Microsoft Corp. and Research In Motion recently announced an agreement to provide Microsoft Windows Live services on BlackBerry smartphones. As a result of this collaboration, BlackBerry smartphone customers will enjoy easy mobile access to Windows Live Messenger and an enhanced level of integration between Windows Live Hotmail and the BlackBerry platform.
The integration of Windows Live services into the BlackBerry platform will allow customers who use Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger on their BlackBerry smartphone to benefit from the BlackBerry platform architecture with the ability to communicate in real-time using push technology, and offering an exceptional mobile communications experience. Customers will also be able to seamlessly access their Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger account from their BlackBerry smartphone by simply entering their Windows Live e-mail address and password once. | 
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| AT&T Inc., Microsoft Corp., HTC Corp. and I-play announced today the creation of the AT&T Game Development Contest for Windows Mobile to discover the next breakthrough mobile game. Windows Mobile games represent the fastest-growing segment of the AT&T gaming business. The AT&T Game Development Contest, launching May 1, is truly unique as it represents the first time all members of the mobile gaming ecosystem are collaborating in an effort to inspire the developer community to take mobile gaming applications to the next level. In a May 2007 research report, Gartner Inc. forecast worldwide mobile gaming end-user revenue to reach $9.6 billion in 2011 — up significantly from the $2.9 billion realized in 2006. Gartner attributes this projected growth in mobile gaming to consumer awareness and the increase in content being developed by gaming publishers. | 
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Today Tellme (launched last July), a Microsoft subsidiary and provider of voice services for people and businesses, announced the addition of local 'on-the-go' information to its voice portal for mobile phones. Now instead of typing in a request or scrolling through menus to find information, people can simply hold down the 'talk' button, say a keyword and see the results on the phone's screen. Tellme is initially available on BlackBerry phones and will roll out on future versions of Helio phones.
Mobile users surfing for information while on-the-go no longer need to type their location or starting point, Tellme uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to deliver local information right to the phone's screen. For example:
Business Finder: Say the name of a business or business category, such as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or share the listing with a friend. | 
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| The Board of Directors of Yahoo! Inc. today sent the following letter to Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation. Dear Steve: Our Board has reviewed your most recent letter with regard to the unsolicited proposal you made to acquire Yahoo! on January 31, 2008. Our Board carefully considered your unsolicited proposal, unanimously concluded that it was not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders, and rejected it publicly on February 11, 2008. Our Board cited Yahoo!'s global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as its substantial unconsolidated investments, as factors in its decision. | |
| Microsoft Corp. today announced that AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface (first introduced May 2007) to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device-recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T's 2,200 U.S.-based retail stores will be determined. | 
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| Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.1, an update for its Windows Mobile software that includes new time-saving features, easier phone navigation and management, and increased security safeguards. The new version of Internet Explorer Mobile adds the ability to easily view full-screen Web pages and multimedia on the Web with a smartphone. By taking advantage of Internet Explorer 6 technologies and supporting established and upcoming industry standards such as H.264, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight, the updated Internet Explorer Mobile gives people a rich mobile Internet experience. The update will be available to mobile phone partners in the third quarter of 2008, with the first Windows Mobile phones using the new version expected to be available by the end of 2008. Windows Mobile 6.1 features several key updates based on customer feedback, including the capability to make the most critical information readily available at a glance, quicker phone setup, and enhanced features adapted for the small screen. | 
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Garmin International Inc. announced today upgrades to Garmin Mobile that include a new user-friendly interface and Google Local search. These upgrades will be available on a variety of handsets and platforms including BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile smartphones.
These new features are in addition to a long list of rich features and real-time content included with Garmin Mobile’s current subscription based service that includes turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions, as well as traffic, weather conditions and forecasts, fuel prices and more. Garmin will display the Garmin Mobile enhancements at its CTIA Wireless trade show booth (#6639) in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 1-3, 2008.
