Yahoo Begins testing with Microsoft Bing

Yahoo has begun testing algorithmic and paid search listings from Microsoft. 25 percent of users from the US will now be able to see these new search results live. The deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has got the go ahead and now users can see search results from Bing being integrated within Yahoo search results. Paid listings will also appear alongside search results. 


The paid listings that are coming from the Microsoft platform look a lot like Google Adwords. In that they are text based sponsored listings. The deal between the two large internet companies, Yahoo and Bing will now take shape and users in the US first will see the new results before it is rolled out to the rest of the world. 


Yahoo mobile search fans in the US and Canada will start to see these results as well across their mobile platforms which would include algorithmic as well as paid search listings. Bing will in the coming months become more prominent on Yahoo search. Check out the image below to see how the new search results might appear.

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Sociolatte

Microsoft Kinect: How does it work

Let's cut out all the hoopla and jargon and go straight to the point. 


What is the new Kinect from Microsoft. 


Kinect is an Xbox 360 peripheral that plugs into the consoles USB port. 


How does it work.


With the new Kinect you can now play games on the Xbox without the need of any controllers. Kinect comes with sensors that have a camera and microphone. That enable you to interact with the system using gestures, spoken commands and other objects. 


This was originally called "Project Natal" which has since been rechristened "Kinect".
Kinect is much more smarter than an average webcam. it can track 48 points across your body for up to 2 players thanks to it's secret trick of spotlighting the entire room with infrared light. Equipped with a microphone you can talk to it, it also has face recognition so you can sign in by looking at it. So you can control the start button by reaching for it with you hand in the air off-course. If you are on Xbox live you can watch a video together with your friend. 


Coming on November 4th. Take a look at the videos to find out more.

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Sociolatte

Microsoft responds to Google's Windows Moves

The FT did release news regarding the ban on windows operating machines within their premises world wide. Google have not officially said anything about it and that has not stopped the guys over at Redmond from posting a blog that quiet directly responds to the ban. We had cowered this story yesterday.

As reported by the Financial Times Google employees said Google had taken this strong step especially after the China Hack thing which was called project Project Aurora. The hackers had targeted Gmail accounts and had made it in. Google said this happened because of windows security flaws. There is now a lot of debate going on over the internet as to the actually success of the operation on whether it was a software flaw or actually human flaws. Since the attackers knew their victims quiet well.

Either ways Google will now no more have windows operated systems within their company. 

Brandon LeBlanc has responded to this on the Windows Team Blog. He says even Hackers will admit that Microsoft is doing a better job at making their products more safe. He has also listed a few bullet point to drive his point home.

• We ship software and security updates to our customers as soon as possible through Windows Update and Microsoft Update to keep our customers safe.


• We highly recommend our customers enable Automatic Update to ensure they are protected from attacks.


• With Windows 7, we added improvements to BitLocker for disc encryption (we also introduced BitLocker-to-Go for external USB devices), and added enhancements to the built in Windows Firewall for better protection.


• Windows 7 has Parental Controls built in that can be combined with Windows Live Family Safety to create a safer experience on the PC for children.


• 
  Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8 which includes SmartScreen Filter which has proven its success time and time again.
  


• And Windows 7 also uses Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) as well by randomizing data in memory.

The argument could go either way the fact remains that after so many years there are still so many flaws and security holes in Microsoft's windows operating system

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Sociolatte

Microsoft's Kin Trying to catch the mobile social networking wave.

With the release of Kin One and Kin Two Microsoft seeks to ride the mobile networking social wave. Unlike other phones that treats Twitter and Facebook as separate applications. Kin has at it's heart social networking. Seeking to keep the phone a hit between the age group of 15 to 30 which the company refers to as "Generation Upload" Microsoft unveils more of the project pink details. The Operating System that the company uses for Kin is called OS for Kin a derivative from Windows Phone 7. The Kin will have Verizon as it's exclusive mobile carrier in the US.

