In a blog post, the company promised:

With Kinect for Windows, we are investing in creating a platform that is optimized for scenarios beyond the living room, and delivering new software features on an ongoing basis, starting with “near mode”.  In addition to support for Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer preview (desktop apps only), Kinect for Windows will also support gesture and voice on Windows Embedded-based devices and will enhance how data is captured and accessed within intelligent systems across manufacturing, retail  and many more industries. We are building the Kinect for Windows platform in a way that will allow other companies to integrate Kinect into their offerings and we have invested in an approach that allows them to develop in ways that are dependable and scalable.

In short, Microsoft is all ready to provide you with one of the greatest experiences in the world of gesture computing. Not to mention that hving sold 8 million units in its first 60 days on the market, Kinect has claimed the Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device" already.

The ability to sell Kinect for Xbox 360 at its current price point is in large part subsidized by consumers buying a number of Kinect games, subscribing to Xbox Live, and making other transactions associated with the Xbox 360 ecosystem.

The Kinect kit for Windows will be available on 1 February 2012 across 12 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK and western Europe at a price-tag of $249.

Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" is going to be the version that Nokia is going to use in its Windows Phone devices. So definitely, there is a lot of hype surrounding Windows Phone 7.5 release and naturally everyone who is interested would want to watch Windows Phone 7.5 release online.

How To Watch Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" Release Webcast Online

The live webcast of Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" can be viewed here.

From the video it is evident that Microsoft has incorporated Metro UI to some extent in Windows 8. Microsoft's itself created typography-based design languages. Microsoft’s code name for that design language, is Metro. We've already seen Metro in Windows Phone 7, Media Center, and Zune.

Noticeable changes in the logon process of Windows 8 add time, date to the current system status. It is also evident that the taskbar in Windows 8 has been revamped in terms of functionality. An icon will be displayed next to the clock in the task bar which will indicate which particular account is currently logged into Windows 8 and will also show frequently used functions.

Overall, what you'll notice that Windows 8 has larger tiles, bigger buttons, and nice big fonts, making it easier for the user from every aspect. Following Microsoft's claim that Windows 8 will make its way onto tablets and ARM-based devices, it looks like Windows 8 is going to be specifically tailored for such devices.

Without much further ado, here's the video of Windows 8 logon process:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fGiegXLrK8

By now you know that Angry Birds is a phenomenal game. The recent rendition of Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio was downloaded 10 million times in just ten days! The numbers are staggering, and it looks like Windows Phone 7 users have one hell of a game coming their way. Previously, Windows 7 and XP both have already received the Angry Birds game.

It seems like the future looks promising for Windows Phone 7, primarily because of the fact that this is one dominant mainstream game across all mobile platforms, the most popular of which are iOS and Android. Windows Phone 7 is likely to experience a boost once more mainstream developers and applications come its way.

Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 will be available for download at the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace starting May 25.

Kinect for Windows SDK will enable you to have:

• The latest advances in audio processing, which include a four-element microphone array with sophisticated acoustic noise and echo cancellation for crystal clear audio.
• Sound source localization for beamforming, which enables the determination of a sound’s spatial location, enhancing reliability when integrated with the Microsoft speech recognition API.
• Depth data, which provides the distance of an object from the Kinect camera, as well as the raw audio and image data, which together open up opportunities for creating richer natural user interface experiences.
• Highly performant and robust skeletal tracking capabilities for determining the body positions of one or two persons moving within the Kinect field of view.
• Documentation for the APIs and a description of the SDK architecture.
• Sample code that demonstrates how to use the functionality in the SDK.

Obviously, Kinect for Windows SDK is for non-commercial use only. Developers can now sign-up for Kinect for Windows SDK beta, download of which will start from May 16.

How To Sign-Up for Kinect for Windows SDK Beta

Developers can sign-up for Kinect for Windows SDK beta here.

President of Microsoft interactive business division Don Mattrick has revealed that Microsoft will ship the SDK in the Spring while the beta will most likely arrive today.

