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Kinect hacked immediately upon release

Jen — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:41:43 +0000

According to an announcement by Microsoft, their new Kinect controller was hacked almost as soon as it was issued for sale. The Kinect controller, designed for use with the Xbox, is a motion sensor which tracks full body movements, creating a digital skeleton of the body in order to capture movement and transmit it during gaming. Microsoft’s new innovation has now been hacked so that users can make it work in conjunction with a PC, in addition to the Xbox console.

The people responsible for producing the hack have stated that they want the device to be accessible for use in schools for art projects, and to assist with interaction between robots and humans. Microsoft have stated that they are disappointed with the way the device has already been modified.

Adafruit, the manufacturer of electronic kits, were the first people to attempt to hack the control system, and they announced earlier this month that they would be prepared to reward anyone who could manage to crack the device and develop control software drivers for Kinect. Hector Martin was the first person to produce the drivers and make them available for people to use and improve. Initially, the device was modified to work with a Linux laptop, and now development is underway in order to change the voice capture system.

A spokesperson for Microsoft stated: “The Xbox 360 control system for the Kinect had not been hacked. What has happened is someone has created drivers that allow other devices to interface with the Kinect for Xbox 360. The creation of these drivers, and the use of Kinect for Xbox 360 with other devices, is unsupported. We strongly encourage customers to use Kinect for Xbox 360 with their Xbox 360 to get the best experience possible.”

The Kinect, which sells for around £130, is an appealing prospect for hackers looking to modify the device, as it is a relatively cheap way of accessing a motion sensor device which can be used for a range of activities.

Experts urge MS to automatically update browser versions

Jenny Sanderson — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:00:05 +0000

An expert in internet browser technology has warned the industry that users of Internet Explorer 9 will soon find themselves out of date with older versions of the technology. Critics of Microsoft are warning that the way in which the company provides two-year cycles for upgrades is putting users at risk of their software becoming obsolete long before it should be.

While other software companies offer ongoing updates to the products which their users depend upon, Microsoft has always had a policy of only updating their software every two years. Despite the recent launch of Internet Explorer 9, experts are claiming that Microsoft’s launches are irrelevant and cannot support people with the speed and efficiency which they are accustomed to form other providers.

Jason Higgins, who formerly worked with Google in creating the Selenium browser tool for testing web applications, has made a suggestion that Microsoft starts to revise their update schedule, and provide ongoing updates to customers to prevent them becoming out of date with consumer requirements. According to Higgins, customers “Risk being stranded on older versions and recreating the problem currently associated with IE6. Although the ageing browser is notoriously insecure, it is now the basis of so many companies’ IT systems that it is too expensive for them to upgrade.”

“Defaulting to automatic upgrades, as Google Chrome does, could help to solve the problem. IT managers, however, traditionally prefer to have control over users’ systems so any potential software conflicts can be avoided. The UK government, for instance, recently decided upgrading from IE6 was too expensive despite the potential security risks.”

An expert from Ovum added his voice to the argument, commenting: “For the vast majority of corporate IT managers and their users IE9 is a complete non-event – most large enterprises are still running Windows XP, and will continue to do so for the next two years at least. Microsoft’s decision to drop support for Windows XP with this release of Internet Explorer has therefore rendered it an irrelevancy.”

Microsoft founder sues over patent

Andy Russell — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:30:22 +0000

News reports are suggesting that Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft is undertaking legal action to sue a number of IT organisations for infringing patents which he set up in the 90s. Allen will be taking action against eleven firms, including Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, Google and eBay. He is claiming that technology which was first developed by his firm has been utilised by the companies.

Allen suggests that the patents relate to how search engines and online commerce is undertaken, and is accusing the online giants of stealing the methodology.

Google have commented: “This lawsuit against some of America’s most innovative companies reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace. Innovation – not litigation – is the way to bring to market the kinds of products and services that benefit millions of people around the world.”

Similarly, A Facebook statement suggests that the action is “Completely without merit.”

