Microsoft rolls out Windows Azure, a cloud operating system for all-internet computing
DVICE Atom Feed — ... Businesses are supposed to like this, placing all their data on a remote server that's protected from earthquakes, fires and so on. But will they like that loss of complete control over their data? For the rest of us, Microsoft already has a few Windows Live web-based apps for consumers available, and hopes to run them on Azure, too. But Microsoft has a long way to go if it wants to compete against the variety of great and free apps from Google, Amazon and many others. Good luck with that. ...

Windows Live Home beta (accidently) available to public!
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... , forgetting that I was on the dogfood server. Expecting that I would get to the 404 page not found, instead I was redirected to the new Windows Live Home beta ( ...

Sweeping Changes At Live.com: It’s A Social Network!
TechCrunch — ... Microsoft’s Live.com portal will change significantly this evening. No longer will it be a simple search engine with a few other services bolted on. It’s now a social network, too, pulling in activity information and content from around the web. They’re also launching Windows Live Photos and Windows Live People, and other services. Check it out at Home.Live.com. ...

Live.com: All Change
Geek In Disguise — Lots of changes coming at Live.com as it looks more and more like a full blown social network. Coverage at Techmeme and Techcrunch already. The best way to understand what’s coming though is to watch the cool video the team did with Lee and the gang at CommonCraft. If you want lots of details, check out the Reviewers Guide

AOL vs. Live vs. Yahoo: Fight
Mashable! — ... It’s impossible to compare the three sites since neither the new Live nor Yahoo are live yet (the new Live.com homepage should be available later today at home.live.com), but the trend is obvious. The old, static (some would say boring) concept of a big web portal is dead: the social revolution is coming. ...

Massive changes go live at Live.com
Tech Digest — ... Microsoft is turning "Live" into a social network. That's what seems to be at the core of the big changes that will be happening to Live.com over the next day or so. Instead of just being a search box, it's getting activity and contact information from around the web - a 'news feed' of sorts. If you want to check it out early, you can. It's at home.live.com. It's about using existing connections to build your network, so that you don't have to go through the rigmarole of 'adding' people yet again. Anyone that you're friends with on MSN Messenger automatically becomes a ...

Live.com goes social
Gadgetell — ... Microsoft just announced that they are giving Windows Live a major face lift.  They plan to debut a whole bunch of new beta Windows Live features to help users combine all parts of their online life.  These features are not going to just be Microsoft services either.  But they will all be under the Windows Live umbrella page. ...

Microsoft plans to make its mark in the PC gaming industry
Gadgetell — Section: Gaming, Games, Miscellaneous, Web, Downloads, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites Not only is Microsoft wanting to be one of the new boys in town in the social networking arena, with their new Microsoft Live platform; they are also planning to muscle in on the digitally distributed PC gaming market. General manager for Windows Live, Chris Early, confirmed in an interview with ShackNews that Microsoft does indeed have concrete plans to ...

Windows Live becomes a social network
T3.com All — ... to save your stalkers a good few keyboard clicks. Microsoft is also updating its main services, with upgraded, spam-resistant email and improved messaging - up to 20 people will be able to chat on IM simultaneously. Facebookers might appreciate the newly-added photo sharing (done as drag and drop) and an increase in storage to 25GB should cover all but the most active paparazzi. US users gets this in the coming weeks, us Brits will stay in the dark age until early next year. Link: Windows Live (via ...

Have You Ever Been a Hotmail User?
GeekSugar — ... . I wanted to take a look-see, so I signed up for an account. Even though it's been years, I remembered my old Hotmail account info — not that it mattered, since everything is Windows Live now. ...

Microsoft expected to rebrand Live.com to Kumo.com
TG Daily - All News — ... "sometime early next year," citing a source within the company. The question, of course is, whether Kumo.com can be more successful than Live.com, which has clearly hit a wall and has not shown growth over the past few months, despite some incentive programs that actually “pays” users for using the service. However, some industry voices have mentioned in the past that Microsoft needs to detach its search engine from the increasingly complex Live brand umbrella. Apparently, Microsoft plans to turn Live.com into a social-networking-based personalized destination that ...

A look at the Dynamic Themes in Windows Live Wave 3
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... We’ll take a more in depth look at this. For those of us who had been using the current Windows Live Home (http://home.live.com), you may have already seen how the colour of the page changes depending whether it’s day or night at the location you’ve set. Similarly, in Wave 3 you’re able to set your location in Windows Live Home: ...

