GadgetReview

E3 officially starts tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be on hand for one of the days.  But like all good events, the big boys have already started to roll out some juicy news.  Microsoft announced today that they’re upgrading the Xbox’s video capabilities.

First up, they’re changing the name of their video store to the ‘Zune Store’.  Clearly they’re trying to push the whole cohesive media thing to be more like Apple, and they probably see their video game arm as a big differentiator.  Additionally, 1080p movies will now be instant on, meaning as soon as you buy it you can begin to watch instead of waiting for it to download locally on your 360.

But on to more important news.  Netflix subscribers will no longer need a computer to add movies to their queue.  Nope, you’ll be able to add them directly on your Xbox.  I’d recommend picking up a keyboard or Microsoft’s messenger kit, otherwise you might be there all day punching in titles.  I’m not sure when the update will roll out, but let’s hope its soon.

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How sweet that would be.  Attack of the Show host Olivia Munn’s Twitter feed denoted that she had just finished a promo for a Microsoft/Hulu event on June 8th.  Telling eh?  Not that this means anything in particular but it is a fingers crossed sort of situation.  Just another nail in the PS3 coffin I say.  More info will surface on this in the weeks to come I hope.

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I was wondering when this rumor was actually going to see some artist renderings.  Not that it would be uncool, codename “xYz” would combine the MP3 awesomeness of a Zune and the gaming glory of an Xbox 360.  Here’s a mystery quote:

The project, codenamed “xYz,” is said to feature a WVGA touchscreen and a way to play music and movies on both the device as well as the Xbox 360. Basically, it’s going to be a connected handheld gaming system with rich multimedia features.

I think it sounds like a good idea and it would garner some serious attention as Microsoft is a stable name in the video game industry nowadays.  I doubt the ability to make 360 hardware that small and is it maybe too little, too late?  We’ll see if we hear anything again about this.

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Today Microsoft released the final version of Internet Explorer 8.0. According to initial reports, the new browser has a lot to like and becomes a solid contender in the war of browsers. Some reviewers even go so far as to say it outperforms Firefox when it comes to basic browsing, although they’re quick to note that Firefox’s extensibility still cannot be touched.

Feature highlights include:

• Accelerators. Accelerators make it faster and easier to perform common tasks online by making Web-based services such as ESPN.com, Live Search and Sina available for use directly from the page people are viewing. Users can simply right-click a word or phrase and instantly map, e-mail, or share it.
• Web Slices. Web Slices in Internet Explorer 8 makes favorite information from sites such as Digg, Yahoo! Mail, OneRiot, and eBay instantly available wherever someone goes on the Web
• Visual search suggestions. The Instant Search Box in Internet Explorer 8 enables rich, real-time search from sites such as The New York Times, Amazon.com and Wikipedia, as well as sites from people’s own Favorites and History, complete with visuals and detailed information that saves time

Official press release:

 

REDMOND, Wash. — March 18, 2009 — Today Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Windows Internet Explorer 8, the new Web browser that offers the best solution for how people use the Web today. It can be downloaded in 25 languages at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8 starting at noon EDT on March 19. Internet Explorer 8 is easier to use, faster and offers leading-edge security features in direct response to people’s increasing concerns about online safety. A new study commissioned by Microsoft and the National Cyber Security Alliance and conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. shows that 91 percent of adults in the U.S. are concerned about online threats in the current economic climate, and 78 percent are more likely to choose a Web browser with built-in security than they were two years ago.

“Customers have made clear what they want in a Web browser — safety, speed and greater ease of use,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. “With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match.”

In response to extensive customer research and input from tens of millions of customer sessions, Microsoft developed Internet Explorer 8 to focus on what matters most to people. The security enhancements offer protection against existing and emerging security threats online. It blocks two to four times more malware attacks than other browsers; cuts down on the time it takes to complete common tasks on the Web such as searching, mapping and sharing, including navigating 15 of the 20 top worldwide sites; and blurs the lines between the services they use daily and the browser used to access the Internet.

Helps Protect People From Online Threats

The new study released today reinforces the importance of safety in browsing, indicating that 78 percent of people are more likely than they were two years ago to choose a browser that includes built-in protection against security threats without them having to go online to download additional programs or browser add-ons. It also showed that 91 percent of adults in the U.S. are concerned about online fraud and identity theft in today’s economic climate, and 37 percent are less likely to shop online because they would have to give their personal information.

Internet Explorer 8 offers the best security protections among leading browsers: a study released today by NSS Labs indicates that Internet Explorer 8 blocks two to four times as many malicious sites as other browsers on the market today.

Makes Common Online Tasks Faster and Easier

In addition to offering improved security and privacy protections, Internet Explorer 8 is one of the fastest browsers on the market today, beating other top browsers in page load time on almost 50 percent of the 25 top comScore Inc. Web sites.* It also helps people save time while using the Web with easy-to-use new features, including the following:

•	Accelerators. Accelerators make it faster and easier to perform common tasks online by making Web-based services such as ESPN.com, Live Search and Sina available for use directly from the page people are viewing. Users can simply right-click a word or phrase and instantly map, e-mail, or share it.
•	Web Slices. Web Slices in Internet Explorer 8 makes favorite information from sites such as Digg, Yahoo! Mail, OneRiot, and eBay instantly available wherever someone goes on the Web.
•	Visual search suggestions. The Instant Search Box in Internet Explorer 8 enables rich, real-time search from sites such as The New York Times, Amazon.com and Wikipedia, as well as sites from people’s own Favorites and History, complete with visuals and detailed information that saves time.

