Software : Microsoft says Skype featured front-and-center in Windows 8.1

Microsoft says Skype featured front-and-center in Windows 8.1
Microsoft assails Google after YouTube app pulled, says reasons 'manufactured'
Improved imaging is the marque feature of Nokia's Lumia Amber update
Well that was fast: Google blocking Microsoft's re-released YouTube app

Microsoft says Skype featured front-and-center in Windows 8.1

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Microsoft is expanding its "one experience" vision by announcing that Skype will be included with its Windows 8.1 operating system update when it's released in October.

"Skype will be front-and-center on Windows 8.1 – from the very first time you turn on your PC," wrote Aga Guzik, Skype desktop marketing head, in an official blog post.

"Now you don't have to download your favorite app to stay in touch whenever you're apart. With Windows 8.1, simply log in and you're ready to go."

Having Skype built into Windows 8.1 as the default communications program should help the voice-over-IP service increase its current 300 million user count across different devices.

More than 20 new and improved apps

Skype is just one of more than 20 new and improved Microsoft apps and services that the company plans to launch with the operating system this fall.

"SkyDrive is a great example of our new approach," wrote Ryan Gavin, general manager of Microsoft apps and services on the Windows Experience blog.

"We believe that connecting and sharing should be a seamless part of every Windows experience."

That is being applied to other unified experiences that are a part of all Windows devices including Bing, Skype, Internet Explorer, SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Xbox Music, Video and Games.

Read how Skype may be spying on you.

Microsoft assails Google after YouTube app pulled, says reasons 'manufactured'

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The thin ice Google and Microsoft were skating in regards to a YouTube app looks to have cracked completely.

Hours after news broke that Google blocked Microsoft's two-day-old, re-released YouTube app, David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, laid blame for the situation squarely only Google's shoulders.

In a biting blog post, Howard singled out Google's call to use HTML5 as the sticking point in collaborating to get Windows Phone customers a YouTube app. He insinuated, however, that there's something more nefarious going on.

"It seems to us that Google's reasons for blocking our app are manufactured so that we can't give our users the same experience Android and iPhone users are getting," Howard wrote. "The roadblocks Google has set up are impossible to overcome, and they know it."

There's more: "We think it's clear that Google just doesn't want Windows Phone users to have the same experience as Android and Apple users, and that their objections are nothing other than excuses."

Blame game 2.0

Microsoft released its own YouTube app in May, however Google objected to the app on several grounds. Microsoft pulled it and the two companies committed to work in tandem to get an app out.

An updated application was released on Tuesday, and Microsoft claimed the new version addressed the concerns Google originally raised, including adding advertisements.

But the YouTube honeymoon was short lived, and Google disabled Microsoft's YouTube app earlier today.

In a statement sent to TechRadar, a YouTube spokesperson said that Google had been working with Microsoft to build a full-feature Windows Phone YouTube app, but one based on HTML5.

"Unfortunately, Microsoft has not made the browser upgrades necessary to enable a fully-featured YouTube experience, and has instead re-released a YouTube app that violates our Terms of Service," the spokesperson said, thus leading to the app's blockage.

Leveling the playing field

In his blog post, titled "The limits of Google's openness," Howard said Google did ask Microsoft to create its app using HTML5.

"This was an odd request since neither YouTube's iPhone app nor its Android app are built on HTLM5," Howard wrote.

Apps for both systems are generated and supported by Google.

After dedicating resources to developing such an app, "experts from both companies recognized that building a YouTube app based on HTLM5 would be technically difficult and time consuming," something Microsoft figured was keeping the iPhone and Android apps from transitioning to the coding language.

Ultimately, Microsoft decided to publish its non-HTLM5 YouTube app while committing to work with Google on a long-term basis to create a code-adherent app, Howard explained.

He said Microsoft is willing to collaborate with Google on an app based on the code, "but we shouldn't be required to do something that apparently neither iPhone nor Android has successfully figured out how to do."

