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Latest Gear Live Videos
A glimpse at a soon-to-come Microsoft Store
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Software,
Hey, remember when we told you that Microsoft Stores were on their way, and that we’d see them cropping up starting in June? Well it looks like we just got an image of the first store that is currently under construction. As you can see, it’s in a mall, and has one of those fancy mall covering that tell you that it’s coming soon. In particular, you can see that all the expected Microsoft brands are represented, including Windows, Xbox 360, Bing, Microsoft Office, and Zune.
We’ve gotta admit, we’re a little amped to set foot into one of these retail locations. You?
Read More 
| Microsoft Twitter Account
Gallery: A glimpse at a soon-to-come Microsoft Store
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Editorial: It’s time to raise the Xbox Live friend limit
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Music, Video Games,
Okay, I’ve had enough of the Xbox Live friend limit that Microsoft has imposed on us for far too long. I think this has gone on long enough, and I’m really not seeing a good reason for it. As many Xbox Live gamers know, the current limit on friends you can have is set to 100. The thing is, in the age of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and all the others, we are now used to connecting with many people in our social graph across many different services.
Now, all that said, there is still one more very annoying piece to this puzzle. Did you know that the Zune Social and Xbox Live share one common friends list? In other words, if you currently have 100 Xbox Live friends, and you go out and buy a Zune, and want to connect with people who also have Zune’s (but don’t necessarily play games,) you are out of luck. You’ll have to remove someone from your Xbox Live friend list to add someone else. This is, in two words, absolutely ridiculous. I get wanting to share the Zune and Xbox ecosystem, but to shoot yourself in the foot like this is just puzzling. I personally have at least 15 people that I would like to add as friends on the Zune Social, but I can’t, because my Xbox Live list is maxed out.
Click to continue reading Editorial: It’s time to raise the Xbox Live friend limit
Gallery: Editorial: It’s time to raise the Xbox Live friend limit
Zune HD gets handled, loved
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Handhelds, Microsoft, Portable Audio / Video,
Sure, the Zune has been the butt of a lot of jokes since its first debut, but in all seriousness, we believe the Zune device is better than the iPod classic, and that the Zune software beats iTunes, hands down. Now, the Zune HD is preparing to make an impact, and it’s nothing to sneeze at. We’ve told you about it before, but to refresh your memory a bit, CNET got to spend a little time with the device that boasts the ability to view rented Zune Marketplace Xbox content, “lightning fast” browser, and OLED screen goodness. Oh, and don’t forget about that whole 720p output for HDTV thing.
Click to continue reading Zune HD gets handled, loved
Read More | CNET
Gallery: Zune HD gets handled, loved
Microsoft and Yahoo Reach A Deal: The Details
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft,
Remember that time when it looked like Microsoft was going to buy Yahoo? Well, it appears that Microsoft has convinced Yahoo to use Bing.
Reports are that this mutual deal will boost Yahoo’s profits by $500 million. Not only that, but Microsoft’s search market share is expected to jump from 8 percent to 28 percent.
I suppose you could call this a victory for either side, but rather a truce. That, or begun the Search Engine Wars have. We’ve got the full press release for you after the break.
Click to continue reading Microsoft and Yahoo Reach A Deal: The Details
Read More | Ubergizmo
Gallery: Microsoft and Yahoo Reach A Deal: The Details
Video: Xbox 360 August 2009 Dashboard Update Hands-on
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Software, Video Games, Videos,
We know a lot of you have been excited about the August 11th Xbox 360 Dashboard Update, so we figured that while we were waiting for the transcodes to finish for Bleeding Edge TV, we’d also throw our walkthrough of the update onto our YouTube account as well. Go ahead and give it a look, as we bring you 35 minutes of Dashboard goodness. The “real” episode should be out later this evening, if not by the end of the weekend.
Let us know if we missed anything that you’d like us to cover in the comments.
Gallery: Video: Xbox 360 August 2009 Dashboard Update Hands-on
Microsoft to open retails stores next door to Apple Stores
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Microsoft,
We do love ourselves a good battle, and it looks like Microsoft is ready to start putting their dukes up against the super popular Apple retail stores. Not only is Microsoft going to be opening up their own branded retail stores, they are going to put some stories “right next door to Apple stores” this fall. Oh yes, it’s on.
