The Seattle Times: Microsoft Pri0

January search engine share: Bing up, Yahoo down. Again.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:03:21 PST

Building on its slow-but-steady growth over the past few months, Bing saw slight gains again in January in its U.S. search engine share, while Yahoo continued to slide, according to comScore's latest figures.

In December 2011, Microsoft sites -- primarily Bing -- surpassed Yahoo in their share of U.S. searches for the first time, with 15.1 percent versus Yahoo's 14.5 percent.

In January 2012, according to comScore, Microsoft sites had 15.2 percent of U.S. searches, while Yahoo went down to 14.1 percent.

Google went up too in January -- from 65.9 percent in December to 66.2 percent in January.

Here's comScore's chart:

MSN for iPad app launches in U.S.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:16:04 PST

Microsoft announced the U.S. launch today of the MSN for iPad app, available in the iTunes store.

The app offers MSN content in an interactive online magazine format. In addition, there's an offline mode to allow readers to access content even without Internet connection, and a "Lasso" feature that lets users circle a word or phrase with a finger and launch a search for that word or phrase via Bing.

The app, available in the U.S. today, has already been available for users in Canada, Germany, France and the UK.

[Updated] Microsoft provides details on Windows 8 on ARM

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:58:11 PST

Windows President Steven Sinofsky offers some long-awaited details on Windows 8 on ARM via a new post on the Building Windows 8 blog.

Among the highlights, as detailed by Sinofsky:

Windows on Arm (WOA) "has a very high degree of commonality and very significant shared code with Windows 8."

"Using WOA 'out of the box' will feel just like using Windows 8 on x/86/64. ... You will have access to the intrinsic capabilities of Windows, from the new Start screen and Metro style apps and Internet Explorer, to peripherals, and if you wish, the Windows desktop with tools like Windows File Explorer and desktop Internet Explorer."

WOA PCs are still under development. The goal is for PC makers to ship them the same time as PCs designed for Windows 8 on x86/64.

Metro style apps in the Windows Store can support both WOA and Windows 8 on x86/64.

WOA includes desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote (codenamed "Office 15") and supports the Windows desktop experience including File Explorer, and Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop.

The complete blog post is here.

[Update 1:52 p.m.: Al Hilwa, an analyst with research firm IDC, offers his take on Sinofsky's post. Among the things that stood out for Hilwa, he said in an email, was this:

Windows 8 on ARM will not run old apps even if they are recompiled. Microsoft will control both Metro-style and Desktop apps for WOA through its app store and will require developers to rewrite existing apps to the new APIs for the desktop as well. This means there may well evolve a side-loading under-world similar to what we see on the iPad. It is not clear what exceptions Microsoft will make for businesses on this or how hard it will push WOA for businesses at all.]

Microsoft, Apple, Google and their patent stances

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:02:08 PST

Amid what appears to be interminable rounds of patent feuding, Microsoft, Apple and Google each produced statements or letters on where they stand regarding patents.

Microsoft issued a statement today saying it "will always adhere to the promises it has made to standards organizations to make its standard essential patents available on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms."

Microsoft said that means it would not seek an injunction against any firm on the basis of those "essential patents," and that the company's approach to such patents is to license them to other firms without requiring cross-licensing ("except for any patents they have that are essential to the same industry standard").

"Our approach is shared by Apple, Cisco and many others in the industry," Microsoft VP and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner wrote in a blog post.

Heiner also outlines what "standards essential patents" are: That as technology evolves, new standards are developed (for instance, those technologies used in cellphones or computers) that often involve patented inventions.

Heiner says:

Firms benefit from having their ideas included in new standards, and in exchange for this, firms usually make a promise: that if they have any patents they have that are "essential" to implementing a standard, they will make these patents available to all. In particular, these firms typically promise that they will make these "standard essential patents" available to any firm that wishes to implement the standard on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.

Microsoft's policy, though, doesn't prevent the company from suing to get compensation for the use of its essential patent or from taking action against firms that Microsoft believes infringe on its non-industry-standard patentsa Bloomberg article points out.

The Wall Street Journal reports, meanwhile, that Apple had sent a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to set basic rules governing how companies license their essential patents.

