Microsoft kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show Wednesday evening with a relatively subdued keynote that highlighted an upcoming update to Windows Phone 7 and demoed Windows on ARM's system-on-a-chip architecture.
A new report claims that software giant Microsoft will challenge the Apple TV and Google TV platforms when it introduces a stripped down version of Windows for set top boxes and connected TVs later this year.
Microsoft is reportedly planning to take on Apple TV and Google TV with a new subscription service that will be delivered through the company's popular Xbox 360 game console.
Microsoft confirmed Friday that CEO Steve Ballmer intends to sell almost one-fifth of his stake in the software giant, starting with sales this week that total $1.3 billion, while a new report claims Apple tried to license the technology used in Microsoft's new motion-tracking Kinect peripheral.
Citing strong pre-orders and a seasonal holiday lift, the spokesman for Microsoft's Kinect, a motion-tracking camera accessory for the Xbox 360, said the device would easily outsell the iPad.
Apple's revised 27" iMac introduced this spring debuted a new feature: a Mini DisplayPort video port that worked in both directions, enabling external video sources to output video to the screen. That feature is largely limited to 720p in HDTV applications however.
In the face of success from Apple and Google in the portable device market, Microsoft is expected to announce "major organizational changes" in the company's Entertainment and Devices Division, responsible for Windows Phone, Zune and Xbox.
(Mobile World Congress) Just four months after Windows Mobile 6.5 hit the market, Microsoft has officially introduced Windows Phone 7 Series, the new multitouch-capable mobile operating system the software giant hopes will take on Apple's iPhone.
After two years of watching iPod sales pass it by, Microsoft has drawn a line in the sand and says it has a new Zune with hardware features to thwart the iPod touch, including a multi-touch display.
A director of Microsoft's Xbox team is on his way to Apple. Meanwhile, the Mac maker appears to be taking its time to assure that Mac OS X 10.5.7 Update is rock solid before it's released to the public. And one of our sponsors is clearing out early model MacBook Airs for $999 and has dropped word that existing MacBook coupons won't run in May.
The broad industry support Apple is building around OpenCL will help increase the critical mass behind OpenGL, the 2D and 3D graphics language Apple uses extensively in Mac OS X.
Those expecting Blu-ray level video from Apple's new HD TV shows may be significantly disappointed — though buyers will find a surprise in the form of a smaller version for their iPhones and iPods.
A Microsoft filing with the US government reveals a newfound worry that the Windows developer's traditional stance of selling software alone won't work against an increasingly profitable Apple — a concern that may magnify as iPhone 3G pushes Apple's cellular market share past one percent worldwide.
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AppleInsider Staff
Josh Ong
Slash Lane
Daniel Eran Dilger
Katie Marsal
Prince McLean
Aidan Malley
