Meet Steve Mantle, born an Australian, later moved to the USA. As Industry Solution Manager for Communications Sector Telco sell-to (selling Microsoft solutions to telecommunications companies) team, Steve is responsible for the Telco Digital Marketing and Telco Server/Datacenter Solutions. How did you end up at Microsoft? My career has spanned IT, systems engineering and business development...leading me to design and build out FTTX/triple play networks for telcos, universities and military bases. Living just 2 miles from Microsoft's Redmond campus made it almost impossible to...

Last night, senior leaders and influencers across the telecom industry gathered at the Hudson Terrace in New York City for Light Reading’s annual Leading Lights Awards.  The awards program focuses on next-generation communications technology, applications, and services, and rewards the companies that have performed well over the past year. The panel of judges included Light Reading editors and Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research analysts.

Microsoft was awarded Best New Service or Application (Telecom) for the June 2011 launch of Office 365 with telecom operators. Office 365 is Microsoft’s next-generation productivity suite, available through more than 20 operators and hosters on four continents in June this year.

This award category focused on the company that has deployed a potentially market-leading, revenue-generating service or application that enhances the use of next-generation communications technology in the wireline network. Microsoft met the judges’ criteria for the way in which the company brought its flagship cloud service to market with operators around the world using the syndication model (whereby service provider partners can sell, bill, and support Office 365, bundled with their existing services and targeted at small and medium-sized businesses).

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By Joseph Hofstader, Microsoft Cloud Computing Architect/Evangelist

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZIvfnVll00]

I am excited to talk with you about the T-Mobile Family Room application for Windows Phone 7, powered by Windows Azure.  The T-Mobile Family Room is an application that allows family members to communicate and collaborate through a secure social network using an intuitive user interface on their Windows Phone 7.  This application is currently pre-installed on all Windows Phones distributed by T-Mobile.

Earlier this year, Deloitte published their Telecommunications Predictions for 2010.  Among other forecasts, Deloitte predicted that a convergence of mobile voice and social networking would occur this calendar year.  It is unquestionable that the blending of social networking and mobile communications has already dramatically changed the way people communicate:  online services like Facebook, Twitter, and Windows Live have existed for years  allowing individuals to publish messages to their contacts from anywhere they have an Internet connection.

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The growth of Windows on netbooks over the last year has been phenomenal. We've seen Windows adoption on these devices in the U.S. alone go from 10% in early 2008 to 98% as of February 2009, according to the latest NPD data. Beyond retail and online options, more and more telcos have become a key pipeline for this Windows netbook distribution. This trend with telcos demonstrates that the way consumers are buying Windows PCs is changing, but also showcases the telcos' successes in becoming an alternative consumer PC sourcing channel. TODAY'S WINDOWS 7 NEWS! Timed with today's Windows...

Last night, Telecom Asia recognized the best innovations and accomplishments of technology vendors across the region at the fourth annual Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards ceremony. The reception was held at the Movenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa in Singapore.  Microsoft was named Video Platform Vendor of the Year for Mediaroom. Winners were selected based on a range of criteria including:

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