Software : Windows Phone 8.1 briefly teased on Microsoft's own website |
- Windows Phone 8.1 briefly teased on Microsoft's own website
- In Depth: Why Julie Larson-Green is back doing what she does best
- Flappy Bird is making a comeback, creator confirms
- LG LifeBand Touch and Heart Rate Monitor earphones fit for April UK release
- Three more Xperia handsets treated to Android 4.4 KitKat
| Windows Phone 8.1 briefly teased on Microsoft's own website Posted:  Between updates leaking from the company's own servers and a cavalcade of details on its next mobile OS release, Microsoft apparently needs a plumber to plug all the holes, including one on its very own Windows Phone website. Ubergizmo spotted a curious mention of the rumored Windows Phone 8.1 update today from an unlikely source: Microsoft's own website portal dedicated to promoting its mobile smartphone OS. The leak was captured in a screenshot, where both Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 references were seen hanging out above a "four reasons to choose a Windows Phone" graphic. The Windows Phone 8.1 reference has since vanished from the US website, but its brief appearance lends credibility to rumors Microsoft will make the update official sometime during its upcoming Build developer conference, which kicks off April 2. 8.1 and lots of funWindows Phone 8.1 rumors date back to last fall, and the mobile operating system update has already popped up on the radar with Bluetooth 4.0 certification and a variety of other leaked details. The forthcoming changes are said to include an Android and iOS-style notification center, a new Siri-like voice assistant codenamed Cortana and even support for removable USB flash drives. Rumors have also been swirling in recent months that Microsoft may absorb its underpowered, tablet-centric Windows 8.1 RT into the Windows Phone platform, although there are no confirmed signs that will be happening right away. Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to be unveiled at Microsoft's Build conference in less than two weeks, but an imminent public rollout appears less likely, at least until developers have time to put the update through its paces first.
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| In Depth: Why Julie Larson-Green is back doing what she does best Posted:  Is becoming Chief Experience Officer a step down from running Devices and Studios for Windows and Office veteran Julie Larson-Green? Is Microsoft demoting her to make room for Stephen Elop? Or is it putting her back to work at what she's been doing for the last decade; improving the experience of Microsoft software? Back when the Nokia acquisition was announced last September, Steve Ballmer said Elop would run the devices group because "the critical mass" would be in phones (and he brings with him leaders like Jo Harlow and Timo Toikkanen who lead the smartphone and featurephone teams). Moving Larson-Green looks like a signal that Microsoft devices like the Surface will become part of the Nokia team, rather than Nokia getting swallowed up in the old Microsoft way of doing things. That's similar to the way Microsoft has kept Yammer and Skype as separate brands, doing more to integrate and develop them but also using them to drive new cloud and service-friendly ways of doing things in the Office and Lync teams. If there was any battle between the Nokia and Microsoft directions, Nokia seems to have won. And as Xbox already has a strong leader in Yusuf Mehdi who launched MSN, signed the Yahoo search deal and helped launch Bing, it's hard to see what she'd have ended up doing. Surface 2 unitedWhen we spoke to her at the Surface 2 launch and asked what Windows 8.1 did for the new tablet, Larson-Green emphasized the way it brought Microsoft tools and services together. "The power in the Surface device to run the Halo games and the full Office suite at the same time, snapped side by side, the low-light camera working with Skype [to adjust exposure automatically]… We spent a lot of time working across software and services with the devices team to make sure it all comes together in a seamless package." That's something Microsoft still needs to do better, and if there's one word Ballmer said more than devices or services when he announced the One Microsoft reorganisation, it was 'experiences'. "We're the company that delivers great high value experiences for work and for play," he said, name-checking Xbox and Office and Skype, promising "to define new experiences in expression, meeting, research, tasks, the way corporate information gets managed and held securely, and much, much more". It's not just devices and services, it's "a set of high value experiences, delivered through devices and services." New CEO Satya Nadella talks about the importance of "being able to build devices that encapsulate the rich experiences people now expect" because "devices are where experiences come together". It's how Larson-Green herself described the point of the reorg: "Bringing together the experience for customers at a Microsoft level".
And experience is what Larson-Green has worked on since she left the Visual C++ team. She worked on the user interface of IE 3 and 4 then moved to Office in 1997, working on FrontPage and SharePoint before running the UI design for Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007. That's where she started work with Jensen Harris on the Office ribbon that first appeared in Office 2007, memorably body-slamming the six-foot-six Harris out of her way when the 2001 Nisqually earthquake hit during their first meeting. It's a perfect example of both her determination and her ability to get people to work with her even when the situation looks unpromising; Harris was impressed rather than offended. She and Harris even starred in a fairy-tale comic illustrating the advantages of the ribbon called The Enchanted Office. She moved to the Windows team with Steven Sinofsky and her job title for the development of Windows 7 was corporate vice president of Windows Experience. In 2009 hear team started on the touch-first interface that became Windows 8. For Windows 8.1, she started to look beyond the Windows experience and persuaded the Bing team to put a fifth of their resources into building the smart search feature as an experience to showcase results from Bing alongside your own files. Even if she is reporting to Qi Lu, head of the applications and services group (that's everything from Office software to Bing), rather than directly to Nadella, her new role running the My Life & Work team looks like a position that both fits her skills and is something Microsoft needs. It might look like a demotion but it's more likely to suit her than ending up as a third wheel under Elop. No poisoned chaliceLarson-Green's departure means most of the Windows senior leadership has changed since the launch of Windows 8 and the departure of Steven Sinofsky. Some have retired, some have moved elsewhere in the company; veteran Jon DeVaan left the company, OEM lead Mike Angiulo is now corporate vice president for Xbox hardware, IE leader Dean Hachamovitch is running a mysterious special project – but senior VP Antoine Leblond is still there. The team that creates the core Windows OS is intact (and supplemented by the teams building Windows Phone and Xbox), with Jensen Harris and Sam Moreau still driving design, Chris Jones running Windows services like the Store and what used to be the Live apps, and Gabriel Aul and Denis Flanagan looking after partners. Although it's fashionable to see Windows 8 as a failure, working on it isn't a badge of shame; with trusted senior leaders like Terry Myerson and Joe Belfiore and research head Rick Rashid running Windows, it's far from abandoned.