Dynamic Themes in Windows Live Wave 3
D' Technology Weblog — ... The upcoming Windows Live Profile will feature dynamic themes, reflecting the time of the day and the weather in your current location. For those of us who had been using the current Windows Live Home (http://home.live.com), you may have already seen how the colour of the page changes depending whether it’s day or night at the location you’ve set. The top of the profile will highlight your theme…Many of the new Windows Live themes (like the one shown below) will be dynamic, reflecting the time of the day and the weather in your current location. ...

What We Did Last Summer: Social Network Aggregation and Activity Feeds in Windows Live
Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life — ... Although this functionality started out as a feature of Windows Live Spaces, it soon became clear that this feature really should be a “Windows Live” feature. This means it is deeply integrated into all of the major Windows Live products including desktop applications like Windows Live Messenger and the Windows Live Toolbar. Also there are a ton of revamped Windows Live web experiences that pivot around the What's New list such as the Home, ...

Windows Live Rolls Out Its New Social Network Hub, Boosts SkyDrive/Photo Storage to 25 GB
TechCrunch — ... to Windows Live it announced two weeks ago. Windows Live seems to be gradually replacing MSN as Microsoft’s central hub for everything you do on the Web. ...

Windows Live: It’s Live! I Think! Partially! Stay Tuned for More!
Technologizer — ... was announced. That’s certainly the situation with the new “Wave 3″ upgrades to the company’s Windows Live services. They’ve been public knowledge since at least early this year . Then there was an official announcement three weeks ago . And today the company has announced that the first of the new services–Wave 1 of Wave 3, I guess– are rolling out to everyone over the next twenty-four hours . With more to come. The new items include updates to Windows Live’s Home , Events , Spaces , and SkyDrive , and new services including ...

New wave of updates for Windows Live web services rolling out
Bink.nu — ... a few weeks ago, Windows Live is in the midst of releasing a new wave of updates for the web, for your PC, and for mobile devices. Today we’ve started releasing the first set of updates to our web services, and these will continue to roll out globally over the next 24 hours – including a new version of Windows Live Home , ...

Windows Live Wave 3: Homepage
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... One of the centre pieces for the new Windows Live Wave 3 experience services (MS marketing speak is infectious), is the new customisable homepage at http://home.live.com. While the first version of this launched with Wave 2 was somewhat basic, the new super-charged version is a big improvement. Damaster already covered some of the basics when it was available a few weeks back, so lets get started. ...

Windows Live Invitations Marked as Spam in Gmail
Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog — The new version of Windows Live lets you add friends to your social profile very similar to Facebook or MyBlogLog. The only problem is that you may not be receiving these invitations as they are getting marked as spam in Gmail. Alternative? you can view the pending invites in Windows Live by clicking the "Invitations" tab on your Live Profile page. Windows Live - Video Promo The new Windows Live promo - very cool Windows Live Invitations Marked as Spam ...

PC meets XBOX - Microsoft Games adds Desktop Client
SEO and Tech Daily — ... Microsoft has been busy the past two weeks redesigning the LIVE.com interface, and, as many blogs have noted, taking the online product deeper into the 'social networking' world. ...

Windows Live Tip: Finding Recent Comments On Your Stuff
Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life — ... If you are like me and prefer to navigate from a central place like http://home.live.com, the screenshot below shows where to find the link to recent comments on that page ...

Windows Live For Mobile Updated
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... yet? I for one love them, especially the new Homepage. This truly is the one-stop-page to keep up to date with what your friends are up to AND holds all the links to the other services. Did you know you can have this same experience on your mobile phone? On any mobile phone (as long as it has an internet browser)? ...

A birthday surprise from Windows Live
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... The Windows Live Home header will also great you with a special message! And because the header is shown for the entire day without changing, the weather information is displayed as an icon instead. You can see this in the screenshot below: ...

Thumbnails enhancements features on Windows Live
D' Technology Weblog — ... Windows Live provides the ability to add new features rapidly and discretely. One such new feature makes your thumbnails look even better – once installed. all different sized album’s thumbnails – became the same size and all neatly aligned with each other. If you’ve not, just check out the new http://home.live.com. ...

Windows Live What's New Sidebar Gadget (beta) now available
Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life — ... Since we released the latest version of the Windows Live what's new feed which shows what's been going on with your social network at http://home.live.com, we've gotten repeated asks to provide a Windows Vista gadget so people can keep up with their social circle directly from their desktop. ...

NBC Goes Full-Screen for 2010 Olympics
Contentinople: — ... and its MSN and Windows Live networks. NBC said it will offer more than 1,000 hours of on-demand video from the Vancouver Games, including full-event replays, highlights, features, and interviews. Viewers will also be able to access statistics, athlete bios, and analysis from NBC commentators through the Silverlight video player, which users must download as a plug-in for their Web browsers. NBC has driven large traffic increases on NBCOlympics.com during its coverage of the Olympics during the last decade. It drew 52.1 million unique visitors on NBCOlympics.com during ...