Allen is protecting four patents which he established in order to protect technology which supports browsers in locating information, enabling advertising or using video to promote services. He also claims that his company funded a number of projects which resulted in the creation of Google. A spokesperson for Allen commented:

“We will be determining the precise figure for damages as this progresses. We will do whatever is necessary. This is an important step. It is the first time that Paul Allen has filed a suit like this. Some of the technology developed by people working for Paul Allen a decade ago is now key to this search and e-commerce space. It is part of our daily life on the web and has shown itself to be of value to the industry today .We are not asserting patents that other companies have filed, nor are we buying patent originally assigned to someone else. These are patents developed by and for Interval.”

Other companies being tackled for breach of patent include AOL, YouTube, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples.

Bing exceeds expectations for search market share

Admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:30:02 +0000

Bing, Microsoft’s search engine service is reported to have acquired over twelve percent of the search engine market in just one year, according to a report by independent researcher ComScore. The site’s success shows promise for future market coverage, although in relation to other search engine sites such as Yahoo and Google, there is still a long way to go before it becomes a serious competitor.

Google currently owns a 62.6% market share of search users, and Yahoo has 18.9%. Microsoft has stated that they are prepared to leverage as much financial strength as it takes to be a force in the search engine market. Industry experts doubt that Microsoft will ever have the capability to eclipse sites such as Google, which are firmly entrenched in the market. People now refer to searching online as ‘Googling’, showing just how firm a foothold the company has within internet culture.

Bing mobile has attracted 23 million users, and since its launch in June last year it has slowly crept up the popularity sweepstakes through its unique approach to searching. Rather than being billed simply as a search engine, Bing focuses upon popular subjects in an attempt to corner the market as the ‘consumer friendly’ search site. News, travel, weather and entertainment form most of Bing’s target search areas.

Microsoft has stated that it is committed to enhancing mobile use, which will stand to enhance their share of the search engine market. By focussing upon their mobile strategy and being responsive to mobile browsing needs, they hope to provide a simple and user-friendly method of searching for information online with the minimum of type strokes.

Erik Jorgensen, Microsoft’s mobile vice-president has commented: “It’s clearly an area where growth in search is occurring and in terms of strategic importance, it is near the top for Microsoft. Location is key – type less and do more. People drive themselves crazy trying to type on these mobile devices so the more we can understand what they are trying to do and provide an easier way to get to it through visual, voice and touch is a key insight into how mobile search is going to evolve.”

Humans and technology move one step closer towards real integration

Jenny Sanderson — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:32:57 +0000

A recent technology conference in Oxford has seen Microsoft unveiling Milo, their ‘virtual human’ to a stunned audience. Milo is the creation of Peter Molyneux, a UK games designer, and has been designed to function in conjunction with Kinect, the Microsoft Xbox 360 motion controller.

Milo can react to people’s voice, recognise body movements and process emotions. It works through the Kinect controller, which utilises a combination of microphones, sensors and cameras to detect movements and understand interaction by players. Milo’s demonstration included him looking around a garden, being told off by his parents and learning a new skill. Through a combination of psychological tricks and leading-edge technology, Milo comes across as being entirely credible to those who interact with him.

The virtual human features a range of facial movements, all of which add to his credibility as a character. He can blush, laugh and react to a range of emotions.

Molyneux commented at the conference: “I want to introduce a new revolution in storytelling. Films, TV, even hallowed books, are just rubbish because they don’t involve me. It’s a sea of blandness. I wanted to create a character that seemed alive, that would look me in the eyes and feel real. When Milo was first shown off in a demo in 2009, there was a huge row online about that with people saying ‘this can’t be real’”.

“We’re changing the mind of Milo constantly. No two people’s Milos can be the same – you are actually sculpting a human being. Some of the things you are doing will change the course of his life. Most of it is just a trick – but it is a trick that actually works. After three-quarters of an hour, he recognises you. I can promise you that if you are sitting in front of this screen that is a truly wonderful moment.”

Windows XP vulnerable to online attacks

Admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 08:54:44 +0000

Recent attacks on Windows XP’s help system are showing that there is a bug within the software which is making it vulnerable to hacking. So far, 10,000 machines have been penetrated by malicious attack, and Microsoft have admitted that they are yet to develop a fix for the flaw in the software.