And Google has sent a letter to another regulating body -- the IEEE -- "intended to assure you and any potential licensees that, following Google's acquisition of MMI {Motorola Mobility), Google will honor MMI's existing commitments to license the acquired MMI Essential Patent Claims on RAND terms." (The term RAND is used interchangeably with FRAND. They are acronyms for "reasonable and non-discriminatory" and "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory.")

Google's letter is posted on the Foss Patents blog written by intellectual-property consultant Florian Mueller. Mueller, who has been commissioned by Microsoft to conduct a study on the worldwide use of FRAND-committed patents, also includes his analyses of the various companies' patent statements and letters on his blog.

The statements and letters don't appear to change anything, though, in the ongoing patent disputes between the various tech companies.

Former Cisco exec Laura Ipsen named head of Microsoft's Worldwide Public Sector

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:01:07 PST

Laura Ipsen, formerly a senior vice president at Cisco, is joining Microsoft as corporate vice president of its Worldwide Public Sector organization.

As such, she will head Microsoft's sales and marketing to government, public safety and national security, education and non-privatized healthcare in more than 100 countries, according to a Microsoft news release.

At Cisco, Ipsen was most recently senior vice president and general manager of Connected Energy Networks, leading the company's Smart Grid Business unit, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She also established and managed Cisco's Global Policy and Government Affairs division, according to Microsoft's news release.

Ipsen will report to Susan Hauser, corporate vice president of the Worldwide Enterprise & Partner Group.

(Photo of Laura Ipsen from Microsoft)

Windows 8 Consumer Preview event scheduled for Feb. 29

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:28:40 PST

Microsoft has sent out invitations for a Windows 8 Consumer Preview event to be held on February 29th in Barcelona, Spain.

"Windows 8 Consumer Preview" is the name Microsoft is giving to the beta version of its new flagship operating system, which the company had already said would be released at the end of this month.

The event is being held at the Hotel MIramar in Barcelona at 3 p.m. Feb. 29.

It coincides with Mobile World Congress, which takes place Feb. 27 to March 1 in Barcelona, but is a separate event from MWC.

[Updated] Microsoft employees raise record $100.5 million for nonprofits

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:42:34 PST

Microsoft employees, aided by the company's match program, raised a record $100.5 million for more than 18,000 community organizations last year.

That topped 2010's $96 million -- the previous record.

Giving was up across the board in 2011, with more employees donating time and money than ever, according to a Microsoft News Center article. Employees donated 426,671 hours to community organizations worldwide last year.

Year-round, Microsoft matches its U.S. employees' donations up to $12,000 a year and/or their volunteer time at $17 per hour up to $12,000 each year.

During last year's Giving Campaign -- the company's annual, concentrated monthlong fundraising effort that takes place each October -- more than 64 percent of employees gave either time or money. Including the company match, employees raised $55 million in October 2011's Giving Campaign.

[Update 11 a.m.: In a note sent out to employees, the company said these organizations organizations received the most Microsoft employee donations in Washington state:

1) United Way of King County
2) World Vision International
3) Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation
4) Hopelink
5) Northwest Harvest
6) Asha for Education
7) KUOW
8) Humane Society for Seattle-King County
9) Overlake School
10) Seattle's Union Gospel Mission]

OneNote now available for Android

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:46:03 PST

Some two months after OneNote was made available for the iPad, and about a year after its availability for the iPhone, Microsoft announced today that OneNote is now ready for download from the Android marketplace.

OneNote Mobile allows users to create notes and keep them synced with a PC or other devices through Microsoft's free SkyDrive personal cloud storage. (In addition to iOS and Android, OneNote Mobile is also on Windows Phone.)

OneNote Mobile for Android is free to download and use for up to 500 notes, according to Microsoft's official OneNote Blog. Those exceed the limit can upgrade for a one-time $4.99 fee for unlimited use.

Motorola wants patent royalties from Xbox, Windows 7

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:40:15 PST

Florian Mueller, an intellectual property analyst who tracks worldwide patent disputes in his Foss Patents blog, says a court in Germany seems inclined to side with Motorola in the company's patent fight with Microsoft in which Motorola would like Microsoft to pay it royalties of 2.25 percent in sales of Windows 7 and Xbox 360, among other products.

