For those who haven’t seen, Microsoft has released a new video detailing the thoughts and design behind Windows 8 — which, from the looks of it, promises to be a major milestone in the Windows line. By putting an emphasis on web applications, and integrating the beautifully minimal “Metro UI,” across their desktop and mobile products, it looks like Microsoft is really putting themselves back in the game.
(Source: youtube.com)
Android Patent Infringement: Licensing is the Solution — Microsoft
The absurdity of these patents exemplifies why we need patent reform. Displaying a web page’s text content before the background image has loaded? A file download’s progress bar? Document annotations saved separately from a document? There is no innovation here. This is just Microsoft acting in an anticompetitive manner because it can’t compete by being genuinely innovative.
“Your potential. Microsoft’s passion… for licensing/suing you for infringement of idiotic patents on the obvious.”
Kinect as 3D scanner: Fabricate Yourself
A new project uses the Microsoft Kinect as a crude 3D scanner. Joris from i.materialise sez, “Fabricate Yourself is a tool by Karl Willis of Interactive Fabrication. Released at the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction Conference, the tool lets people strike a pose in front of a Microsoft Kinect. If they like the pose they can 3D print the result.
Story: BoingBoing
Nokia and Microsoft have officially entered a strategic alliance that makes Windows Phone 7 Nokia’s primary smartphone platform, but also extends into many other Microsoft services such as Bing, Xbox Live and Office. I say this will be good.
X-Box just launched the new Kinect with hundreds of synchronized dancers in Times Square. Awesome!
Hardware is magic, software is two times magic.
