Touch: after the table, Microsoft made the wall

Microsoft bought a very large tactile surfaces specialist, to propose to touch walls.

A few days ago, Microsoft announced its takeover of Perceptive Pixel. A specialist of very large touch screens, which the plateau of the American channel CNN's "magic wall". The idea to Microsoft is clear: offer a very comprehensive catalogue of touch solutions, and take advantage of the release of Windows 8 (and its Metro interface thinking to the touch at the base) to push these products. Thus, tactile walls will be proposed in addition to PixelSense, the new name given to the Microsoft Surface touch table. And for cause, Surface is the brand that Microsoft chose to reuse to its shelves.

It is not known how much money Microsoft has put on the table to Perceptive Pixel, but we know that it is the division Office of the giant who will manage this acquisition, touch walls being clearly solutions oriented professionals. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, it is a very intelligent redemption and he promised that the first objective will be to ensure to reduce the price of these impressive solutions. Most importantly, Microsoft weapon new touch recognition technology. Touchscreen is taking a considerable importance in the high-tech market.

OUYA: Should Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo tremble?

And if this OUYA was able to get a place in the video game console market?

The console very inspired official but turning models under Android with a SoC ARM and coming from Asia, there are dozens. But a project which also quickly Federated players than this OUYA, benefiting from the exhibition currently offered to any well wrapped Kickstarter project since the crowdsourcing is fashionable, it is more rare. Because success is already at the rendezvous, at least in the promises of funding. Added only a few hours on Kickstarter, the OUYA project has already attracted more than 20,000 investors, which allows the console to explode its initial objective of harvest $950,000 in record time. Currently, the collected sum displays more than 2.6 million $, what give a sacred kick to the project, actually. Especially him still have 28 days of fundraising.

But then, what did this OUYA to please as much? The promise is simple: it's a console under Android, proposing a joystick resolutely "gamer" to connect HDMI to its screen and that promises to offer quality games, if possible independent and the mode of the Free-to-Play. Some see it as a useless defiance to platforms in place, others the console of the future. In a context also uncertain that it is the game, although malignant industry would in any event that might know what type of game console will be booked in the future.

Always is it that project OUYA accompanied by some interesting business principles. For example, no royaltie will applied to game developers, and the SDK based on Android will be simply integrated into the console. Don't need, therefore, for the studios to invest in specific materials to develop a game OUYA. Only constraint: that sets OUYA are - at least partly - free. Demo and Free-to-Play (Freemium) accepted.

Click to see the video on Kickstarter...

If the sauce is, it is also because this console would be sold at a competitive price if times it came to be distributed one day. $ 99 For a console and a joystick ($ 95 for the first 1000 contributors). Expected now to know more, waiting to see a finished prototype, before will be launched production and development kits are available.

Reactions of independent developers are rather ambitious. Jenova Chen, creator of flOw, Flower and Journey, said: "I'm excited by OUYA." "I think there is always material to disrupt the status quo," while Adamm Saltsman, Canabalt creator, explains: "the prospect of a console open and affordable, is an excellent idea".

Preliminary technical data:

CPU Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core1 GB of RAM8 GB of flash memory connection HDMI, 1080pWiFi 802.11 b/g/nBluetooth 4.0Un port USB 2.0controleur wireless (touchpad, two analog sticks, pad, eight buttons) Android 4.0

Tablet Surface: Microsoft is developing its partners is back...

Some indiscretions from partners at Microsoft are strained relations. Considering himself unfairly shifted, some would already have pay the Publisher.

In deciding to launch the Windows tablets under its own brand, Microsoft is debated. Some see it as a sign to the presence of its OS Windows on mobile platforms, finding brave on the part of Microsoft want to lead by example. But others believe that the reputation of Microsoft will do, that with products such as Surface bars, competing models are likely to be completely eclipsed. Besides the confusion that this can lead to market the Windows Tablet...