During an attack, users see control of their PC being handed over to cyber criminals. The loophole, which was discovered in June, has seen attempts to hack become successful as the attackers have developed malware more quickly than anticipated. The attacks take advantage of XP’s remote aid facility, which is there to enable Microsoft technicians to get access to machines in order to provide remote support for users.

Hi-tech criminals have pounced on the loophole with gusto, and are making the most of the flawed system to obtain access to people’s machines. Once they gain access, they quickly download spam tools, viruses and Trojans to affected PCs. People who do not regularly use anti-virus software to protect their machines are defenseless against the attacks, leaving their personal and business machines completely vulnerable.

An investigation by Microsoft has revealed that a number of different attackers are now benefiting from the flawed software. Users in Portugal are currently being targeted the most by hackers exploiting the loophole, with additional victims in Croatia and Russia.

The most effective way of protecting a PC which uses the software and could be vulnerable is to disable the Help and Support system which is acting as a gateway to hackers. Microsoft have issued a tool which will undertake to disable the system automatically, until such time as a fix can be circulated to prevent the attacks.

A senior researcher at Trend Micro advises: “It’s certainly very serious and is now being actively exploited by what appears to be several different groups as you can see from the multiple payloads being delivered. It is important to ensure that your security software is capable of identifying and blocking malicious websites, as you can be sure that the criminals behind this will be constantly updating their malicious files to try and avoid traditional security.”

Apple allow Bing as a search option for iPhone

Andre — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Among the many announcements made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ at WWDC in San Francisco yesterday was the interesting fact that Microsoft’s Bing will become a search option on the iPhone. Microsoft is also expected to announce later in the week that Bing will also become an option on both the Windows and MAC versions of Apple’s Safari browser.

Bing joins fellow Apple rivals Yahoo as a search option on the iPhone, but Google will remain the default search engine. Nevertheless this is a big step for Microsoft in their attempts to catch up with Google.

“Apple today announced that Bing will be included as one of the search engine choices within Safari on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and within the Safari browser on the Mac and PC,” Senior Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post. “Needless to say, we are excited that Bing will be included as an option in Safari because it will make it easier for you to search and get the benefits of Bing.”

Mehdi also revealed that Microsoft has been working with Apple “over the last couple of months” to deliver Bing for Safari which will include some HTML5 work for the iPhone version.

“In addition, we are continuing to improve our existing Bing mobile application for iPhone which makes it easy to search, map, and find commerce and movie times,” Mehdi said. “We will have a new release with even more great features very soon. For those of you that have not already tried it, you can find it in the App Store today.”

Microsoft’s market cap beaten by Apple

Andy Russell — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:06:43 +0000

It has been a rather historic few weeks for Apple as their iPad tablet computer has now sold over two million and now it has been revealed that Apple’s market cap has beaten that of rival Microsoft for the first time in more than 20 years, according to Nasdaq share values at the close of business last week Wednesday.

It has been reported that Apple’s shares approached $222 billion (£154 billion) last week Thursday, compared to Microsoft’s $219b (£150b). Microsoft is still leading in net profits however, boasting $14.6b (£10b) profit at the most recent count, compared to Apple’s more modest $5.7b (£3.9b).

Full-year revenues are also inevitably in Microsoft’s court, with the company bringing in $58.4b (£40.1b) last year, while Apple closed on $36.5b (£25.1b) – however, these figures are likely to change due to the growing success and desirability of Apple’s products.

Launched last week in the UK, Apple’s iPad has been a huge success for the Silicon Valley company, with sales exceeding expectations in the US delaying its international release.

Market research company GFK NOP are anticipating that two million iPads will be snapped up in the UK within the first year.

After many years of living in Microsoft’s growing shadow, Apple enjoyed a new lease of life in 2001 with the success of its iPod which brought the company squarely into the limelight. Prior to the whirlwind success of the iPod, the company’s shares were worth less than one tenth of what they are today, and Apple may have gone under if not for a $150 million investment from Microsoft in 1997 to ship Office products on the Macintosh.