Coming Soon To A Windows Live Profile Near You: Facebook Updates
TechCrunch — ... , the service that essentially turns Windows Live into a non-isolated social network centered around your Windows Live ID, currently pulls in a good deal of updates from third-party services Flickr, Pandora, Twitter, Yelp, and a couple more. You can also insert any RSS feed into the streams, for instance the one for your own blog, and add it to the mix. In case you don’t remember, Windows Live Profiles was part of the ...

Facebook integration with Windows Live expected in April?
D' Technology Weblog — ... from Marketing Manager for Microsoft Advertising Southeast Asia Geert Desager, reveals the timing of Facebook integration into Windows Live: Facebook will be added in the Windows Live activities in april, I just heard! ...

CTIA Keynote Preview
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — On April 2…. yes April 2nd ,Robert Bach will take to the stage and make the day 2 keynote at CTIA’s 2009 trade show. He is president of the Entertainment & Devices, a group that includes Zune & Windows Mobile. You can expect the usual dog & pony show for Windows Mobile 6.5 and its upcoming app store. According to sources  close to MS, You can expect at least one surprise announcement related to Windows Live wave 4. Which is due this fall The announcement may be the long rumored Windows Live-Facebook integration. Which would allow users to link both ...

Facebook, MySpace and others 'Go Live' on Windows Live this week
SuperSite Blog — From Microsoft: Today, Microsoft announced that 20 new third-party feed partners, and 3 new contacts partners will be rolling out globally on Windows Live this week, giving 500 million+ Windows Live customers more ways to share their lives online lives and communicate with the people they care about. What's New: Feeds partners available to consumers this week at home.live.com include Facebook, Digg and SmugMug. New contacts partners, MySpace, hi5, and Tagged, join Facebook and LinkedIn this ...

Windows Live Takes a Page From FriendFeed and Facebook
Mashable! — ... If you were looking for yet another way to aggregate your social activity from the across the Web, then you’re in luck. Windows Live, the MobileMe for PCs, is getting into the hyper-aggregation business with a variety of social websites. ...

Home.live.com: Is This The “More”? Web Slice For What’s New With Your Network
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — Might this be the “more” spoken about here? PicturePan, spotted something in Angus Logan’s vids that were posted in Rob Dolin’s post:   A web slice* icon on home.live.com! Now what might that be for? From what we see in a screenshot in Seika’s post, it is for “What’s new with your network.” Very handy indeed, but don’t we already have something like that? Well, yes and no. If you have the Windows Live Toolbar installed you will see that also has a “What’s New” button:   ...

Windows Live Home New Feature: Word-wheel Contact Search in Header Search Bar
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... It seems like Windows Live Home has been silently updated overnight with a few new hidden features. Sunshine already uncovered one for us a few days ago regarding the new ...

Web Slice on Windows Live Home has gone live!
Redmond Pie — Microsoft has started rolling out the new Web Slice feature for Windows Live Home (http://home.live.com) worldwide. Last week, LiveSide reported on this upcoming new feature of Windows Live Home which shows the top three(by default) most recent happenings from your “What’s new with your network”.          To see all of your 10 updates, simply scale the Slice by dragging it with your mouse from the bottom right corner. What is a Web Slice? A ...

Facebook integration with Windows Live is here!
Redmond Pie — ... , Microsoft has added 20 new Web Activities for integration with your network on Windows Live Home. This has taken the total number of Web Activities to 30. Includes: ...

Windows Live Profile Gets Some Cool New Features
(Obsolete Feed) — ... On Windows Live Home, you can now update your personal message inline, without going to a separate message editing page. ...

Gadgetwise: Windows 7, One Step Further
NYT > Technology — ... .–You’ll need a Windows Live ID, which is free here . Also, a DVD burner and blank disc for clean installs, and a broadband Internet connection, unless you’re not busy for the next few weeks.–The download may be slow, or may balk. Microsoft says to keep trying. Along with the download, users should receive a product key that they’ll need to enter to run the program.–There are parameters for hardware for the RC. To run the 32-bit version, the PC should have a 1 GHz or faster processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 16 gigs of hard disk space and a DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM ...

MSN QnA Beta ends on May 21st
D' Technology Weblog — ... and connect with others through Windows Live. You can ask questions, get answers, and have discussions on a variety of topics in the message boards throughout ...

