Tag Archives: Microsoft

Microsoft Selects the Nation’s Top Educators at the U.S. Innovative Education Forum

By Guest PostAugust 1, 2011Education, Technology2011 us innovative education forum, acte, alabama, alaska, andrew ko, anthony sablan, association for career and technical education, california, ccsso, colin horack, council for chief state school officers, educators, engineering and math, florida, ief, jason arthur, kelli etheredge, louis zulli jr, melanie wiscount, michigan, Microsoft, microsoft corp., partners in learning global forum, Pennsylvania, Science, south carolina, stem learning, Technology, Washington

*Outstanding educators using technology are recognized for their contribution and impact in teaching.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 1, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced 11 educators from Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington who have been selected as winners of the 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF). The IEF is an event recognizing innovative teachers and school leaders who creatively and effectively use technology in their curriculum to help improve the way kids learn while increasing student success. Out of the thousands that applied, 100 educators from 25 states were selected for a spot to compete on Microsoft’s corporate campus in Redmond. IEF participants also voted on their peers in the Educator’s Choice category and selected a winning project. The winning educators will represent the U.S. and advance to compete against educators from around the world at the Partners in Learning Global Forum, Nov. 6–11, 2011 in Washington, D.C. (more…)

Kinect for Xbox 360 Brings Gaming to Kids with Disabilities

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2011Technologyalisha mark, avri davis, cerebral palsy, Christmas day, christmas morning, desktop specialist, hydrocephalus, katie davis, kid games, kinect, kinect sports, matthew rosen, Microsoft, microsoft technology, olympics games, playstation 3, sarah rosen, todd rosen, xbox

*Kinect’s controller-free gaming is helping children with disabilities play video games for the first time.*

REDMOND, Wash. — July 20, 2011 — Kinect, launched last fall, has been dubbed a gaming game-changer. And for some youngsters who’ve never been able to play games before, it’s been a life-changer.

By eliminating the controller, Kinect has removed a barrier for some people with mobility and coordination difficulties. Among them is Avri Davis. Although the 14-year-old is the oldest of six children, she’s never been able to keep up with her siblings. Avri was born with hydrocephalus, a situation where excess fluid puts pressure on her brain. (more…)

Microsoft Announces Simple Transfer of Health Data From Google Health Service to Microsoft HealthVault

By Guest PostJuly 18, 2011TechnologyGoogle, google health, google health profile, google health service, healthvault, Microsoft, microsoft amalga, microsoft corp., microsoft health solutions group, microsoft healthvault, nate mclemore, personal health information, sentillion inc

*Google Health users can send their Google Health profile directly to a HealthVault account using Direct Project messaging protocols.*

REDMOND, Wash. — July 18, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that people using the Google Health service, scheduled to be discontinued Jan. 1, 2012, can easily transfer their personal health information stored in a Google Health profile to a Microsoft HealthVault account using the Direct Project messaging protocols established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The Direct Project specifies a simple, scalable, standards-based way for participants to send authenticated, encrypted health information to known, trusted recipients over the Internet.

Google announced on June 24 that Google Health will be discontinued, effective Jan. 1, 2012, with records remaining available to account holders until Jan. 1, 2013. (more…)

Dream Chasers: Winners of 2011 Imagine Cup Announced in New York City

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Technology9th annual imagine cup, aine conaghan, azure, Bangladesh, bill and melinda gates, brazil, calum cawley, denmark, dream chasers, embedded development contest, eva longoria, fernanda fonteles, france, game design, geekologic, Greece, imagine cup, ireland, james mcnamara, jean sebastien duchene, korea, lincoln center, Microsoft, microsoft technologies, mike bloomberg, new york, new york city, new york city mayor, newkrean, northwestern irish city, nthucs, onebeep, poland, romania, silverlight, sligo, sql server, taiwan, team hermes, team rapture, thirdeye, winners of 2011 imagine cup, xbox category

*Teams from Ireland, Taiwan, France, Poland, Brazil, Greece, Korea, Denmark and Romania today took home the nine top awards at Microsoft’s 9th annual Imagine Cup. Microsoft also announced a $3 million grant program to help Imagine Cup participants solve the world’s toughest challenges.*

NEW YORK CITY – July 13, 2011 – Student projects that tackle global problems such as improving road and fire safety, eradicating poverty, and creating a more sustainable environment took top honors at the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York on Wednesday.

