Browsing all articles in Microsoft.
All Old Zune Models Being Phased Out
The year began with speculative whispers of Zune’s impending demise.Despite all the uncertainty clouding the Zune’s future, Microsoft announced the Zune HD on May 26, 2009. The company wants to turn over a new leaf with the Zune HD.
Get Up Close and Personal with the Zune HD at Select Best Buys
Zune zealots, skeptics, and all the people that lie in between and outside the two groups can get up close and personal with the Zune HD at select Best Buys over the weekend. The preview has been organized by Nvidia and Best Buy. The GPU maker’s ebullience for the Zune HD stems from the fact that it has lent its Tegra chip to the PMP. The portable media player is scheduled for release on September 15. Nvidia has released a PDF document that lists all the Best Buys where the Zune HD will be available for preview.
Microsoft Threatens to Stop Selling Microsoft Office over Word Ban
Upholding i4i’s patent infringement claim against Microsoft, a US Federal court judge placed an injunction on Microsoft Word on August 11, 2009. Judge Leonard Davis ordered that Microsoft pay the Canadian company i4i $290 million in damages and stop the sale of Word in the US, within 60 days of the pronouncement of the order, until the dispute is fully resolved. Microsoft Word’s default file format Office Open XML is at the epicenter of Microsoft’s dispute with i4i. The XML-based file format infringes i4i’s US patent number 5787449.
Windows 7 Users can Procrastinate for 120 Days Before Activating
Just like with Vista, Windows 7 will offer users a 30-day grace period before requiring a product activation. And also like Vista, the grace period can be extended up to 120 days, a Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed yesterday. To do so, users will have to “reset” the countdown timer with the familiar -rearm trick.
Microsoft Advises Developers to Price their Mobile Apps High
Apart from the eight uncanny people who bought the $999.99 “I Am Rich” app – an underwhelming screensaver – from the iTunes App Store last year, a vast majority happily devours the free and 99-cent apps. But the preponderance of 99-cent apps has made the App Store a cluttered warehouse, banished many quality apps to oblivion, and increased redundancy. Furthermore, many top-notch developers are finding it difficult to set an honest price on premium apps, for they fear their honesty might render these apps unattractive.
Is Windows 7 the End of Microsoft’s OEM Reign?
Financial struggles tend to put a strain on any relationship, and that’s certainly the case between OEM vendors and Microsoft. Worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2009 declined 5 percent from the second quarter of 2009, and whether fair or not, OEMs tend to put the blame on Microsoft.
Microsoft Skeptical of Firefox’s 1 Billion Downloads Claim
While most of us have heard Mozilla’s claim that Firefox has had 1 billion downloads, some at Microsoft aren’t so sure. According to Amy Barzdukas, a general manager at Microsoft in charge of Internet Explorer, the milestone made for some “interesting math.”
