Microsoft on Thursday announced the availability of its Windows 8 Release Preview. The near-final build is offered in 14 different languages and is the final pre-release before the operating system is sent to manufacturing partners. The Preview includes Internet Explorer 10, support for Adobe Flash and new Windows 8 apps for connecting to Hotmail, SkyDrive and Messenger, among others. “Since our first preview release last September, millions of people now use the pre-release product on a daily basis and millions more have been taking it through its paces, totaling hundreds of millions of hours of testing,” the company wrote on its blog. “We genuinely appreciate the effort that so many have put into pre-release testing, and of course, we appreciate the feedback too. Direct feedback and feedback through usage contributed to hundreds of visible changes in the product and tens of thousands of under-the-hood changes.” Microsoft’s latest operating system is rumored to launch in October in three different versions, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and the ARM-friendly Windows RT.

Read [Microsoft] Read [Download]

Microsoft is currently planning to release an Office suite for Apple’s iPad, and quite possibly the iPhone and iPod touch. BGR last week exclusively reported details regarding Microsoft’s intentions to bring Office to iOS and even Google’s Android OS in November. According to a new report from The Daily, the development team for Office Mobile finished work on the project last month and the efforts of the design team will soon be completed too. Once approved by the usability team, the app will be handed to Apple for approval in its App Store. The launch date for Office Mobile is reportedly scheduled for November 10th.

Read

Yusuf Mehdi, the CMO of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division, announced on Tuesday that more than 67 million Xbox 360s have been sold since the console launched in 2005, and it has generated more than $56 billion in sales. The motion sensing input accessory, Kinect, has sold more than 19 million units and the company’s Xbox Live service now boast 40 million members. Xbox users are spending more time on the system and are averaging 84 hours of usage each month. Mehdi also revealed that Microsoft holds a 47% market share of the current-generation console market, however he did note that sales, while continuing to increase year-over-year, are slowing down.

Read

Amazon announced on Tuesday that its Prime Instant Video service and access to “Your Video Library” is now available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. The streaming service, which is available as a part of Amazon Prime for $79 a year and offers customers free two-day shipping, features more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes, including hundreds of Paramount films. “Working with Amazon.com marks a significant milestone in our mission to make the entertainment you love more amazing on Xbox,” said Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox LIVE Entertainment and Advertising, Microsoft Corp. “By bringing the Amazon Instant Video app to Xbox LIVE and adding voice search and voice control through the magic of Kinect, we’re transforming the way people discover and experience entertainment.” Amazon’s press release can be found after the break.

Amazon Instant Video Now Available on Xbox 360, with Access to ‘Your Video Library’ and Prime Instant Video

Customers can now watch the latest movies and TV episodes on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and use Kinect for Xbox 360 to find and play videos with the wave of a hand or sound of their voice

Prime members can instantly stream more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes to their Xbox 360 console with shows such as 24, Downton Abbey and Chappelle Show, and movies like Mission Impossible 3 and Forrest Gump

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May. 29, 2012– (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today introduced a new Amazon Instant Video app for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers that gives customers access to movies and TV episodes on their Xbox 360 console. The app also offers access to Prime Instant Video, a service with more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes available to Prime members at no additional cost. Customers who are Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers can find the free Amazon Instant Video app in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360. For more information on how to watch those videos on Xbox 360 visit, http://amazon.com/instantvideo/xbox.

“Amazon Instant Video on the Xbox 360 console is among one of the most requested video features from our customers, so we are excited to offer yet another way for customers to enjoy Amazon Instant Video,” said Anthony Bay, Amazon.com vice president for video. “With Amazon Instant Video on Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE Gold members can start enjoying new release movies, current TV episodes and Prime Instant Video right away. Our integration with Kinect for Xbox 360 lets customers play and search for videos with the wave of a hand or the sound of their voice, and our Whispersync technology allows customers to seamlessly switch between watching on their Kindle Fire and their Xbox 360 console, without losing their place. Also, Watchlist is a great new feature that lets customers keep a running queue of videos they want to see in the future.”

“Working with Amazon.com marks a significant milestone in our mission to make the entertainment you love more amazing on Xbox,” said Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox LIVE Entertainment and Advertising, Microsoft Corp. “By bringing the Amazon Instant Video app to Xbox LIVE and adding voice search and voice control through the magic of Kinect, we’re transforming the way people discover and experience entertainment.”

Customers can visit the Amazon Website to shop for any of the more than 120,000 movies and TV episodes. Purchased or rented movies and TV episodes appear automatically in Your Video Library on the Amazon Instant Video app for Xbox 360. Amazon Instant Video offers the latest hit movies like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, We Bought a Zoo, and The Grey, and popular TV shows Mad Men, Fringe, Vampire Diaries and Once Upon A Time.