When the new Garmin Mobile application is launched, customers will first notice the new nüvi-like interface, with “Where To?” and “View Map” icons on the smartphone display. Once “Where To?” is selected, colorful icons such as “Address,” “Recent Finds,” “Food and Hotel” and “Google Local” streamline the number of keystrokes required before selecting a destination and receiving turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions. | 
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Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced that Microsoft has licensed Adobe Flash Lite software, Adobe’s award-winning Flash Player runtime specifically designed for mobile devices, to enable web browsing of Flash Player compatible content within the Internet Explorer Mobile browser in future versions of Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. Microsoft has also licensed Adobe Reader LE software for viewing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents including email attachments and web content. Both Adobe products will be made available to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide, who license Windows Mobile software.
The Flash Lite 3.x browser plug-in for Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile will provide users with access to rich and interactive web content created using Adobe Flash technology. | 
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Microsoft has recently announced Silverlight for Windows Mobile 6 smartphones. Silverlight 1.0 for Mobile will provide animation, vector graphics, and media playback, and let developers leverage existing media assets to bring rich multimedia experiences to mobile devices, the company said.
Silverlight is described by Microsoft as a "cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in." It supports WMV, WMA, and MP3 media content, and is similar in many ways to Adobe's Flash and Flash Lite. Unlike Flash Lite, though, it has not been available on Windows Mobile devices previously. Correcting that omission, Microsoft says Silverlight will be available for phones as a 1.0 version in the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Microsoft has made a beta available of a new desktop version of Silverlight. Whereas version 1.0 was geared more toward video, Silverlight 2 targets the RIA (rich internet application) space. | 
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Nokia today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on Symbian OS, the world's leading smartphone software, as well as for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Adding support for Silverlight will extend opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and reliable way.
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices, including S60 on Symbian smartphones from a range of manufacturers, as well as Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. | 
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Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have received funding from Microsoft Research to develop a virtual speech therapist, accessible on a cell phone, to aid stroke survivors in Malaysia. The self-contained language rehabilitation program will use a computer-generated talking head that provides realistic speech and mimics the natural movements of lips, tongue, and jaw.
About 40,000 people suffer from stroke every year in Malaysia, and communication impairments are common among stroke survivors, said principal investigator Sri Kurniawan, an assistant professor of computer engineering at UCSC. As in many developing countries, however, access to speech therapy is limited. A shortage of speech therapists in Malaysia is one obstacle, and patients often have difficulty traveling to existing speech therapy centers.
Kurniawan has teamed up with Dominic Massaro, professor of psychology at UCSC, who has developed computer-assisted speech and language tutors that have been used to help autistic and hearing-impaired children.
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Microsoft Corp. today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Danger Inc., the company responsible for the software and services powering many popular consumer handsets. The acquisition will align Danger’s nearly 10 years of expertise in the mobile consumer space with Microsoft’s vision to provide innovative and compelling mobile experiences to a growing base of customers.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company provides services that allow people to keep in touch, stay organized and keep informed while on the go through real-time mobile messaging, social networking services and other applications ― all blended together on a single phone that is intuitive and customizable.
Danger has connected with a customer base that is young and enthusiastic, Internet-savvy and socially inclined. The Danger team has a deep understanding of consumers and a hold on what people want from mobility, making it an ideal group to work with in delivering connected experiences.
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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has applied to bid in an upcoming U.S. auction of the wireless airwaves. Paul Allen applied via a venture called Vulcan Spectrum. He is listed with the group who filed to bid in the Federal Communications Commission auction of 700MHz spectrum, which is scheduled to begin on January 24, 2008.
Paul Allen heads an investment company called Vulcan Capital and is the majority shareholder in U.S. cable operator Charter Communications. Paul Allen and Vulcan Spectrum were on a list of various potential bidders who filed applications ahead of a December 3 FCC deadline.
The auction applicants include major companies such as Google, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone and Qualcomm.