It seems that Bill Gates may now have reason to regret that decision

New Hotmail advertising campaign aimed at hooking new users

James Oliver — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:57:29 +0000

As Microsoft continue the process of giving their Hotmail client a makeover they are aiming to reel in some new users as they ready an advertising campaign set to hit London this week.

“The new busy” advertising campaign will help push Microsoft’s web-mail service as it highlights some of the new time saving features that are characterising the new service.

The adverts will run on black cabs, buses and billboards around the capital.

The advertising campaign will consist of more than just simple images, however, as Microsoft will be employing a number of initiatives in the form of interactive areas for the public to enjoy in Broadgate and Canary Wharf.

These areas will be aimed at showing off the services new time saving features whilst offering random suggestions as to what could be done with the time gained.

Product manager at Hotmail, Fiona Fyfe commented:

“We live in a world where people seem busier than ever and we have been listening to our users to improve Hotmail, developing these time-saving features to make it the most efficient email service for busy people.

“Whether it’s organising events, managing commercial transactions, searching for jobs, sharing photos, or communicating with friends and family, the new Hotmail will help increase personal productivity.”

This could be a very smart advertising strategy from Microsoft and Hotmail as increasing working hours and heavy workloads influenced by the economic decline are giving people less time, any service that offers speed and efficiency will surely be welcomed with open arms by many users.

Hotmail given a makeover by Microsoft

James Oliver — Fri, 21 May 2010 10:37:13 +0000

Microsoft have announced that they are currently updating their free email service Hotmail, as they attempt to retain and possibly grow their market share over ever present rivals Yahoo! Mail and Google’s Gmail.

The changes will go live in July or August of this year and will include a host of changes including allowing users to edit or view documents using a web version of Microsoft’s Office software.

The update will also allow users of Hotmail to collaborate on documents in real-time whilst saving them in the cloud.

G-Mail, Google’s increasingly popular e-mail service already allows its users to do this through its web based set of tools, Google Documents, which offers a similar functionality to the well known non-cloud based version of Microsoft’s Office suite.

Key changes to Hotmail’s refreshed look include the addition of ‘Active View’ which is a new function that will allow users of Hotmail to preview photo attachments and view them as a slide show with just one click.

There will also be the capability to watch videos sent via links from sites such as YouTube without actually having to leave the inbox.

Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, will also be integrated into the hotmail experience allowing users to search for videos and images and then embed them into an e-mail all without leaving the e-mail client.

Microsoft have also stated that additional capabilities will be made available such as increased storage and better account protection.

Yahoo! and Bing gain more ground on Google

Andre — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:00:21 +0000

New figures released by ComScore have revealed that Yahoo! and Bing have had a good month of April as both companies have gained some ground on Google in the search engine war.

Yahoo’s market share increased by nearly 1 percent whilst Microsoft’s Bing continued to rise for the 11th month in succession.

There has been an ongoing debate amongst market analysts as to whether the rise shows the effects of the recent search deal between the two former rivals is now being felt or whether Yahoo’s gain was a result of the new features they have released for their news service.

According to tech analysts AFP, the new feature of Yahoo! News, which registers each view of a photo slideshow as a separate search query is the main reason behind the turnaround for Yahoo! as their share has rise by 0.8 percent in the last month, meaning that they now account for 17.7 percent of the lucrative search market.

ComScore, however, confirmed that these clicks are still valid as the Yahoo! News feature meets its “established criticism for counting search queries”.

“Both Yahoo! sites and Microsoft sites have experienced gains due in part to the introduction of new site navigation experiences that tie content and related search results together within several channels,” the internet research company explained.

“These features provide search results to users as they navigate through topical content.”

Google are still leading the pack of course as they hold a 64.4 percent share of the market.

But Google will be worried about the five year search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! as they have been losing ground against their closest rivals at an accelerating rate, dropping by 0.7 percent last month and 0.4 percent in February.

