Microsoft's backing of anti-Google Apps school privacy bill is just plain dirty
We all know software vendors have vested interests that sway some of the decisions they make. When I heard that Microsoft was the real driving force behind a sly K-12 school privacy bill making the rounds in Massachusetts, I immediately smelled something rotten. While the public purpose behind the bill aims squarely at protecting student privacy, it's not hard to connect the dots back to Redmond, Wash.
Even though it's easy to see why Microsoft would prop up such a bill (to ease Google Apps' rise in the K-12 educational market), I question the long-term business sense of such dirty grandstanding. Microsoft's Office 365 for Education is already free for students and staff of any qualifying school district (just like Google Apps), and the suite is pretty darn good competition for Google on technical and functional merit alone. So what's the sense in playing dirty just to sign on a few more seats here or there based on misinformation?
Scroogled isn't dead, it's just beginning
Contrary to rumors yesterday, Microsoft has not abandoned its "Scroogled" marketing campaign, despite sharp criticisms. My colleague Wayne Williams calls the attacks against Google a "sad and frankly pathetic strategy".
If the statement a Microsoft spokesperson has given to BetaNews is any indication, the campaign will get more aggressive than it is today: "Scroogled will go on as long as Google keeps Scroogling people. We know Google doesn’t like it when the facts come out. Chapter two of the consumer education campaign has shown people care about their privacy. More than 3.5 million people visited scroogled.com, and nearly 115,000 people signed a petition asking Google to stop going through their Gmail. Stay tuned for the next chapter".
Microsoft should either piss or get off the pot
Late last month, I wrote about how NUI (natural user interface) technology is Microsoft’s Trojan horse to draw consumers to the company's latest and upcoming devices. I definitely see a key technology strategy, but is it enough?
Kinect got the attention of many consumers, who were not considering the Xbox, and it sold a ton more consoles. But did Kinect keep consumers interested? How many people actually continue to regularly use the controller? In the same way, if Microsoft integrates deep natural language voice-controlled interfaces and camera-based gesture inputs into its next round of products and services, the company could easily get consumer attention and sell more phones and Surface tablets. That's not enough. What must Microsoft do to ensure these consumers remain interested in their new devices and services?
Get ready to move from Hotmail to Outlook
If you use Hotmail then you may already know that you are moving to Outlook.com. You may not want to, but you are -- unless you plan to scrap the whole thing and head over to Gmail, Yahoo mail or another service. Microsoft officially launched Outlook overnight, but the service beta debuted six months ago; we reviewed here already.
So, to help users along in this moving process, the company posted a question and answer page appropriately titled "My Hotmail account was upgraded to Outlook.com".
Microsoft takes Outlook live
Perhaps "live" is a poor choice of words, seeing as Windows Live is dead. Early this morning, Microsoft took down the "opening soon" sign and brought Outlook -- that's the .com not the software -- out of beta. The webmail service is in "grand opening" mode with 60 million "active users" in tow, and more coming as they migrate from Hotmail.
Microsoft unveiled the email service nearly six months ago, decked out in Windows 8-logo blue and generous white space. During the beta process, Outlook ran alongside Hotmail. But with the new service launched, "we'll soon start to upgrade hundreds of millions of Hotmail users to the new Outlook.com experience", David Law, Outlook.com product management director, says.
Microsoft’s attacks on Google are sad and embarrassing
After I left school I went into sales. And one of the first things I was taught was this: never disparage the competition. Never say bad things about them -- even if what you’re saying is true, or you believe it to be at least -- because it makes the firm you’re representing seem petty and small.
Clearly this is a lesson Microsoft needs to learn. The firm’s marketing department, in particular whoever came up with the Scroogled campaign, is doing its best to turn the Redmond, Wash.-based technology giant into a petty, whining child, complaining about a rival rather than championing its own products. Instead of shouting triumphantly, "Use Outlook.com because it’s great and has all these benefits", Microsoft is reduced to grumbling, "Don’t use Gmail because it reads your emails". It’s not an aggressive information campaign as some people have described it. It’s a sad and frankly pathetic strategy.
Microsoft launches 'Don’t Get Scroogled by Gmail' campaign to stop Google 'going through personal emails'
Microsoft's efforts to downplay Google's Gmail over its own Outlook.com service are well known amongst the tech crowd. In late-November the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation claimed that a third of new Outlook.com signups were people switching from Google's email service, and after the web giant dropped support for EAS, Microsoft quickly advised Gmail users to make the same switch. Now Microsoft is at it again, launching a new crusade titled "Don't Get Scroogled by Gmail".
The purpose of the campaign, according to the software firm, is to "educate consumers that Google goes through their personal emails to sell ads". Don't Get Scroogled by Gmail is aimed at American Gmail users and is supported by a GfK Roper study commissioned by Microsoft that found "70 percent of consumers don’t know that major email providers routinely engage in the practice of reading through their personal email to sell ads", with a vast majority of people, 88 percent, disapproving of this practise once the information was brought to their attention.
HTC Windows Phone 8X -- Purple madness [Review]
The HTC Windows Phone 8X is a smartphone that you will either love or not want to touch even with a 10 foot pole. Part of the arguments for and against it stem from the operating system of choice, Microsoft's latest (and greatest) Windows Phone iteration. Sure, the device has good build quality and the software is fluid and responsive, but the app selection is currently lacking compared to rivals like Android and iOS. So where does one draw the line between success and failure?
