*Avatar Kinect, the facial recognition technology coming to Kinect for Xbox 360 this spring, started out in the lab and soon will end up in the living room. Avatar Kinect’s journey from prototype to product shows how ideas move from research to product at Microsoft.*
REDMOND, Wash., – May 16, 2011 – When you smile, your Xbox 360 avatar will smile with you. (more…)
SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)— Yahoo! Inc., issued the following statement in response to recent media reports regarding the timing of the restructuring of Alipay:
On March 31, 2011, Yahoo! and Softbank were notified by Alibaba Group of two transactions that occurred without the knowledge or approval of the Alibaba Group board of directors or shareholders. The first was the transfer of ownership of Alipay in August 2010. The second was the deconsolidation of Alipay effective in the first quarter of 2011. (more…)
*70 Percent of Mobile Users “Checking-In” from an Android or Apple Phone*
*Check-In Service Users Demonstrate Strong Propensity for Mobile Media Usage*
RESTON, VA, May 12, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results from a study of 
mobile social networking check-in service users based on data from its comScore MobiLens service. The study found that 16.7 million U.S. mobile subscribers used location-based “check-in” services on their phones in March 2011, representing 7.1 percent of the entire mobile population. 12.7 million check-in users did so on a smartphone, representing 17.6 percent of the smartphone population. The study also found that check-in service users showed a high propensity for mobile media usage, including accessing retail sites and shopping guides, and displayed other characteristics of early adopters, including a stronger likelihood of owning a tablet device and accessing tech news, when compared to the average smartphone user. (more…)
RESTON, VA, May 11, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore 
qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in April with 65.4 percent of search queries conducted.
The April 2011 qSearch data reflect the impact of Yahoo! Search Direct, Yahoo!’s new feature that delivers search results in real-time while users type their query. Yahoo! Search Direct was available only on Yahoo! U.S. Web Search for the month of April. (more…)
*comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni to Present Update on Q1 2011 E-Commerce Trends in Upcoming Webinar*
RESTON, VA, May 10, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q1 2011 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $38.0 billion for the quarter, up 12 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the sixth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates. (more…)
*Combined companies will benefit consumers, businesses and increase market opportunity.*
REDMOND, Wash., and LUXEMBOURG – May 10, 2011 – Microsoft Corp. and Skype Global S.à r.l today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Skype.
The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services. (more…)
Introduces industry-first tape library technology capable of storing nearly 3 exabytes of data — enough to store almost 3X the mobile data in U.S. in 2010
ARMONK, N.Y., – 09 May 2011: IBM today announced new tape storage and enhanced archiving, deduplication offerings designed to help clients efficiently store and extract intelligence from massive amounts of data. (more…)
Microsoft employee Larry Venter, a native South African, had a hunch that Kinect for Xbox 360 could help the children at a rural school in his hometown get excited about learning English and that gaming could help in the fight against widespread illiteracy
REDMOND, Wash. – A story that began with a mischievous Icelandic volcano has ended happily with South African schoolchildren using Kinect for Xbox 360 to learn English. (more…)