Prime Instant Video includes hit TV shows like Glee, Downton Abbey and Sons of Anarchy and classic movies such as Office Space, The Graduate and Brokeback Mountain. In addition to receiving free two-day shipping on millions of items and access to thousands of books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, Prime members can instantly stream more than 17,000 TV episodes and movies, all for just $79 a year. If you are not a Prime member you can start a free one-month trial today.

The new Amazon Instant Video app for Xbox 360 includes:

• The ability to browse and play videos with the Xbox 360 remote control or Kinect voice and gesture commands.
• Instant streaming of thousands of high-definition movies and TV episodes that start and resume in just seconds.
• Watchlist for Amazon Instant Video – allows customers to create a list of things they want to watch, and find those movies and TV episodes easily.
• Whispersync – lets customers seamlessly switch from one device to another. Customers can start streaming a movie on Kindle Fire, then pick up right where they left off on their Xbox 360 console and avoid the frustration of having to find their spot.
• Your Video Library – customers can access their purchases from Amazon Instant Video on the Xbox 360 or any of the hundreds of other devices enabled for Amazon Instant Video. For a list of compatible devices click here.

Microsoft announced that its Windows 8 Release Preview will be available during the first week of June, possibly after the company’s Computex keynote on June 6th. A Chinese edition of the Release Preview, however, has been circulating around the Web prior to the software’s official debut. The build reportedly includes new Metro-style Sports, Travel, and News apps, along with an updated boot screen, cursors, wallpapers and multiple monitor desktop improvements. Microsoft’s latest operating system is rumored to launch in October in three different versions, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT. Earlier this year BGR reviewed Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

[Via The Verge]

Read

In its latest Transparency Report, Google has included information about takedown requests related to copyright infringement for the first time ever. According to the data from this past year, nearly 8,000 copyright owners have contacted Google with requests to remove search results that lead to copyright infringing websites. Microsoft led the charge with more than 500,000 removal requests across 9,108 domains during this past month alone, and a total of 2,554,475 takedown request across 23,485 domains over the course of the past year. According to research done by TechDirt, the software giant was mainly targeting pirated Xbox content, which Google agreed to take down. Search results for the very same websites, ironically, often remain present on Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

[Via TechDirt]

Read

A German regional court on Thursday issued an injunction against newly-acquired Motorola Mobility for infringing one of Microsoft’s patents, according to FOSS Patents. The manufacturer is banned from selling its Android-powered devices that infringe Microsoft’s EP1304891 patent, which covers “communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface.” The sales ban, for the time being, is subject to additional confirmation. If confirmed however, it is enforceable with a bond of $31.4 million. Patent expert Florian Mueller notes that since the patent covers “operating system-level functionality, the modifications ‘Googlorola’ would have to make to Android to work around this ruling would lead to significant complications.” Furthermore, apps that make use of Android’s messaging layer will apparently have to be completely rewritten.

Read

BGR has learned from a reliable source that Microsoft is currently planning to release the company’s full Office suite for not only Apple’s iPad, but for Android tablets as well. The company is targeting November of this year for both launches. Additionally, our source has seen Microsoft Office running on an iPad first-hand and has said that it looks almost identical to the previous leak from The Daily a few months back, despite the fact that Microsoft flat out denied that the app was authentic. It is also plausible that Microsoft Office will be coming to the iPhone and iPod touch rather than only the iPad, as we’re told the loading screen in the app clearly said “Office for iOS” and not just iPad.

Thanks, John E.

Microsoft plans to launch its next-generation Xbox video game and home entertainment console ahead of the holidays next year, according to a recent report. The Los Angeles Times on Monday published a developer contract between Acitivision Blizzard and famed Halo developers Bungie. The firms are currently working on a new Massively Multiplayer Online franchise called Destiny, which will be a first-person shooter with a science fiction theme. While the fact that the companies currently have four titles planned for the series is exciting for gamers in itself, another tidbit may be even more titillating; the contract suggests that the first Destiny title will launch ahead of the holidays next year as an exclusive for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and its next-generation console, which the document refers to as the “Xbox 720.” An earlier report from an industry industry insider suggested that Microsoft will launch an ARM-based “Xbox lite” in late 2013 followed by a true Xbox 360 successor some time later, however this new information suggests that timeline may not be accurate.

[Via PC & Tech Authority]

Read

Microsoft is betting big on its upcoming Windows 8 operating system, which looks to bridge the gap between smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Tuesday called the operating system a “rebirth” of the Windows brand and described it as the ”deepest, broadest and most impactful” Windows software ever created, Agence France-Presse reported. “It’s really, in some senses, a dawning of the rebirth of MS Windows… It’s certainly the most important piece of work we’ve done,” he said at a forum in Seoul, South Korea, adding that an estimated 500 million users will have Windows 8 on next year. The CEO went on to promise the “best economic opportunity” for device makers and app developers who adopt the company’s newest operating system. Microsoft’s Windows 8 is rumored to launch in October, and BGR reviewed Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview earlier this year.