★ Putting What Little We Actually Know About Chrome OS Into Context
Daring Fireball — ... I’m sure what I’m about to suggest is anathema to Google employees, but in addition to the sky high vapor-to-bits ratio, there’s another aspect of the Chrome OS announcement that reminds me of Microsoft: the name. In the same way that Microsoft has used “Windows” to describe very different things — both a computer operating system and an online suite of web apps — Google is now using “Chrome” to describe two very different things. ...

Bing and Ping (but not on Windows Live)
All about Microsoft — ... which explained the Bing and Ping feature, Microsoft isn’t enabling sharing on its own Windows Live social-networking site or other Windows Live services. Commentator “Ali” noted:“What about sending an IM? Or using Windows Live ‘Shared Favourites’ or updating my WLM (Windows Live Messenger) status?  I think it’s great that you’re embracing all the other web services out there, but how can MS expect other web sites/businesses to embrace their online services when MS’s own properties often don’t…  Be great to see a little more integration.” Poster “Peter” added:“Where is the ...

Facebook does it, wrests lead in Latin America from Orkut, Hi5
VentureBeat — ... still dominates the Brazilian market: it attracted 22.7 million unique visitors last month. The next closest competitor, Windows Live Profile, brought in roughly a third of that traffic with 8 million visitors, according to the Comscore numbers. Facebook comes in at eighth place. ...

MySpace, Hulu and more on Windows Live this week
SuperSite Blog — ... Feed partners available to consumers this week at http://home.live.com include MySpace, Hulu, Goodreads and a host of regional web companies (full list available ...

New Feed And Contact Partners Coming To Windows Live
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — This week 23 new third-party feed partners, including Blingee, BuddyTV, Goodreads, Hulu, Judy’s Book, MySpace, Newsvine, OleOle, Qik and SlideShare are rolling out in Windows Live (full list available here). Adding feeds to your Windows Live Profile is easy. Click “Add Web activities” on the left side of your Windows Live Profile page, and select the partner sites you’d like to add. After following the steps, your activities on those sites will appear in the news feed of your Windows Live profile and throughout Windows Live. But not only are more feed partners coming to Windows Live, ...

Windows Live adds new Feed and Contact partners to Live network
D' Technology Weblog — This week 23 new third-party feed partners are rolling out, including Blingee, BuddyTV, Goodreads, Hulu, Judy’s Book, MySpace, Newsvine, OleOle, Qik and SlideShare are rolling out in Windows Live (full list available here). Adding feeds to your Windows Live Profile is easy. Click “Add Web activities” on the left side of your Windows Live Profile page, and select the partner sites you’d like to add. After following the steps, your activities on those sites will appear in the news feed of your Windows Live profile and throughout ...

Will You Use Microsoft's Office Web Apps?
Microsoft Watch — ... Microsoft's Apps, available through a subscription to Windows Live, are extremely limited in the preview version. You can view documents using the Word Web App, edit documents with the PowerPoint Web App, and edit, create and co-author documents in the Excel Web App. Although Microsoft previously promised a OneNote Web App, apparently they're still tinkering with that one. ...

Office Web Apps Expands, More Invited to Join Technical Preview
ReadWriteWeb — ... the Web Apps, Microsoft's first attempt at porting their desktop Office software to the cloud. Sponsor About the Web Apps and the Technical Preview Although still limited to users in the U.S. and Japan, participants in the Technical Preview are able to access the web versions of the Office programs through Windows Live SkyDrive, Microsoft's online cloud storage service and a part of their Windows Live suite of tools and services. SkyDrive, which provides each user with 25 GB of online storage, is used to ...

Microsoft offering junkware-free PCs
TechBlog — ... . There are Acers, HPs, Dells and Sonys. The latter three manufacturers have a reputation for installing a lot of junkware, particularly Sony, so it's interesting that they're participating in the program. Now, Microsoft is putting its own software on here. Its Windows Live line includes Windows Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer. Many of these are products that were originally included with Windows - such as Live Mail and Movie Maker - but were dropped from Windows 7. You may or may not think of these as junkware, but here's the good news: ...

What’s coming for Live.com?
LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews — ... including Office Live and Windows Live. It’s now way past 45 days since Bing first launched in June, and this is the first sign indicating that Live.com will no longer redirect to Bing. After all, Microsoft should make good use of the easy-to-remember domain name for their “Live” offerings (did we mention Start.com too?). The question is, what will take the place for Live.com? Possible candidates are: Windows Live Home (currently at http://home.live.com) The good old Windows Live Personalized Experience (currently at ...

Windows Live Gets YouTube, 18 More Content Partners
SuperSite Blog — ... Feed partners available to consumers this week at http://home.live.com include YouTube, Break.com and a host of regional web companies (full list available ...