We've asked Google for comment on Howard's post and where the situation stands and will update this story with information as it becomes available.

Yeah, there's more

After calling Google's reasons for blocking access "manufactured," Howard addressed several other issues raised regarding the YouTube application.

When it comes to ads, Howard claimed that Microsoft's app served Google ads based on metadata made available to the Redmond, Wash. company. Though Microsoft asked Google to provide the same information given to iPhone and Android so it could mirror how ads appear on these platforms, "Google has refused to give this information to us."

Branding and a degraded experience were also concerns crowed about by Google, but Howard wrote it's odd for Google to have issues now when Microsoft ran an "inferior YouTube app" before.

"Reviews of our new app are unanimous that the experience is much improved, and we're committed to making adjustments to improve it further," he wrote. "If Google were truly concerned about a degraded experience, it would allow our users access to the new YouTube app they love."

Still, despite essentially describing Google's behavior as duplicitous, Howard said Microsoft is willing to work with Google to "resolve any legitimate concerns."

"In the meantime," Howard concluded, "we once again request that Google stop blocking our YouTube app."

It looks like we're in for a long battle, ladies and gentlemen.

While we wait for this issue work itself out, why not check out a new Windows Phone 8 device with a 41MP camera?

Improved imaging is the marque feature of Nokia's Lumia Amber update

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Nokia confirmed its Lumia Amber software update has started to roll-out for the company's Windows Phone 8 devices.

The headline feature in this fairly significant software bump is the new imaging experience, which brings other WP8 Lumia handsets up to speed with the Lumia 1020 (obviously minus the massive 41-megapixel sensor).

Amber will bring improved image processing, noise reduction, color reproduction, exposure control, autofocus and better performance in low-light, according to Nokia.

The Nokia Smart Camera app, which debuted on the Lumia 925 and features prominently on the Lumia 1020, is also open to other Lumia users running Windows Phone 8 on their handsets.

Best shot

In a post on the Nokia Conversations blog the company explained the merits of the Smart Camera app:

"The app brings a slew of different options – use Best Shot to find the sharpest image from a series of ten; combine several shots of people in movement into one with Action Shot; heighten the appearance of speed by blurring the background with Motion Focus; create ideal group shots by choosing the best faces from a series with Change Faces, or remove unwanted objects from your pictures."

Beyond the camera features, Amber brings the new Glance Screen functionality on board, which displays a clock, battery meter and informs users when the phone is in silent mode, even when the display is locked.

Users will also be able to flip the phone over to activate silent mode, while double tapping the screen will unlock the device. There's also some minor improvements to the Here Maps app.

Lumia owners with Windows Phone 8 handsets can check whether the update is available in Settings > Phone Updates.

Next: Check out the 10 apps to supercharge your Lumia 925 handset

Well that was fast: Google blocking Microsoft's re-released YouTube app

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It was just this week that YouTube finally returned to Windows Phone, and Google has already blocked the new app.

Microsoft and Google were supposed to collaborate on a new version of the Windows Phone YouTube app after bickering over it for months, but apparently the results weren't up to Google's snuff.

Citing that YouTube (a Google property) had worked with Microsoft to create a new app, but one based on HTML5 a YouTube spokesperson sent us this statement:

"It has been disabled. We value our broad developer community and therefore ask everyone to adhere to the same guidelines."

Mixed messages

When the new Windows Phone YouTube app debuted on Tuesday, Microsoft released a statement indicating it believed the app would finally satisfy Google's ToS.

"We've released an updated YouTube app for Windows Phone that provides the great experience our consumers expect while addressing the concerns Google expressed in May, including the addition of ads," the statement read.

Clearly, something was missing, and that something looks to be HTML5. Microsoft said in a statement to The Verge it was working with Google to resolve the issue.

Update: Microsoft released a lengthy response to the blocking, placing blame squarely on Google and its demand for HTML5.

Yahuui Blog

Friday, August 16, 2013