The Kin's seriousness about social networking is very apparent in the devices which focus more on Texting, Tweets and Status updates.

There is however no room for additional App's such as the iPhone and the BlackBerry. The Kin will be available sometime in May. Both models of the Kin will have Zune HD built into the device and users can sync the device to their PC to add music and movies onto Kin's internal storage.

The Kin can tap into Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Windows live.

With a piece of code available on the Kin you can transfer music and photos from iTunes and iPhoto onto a Kin device. This will not work with music that has Apple's digital rights protection management system on it.

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Sociolatte

There is urgency in Microsoft to issue an IE patch to fix Flaw

With all the recent news of Google threatening to pull out of China due to security attacks and censorship. Microsoft has responded. The cyber attacks happened due to a flow in IE which allows attackers a vulnerable are or a hole by which to gain entry into people's personal mail accounts. Microsoft has asked people to shift to IE 8. 

George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), stated "We continue to see limited and targeted attacks against Internet Explorer 6 and encourage customers to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. We also recommend customers consider deploying the workarounds and mitigations provided in Security Advisory 979352 until the security update is ready for broad distribution."


Signaling high urgency, Microsoft will not wait until it's next Patch Tuesday -- Feb. 9 -- the next scheduled date for issuing security updates.


This is all part of the fast-developing security ramifications of Google threatening to pull out of China. Last Tuesday, Google said it may well  leave China because of cyberattacks and censorship. On Thursday, McAfee disclosed that Google and some 30 other companies were targeted by a spear phishing campaign, dubbed Operation Aurora. The attackers tricked specific employees to click on a bad link, accessing a heretofore unknown security hole in IE6, an older version of Microsoft's popular Web browser,  to take over control of the PC.



Update: Olso, Norway-based Opera is reporting that downloads of its rival Web browser have doubled in Germany and risen 35 percent in Australia. That comes after the governments of France, Germany and Australia issued warnings to stop using Internet Explorer in view of the revelations following Google's threat to leave China.


Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to deliver a speech Thursday morning in Washington D.C. about "Internet freedom," at which she's expected to discuss the Google-China brouhaha.



Microsoft are putting all their mussel to issue the patch as early as possible. The German government had also asked their citizens to use other web browsers instead of Internet Explorer as it had vulnerabilities. 

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Sociolatte

Microsoft to Stay in China, will also look into the fixing any vulnerabilities in IE

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said that they will stay in China. To see Steve Ballmer talk about it please click the video link here.


However, his hopes for China to produce growing revenue for the company seem to hinge on a thorny issue: a reduction of piracy and intellectual-property theft.
"China ought to be a source of growth," Ballmer said. "Intellectual-property protection in China is very, very bad. Abysmal. ... We're buying a lot of goods from China but the things that U.S. companies can sell -- pharmaceutical products, media, software -- it's all intellectual property and design, and that stuff's not getting paid for in China. It's got to change."



http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" >

CEO Steve Ballmer told CNBC that his company will look into a report that a flaw in Microsoft's Internet software allowed China to launch a cyber attack on Google's operations in that country.

Ballmer was responding to a report by the Internet security company McAfee that Microsoft's Internet Explorer allowed China to allegedly hack into Google email in an attempt to spy on Chinese dissidents. The alleged attack prompted Google to threaten to pull out of the country entirely. "The cyber attacks and occasional vulnerabilities are a way of life and if the issue is with us, of course we will work through it with all the important parties," Ballmer said in a live interview. "We need to take a all cyber attacks, not just this one seriously and we have a whole team of people that responds very real-time to any report that may have something to do with our software, which we don't yet."

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Sociolatte

Xbox Project Natal demo videos, no contollers required.

We wrote about project Natal from Microsoft a few days ago. The system allows you to play games on the Xbox without external devices but your own body. The system recognizes your hand gestures, kicks boxes etc. It also comes with a 3D technology.