At first glance, you may be wondering what cool, eye-pleasing toys Microsoft would have to even lure people in to their stores. I mean, isn’t almost every consumer electronics store a “Microsoft Store?” Well, it’s all in the approach. We know that the Zune HD will be released this fall. We know that the Xbox 360 will have a nice dashboard update this fall that will bring with it a host of new social features, there’s the Microsoft Surface tabletop, Xbox 360 games, Project Natal, etc. If Microsoft uses some of these popular items as cornerstones for their retail presence, and even allows the chance to get first-looks at some of these things, they may be on to something.
We are ready for the war.
Read More | Business Insider via Giz
Gallery: Microsoft to open retails stores next door to Apple Stores
iPhone runs Windows 95, we’re scared
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Microsoft, Mods / Hacks, Software, Videos,
Oh yes, my friends, the iPhone can run Windows 95. Sure, it’s not as easy as downloading it from the App Store or anything, but still, you’ve gotta give mad props to a dev who can work this kind of magic on a jailbroken iPhone. Check out the video above for a glimpse of both the past and the future. Hold us.
[via Gizmodo]
Gallery: iPhone runs Windows 95, we’re scared
Microsoft Office 2010 Video Tour
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Microsoft, Software, Videos,
So Microsoft Office 2010 has officially been unveiled, and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the announcement, mostly due to the fact that a large portion of Office 2010 will be available as a free web application online. Microsoft has put together a bunch of videos showing off the new features found in the Office web applications, as well as Word 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Outlook 2010, and all the rest. We’ve put the video that focuses on the web apps up top, and you can watch the rest after the break as well.
Click to continue reading Microsoft Office 2010 Video Tour
Gallery: Microsoft Office 2010 Video Tour
Microsoft introduces Office 2010 with web apps
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Today, Microsoft has introduced Office 2010 at their Worldwide Partner Conference. As rumored over the past few weeks, Office 2010 will bring with it the first free cloud-based Microsoft Office product. This will be Microsoft’s answer to products like Google Docs, Zoho Docs, and other free online office suites. According to the company, Office 2010 web apps will work with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
You can take a look at the Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview page now, which will soon be open to a limited set of beta testers.
Here’s what we know about Microsoft Office 2010:
Web Apps
As we said, Office 2010 features the introduction of web apps that are completely free to use. The online version of Office 2010 will include Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Now, while these are all free, Microsoft does not see them as a replacement for the full desktop office suite. These apps do not include all the bells and whistles that you’ll find the desktop versions, but they do put Microsoft on the map as far as free online office suites are concerned.
Click to continue reading Microsoft introduces Office 2010 with web apps
Read More | Office 2010 Preview
Gallery: Microsoft introduces Office 2010 with web apps
Microsoft SIlverlight 3 now available, takes aim at Flash, HD streaming
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Internet, Microsoft, Software, Video Games,
Microsoft Silverlight 3 is live, and you can go ahead and update your browsers now over at Microsoft’s Silverlight page. Silverlight 3.0.40624.0 weighs in at 4.7MB, and works with Internet Explorer, Firefox 2 and 3, and Safari 3 and 4. Here’s a look at some of the major new features:
- Media: GPU hardware acceleration, new codec support (H.264, AAC, MPEG-4), raw bitstream Audio/Video API, and improved logging for media analytics
- Graphics: GPU Acceleration and hardware compositing, perspective 3D, bitmap and pixel API, pixel shader effects, and Deep Zoom improvements
- Application development: Deep linking, navigation and SEO, improved text quality, multi-touch support, 60+ controls available, and library caching support
- Data-binding improvements, validation error templates, server data push improvements, binary XML networking support, and multi-tier REST data support
Also, remember that Xbox 360 Instant-on 1080p stuff? That’s all powered by Silverlight 3 as well (yes, Silverlight is coming to your Xbox 360 dashboard.) It’s a solid upgrade, and the installation is pretty much immediate if you are on any sort of respectable broadband connection. Definitely worth a look, and you can bet that Microsoft will be pushing hard for a few big Silverlight exclusives, like they did with the Beijing Olympics.