“We are excited about Internet Explorer 8 for several reasons, including its ability to provide our customers with updates to eBay products using Web Slices so they can keep track of their buying activity while surfing the web,” said Matt Ackley, vice president of Internet Marketing and Advertising at eBay.

“The new ESPN Web Slices on Internet Explorer 8 make it easy for sports fans to check on the latest news and sports videos in a new and exciting way,” said Jason Guenther, vice president of technology and product development at ESPN Digital Media. “We have a heritage of leveraging technology to deliver the best sports content to fans, and this is another example of our dedication to that.”

 

[Cnet]

The Vista SP2 update release candidate will be available to the public next week. And here I thought SP2 was actually…Windows 7? Go figure. Anyways, any update at all to the clunky, ill-received Vista should be an improvement. 

According to rumors, the official Vista SP2 should be available this April or May, heck, let’s extend it to June. This is Microsoft, after all.

Details of the SP2 update:

• SP2 contains Blue tooth 2.1 feature pack supporting the most recent specification for Blue tooth technology
• Ability to record data on Blu-Ray media,
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration to Windows Vista SP2,
• exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, which enables correct file synchronization across time zones.
• SP2 provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID. new form factor support –example USB form factor as opposed to PCMCIA).
• Support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU
• Security
• SP2 includes all previously released security updates, and builds on the proven security benefits of Windows Vista
• Secure Development Lifecycle process updates, where we identify the root cause of each security bulletin and improve our internal tools to eliminate code patterns that could lead to future vulnerabilities
• Reliability
• SP2 addresses previously released reliability updates, as well as addressing crashes, caused by Microsoft code, discovered since the launch of SP1
• Performance
• Resume performance when Wi-Fi connection is no longer available after resume from sleep
• Inclusion of Windows Search 4 for improved indexing performance, improved relevancy in search, broader indexing scenario inclusion, as well as new Group Policy integration for Windows Search,
• Improvements to the RSS feeds sidebar gadget to improve update performance and responsiveness
• Application Compatibility
• It is our goal that applications that run on the Windows Vista Operating System today and are written using public APIs will continue to work as designed on Windows Vista SP2.
• Previously released Application Compatibility updates are included in Windows Vista SP2.
• Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm now working with POP3 email accounts
• Administration and Support Improvements
• Customers installing .net framework 3.5 service pack 1 will notice shorter download and installation times with Vista service pack 2 or Windows 2008 service pack 2 already installed,
• Service Pack Clean up tool (Compcln.exe): This tool helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting the previous versions of the files (RTM & SP1) that are being serviced by Service Pack 2.
• Single installer for both Vista & Server 2008
• Ability to detect an incompatible driver and block service pack installation or warn users of any loss of functionality
• Better error handling and providing more descriptive error messages where possible
• Better manageability through logging in system event log
• Componentization for Serviceability of the installer
• Some Specific Fixes/Additions Include:
• Inclusion of Hyper-V
• Event logging support in SPC
• DNS Server now listens over ISATAP address
• Fixes DRM issues from WMP upgrades
• Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless
• Reduction of resources required for sidebar gadgets
• Improved power settings for WS08

[Gizmodo]

Image from Vista Revisited.

Steve Ballmer, head honcho of Microsoft, confirmed the rumors  of a 2010 release date of their much anticipated Windows Mobile 7. According to reports, the new mobile operating system will be made available to manufacturers in November of this year to prepare for a April rollout next year.

[Crunchgear]

So what’s the big hoopla surrounding Windows 7? Well, find out with Arstechnica’s in-depth tour of all the new features and quirks. From the looks of it, Microsoft’s newest OS figures to be Vista done right and is shaping up to be a worthy “spiritual” successor to XP–yup, not Vista but the more respected XP we all know and sorta kinda love.

[Arstechnica]

Microsoft announced that they’ll be releasing Windows 7 Beta this Friday as a free download. This is great news for those who are sick and tired of the clunkiness known as Vista (which sold 300 million worldwide, go figure??).

The new Windows 7 promises to be a leaner, meaner version of Vista since it was designed, as Balmer put it, with “simplicity, reliability and speed” in mind. But don’t take his words for it, try it yourself this Friday. More info here.

[Wired]

Great news for all you Zune users: free wi-fi access at all participating McDonald’s locations. Just think, now you can download music AND smear your shiny little Zune with your grubby, grease-laden fingers. Top it off with a king sized milkshake and you’re set for life.

The update allows Zune users to “wirelessly stream and download music from the Zune Marketplace store on the go; tag and purchase songs directly from the built-in FM radio; and tap into new, personalized music recommendations and programming.”

Read the press release after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: Zune 3.0 Update Allows Free McDonald’s Wi-Fi Access

To much surprise Microsoft has apparently agreed to purchase Danger Inc, the maker of the famed Sidekick (I think Danger originally made the device, but no longer does). This news comes on the heals of Yahoo’s rejection of Microsoft’s bid to acquire them for $44 billion. The guy who started Danger, Andy Rubin, went on to launch Android, which was later acquired by Google. It’s not really clear what Microsoft plans to do with Danger, as they’ve already created a mobile operating system: Windows Mobile. There is of course significant opportunity to reach the young demo associated with the Sidekick and the Danger applications, and perhaps even leverage some of their technologies into the Windows Mobile platform.

Official Press Release here.

Update: According to Gigaom, Microsoft purchased Danger for a reported $500 million.

Via AP