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Sociolatte

Microsoft sued over 'Bing!' name

Bing! Information Designs LLC. A small computer firm based in the Midwest had decided to sue the OS giant Microsoft. Over you guessed it the name Bing. They say the name 


Bing! alleges trademark infringement as well as unfair competition, claiming "Microsoft's use of the name dilutes the value of it and confuses the public about the companies' relationship to each other." The design company has used the name since 2000 and has pending application for registration of the mark. 


Bing!, yes the exclimation mark is a part of their name has been around since 2000 and is awaiting it's awaiting it's Bing! trademark. Yes the company has not yet received it's trademark rights and certificates.


“We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant’s offerings and Microsoft’s Bing,” said Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz.

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Sociolatte

Microsoft donates child porn fighting weapon

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it was unveiling a new software aimed at curbing and eliminating child porn. The system which is called PhotoDNA jointly developed by Microsoft and Dartmouth College.

How the system works is that it converts existing images into a mathematical pattern which can then be used to remove those images from other networks. It can even find images that match the initial phot even if it has been altered. It is called PhotoDNA because it works by extracting a signature from the picture which can be used to track other photos through their PhotoDNA code.

Microsoft has devoted the site microsoftphotodna.com with the title a Childhood for every child.

They are also asking people to replace your social profile with their campaign logo to help spread the word. So if you use Twitter, Facebook or Myspace your can add their logo to your site. We have a sample from their site below.

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Sociolatte

Twitter rival Plurk says Miscrosoft ripped off it's code

That is exactly what they are saying find below a copy of the statements proving this right from their blog

Here’s the short of what we think has happened:

• 
  Microsoft China officially launched its own microblogging service, MSN Juku/Hompy/Mclub, some time in November, 2009.
  


• 
  The service’s design and UI is by and large an EXACT copy of Plurk’s innovative left-right timeline scrolling navigation system. (see screen captures below)
  


• 
  Some 80% of the client and product codebase appears to be stolen directly from Plurk! (see evidence below).
  


• Plurk was never approached nor collaborated in any capacity with MS on this service.


• As a young startup, we’re stunned, shocked, and unsure what to do next and need your support and suggestions.

The Company says since they are a startup they don't really know what to do and are asking for suggestions. Don't you hate it when all some large companies do is just copy.

They further went on to says that " Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements is just not cool, especially when the infringing party is the biggest software company in the world. Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft. Blerg"

Found on cnet

"It's the second time in recent weeks that Microsoft has been accused of lifting other's work in its products. Last month, the company was forced to pull down a tool for loading Windows 7 onto Netbooks after allegations that the product improperly included open-source code. Microsoft later apologized and last week re-released the toolunder the GPL open-source license.

"Plurk reportedly tops the microblog market in Taiwan, ahead of Twitter. It is also popular in other Asian countries such as Indonesia and Singapore. One reason: Twitter, due to cost and time, only operates a fully localized service in Asia for Japanese users. Plurk, meanwhile, solicits help from volunteers in each country to help translate key commands and phrases, with the best chosen by a vote in that country. That allows Plurk to offer its service in 33 languages, including Chinese, Gaelic, Arabic and Japanese.

Plurk is a 9 member company scattered across the world and was incorporated in Canada

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Sociolatte

Microsoft and News Corp In Pact To De-Index Content From Google

Yes. Microsoft and News Corp are in discussion to start "de-indexing" web content that belongs to News Corp from Google. Which may start a president in the newspaper industry that could lead to them asking search engines to pay to index their content. As reported by FT.com . Microsoft may have approached other big publishing houses to do the same. maybe offering a lucrative deal.

"Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chairman, has said that he would use legal methods to prevent Google “stealing stories” published in his papers."

And

"Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, has said that the company is prepared to spend heavily for many years to make Bing a serious rival to Google."

Wow. Thats some serious competition that microsoft has started to instigate. Will it pay to get De-Indexed from the world's largest and most efficient search engine?

It does turn things around though. Putting new pressure on the whole business of search and indexing. Lets wait and see how the story unfolds.

Once again we are reminded that content is king

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Sociolatte