The Surface represents a bold shift in Microsoft strategy as the company is now competing head-to-head with the OEMs who helped to make Microsoft the dominant player in the market that it is today.
The Surface will go on-sale tonight, at midnight, but online orders are currently backordered so if you want a Surface, you will need to find your local Microsoft retail outlet.
Nokia has announced the Lumia 510 mobile phone, targeted at the entry-level, style-seeking smartphone users. The phone will be the most affordable Windows Phone.
Lumia 510 Specifications:
Microsoft has posted the RTM build of Office 2013 and Exchange to TechNet and MSDN for those of you who are lucky enough to have access to those platforms. These two new products bring with them a host of new features and also a flatter look but are still far from the "modern" them that Microsoft has been deploying across all of its products.
People who purchase the current retail version of Office 2010 starting on October 19 will be able to get a free copy of Office 2013 when it ships sometime in the first quarter of 2013. As previously announced, people who purchase a new Windows RT-based hardware product on or after October 26th will get the final version of Office 2013 too.
Microsoft has also said that subscribers to Office 365 Enterprise will get some "new capabilities" in an upcoming update that will be made available in November.
Download: Office 2013
Skype for Desktop 6.0 focuses on improving integration with existing Microsoft Messenger and Facebook services.
New features include the ability to log in using either Microsoft or Facebook accounts before linking all three together. One reason for doing so is that Skype now supports IM conversations with Messenger contacts as well as other Skype and Facebook friends.
Skype 6 is a major upgrade and brings these changes:
- Sharing Instant Messages with friends with Messenger
- Improved Facebook integration
- Sign in with a Microsoft or Facebook account.
- Link Microsoft and Facebook accounts to a Skype account.
- Updated visual design.
- Removal of the online user count.
- Display previously created profile pictures.
- Improved telemetry.
Download Skype
It seems that Google is very keen to squish bugs in its Chrome browser; so much so in fact that, according to Infoworld, it has paid one researcher $3,133.7 for finding a single bug. Researcher Sergey Glazunov discovered a flaw related to "stale pointer in speech handling." This apparently affects the code in the application which handles allocation of RAM. Google's Chrome programming manager, Jason Kersey, had this to say:
"We’re delighted to offer our first “elite” $3,133 Chromium Security Reward to Sergey Glazunov. Critical bugs are harder to come by in Chrome, but Sergey has done it. Sergey also collects a $1337 reward and several other rewards at the same time, so congratulations Sergey!"
This is the first time that a critical bug has been discovered since Google launched the scheme in December of last year. According to Infoworld, all in all, Google paid Glazunov $7,470, and a total of $14,000 to various researchers including Glazunov.
The browser currently has a 10% share of the market in terms of users, so security is a key priority for Google, as attacks and malware become ever more sophisticated. Google plans to continue the program for the foreseeable future as it provides a key incentive for independent researchers such as Glazunov.
The latest version of Google Chrome can be downloaded from here or via the automatic updates function.
The popular online speed trap tracker, Trapster, has issued an email to its 10 million registered members, citing that their passwords may have been hacked. The mobile application is available on a number of smartphones, including the iPhone, a number of BlackBerry and Android headsets and other smartphones.
The website has over 10 million mobile users, who all might be at risk of having their password stolen. The company issued an email stating that users should change their passwords. Although the company still doesn't know exactly how much data was compromised, they can only assume the hacker acquired all of the online mobile data, which includes usernames, emails and passwords.
How do I know if my password was hacked?
We believe it's best to be cautious. So, if you've registered your account with Trapster, then it's best to assume that your e-mail address and password were included among the compromised data.
With over 10 million email accounts and passwords stolen, it won't take long for a hacker, or team of hackers, to decrypt the encrypted passwords. It's recommended that users change their password on Trapster and any other account on the Internet they share the same password with.
This database leak comes just a month after Gawker had their database, source code and other private information stolen. A list of usernames and unencrypted passwords were later posted on the Internet.
