Tag Archives: Microsoft

Meet the ‘Plumbers’ Powering ‘Halo 4’ Infinity Multiplayer

By Guest PostOctober 31, 2012Technology343 industries, armor abilities, bungie, cloud services, commander, dvr, Entertainment, game online, game studio, halo 2, halo 4, halo universe, halo waypoint, infinity multiplayer, jerry hook, luigi, mario, master chief, Microsoft, news center, plymouth rock, s curve, sara palmer, sci fi, social, spartan ops, subterranean it, tamir melamed, vehicles, video game, virtual machines, weapons, windows azure, xbox live

Members of 343 Industries talk to the Microsoft News Center about the infrastructure behind the “Halo 4” Infinity Multiplayer suite and the video game industry’s shift to a world of 24/7 live services.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 31, 2012 — Meet Jerry Hook and Tamir Melamed, the hardest-working plumbers in the video game world not named Mario or Luigi.

Hook and Melamed lead the engineering team laying the subterranean IT structures that will power every pixel of the multiplayer experience in “Halo 4.” Everything fans experience online – stats, screenshots, the simple joy of blasting a friend or stranger to smithereens – depends on the infrastructure they’ve built over the past year and half. That infrastructure is supported by Windows Azure, which provides the team with the affordable scalability they need to keep a game like “Halo 4” running smoothly for fans. (more…)

“Nike+ Kinect Training” Provides World Class Athletic Training – at Home

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2012Technologyalex molden, athletic training, Facebook, gold medalist, hippotherapy clinic, jim geist, kinect, kinect technology, kinect training, marie purvis, michelle tatom, Microsoft, motivation, motorcycle, my brain, nba stars, nike, olympic, play game, public, stacey law, testimonial, volunteer, wumpus, xbox 360

Microsoft and Nike team up to make Nike’s elite athletic training – never before available to the public – available to everyone in the comfort of their living room with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360.

REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 30, 2012 – Want to get athlete fit? With “Nike+ Kinect Training,” you can just do it in your living room.

“Nike+ Kinect Training,” a new personal training program for Xbox 360, hits shelves today. It’s just in time for gift shoppers – or, just in time to buy, open, and use it to help stay in shape during the calorie-laden holidays.

“This is really not an exercise game; it’s a game-changing, truly personalized fitness program,” says Michelle Tatom, one of Microsoft’s executive producers of “Nike+ Kinect Training.” (more…)

Meet Xbox Music, Microsoft’s New All-in-One Music Service

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2012TechnologyAmazon, android, beautiful, cd, digital, entertainment business, free streaming, internet, ios, iTunes, launch, madonna, Microsoft, mp3, music catalog, music experience, music life, music pass, music service, music subscription, pandora, pc, personal collection, phone, platform, playlist, radio, radio station, scott porter, smart dj, tablet, windows 8, xbox 360, xbox live, xbox music, yusuf mehdi

Xbox Music is Microsoft’s brand new all-in-one music service that enables users to listen to music how, when, where and on what device they want. It is included in a rolling update to Xbox LIVE that starts Tuesday and will be expanded when Windows 8 launches.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 14, 2012 — If music makes the people come together, as Madonna says, the new Xbox Music gives people all the music they love, every way they want it.

Xbox Music, Microsoft’s new all-in-one music service, specially designed to let users listen to music in exactly the way they want, begins rolling out to millions of people around the world Oct. 16 on the Xbox 360, then to the masses with Windows 8 on Oct. 26. (more…)

Microsoft Helps W3C Create Single Site for Web Standards

By Guest PostOctober 8, 2012Technologyadobe, browser, challenge, clarity consulting, css property, developer network, device, director, docs, erik klimczak, Facebook, Google, hp, html5, image, internet explorer, logo, Microsoft, mozilla, multiple browser, nokia, online resource, opera, optimize, pixel lab, rey bango, robby ingebretsen, Technology, uniformly scale, w3c, web developer, web innovation, web platform, web specification, web standard, web technology, website, windows, windows azure, windows phone

A new community-driven site provides a comprehensive and authoritative source for Web developer documentation.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 8, 2012 — Web innovations are emerging at a relentless pace, and Web developers face the daily challenge of finding the accurate information needed to build great websites that work across the gamut of browsers and devices. Too often, their quest can feel like a wild goose chase.