But 'big Windows' as it was once called internally, is no longer the centre of gravity for Microsoft. It's only one of 16 billion-dollar businesses inside Microsoft, although it's the basis of several of those businesses (Windows Server and Azure, Xbox, Office 365, Exchange and Lync, SharePoint, SQL Server and Dynamics all rely on core Windows because that's what Windows Server is built on). The emphasis is increasingly on cloud, and the services that run on cloud – because Microsoft is no longer a platform company. That means Windows may become increasingly invisible, as it turns into plumbing for services. As it stops being a high-visibility profit engine for Microsoft, it stops being an attractive team for executives who want to build their career on products and services and sales, so it's natural for them to move on. |
| Flappy Bird is making a comeback, creator confirms Posted:  It was a great tragedy when Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen decided enough was enough and took his game down from the iOS and Android app stores. But Nguyen has been hinting that Flappy Bird could make a triumphant return, and with a recent tweet it seems he's confirmed as much yet again. When asked on Twitter whether Flappy Bird will flap again, Nguyen replied, "Yes. But not soon." This echoes Nguyen's previous statements in a March interview that he was "considering" bringing the game back, though he included a warning that players should take a break once in a while, since he seems genuinely worried about game addiction. We've flapped onThe internet missed Flappy Bird sorely ... for about five minutes, until it was replaced by flocks of imitators. Thousands of Flappy Bird clones - from "Flappy Yeti" to iterations starring Fallout Boy and Cthulhu - have arrived in the App Store and Google Play, as well as online in browsers, since then. There was even a Flappy Jam that saw game developers from all over the world submitting their own versions of the golden flappy formula, with a total of almost 800 games submitted. The bottom line is this: do we really need Flappy Bird anymore at all? Looks like we'll see when the game makes its inevitable return. In the meantime, Nguyen has confirmed he has several other games in the works. |
| LG LifeBand Touch and Heart Rate Monitor earphones fit for April UK release Posted: -470-75.JPG) LG has confirmed its the LG LifeBand Touch wristband will be available in the UK from April. The company, which announced the wellness tracker at CES 2014 in January had only previously committed to a 'first half of 2014' launch window for its Nike Fuelband SE and Sony SmartBand rival. LG's first major play in the burgeoning fitness arena features an OLED touchscreen, tracks key workout stats and links up with iOS and Android apps. It'll also play nice with existing applications like MapMyRun and Runkeeper. The wearable also allows users to control their phone's music player, while altering the wear to any incoming calls on that touchscreen. HRM - fit for a king!Also coming in April are the LG's Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) earphones, also announced earlier this year. Those in-ear fitness buds are able to track the wearer's metabolic rate and maximum oxygen consumption and relay it back to an Android or iOS smartphone app via Bluetooth. The HRM earphones come with a medallion that attaches to clothing and can also transmit users' favourite tunes from their smartphone. They also allow users to physically hear how fast their heart is beating. Both devices can be used separately or together. LG is yet to confirm prices or exact dates of availability yet so stay tuned. |
| Three more Xperia handsets treated to Android 4.4 KitKat Posted:  Android 4.4 KitKat has been washing across Sony's Xperia lineup like a tidal wave, and the manufacturer has a little hump day surprise lined up for three additional smartphones, with plenty more on the way. Sony announced the release of an KitKat software update for the company's Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact smartphones, finally delivering the latest and tastiest flavor of Google's mobile OS to date. Although Sony notes "timing and availability may vary by market and carrier," the KitKat release is at least official as of March 19, and promises to bring a host of improvements to Xperia owners. The changes range from tweaked Status Bar and Quick Settings along with a user interface echoing that of the new PlayStation 4 and updates to all of Sony's built-in apps, including the Walkman and Album and Movies apps with Sony Entertainment Network cloud integration. A tasty treatSony smartphone fans will also will able to dress up their Z Ultra, Z1 or Z1 Compact with new downloadable Xperia Themes, which can spruce up the user interface with upwards of 280 fresh assets in a variety of styles. And that's not all: Sony has also committed to second quarter KitKat updates for Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z and Xperia ZR devices, along with future Android 4.4 plans for Xperia T2 Ultra, Xperia E1 and Xperia M2 models. (Whew!) In a separate announcement today, Motorola also delivered good news for its Moto X customers on the AT&T network in the US, with the rollout of Android 4.4.2 KitKat as an over-the-air update. Once updated, AT&T Moto X owners will enjoy the ability to print documents or photos, improved battery life, the end of email sync delays and a fix for a bug causing data connectivity issues when roaming outside the US.
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