UPDATE: A Microsoft spokesperson reached out to BGR and informed us that Ballmer’s comments were based on data that was announced in December regarding the number of Windows 7 devices that could potentially upgrade to Windows 8. The CEO said, “We’ve just passed the 500 million licenses sold mark for Windows 7, which represents half a billion PCs that could be upgraded to Windows 8 on the day it ships. That represents the single biggest platform opportunity available to developers.”

Read

Despite the fact that Windows 8 is expected to launch in October, Microsoft still has high hopes for its Windows 7 operating system. The software giant predicts that 350 million Windows 7 devices will ship by the end of 2012, Bloomberg reported. “It makes Windows the most popular single system,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at a forum in Seoul, South Korea, although he didn’t provide any figures for comparison. Windows 7 was released in October 2009 and within two years, the operating system surpassed Windows XP to become the world’s most popular OS.

Read

Microsoft is looking to bolster sales of Windows-powered computers this summer by offering students a free Xbox 360 video game console with a qualifying PC purchase. Beginning on May 18th in Canada and on May 20th in the United States, students who purchase a PC for at least $599 CAD in Canada or $699 in the U.S. will receive a free 4GB Xbox 360. Purchases must be made from participating retailers including Best Buy, Dell.com, Fry’s Electronics, HPDirect.com, Microsoft Stores and NewEgg.com in the U.S., and Best Buy, Dell.ca, Future Shop, Staples and The Source in Canada. Microsoft did not indicate when the promotion ends.

Read

Microsoft’s Kinect motion and voice-based controller accessory was launched with gaming in mind, but researchers have taken the technology in a number of different directions. German researchers transformed the Kinect into an interactive augmented reality X-ray machine, and Microsoft Research is now in the process of trialing the use of its Kinect sensor as a surgical assistant.

On May 8th, a surgeon at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospital in London used a custom Kinect installation to browse through medical images and real-time X-rays while repairing an aneurism in a patient’s aorta, NewScientist reports. The system created by Microsoft Research allows surgeons to call up images or perform a number of other tasks without assistance and without having to touch anything, thus avoiding any potential contamination.

“Up until now, I’d been calling out across the room to one of our technical assistants, asking them to manipulate the image, rotate one way, rotate the other, pan up, pan down, zoom in, zoom out,” says Tom Carrell, a consultant vascular surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’. With the Kinect, the surgeon says he had “very intuitive control.”

Carrell is eager to continue trials with the system. ”I thought this was going to be a lot more awkward to start off with, but I was very pleased with the way it went today.”

Read

Analysts repeatedly harp on how important China is for Apple’s iPhone. The Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics giant’s iPhone 4S launched in China earlier this year but despite reports of continuing negotiations, China Mobile — the world’s largest telecom carrier — still does not offer Apple’s iPhone to its massive subscriber base. But as Apple continues its efforts to make headway in the world’s largest smartphone market, an underdog has reportedly taken an early lead.

According to Michel van der Bel, chief operating office at Microsoft for the Greater China region, Microsoft’s Windows Phone market share now sits at 7% in China. At last count, Apple’s share of the smartphone market in China was 6%, Emerce reports.

“We have only just begun,” van der Bel said. He continued, noting that the combination of Windows Phones and Windows 8 tablets will help Microsoft succeed in the Chinese market. “Our smartphone and tablet-pc are hybrid, making them suitable for the consumer, but also easy to insert within an existing company infrastructure. This will allow us to better anticipate the consumerization of IT than many competitors.”

The first Windows Phone-powered smartphone for the Chinese market launched less than two months ago.

[Via WMPoweruser]

Read

Microsoft’s mobile platform has not been the blockbuster success the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant was hoping for thus far. Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iPhone are still dominating the smartphone space by a huge margin in the United States and abroad, while Microsoft’s share of the global smartphone market has continued to decline. According to a new report from market research firm Kantar WorldPanel, however, Windows Phone is finally showing signs of life in several key markets.

Kantar WorldPanel on Tuesday issued its report on smartphone market share in the U.S. and a number of large markets around the world, Reuters reported. According to the firm’s research, Android showed solid gains during the three month period ending in mid-April in nearly every major market Kantar covers, more than doubling its share to 62% in Germany and nearly doubling its share in both Spain and Italy.

Apple’s iPhone gained market share in the U.S. and United Kingdom thanks to strong iPhone 4S shipments according to Kantar, though Apple’s position did slip in Europe.

As Apple and Google continue to battle atop the smartphone charts, however, some good news has emerged for Microsoft. According to Kantar, Nokia’s Lumia phone launches have doubled Windows Phone’s market share to 6% in Germany, and boosted the platform’s share in the U.S., U.K., France and Italy to between 3% and 4%.

Nokia’s Symbian OS and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform were the biggest losers in Kantar’s report, with RIM’s share of the U.S. market plummeting to 3% from 9% in the same period a year ago.