Thus, our colleagues from CNET have done a quick survey among their sources for PC manufacturers and it seems to highlight a common resentment of nervousness and rogne, which obviously leads to now imagine strategies to counter the iPad, but also now the Tablet Surface. Or how to succeed as a Microsoft partner and manufacturer of Tablet Windows, to the strategies of the editor of the bone trying to adventure the marketing of its own products. This is a climate that promises to be "funky" at the exit of Windows RT.

Like to add fuel to the fire, we learn that the Microsoft marketing departments have asked partners tablets manufacturers to communicate precisely the characteristics of their products, but also their prices. They enraged, believing that of its position, Microsoft hope decisive competitive advantage to succeed the launch of its own shelves. For the consumer, it might be the big winner of this Microsoft intrusion of tablets on the market. Indeed, CNET reveals that since the announcement of the Tablet Surface, manufacturers are boiling and that this could lead to new innovations and a tension on prices favorable to buyers.

Windows 8: Microsoft wants to convince the business

With a dual interface system, Microsoft is struggling to convince for future migration to Windows 8. Several demonstrations were made at the TechEd to reassure professionals.

At the beginning of June held conferences TechEd in Orlando in the United States where Microsoft wished primarily reassure companies on the possibility of easily migrate to the new version of Windows.

A demonstration was made to tell professionals that it was possible to launch applications made for Windows 7 but Windows 8 and that it was even possible to run an instance of Windows 7 directly in Windows 8 via the hypervisor directly integrated into this new version.

At the direction of the "Developer experience" team of the firm of Redmond, we welcomed that it is now very easy to develop an application on Windows and to the test on the two latest versions at a glance. In addition, it is also possible to separate the two systems on two screens display to check step by step the developed application and thus control the behavior on each of the versions of Windows.

Another demonstration that could delight the DSI, it's Windows To Go. This new feature allows to have a fully customized environment as per the information system of the enterprise, all on a USB key or an external hard drive. This feature is only available with the Windows 8 Enterprise version that also supports BitLocker for encrypting data contained in the key or the hard disk. Thus, the employee may have its environment in the Pocket and use it on any machine. If the user is pulling the USB or the hard disk of the machine, the system goes into pause for 60 seconds, beyond, the system simply stops to prevent access to the data of the employee.

Loss of the key or the hard disk, the system and the data can be encrypted and thus avoid the loss of sensitive and confidential business data. Microsoft States that this feature works also well on computers that have a BIOS as the UEFI and than on first use on a new machine, the drivers are install without the need to restart the system at the end of procedure.

Is this be convincing enough for businesses? The future will tell...

E3: Microsoft opens the ball of conferences

It seems that this Conference Microsoft lacked a bit of salt. We, it found great! The turning of jacket, a small revenge, and games, of course. That ask more?

It is therefore in the hushed setting of a luxurious Paris apartment, a packet of chips in hand and plunged to the bottom of well plush couch that we attended this first Conference E3, that of the Microsoft constructor. The Redmond giant has already announced that he would no announcement on a future console, large mass naturally focused on existing products, and in particular Kinect. It will have learned that EA Sport intended to integrate further way part speech recognition of the system on the games of its catalogue. For example, on a 13 FIFA, or a Madden NFL 13, it should be possible to change the composition of a team, and his organization, on simple request oral. This is which promises beautiful lyrical flights, of the genus "go, Gignac, you determined, you have too no! In the same vein, the next Splinter Cell, called "blacklist", will propose to use this bias to order tactical strikes, or program of diversions. And of course, the feast of the Kinect would not complete without the announcement of a new extreme Sport widget I have-envy-of-me-move-but-step-too. It is therefore with a barely concealed joy that we present your next tool to lose weight and make the sport without leaving your living room: the Nike + Kinect Training. It should arrive just in time to help you eliminate the excesses of the next holiday year.