Microsoft announce social media aggregator Spindex

James Oliver — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:26 +0000

Microsoft seem to have come to the realisation that there is no competing with Social Networking giants Facebook and Twitter so they have instead announce a tool that is able to aggregate all of a users social media activity into one place.

Named Spindex the service works in a similar way to products such as FriendFeed and runs with the slogan “Make sense of your social overload.”

The main aim is to show users all activity across each of the Social Networking sites that they are registered with thus avoiding the annoying task of having to log into each of your accounts individually.

Lili Cheng, General Manager of Microsoft Fuse Labs wrote:

“Spindex, which we’re making available in early technical preview form, aggregates your social streams (Facebook, Twitter, Bing, etc.), making it simple for you to find what’s new, see personalized trending topics, and generally make the most of the time you spend being social on the Web.”

Microsoft’s Fuse Labs is the company’s short term centre for innovation having recently launched a Bing-Twitter mash up to enable users to see where their friends are tweeting. They have been busy of late having released a product for Microsoft Office 2010 that can integrate social media into outlook and a tool to integrate documents completely into Facebook.

It would seem that Microsoft are subscribing to the age old prophecy ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ as they habitually team with Facebook and Twitter rather than competing directly against them.

A trip to the Spindex website gives a little more information as to what exactly the service does:

“Allows you to access and interact with your social networks, see trends from your friends, and see related info from Bing on literally everything you click on. Spindex proactively finds useful articles and information based on your interest in your friends’ messages and comments.”

It is only available as a technical preview to those at the web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco but should be on general release later in the year.

Google Chrome gaining on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer

Andre — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:33:39 +0000

Recent results for internet browser use read well for competitors of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with Google and their Chrome browser coming off best.

Although Internet Explorer 8 has approximately a quarter of the market all to itself Netmarketshare are reporting that 59.95% of the market are currently using any version of the browser, meaning that quite a significant number of users are still using older versions of Microsoft’s browser.

Nothing much has changed for Mozilla and their Firefox browser who have stagnated at 24.59% of the market share, the same amount they have had for the last year.

The biggest increase comes from Google’s Chrome browser which has made quite a significant jump in the past year from 1.79% to 6.75% of the market share.

Internet Explorer has been on a steady decline since 2002 but it has undergone its most significant drop in users more recently losing 8% of their market share since April 2009.

It is no coincidence that this loss of users coincides with the vastly increased awareness of alternative browsers for internet users. The main cause of this was the new addition of the ‘browser ballot’ in Europe which has forced Microsoft to give users of their Windows operating system a choice of which browser they would like to use.

Other factors that have pushed the decline in users of Internet Explorer include Google’s rigorous advertising campaign for their Chrome browser and the rise of popular new upstart browser Opera.

This news will not be received well by Microsoft, expect to see some sort of update to their browser soon as they attempt to hold on to the market share that they still have left.

Facebook and Microsoft announce launch of Docs.com

Jenny Sanderson — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:51:51 +0000

In response to Google’s recent release of their updated “Google Docs” office suite program, Microsoft and Facebook have joint forces to create a rival online document- sharing service that suspiciously looks a lot like Google’s mew software.

The new site known as “Docs.com” went live this week at Facebook’s F8 conference in San Francisco along with the social networking sites announcement of their new social plug-ins as they attempt to connect with other third party internet sites.

The all new website will allow Facebook users to log in via their new ‘connect’ service; once in, they will be able to share, edit and create Microsoft Office documents including Word and Excel with any of their friends on Facebook.

New or edited documents will then show up in a users news feed in the same manor was pictures and status updates.

The service has not been perfected and is still in a beta testing stage at the moment.

The announcement comes as a bit of a surprise as rumours have been circulating on the web that Microsoft would be launching their own document sharing service later on in the year. However, Docs.com gives Microsoft a chance to test the technology that they are likely to use for their own service within Facebook’s walls.

This announcement may worry Google who have been working hard at pushing Google Apps and their new version of cloud computing to businesses both big and small. As seems to be the trend this year none of the big internet based companies are letting their rivals get too far ahead of them and this can only be good for the users.