Google announced today that as part of a shakeup in senior management, Eric Schmidt is stepping down from his role as Chief Executive Officer. Schmidt, who has been in the role for the last 10 years, will be replaced by another of Google's co-founders, Larry Page. He will also lead product development and technology strategy. The current CEO however isn't leaving the company and will stay on in an advisory capacity as the Executive Chairman. On the change Mr. Schmidt had the following to say:
We’ve been talking about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making for a long time. By clarifying our individual roles we’ll create clearer responsibility and accountability at the top of the company. In my clear opinion, Larry is ready to lead and I’m excited about working with both him and Sergey for a long time to come.
Google's other co-founder Sergey Brin has decided as part of this shakeup that he will devote his time and energy toward strategic projects, and more specifically new products.
Mr. Page commented on his promotion to CEO saying:
Eric has clearly done an outstanding job leading Google for the last decade. The results speak for themselves. There is no other CEO in the world that could have kept such headstrong founders so deeply involved and still run the business so brilliantly. Eric is a tremendous leader and I have learned innumerable lessons from him. His advice and efforts will be invaluable to me as I start in this new role. Google still has such incredible opportunity–we are only at the beginning and I can’t wait to get started.
The changeover however will not be immediate, and will instead take place April 4th.
Microsoft Corp. unveiled the Touch Mouse, a new multitouch device designed for Windows 7 that lets people click, flick, scroll and swipe, making it easy and fun to interact with their PCs. Born from the Mouse 2.0 project conducted by Microsoft Research and the Applied Sciences Group, the Touch Mouse combines the virtues of a mouse with the rich natural language of gesture that lets people interact with Windows 7 in a more intuitive way.
“The new Touch Mouse is a great way for customers to interact naturally with their Windows 7-based PC,” said Mark Relph, senior director of the Windows Developer and Ecosystem Team at Microsoft. “We worked closely with the Microsoft Hardware team to help develop the multitouch gestures that make Windows 7 easier, simpler and more fun to use. After just a few minutes with this mouse you’ll see why.”
• One finger lets people manage individual documents or pages by flicking to quickly scroll, pan and tilt, and one thumb lets people move back or forward through a Web browser.
• Two fingers manage windows, letting people maximize, minimize, snap and restore them.
• Three fingers let people navigate their whole desktop, showing instant viewer or clearing their desktop.
The Web Deployment Tool simplifies migration, management and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications and Web sites.
The Web Deployment Tool simplifies the migration, management and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications and Web sites. Administrators can use command-line scripting with the Web Deployment Tool to synchronize IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 servers or to migrate an IIS 6.0 server to IIS 7.0. The Web Deployment Tool also enables administrators and delegated users to use IIS Manager to deploy ASP.NET and PHP applications to an IIS 7.0 server.
Migrate Web applications between IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 with ease
Simplify the planning of your IIS 6.0 to IIS 7.0 migrations by determining incompatibilities and previewing the proposed changes before starting the process. Learning about any potential issues in advance gives you the chance to take corrective measures and simplifies migration.
Synchronize your server farm efficiently
The Web Deployment Tool allows you to efficiently synchronize sites, applications or servers across your IIS 7.0 server farm by detecting differences between the source and destination content and transferring only those changes which need synchronization. The tool simplifies the synchronization process by automatically determining the configuration, content, databases and certificates to be synchronized for a specific site. In addition to the default behavior, you still have the option to specify additional providers for the synchronization, including COM, GAC and registry settings.
Package, archive and deploy Web applications more easily
The Web Deployment Tool enables you to package configuration and content of your installed Web applications, including SQL databases, and use the packages for storage or redeployment. These packages can be deployed using IIS Manager without requiring administrative privileges. The tool also integrates with Visual Studio 2010 to help developers streamline the deployment of Web applications to the Web server.
For more information, see the following articles: