopted Microsoft Dynamics CRM to achieve cost savings, help preserve safety and security and streamline service delivery to improve constituent experiences.

Tomorrow, at the Microsoft Federal Forum event in Washington, D.C., customers like the Department of Veterans Affairs will showcase the way they have used Dynamics to transform their Veterans Relationship Management programs, driving immediate benefit to the time and way in which veterans receive healthcare, claims and business information.

The Windows Phone Blog reported Monday that a major update for the LinkedIn app hit the Windows Phone Store.

Over the next couple days we will roll out a major upgrade to Microsoft account, including optional two-step verification to help keep your account more secure.

Microsoft has increasingly focused on delivering connected devices and services that are currently used by more than 700 million people around the world. A Microsoft account is the key that unlocks your experience across these products—from your Windows PC to your Windows Phone, from Xbox to Outlook.com, from SkyDrive and Skype to Office and much more.

Given this critical role for Microsoft account, we remain vigilant in working hard to protect your account, which is why we’re adding an option so you can enable two-step verification to further protect yourself. You should see this option show up in your account in the next few days. You can enable this capability at https://account.live.com/proofs/Manage.

The following is a post by Tim Rains, Director of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft.

Today, Microsoft released new research as part of its Security Intelligence Report, volume 14, which takes a close look at the importance of running up-to-date antivirus software on your computer. The research showed that, on average, computers without antivirus software are 5.5 times more likely to be infected.

Antivirus software from Microsoft, McAfee, Symantec and others helps to guard against viruses, remove infections and protect your privacy. It can help protect your computer from malware trying to steal your credit card information, e-mail address book or even the files you’ve saved to your computer. It is one of the most crucial defenses computer users have to help protect against cybercriminals.

Movie fans rejoice! The popular movie app Flixster is now available to Xbox LIVE subscribers in the U.S.!

The following is a post from Bill Hilf, General Manager of Windows Azure Product Marketing at Microsoft.

I’m excited to announce that today Microsoft released Windows Azure Infrastructure Services. 

Windows Azure is Microsoft’s public cloud platform and Windows Azure Infrastructure Services is a new Windows Azure service that lets customer easily migrate existing applications and infrastructure to the cloud. We have been working hard on this service for some time now, and I wanted to thank our customers for their patience while we worked to get it right and deliver an enterprise grade offering.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will hit theaters on Nov. 22.

To make sure fans have the latest news and developments on the much-anticipated sequel, Internet Explorer has teamed up with Lionsgate Films to create The Hunger Games Explorer. Check out the screenshot of the new site below.

It’s spring time now – a time of rebirth and renewal and new beginnings.

In that spirit, the Bing team today announced the rollout of several significant updates to six Bing Apps for Windows 8 – News, Finance, Sports, Weather, Maps and Travel. Below is a screenshot of the Travel app.

In 1986, Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash. campus was still a grass- and forest-covered 88-acre plot of land in a sleepy, one-stoplight suburb of Seattle.

Today the campus spans 500 acres and 125 buildings. There’s a soccer field and cricket pitch, miles of wooded walking paths – and 14.9 million square feet of office space and labs that function as an interconnected “smart city” thanks to an “Internet of Things meets Big Data” software solution developed by a small team of Microsoft facilities engineers.

The software, which is saving Microsoft millions of dollars, has been so successful that the company and its partners are now helping building managers across the world deploy the same solution. And with commercial buildings consuming an estimated 40 percent of the world’s total energy, the potential is huge.

Read the story of how Microsoft built the city of the future today on the Microsoft News Center.

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got a great roundup of new Windows Phone apps and games, our agreement with Ericsson to acquire Mediaroom, two big Cloud customer wins and a cool Microsoft Research project codenamed GeoFlow.

Windows Phone app roundup. The Windows Phone Store continues to stock up on cool games and apps. Earlier this week, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, a first-person shooter from Xbox and Gameloft that pushes the boundaries of mobile gaming, arrived in the Windows Phone Store. The game puts you in the boots of an elite soldier helping his unit to avert global devastation in the wake of a nuclear disaster. Gameloft pulled out all the stops on this one. Check out the video below to get a look at the game and read this post on The Windows Phone Blog. Also, Windows Phone Blog Editor Michael Stroh reported that four games are on sale until Monday, including Monster Island, Gravity Guy, Fragger and iStunt 2. Finally, Windows Phone blogger Casey McGee wrote this roundup of Windows Phone apps he used while on a 33-mile backcountry adventure.

Today, the Bing team unveiled the “Pin to Pinterest” feature on Bing image search.

Now, you can pin image results directly from Bing to your favorite Pinterest boards. Whether you’re gathering inspiration for a home decorating project, a Memorial Day BBQ or a summer vacation, it’s never been easier to find more pictures and keep track of the ones you love most. See something that catches your eye? Just one click and it’s saved to your Pinterest board.

The following is a post from Horacio Gutierrez, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft.

Every day, Microsoft researchers push the envelope of computer science in research labs around the world. Their inventions tackle complex questions such as “How do we make uncertain information useful and infer valuable insights from shifting and expanding data as it streams in from devices, sensors and new technology?” We are proud that Infer.NET, one such invention developed in our research labs, has today been recognized with the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s first ever Patents for Humanity Award in the information technology category.

Microsoft researchers have been working on Infer.NET over the last 10 years to provide a framework that makes it much easier to apply advanced machine learning techniques to solve challenging problems. Microsoft provides Infer.NET free of charge for non-commercial purposes, such as scientific or medical research.

The Office team has unveiled something really special today – a Microsoft Research project codenamed GeoFlow that lets you plot geographic and temporal data visually, analyze that data in 3D, and create interactive "tours" to share with others.

The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2013 for Software Assurance is now available for download. MDOP helps manage and deploy important Windows features like BitLocker and Group Policy, and saves time by helping to make desktop repair planning proactive instead of reactive.

In addition to general quality improvements, we’ve also updated many of the other technologies in MDOP 2013, with enhanced features and benefits ideal for businesses using Windows 8.

We’ve got great news for Firefox users today.

msnNOW for Firefox is now available, allowing you to see what’s trending across the Web on msnNOW in a convenient sidebar view while you browse the Internet.

Microsoft today announced that the power and automation technology company ABB will deploy Microsoft Office 365 and Yammer to its employees worldwide.

With about 145,000 employees in 100 countries, ABB is transitioning from multiple IT collaboration and messaging solutions to Office 365 to provide a single platform for productivity, communication, collaboration and enterprise social in the cloud.

Three weeks and nearly 600,000 votes later, the Windows Phone Next App Star contest has a winner: Rudy Huyn of Renne, France and his highly-rated Wikipedia app.

Photography app ProShot from Roseville, Calif.-based Eddie Kezel came in a close second – a very close second. Out of thousands of final round ballots, in the end just 155 separated the two finalists—a testament to just how tough this choice was for voters and how good each of these apps is.

“Huyn’s victory is well deserved. Wikipedia —which after nearly 8,000 customer reviews maintains a perfect five-star average rating— is a tour de force reference app with tons of bells and whistles: It uses the phone’s location to find relevant articles and supports speech recognition, NFC sharing, QR codes, and services such as Pocket (formerly Read It Later) and Instapaper. You can also search in more than 100 languages,” reports Windows Phone Blog Editor Michael Stroh.