Kinect for Windows SDK will now officially allow developers to develop applications which use the kinect hardware on Windows. Microsoft has still not revealed the features of Kinect for Windows SDK, but it is expected that Joe Belfiore and Scott Guthrie will reveal them in the keynote on Wednesday, which is today.

Stay tuned as more coverage on Kinect for Windows SDK will come as soon as it develops.

According to Microsoft, Office for Mac 2011 SP1 brings improved syncing between Outlook for Mac and calenders on iOS devices. Outlook now has support for syncing with Apple Sync Services as well.

Full detailed changelog of Office for Mac Service Pack 1 embedded below:

• Security is improved.
  This update fixes vulnerabilities in Office 2011 that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. For more information, see the security bulletin that was listed earlier in this document.
• Stability is improved.
  This update fixes an issue that causes Office 2011 applications to close unexpectedly when you open or use Office 2011 applications.
• Alt Text authoring is included.
  This update enables the authoring of Alt Text for objects, such as shapes, pictures, tables, charts, SmartArt, and movies in Office 2011 applications.

Improvements for Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011

• The Solver add-in is included.
  This update includes functionality that lets you install the Solver analysis tools in Excel 2011.

Improvements for Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011

• Password protect functionality is included.
  This update includes functionality that lets you protect presentations in PowerPoint 2011 by using a password.

Improvements for Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011

• Synchronization functionality is updated.
  This update increases support for Sync Services, and adds calendar, notes, and tasks syncing.
• Rules functionality is improved.
  This update introduces support for Microsoft Exchange-based Server-Side rules.
• Resend functionality is included.
  This update reintroduces functionality to resend an email message to the same or new recipients.
• Redirect functionality is included.
  This update reintroduces functionality to redirect an incoming email message to other recipients.
• Meeting invitation functionality is improved.
  This update improves creating meeting invitations by including a list of recently used locations

Download Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1

The 264MB update file can be downloaded from here. You can also go to any particular application in the Office for Mac suite and click Check for Updates.

On day one of MIX 2011, Microsoft largely focused on Internet Explorer 10 and showcased how well IE10 handles graphics and video as compared to the other web browsers. HTML5 and CSS3 handling capabilities of IE10 were demoed as well. In the announcements, Microsoft claimed that Windows 7 has passed Windows XP in the US.

Want more details from MIX11? Follow the link below to view the free online live stream.

How To Watch MIX 2011 Live Stream Online

To watch the free online live stream of MIX 2011, go here.

Welcome to the Platform Preview

The Platform Preview is an early look at the Internet Explorer platform so some features are incomplete, some may change, and some may be added. To learn more about this preview of the Web Platform, please see the Internet Explorer 10 Developer Guide. These release notes list new features available in the latest Platform Preview and known issues with those features. To report issues, and provide feedback please click on Report Issue and click Send Feedback.

What’s New in Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1

Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1 is the first public preview of the IE10 web platform. In this release, we are showcasing support for CSS3 Flexbox, CSS3 Grid Alignment, CSS3 Multi-column, CSS3 Gradients on background-images and ECMAScript5 Strict Mode.

Obviously, if you try out Platform Preview 1 of Internet Explorer 10, you are bound to find out many bugs. We'll be glad to hear from your end what you like, and don't like about Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1.

Download Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1

Download Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 1

The dropping of market share comes as a bit of a surprise when you consider the fact that the final version of Internet Explorer 9 went live in the same month. Another thing that’s worth mentioning here is that the web surfers have been forced by Microsoft to stop using the outdated Internet Explorer 6 which may have a huge say in this decline. One just wonders if the release of Firefox 4 in the last month played its part as well.

Microsoft’s browser has been going downhill since 2010 due to the famous EU ruling which required Microsoft to implement a browser ballot screen in Windows 7 which enables users to download the browser of their choosing and not be stuck with IE. The only thing positive to note here is that Internet Explorer is still king of the browser for now.