Mueller writes in his blog:

A short summary of today's trial (technically four trials, but organized as one because of overlapping issues) is that the court is inclined to rule, with a decision scheduled for April 17, 2012, that Microsoft Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9, the Windows Media Player and the Xbox 360 infringe on those two patents.

The two patents at issue, Mueller explained in a separate email, have to do with video compression and decompression technology, covering methods for reducing the amount of bandwidth needed for video that is streamed online.

The trial, in Mannheim, Germany, stems from four cases (two for each of the patents) filed by General Instrument Corporation, a subsidiary of Motorola, Mueller said. General Instrument said Microsoft violated the patents which are used in Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9, Windows Media Player and Xbox 360.

Microsoft and Motorola are two of many tech companies fighting over patents. At stake are millions of dollars in royalties, along with strategic competitive advantages.

The 2.25 percent royalty rate is something that's come up with Motorola before. That's apparently how much the company wanted Apple to pay in patent royalties on sales of some iPhones, according to a court document uncovered by Mueller and cited by The Wall Street Journal.

(FYI: Mueller has been commissioned by Microsoft to conduct a study on the worldwide use of FRAND-committed patents.)

Microsoft itself has a number of patent agreements in place in which manufacturing companies pay royalties to the software giant. Microsoft has not disclosed how much it gets in royalties, but Microsoft attorney Brad Smith has suggested in the past that about $5 per mobile device "seems like a fair price."

Microsoft reaches agreement with 24/7 on speech-driven customer-service platform

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:16:03 PST

Microsoft announced an agreement today with Campbell, Calif.-based customer-service software company 24/7 to merge some of its employees, clients and technologies involved with interactive self-service assets into 24/7.

The two companies will also form an R&D partnership and have a long term IP licensing agreement, with Microsoft taking an equity stake in 24/7, Inc., according to a Microsoft news release.

The two companies are combining their technologies spanning interactive self-service, Big Data analytics and speech in the hopes of creating a more predictive customer-service platform.

The employees and technologies moving over are part of approximately 400 TellMe employees and other assets, which Microsoft acquired as part of its purchase of TellMe in 2007, according to Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet.

TellMe provided the voice-recognition technology for many customer-service phone systems.

According to Foley:

Tellme provided both a "speech cloud service" and an interactive speech self-service platform that provided interactive voice response (IVR). (An example of an IVR system is the system that provides an automated voice response when users check on their flight statuses.)

It's the IVR assets that Microsoft is shifting to 24/7. It is keeping the cloud speech service part of the Tellme assets, which it is combining with other speech technologies the company has developed in house. The cloud service part of Tellme is what is used in Windows Phone, the Bing mobile app, automotive entertainment systems and Xbox Kinect sensors.

ITC staff backs Barnes & Noble in patent fight with Microsoft

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:46:06 PST

An International Trade Commission staff attorney told Bloomberg News today that he's recommending the judge decide in favor of Barnes & Noble in the bookstore's patent fight with Microsoft.

Staff attorney Jeff Hsu is recommending that ITC Judge Theodore Essex "find there was no violation by Barnes & Noble of three Microsoft patents," Bloomberg reported.

The case stems from Microsoft's allegations that Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader and Nook Color tablet, which run on Google's Android operating system, infringe on some of MIcrosoft's patents. The trial begins today.

Last week, Microsoft withdrew one of its infringement allegations. That leaves three Microsoft patents that the software company claims BN violated. Those involve annotation software that allows readers to make notes on e-books separate from the book, software that allows people to select and make a text area larger or smaller, and technology that helps readers perceive faster browser downloads by displaying text first, then the background.

According to Bloomberg:

Essex is scheduled to release his findings April 27, and a decision in Microsoft's favor could lead to a ban on imports of Nook readers made outside the U.S. The staff acts as a third party in the case, and there's no requirement that the judge follow the recommendation.

A Microsoft spokesman said of the report:

This was a preliminary argument by the Office of Unfair Import Investigations ('OUII') staff attorney, which was filed before the presentation of the evidence at the hearing has occurred. The OUII staff may change its position after the hearing. Additionally, the administrative law judge will hear the evidence and arguments at the hearing and will come to his own conclusion.

Dynamics CRM coming to Windows Phone, iOS, Android, Blackberry

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:54:44 PST

Microsoft will be releasing Dynamics CRM for mobile devices sometime in the second quarter.

The service update will include "a new cloud-based, cross-platform, native mobile client service" that will allow customers with any Windows Phone 7, iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry mobile device to access Dynamics CRM, according to a Microsoft news release.

Dynamics CRM is Microsoft's customer relationship management software.

The second-quarter release will also include more social features such as "Activity Feeds that give people the ability to like and unlike status updates, improved status filtering, and the capability to view all statuses relating to a particular record view," according to the news release.

Microsoft has been ratcheting up the competition with its Dynamics products and services, including ads and incentive pricing.

No Start button on Windows 8?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:46:04 PST

There will be no traditional Start button in the Windows 8 beta -- at least according to Tom Warren at The Verge.

Screenshots that were leaked show the Windows 8 taskbar without a Start button, reports Warren, who adds:

Fear not though, the Start button functionality isn't as dead as it seems. We have confirmed with sources close to Microsoft's Windows 8 development that a hot corner has replaced the Start button orb. A thumbnail-like user interface will appear in Metro or desktop mode, providing a consistent way to access the Windows desktop and Start Screen in Windows 8 regardless of touch or mouse input. The new interface is activated on hover from the lower-left corner of Windows 8...

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview -- the beta version of the newest Windows operating system -- is scheduled to launch later this month.

Today in who's leaving Microsoft...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:31:04 PST

Two departures from Microsoft are making waves in the blogosphere today.

Brandon Watson, senior director of Windows Phone developer platform product management, is leaving to become the director of Amazon.com's Kindle cross-platform team. At Amazon, he'll be putting forward the roadmap for Kindle apps for first- and third-party platforms, one of which is Windows Phone.

"It's never easy to leave a place where you're having a great time and you love the team," Watson said. "To Amazon's credit, they put a unique opportunity in front of me and it was hard to say no."

And Stephen Toulouse, director of policy enforcement on Xbox Live, is leaving Microsoft, according to Neowin, which referred to Toulouse's personal blog where he said he was leaving the company after some 18 years because "I feel too strangely comfortable, and too strangely tied."

Microsoft withdraws one of its claims against BN in patent fight

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:31:05 PST

Microsoft has withdrawn one of its patent claims against Barnes & Noble in a case before the International Trade Commission.

The case stems from Microsoft's allegations that Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader and Nook Color tablet, which run on Google's Android operating system, infringe on some of MIcrosoft's patents.

Microsoft said in its ITC filing that it was withdrawing its infringement allegation over "the '522 patent" (which covers tabbed control) in order "to streamline the case and conserve the resources of the commission, as well as those of the parties."

The motion to withdraw that claim "is not a concession on the merits of such claims," Microsoft said in its filing.

That leaves three MIcrosoft patents that the software company claims BN violated. Those involve annotation software that allows readers to make notes on e-books separate from the book, software that allows people to select and make a text area larger or smaller, and technology that helps readers perceive faster browser downloads by displaying text first, then the background.

Canalys: Windows Phone share of global market at 1.4 percent

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:46:03 PST

Windows Phone's shipments in 2011 accounted for 1.4 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments, according to research firm Canalys, which has released its analysis of 2011 smartphone shipments.

That's down 43 percent from a year ago, said Canalys, which found that Android grew 244 percent for the year and iOS grew 96 percent.

Here's Canalys' charts of smartphone platform market share for fourth quarter 2011 and full year 2011:

In 2011, Apple also displaced Microsoft's BFF phonemaker Nokia as the leading smartphone vendor by annual shipments. Still, Canalys saw hope for Nokia, which shipped 1.2 million Windows Phone devices last year, the research firm said.

In its news release, Canalys said:

"Its first Windows Phone products, the Lumia 800 and 710, along with the recently announced Lumia 900 through AT&T in the US, have improved the outlook for Nokia," said Canalys Senior Analyst, Tim Shepherd. "They are well-designed, competitive devices that demonstrate innovation is still alive within Nokia. But the battle is not over and it has huge challenges ahead. Nokia must continue to build out its Lumia portfolio with devices tailored to address all price points and all the markets in which it aims to compete. It must hasten its transition from Symbian to Windows Phone around the world and, with Microsoft, promote and generate excitement for the platform and new products. And it must succeed in attracting more developers to build high quality, locally relevant apps."