Last July Google made headlines by announcing it intended to participate in the upcoming auction of wireless spectrum. Google vowed to spend $4.6 billion to acquire the wireless spectrum. | 
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Today Microsoft started placing ads on its U.S. MSN Mobile page. Microsoft along with Internet giants like Google and Yahoo anticipate that mobile advertising is potentially more lucrative than the current $40 billion online advertising market.
Microsoft will start with advertisements from Bank of America, Paramount Pictures and Jaguar. The company already sells mobile phone advertisements in Belgium, France, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Microsoft's idea is to offer customers the option to place advertising across a wide range of platforms from the Internet to mobile phones to its Xbox Live online video game service. Microsoft also plans to bring new features such as astrology and movie ticket buying to its MSN Mobile page.
Microsoft, recently acquired ScreenTonic, a French company based in Paris, that works to launch advertising campaigns in partnership with wireless carriers in Europe and Web-site publishers engineered specifically for mobile phones.
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Microsoft Corp. has announced it has entered into an exclusivity agreement around its intention to acquire Musiwave SA, an Openwave company and a leading provider of mobile music entertainment services to operators and media companies. The acquisition would bring Musiwave’s relationships with music labels, device makers and mobile operators that deliver digital entertainment to consumers, together with Microsoft’s Connected Entertainment technologies and services, including Windows Mobile, Zune, MSN and Windows Live. Should the transaction proceed, Musiwave would continue to operate out of its current headquarters in Paris.
Microsoft mobile technology runs on a variety of mobile platforms, featured on more than 140 mobile phones made by 50 handset-makers, sold by more than 160 mobile operators around the world. |
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Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, and Symbian's CEO, Nigel Clifford, have downplayed Google's recently announced Linux-based mobile software platform, called Android, under the Open Handset Alliance. (See Video to the right.) There were rumors that Google was secretly developing a cell phone, however, Google disappointed fans by only announcing the mobile software platform.
Steve Ballmer stated that Microsoft mobile has done very well by being available on 150 different handsets via 100 different mobile operators around the world. Ballmer also bragged that Microsoft has millions of customers and all Google has is a press release. Symbian's CEO Nigel Clifford dismissed Android as just another Linux platform of the approximately 25 different platforms currently available and that Symbian is use to competing with the major market players. | |
What to sync your car, cell phone, and iPod? Then checkout the Sync! The Sync is developed in collaboration with Microsoft and Ford and is offered exclusively through Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury cars in North America. The Sync is a fully integrated, voice activated in-car communication and entertainment system for your mobile phone and digital music player.
The Sync comes with Smart Voice Recognition which lets you talk to your iPod! Sync allows you to operate a variety of portable digital music players and Bluetooth enabled mobile phones with simple voice commands.
Most Bluetooth enabled mobile phones support hands-free calling through Sync. Most popular media players work with Sync. For more information visit SyncMyRide.com | 
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| i-mate, manufacturer of high performance Windows Mobile devices and related peripherals, today announced the launch of its Ultimate range of wireless devices in the Americas; the Ultimate 6150, 8150, 8502, and 9502. The Ultimate range offers high-end device specifications— including video out that can drive video onto a plasma screen and the fastest radio connection of any Windows Mobile device— in a variety of form factors making them the mobile devices of choice for businesses and consumers seeking both functionality and style. The Ultimate range is powered by the Windows Mobile 6 operating system. The Ultimate 6150 is a modern PDA form factor with a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, while the Ultimate 8150 features both a VGA touchscreen and dial keypad with T9 for simple and convenient text entry. The Ultimate 8502 has a 2.6-inch touchscreen and full QWERTY keypad, and the Ultimate 9502 offers a 2.8-inch sliding VGA touchscreen with a full QWERTY keypad. The Ultimate device range features Windows Mobile 6, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE, Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA, 2.0 and 3.0 megapixel fixed focus cameras, GPS, WiFi 802.11b/g/e/i, Bluetooth® v2.0 EDR connectivity, VGA LCD touchscreen, and a microSD card slot. | 
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