So your Zune HD music player is now capable of sending and receiving emails, great no?

The email application on Zune HD works with Gmail, Windows Live Mail as well as POP3 email accounts. The screenshot above shows that email on Zune HD has been implemented in a rather nice way. It should also be kept in mind that the design of the Zune HD email app is similar to the default email app of Windows Phone 7.

The Zune HD email app is now available for download, and can be downloaded on your Zune HD free of cost from the Zune HD App Marketplace.

Here is a quick look at the notable numbers:

• 1.5 million downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools
• 36,000 Windows Phone developers
• 11,500 Windows Phone 7 applications
• 7,500 paid Windows Phone 7 applications
• 1,200 newly registered Windows Phone developers each week
• 1,100 apps generating developer revenue using Microsoft’s Advertising Ad Control
• 12 apps downloaded on average per customer each month
• 1.8 days is the average certification time for apps
• 62% of all apps pass certification on their first attempt
• 44% of all paid apps include a trial version
• 40% of registered developers have published an application

The most notable figure is the number of apps that are available in the Windows Marketplace, more than 11,500 apps. Microsoft launched the app store for Windows Phone on 26th October with 1,000 apps, which means that the Windows Marketplace inventory has increased 10 times in the five month period. Another thing worth noticing is the approval time for an app about 2 days which isn’t that long. It remains to be seen when will it hit the 15k apps mark? Any guesses?

[via Winrumors]

Bill Gates said:

This is pure racism. Provided that the world is now ruled by black iPhone 4s, that however does not mean the the white boys (read: iPhone 4s) shouldn't be let out of the closet. I fear that the black community may rise up against Apple and Steve Jobs particularly, for protecting the white iPhone 4 against the black ones. The white iPhone 4 has been facing delays ever since it was announced, so much so that it was announced considerably, if only seconds, later than the black iPhone 4! Now is this not being racist?

It looks like next month Apple may finally release the white iPhone 4, till then, it looks like Bill Gates has finally come forward and said that words that have for long been in the minds of thousands of iPhone users.

Dave McLauchlan, senior business development manager for Zune, explained in a tad short of an official statement on AnythingButiPod forums that Zune was not at all killed, or dominated in the market, by the iPod. He also reminded the readers that all consumer electronics products have a particular lifespan and the Zune HD is already 18 months old. Apart from all of this, he happened to have promised new apps and games.

The Zune head has said that this year, Zune's hardware is the Windows Phone 7. However, ever after refuting all of these reports, he has still not come up with the answer to the obvious question. Will we be seeing any new models of Zune? That, ladies and gentlemen, time will tell.

Even if the Zune hardware itself is ultimately killed, don't expect the Zune legacy to die out. Keep in mind that the Zune store is equal to iTunes when it comes to content and quantity of that content. The deep integration of Zune services on Windows Phones will definitely add an edge to the devices.

What does the future hold for Zune? Stay tuned to find out as the story develops.

Bloomberg reports that Microsoft shall cease to produce new models of Zune, however it shall continue selling existing versions of the Zune music player.

Microsoft, in a bid to revive Zune, introduced Zune HD in order to compete with the iPod, nevertheless, Zune HD never appealed to the customers as much as the Apple iPod did. According to statistic, the Apple iPod literally dominates the music player market, by having a staggering share of 77% in the market.

On the other hand, Microsoft revealed Windows Phone 7, essentially to compete with the Apple iPhone. Up till now, it looks like the Windows Phone 7 is gaining popularity and market share steadily against the iPhone, and following the recent partnership between Nokia and Microsoft, for which Nokia received one billion dollars from Microsoft, under which Nokia will produce Windows Phone 7 powered handsets, the concept phones are spectacular, it looks like Windows Phone 7 has a long way to go, without being shy of the iPhone.