Outside the purely playful aspect, Microsoft also intended to give a more open, more multimedia dimension to its console. This will be the integration of a Web browser (a sacred reversal!) Par_ailleurs, surprisingly: the choice of the editor does not came on Firefox or Google Chrome...), but also and especially by the arrival of the SmartGlass system, allowing many interactions between the console, and mobile media, tablets, and other Smartphones. Of course, any resemblance to Nintendo's Wii U Gamepad would be purely accidental (that said, it was good war, the Japanese publisher did not hesitate before him prick his pad design). More specifically, it is sufficient to install a common application on each device (it should work both under Windows and Windows Phone, under iOs or Androïd), then use the devices said to fly his remote console, take control of a game in real time, or transfer the viewing of a film of one medium to another.

Finally side game, Microsoft has been relatively short, with only 3 exclusive, which is not much for the moment: LocoCycle, Matter, and Ascend: New Gods. For the rest, it was the already seen or known: Halo 4, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Resident Evil 6, or Gears of War: Judgment... Games, they would have been so much more beautiful if it had the decency to present on PC. Well, it remained well for you comment on performance on stage of Usher for the promotion of Dance Central 3, but there are more chips. What a pity...

Microsoft updates Windows virus Flame

The firm of Redmond has released a critical update for Windows to stop the Flame virus.

Microsoft has developed a patch, available in Windows Update as important update (KB2718704), to correct a fault of its operating system used by Flame which allowed him to live as if it were a legitimate application.

The malware described by the expert in computer security, Kaspersky, as "the third weapon computer the most sophisticated ever seen at the global level" after Stuxnet and Duqu allows indeed to collect data remotely, intervene on the computer settings, activate certain devices of a PC (microphone, webcam) to save conversations, make screen shots or even connect to Instant Messaging.

The patch is available by update module integrated Windows but also for download here. Even if Flame is very localized to the close and Middle East and can already be eradicated by a majority of antivirus, it is better to prevent than cure and immediately install the update available for all versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7 and Server).

Champion Microsoft of de-indexing with Google applications

If the rights holders on cultural property are very active dereference to Google applications, Microsoft makes more requests...

Google regularly publishes statistics on the listings requests that are sent to him and the links it actually removes from its search engine. As always, the Majors and other rightholders (NBC Universal, the RIAA or the British Industry Record Music) are part of those seeking more frequently Google on this subject, regarding the indexing of pirated content made available by various sites and blogs. But in the first place, there are Microsoft which has only asked the withdrawal of Google 543.000 Internet pages which were all products of which the rights belong to the Redmond giant. Microsoft remains on a large rate, since in a little less than a year, 2.5 million Web pages which he asked the dereference.

Fred von Lohmann, counsel for Google in charge of copyright law, explains that it is not uncommon that Google received 250,000 requests for de-indexing per week. In the month of May alone, it is 1.2 million applications were received on behalf of different rightholders 1000, on 24,000 websites. Figures, even if they seem very important, do not cover the whole of the unlawful activity on content protected on the Web, far from it. But then Google manages to process as many requests? A priori, Yes, because the search engine says that between July and December 2011, 97% of requests were processed. Google would like to announce that, in the future, these statistics will be published daily on site Transparency Report.

Microsoft wanted to sell Bing on Facebook

Anxious to get rid of its search engine, Microsoft would have tried refourguer Bing on Facebook...

This is the kind of approaches that multinational companies prefer to keep secret. But the New York Times has decided otherwise and revealed that last year, Microsoft executives came close Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg to the CEO of the first global social network to buy the Bing search engine.

Therefore a large folder, but a demi-surprise when we know the privileged links were woven into these two groups, Microsoft have included participation in the capital of Facebook and him having resold a part of its newly acquired AOL patents.

When these discussed, Microsoft tried to demonstrate to Facebook with Bing in anyway, it would be better cut for Google and its social offensive with Google. However, Steve Ballmer not had apparently not validated this proposal which, in any event, came on nothing since Mark Zuckerberg has just declined the offer.