Overall, Canalys found that global shipments of smartphones in 2011 (helped by a strong fourth quarter) exceeded those of PCs (including tablets) for the first time: 488 million units of smartphones were shipped in 2011, up 63 percent from 2010.

That's compared to 414.6 million units of PCs, which was up 15 percent from 2010. (Canalys includes tablets in that estimate, saying tablets saw a 274 percent growth and accounted for 15 percent of all PC shipments in 2011.)

Here's Canalys' chart:

Microsoft vs Google, today's fight: browsers and search

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:31:04 PST

Microsoft is swinging away at Google with a series of ads this week targeting Google's recent privacy policy changes.

On Wednesday, Microsoft's ad focused on trying to attract users wary of Google to Microsoft products such as Bing, Hotmail, Office 365 and Internet Explorer. Thursday's ad focused on email. Today, as seen in an Official Microsoft Blog post from Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw and the accompanying ad, the focus is on IE9 and Bing.

Shaw sums up the week of ads this way:

The overall theme we hit in our ads and here on this blog has been that while Google has one customer - its advertisers - we have many customers. Of course we have advertising customers, and we love them and are working to make sure we improve the advertising experience for you, and for them. But we think of YOU as our customer as well, customers for Office and Windows and Windows Azure and Bing and Internet Explorer and Hotmail and so on - and because we have a big view of who our customers are, we naturally make some different choices than Google does.

Google had fired back earlier this week, calling Microsoft's claims "myths."

BTW, Ed Bott at ZDNet recently made some handy pie charts of where revenue is coming from for Microsoft, Google and Apple.

And Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land fact checked the privacy claims of both Microsoft and Google.

Regarding Google making changes for the sake of advertisers, Sullivan said:

Google is a profit-making company, with the vast majority of those profits coming from advertising. When Google talked about the privacy policy changes last week, part of what it highlighted was that they'd allow for better ad targeting. Potentially, that's nice for users. But it's far bigger improvement for advertisers. ... However, it's perfectly accurate that Google isn't solely doing these changes just for advertisers. In fact, I can recall at one point how Microsoft was highlighting how easy it was to drag content from its search engine into its Hotmail email system. That's cross-platform data sharing that Microsoft is raising issues about with Google. Microsoft does the same, but no one runs ad campaigns taking the company to task over it.

Report: Skype for Windows Phone app expected "very soon"

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:01:05 PST

Microsoft employees are now testing a Windows Phone client, according to The Verge's Tom Warren, citing several sources.

Warren reports that the Skype app, expected to debut "very soon" -- perhaps at the Mobile World Congress at the end of the month -- is expected to be a stand-alone app, rather than integrated with the People Hub.

Microsoft's acquisition of Skype closed last October and the Internet phone company is now a division within Microsoft. Skype already has apps for the iPhone and for Android phones.

Windows Phone 8 features leaked

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:43:32 PST

A video of what Microsoft is planning with Windows Phone 8 -- codenamed Apollo -- has apparently been leaked, the details of which are now making the blog rounds.

PocketNow got the scoop on the leaked video and shortly after, Paul Thurrott, who runs Supersite for Windows, weighed in with what he knows.

PocketNow says the video, hosted by corporate vice president of Windows Phone program management, was intended for Microsoft's partners at Nokia.

Among the features PocketNow lists for Windows Phone 8 are support for multicore processors, new screen resolutions, removable microSD card storage and NFC radios for contactless payments -- or a "Wallet experience"; tap-to-share capabilities that will allow desktops, laptops, tablets and phones to share content; Windows 8 integration, "allowing developers to 'reuse -- by far -- most of their code' when porting an app from desktop to phone; 100,000 apps in the Marketplace; native BitLocker encryption and more.

Thurrott, at Supersite for Windows, confirms many of those features, and says also that Windows Phone 8 will share components with Windows 8 including the kernel, multi-core processor support and video and graphics technologies; offer "very similar user experience" across a phone running Windows Phone 8 and a PC running Windows 8; a "separate but better" Skype app; and more.

PocketNow's article is here.

Thurrott's article is here.