They search numerous online resources, grapple with conflicting information, and cobble together what they hope is all the information they need on the technology or specification. In the worst case, the information they get is incomplete, dated or inaccurate. (more…)

comScore Reports August 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2012Technologyamericans, apple, application, Comscore, google android, htc, industry, intelligent, market share, Microsoft, mobile device, mobile phone, mobile subscriber, mobilens data, motorola, oem, online survey, rim, Samsung, smartphone, symbian, text messaging, US

Apple Inches Closer to #2 Position in OEM Market

RESTON, VA, October 2, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending August 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.7 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms, accounting for 52.6 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple accounted for 34.3 percent. (more…)

New Exchange Addresses Changing Landscape of Security

By Guest PostSeptember 24, 2012Technology2012, data security, exchange conference, harris, infographic, information, interactive poll, mec, Microsoft, new exchange

Harris Interactive poll highlights change in how information is shared, supports need for balanced approach to data security.

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 24, 2012 —Today marks the kick-off of Microsoft Exchange Conference 2012 (MEC), the first time in 10 years that Microsoft has held the event.

To take a look at how the communications landscape has evolved in the last decade, Microsoft worked with Harris Interactive to conduct a study of 450 IT pros. The infographic below provides a look into some of the most interesting results from the survey. Among them, IT pros report the need for better compliance and security as their companies expand, the variety of devices used in the workplace grows, and security attacks become more sophisticated. (more…)

Microsoft YouthSpark Grants to Encourage Youth to Do Great Things

By Guest PostSeptember 23, 2012Jobs, Technology21 st, akron, alex richards, america, anthony carmona, boys, brian hughes, brighton, century, Chicago, city year, clubs, create, cristian malpica, girls, high school, ja, marlin dacruz, megan pilbeam, Microsoft, new york, newton, nfte, nonprofit, ohio, opportunity, orion casey, ozone park, ryan gomes, samantha lewis, skill, stephanie foxworth, stephen hall, tiffany hill, travis holloway, US, Washington, world, year up, youth, youthspark initiative

As part of a commitment to create opportunities for 300 million youth around the world during the next three years, Microsoft announces support for five national U.S. nonprofits that focus on youth causes. Here’s a look at how these organizations are making a difference.

REDMOND, Wash. — As part of the launch of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative, Microsoft announced national partnerships with five major nonprofit organizations with missions to give youth the skills, education and job training they need to succeed: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Junior Achievement USA (JA), Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and Year Up.

On the surface, the nonprofit grants aim to bolster programs that help youth learn important 21st-century skills, find jobs and connect with caring adult mentors. (more…)

comScore MMX Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for August 2012

By Guest PostSeptember 12, 2012Technologyad exchanges, ad focus, advertising networks, aol advertising, august 2012, buy side networks, census, Comscore, comscore mmx, cookie rejection, data, demographic universe, digital world, dsps, Facebook, Google, google ad network, inorganic increase, instagram, linkedIn, methodology, Microsoft, mmx data, monthly analysis, MySpace, online media, pulsepoint, revv platform, rubicon project, safari browser, sharethis, specific media, ssps, tumblr, Twitter, udm, unified digital measurement, US, us market, usage, vibrant media, web activity, Yahoo

RESTON, VA, September 12, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for August 2012 based on data from the comScore MMX service.

With the release of August 2012 U.S. MMX data, comScore introduced three important methodological enhancements to our estimates that will affect data on a go-forward basis. The first enhancement is the incorporation of updated demographic universe estimates based on data from the 2010 U.S. census, which provides an improved accounting of the percentage of the population falling into each demographic segment. The second enhancement was an improvement in comScore’s enumeration survey methodology to better represent persons in cell-phone only households. The third and final enhancement is a new technique to account for cookie rejection in Safari browsers, for sites measured via comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement (UDM) methodology.. (more…)