Primarily, it looks like Microsoft's decision to kill Zune is based on moving Windows Phone 7 to more devices.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 brings a host of new features and functions to the IE browsing experience. The IE9 final version allows you to pin web apps on the Windows 7 taskbar, which is entirely a new function. IE9 includes full support for HTML5, it uses Microsoft DirectX technology for graphics rendering on the GPU level as well as having a completely new User Interface.

You can now download final version of Internet Explorer 9 from the following links:

Download IE9 for Windows 7 x86
Download IE9 for Windows 7 x64
Download IE9 for Windows Vista x86
Download IE9 for Windows Vista x64

Please Note: After the installation of Internet Explorer 9 final version is complete, it will require you to restart your computer. Many people, including me, consider this as a big fail.

Ever since Microsoft and Nokia became partners, there was a feeling in the smartphone sphere that Microsoft may give Finlanders some lucrative incentive to develop Windows Phone handsets. Considering this amount, it doesn’t get more encouraging than this, does it? Here’s how Microsoft will get some if not all of its investment amount back. Nokia will be paying Microsoft a license fee for each Windows Phone handset they manufacture.

Currently Windows Phone 7 is experiencing what I call a strange adoption trend. Developers seems to have developed a liking for Microsoft’s mobile platform which is always an encouraging point. Here’s the weird part – consumers aren’t jumping on the Windows Phone bandwagon as fast as Steve Ballmer and co would have liked.

The partnership agreement will remain in effect for five years. Both Microsoft and Nokia will be hoping that they can get their respective graphs in the right direction within this time period. Do you see Microsoft and Nokia coming out of a seemingly dark hole?

The way this partnership will work is an interesting one. Bing is set to sponsor a 4-part animated video series which will see Angry Birds players coming across Bing siblings in Bing Image Search, Bing Maps and Bing Shopping. Here's how Angry Birds, whose Android version recently saw its download count go past the 30M mark, comes into the picture. The videos will provide tips to the players of the physics based game on how to reach the advanced levels of the game.

Bing Search will also be integrated into Angry Birds. This brings forth a valid question - what's in it for the die hard fans of Angry Birds? Here’s a compelling answer: Bing will provide more than hundred clues to guide players through different levels of the game. By clues, I am guessing the search engine will tell you the angles from which the Angry birds should be fired.

This partnership seems like an innocent one, right? Well as long as Bing is helping Angry Birds gamers speed through the without having to tear out, I see no reason to complain.

If you remember, we shall soon be able to play Angry Birds on Facebook. Guess, where it'll be more popular, Facebook or Bing? We'd love to hear your opinion.

[via Winrumors]

Those who are familiar with Groupon will have no trouble using the Deals feature offered by Bing. Bing Deals works by providing you access to more than 200,000 unique offers in over 14,000 cities and towns. Not only can you search the best offers there are, you can also share it with your friends and family members.

Currently Bing Deals is limited to US users only and can be accessed via Desktop and official site (m.bing.com). The functionality will be rolled out for other markets at a later stage.

Android and iPhone users can get this same feature by downloading the official Bing app from the respective App Stores. Windows Phone 7 users won't be getting this feature just yet since the functionality requires HTML5 whose support is yet to be implemented in Microsoft's glance and go experience offering Windows Phone OS.

[via ZDNet]

Microsoft will be releasing this as a non-commercial SDK with an attract to attract students and technology enthusiasts:

The hope is that the SDK will unleash a wave of creativity to add to the already exciting developments we’ve seen on top of Kinect. The SDK will provide access to Kinect’s sensor as well audio and system API’s. It’s being released by Microsoft Research as a non-commercial SDK aimed at academics and enthusiasts. As you may have read in earlier posts, MSR played a pivotal role by providing some of the core technology for Kinect in areas such as facial recognition and skeletal tracking and this SDK is more evidence of the tight collaboration between MSR and our product teams.

I personally am very pleased to see the open-mindedness from the Redmondians since the SDK will open world to a whole set of new possibilities. Researchers will enjoy this SDK as well.