I've been using the Windows Phone 8X for almost two weeks and the early impressions are still on the positive side. In my initial review I touched on a number of points that I found revealing for my brief time with it, but the real test is how the Windows Phone 8X fares over a longer period of time. My main and initial gripes concern the limited app selection and general usability issues of Windows Phone 8 when coming from the stock flavor of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The real question is this: Is it good enough?
Microsoft replaces aging Messenger with Skype in March
For those of you still using Microsoft's long-standing Instant Messaging service, bad news is on the horizon. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant revealed in early November last year, that it was planning to retire the aging Messenger and replace it with Skype "in the first quarter of 2013". Well, Microsoft is not backing down and just added the precise expiration date -- March 15.
Microsoft sent an email detailing the process to what is most likely a considerable number of current as well as former Messenger users. I upgraded my Hotmail account to Outlook in August last year, and have not used the service in ages, yet Microsoft sent me one anyway probably emphasizing, "Hey, don't you think of using it anytime soon". There is some good news for Chinese users though -- Messenger will continue to be available in mainland China, likely due to high local demand.
Microsoft 'surprised' after Google dropped Exchange ActiveSync support
Almost a week ago, part of Google's "Winter cleaning" involved dropping support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync on January 30, 2013. It appears Microsoft is far from happy with the controversial decision, and the company promptly retaliated by advising Gmail users to switch to Outlook for "the best email experience" across all devices.
As was the case with removing the free version of Google Apps for Business, Google's recent move is subject to criticism. But why does it matter? Google dropped the ball in Microsoft's court, as the latter uses EAS in a number of software products including Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT. The protocol allows syncing of calendars and contacts and uses push email functionality. "Killing" it leaves Microsoft customers without those features when accessing Google services.
Microsoft brags about 25 million active Outlook users and releases awful Android app
Almost four months ago Microsoft relaunched Hotmail as Outlook, as the company's response to Google's Gmail. In the meantime the new service reached more than 25 million active users, a number which has steadily grown since its introduction. To expand reach into Android territory, Microsoft even launched a new app for green droid devices.
The Redmond, Wash.-based corporation says that because of conversation threading, keyboard shortcuts, quick access to search operators and tab/send the transition towards the new Outlook email service is easier. Taking the fight over to its main competitor, the company also "finds" that four out of five (that's 80 percent in pie chart talk) Gmail users would switch to Outlook after just five days of use. That's a rather bold claim, and it seems a bit far fetched. But why?
Where can you get a good deal on Windows 8 PCs?
It's here! Today Windows 8 launches around the globe, and Surface tablets, too. For years, I've said nobody partners like Microsoft, and the company is front and center promoting retailers and PC manufacturers. That's good for you, if you waited for the OS to take advantage of some of the most interesting new computer designs to hit the market in years. Not surprisingly, the company has posted a list of some of the deals available starting today.
Windows 8 is Microsoft's most important product launch ever. It's a defining operating system, as the company seeks to maintain computing relevance during the shift from the PC era to cloud-connected devices. "What you have seen and heard should leave no doubt that Windows 8 shatters perceptions of what a PC now really is, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer boasts". "We truly re-imagined Windows, and kicked off a new era for Microsoft, and a new era for our customers". He spoke yesterday during the pre-launch event in New York City.
Live from Windows 8 and Surface launch in New York City
Windows 8, RT, and Surface launch at midnight. A scant fourteen hours before the new generation of operating systems becomes available to the general public, Microsoft is hosting a celebration at New York City's historic Pier 57. Your faithful skeptic Tim Conneally will be present at the event, liveblogging and keeping an eye out for any heretofore unseen news.
The event begins at 10am EST and lasts until 3pm EST. Check back here throughout the day for updates on Windows 8!
Google Apps vs Office 365: Which does cloud email better? [review]
Office 365 happens to be a product I think has a lot of potential. To be fair, it's Microsoft's second try at dedicated cloud-based email. Redmond first went toe to toe with Google Apps back in the days of BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), but they're distant cousins at best. With a few years' separation, Office 365 is Microsoft's answer to the growing threat Google Apps poses to Exchange.
The way I see it, Microsoft's torn internally. They are clearly still developing a wide range of Server and Exchange revisions on the usual upgrade cycle, but then signal a clear concession to the cloud by killing off Windows Small Business Server. While mixed intentions obviously represent the reality that they are innately a traditional software company, they realize that business is moving to the cloud whether they hold the leash or not.
Alto, AOL's cloud-based mail service, launches in limited preview
Changing your email address can be a major pain. You’ve got to tell everyone about it, move your emails from the old account to the new one and so on. I know people who’ve been using Hotmail for the better part of a decade, despite loathing it, just because they don’t want the perceived hassle of switching to another service (or even upgrading to Outlook.com).
AOL’s new cloud-based email tool, Alto, is designed to avoid this problem by working alongside, or rather on top of, the main webmail services, rather than replacing them. You don’t need to sign up for a new email address, you just log in with your existing AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud details. Once you’re in, Alto will help manage your inbox and cut back on clutter.
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