Ireland’s Team Hermes won the competition’s premier Software Design category and $25,000 (U.S.) with their project that combined embedded technology, mobile devices and cloud computing technology to change driving habits and reduce road deaths. (more…)

comScore Releases June 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Technologyaol, ask network, Comscore, google and bing, google sites, Microsoft, organic core explicit searches, search marketplace, US, Yahoo

RESTON, VA, July 13, 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 June with 65.5 percent of search queries conducted.

U.S. Explicit Core Search

Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in June with 65.5 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 15.9 percent and Microsoft Sites with 14.4 percent (up 0.3 percentage points). Ask Network accounted for 2.9 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.4 percent. (more…)

Imagine Cup Competitors Fired Up by Ballmer, Sachs, and Crowley; Finalists Announced

By Guest PostJuly 12, 2011Technologyarthur vanderveen, Bangladesh, brazil, bulgaria, columbia university, cyber knightz, dennis crowley, earth institute, economist, foursquare, france, imagine cup, imagine cup 2011, India, information technology, Japan, jeffrey sachs, limits of ecosystems, limits of food supply, malaysia, Microsoft, microsoft ceo, Netherlands, new york city, new york city department of education, new zealand, resource limits, romania, senegal, steve ballmer, Thailand, wai lun chan, world finals

*Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, economist Jeffrey Sachs, and Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley opened the Imagine Cup 2011 World Finals on Friday night. The competition heated up over the weekend with the first set of finalists being announced Sunday night.*

NEW YORK CITY – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer inspired them to be great, economist Jeffrey Sachs gave them the homework assignment of saving the world, and Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley showed them how tangibly close they are to success.

Students representing 70 countries and regions descended on New York City over the weekend to participate in the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals, which challenges students from across the globe to use technology to solve world problems like feeding the hungry, fighting disease, and creating new forms of energy. Finalists in the competition’s nine categories were announced on Sunday and the overall winners will be announced on Wednesday. (more…)

Summer Sailing in the Cloud With Office 365

By Guest PostJuly 5, 2011Technologyamerican spirit, ben vanheusden, boston whaler, california, chelsea piers, chicago to new orleans, ft lauderdale, john bertsch, john mirassou, lync online, marty burke, maryland, Microsoft, microsoft technology, motorboats, new york city, norfolk, office 365, penny delgadillo, redondo beach, sailors, sea, spirit 7, statue of liberty, tough economic times, Washington

*Three friends are sailing the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in search of the American spirit. They’ve chronicled their journey and stayed connected with help from Office 365, an official sponsor of the trip.*

BOSTON – July 5, 2011 – In 1987, John Mirassou and two friends set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on a 17-foot Boston Whaler. They didn’t expect to find anything more than good times on their journey, which ultimately logged some 6,100 miles. They were wrong.

“What started out as way to see the country by boat really turned into a story about the American people,” Mirassou said. “Everywhere we went we were taken in by people we had never met. This American spirit came out in amazing instances of generosity.” (more…)

Google Android Leads Acceleration in Smartphone Adoption in Japan

By Guest PostJune 30, 2011Technologyandroid devices, apple, apple iphones, canada, Comscore, comscore japan, comscore mobilens, daizo nishitani, european mobile media landscapes, google android, Japan, japan kk, Microsoft, mobile usage in japan, regza, smartphones, sony ericsson, toshiba, xperia

*iPhones Still Account for 3 of Top 5 Smartphone Models*

*comScore Releases Latest Mobile Industry Insights from its MobiLens Product*

Tokyo, Japan, June 30, 2011 – comScore Japan KK, a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest insights into mobile usage in Japan from its comScore MobiLens product. The report found that Google Android led as the top smartphone platform in March 2011 with 4.6 million users, more than doubling its subscriber base from December 2010. Apple ranked second with 3.9 million mobile subscribers in Japan. (more…)