Microsoft Kin

The launch of the two Microsoft mobile phones Kin One and Two don't seem to have caused much of a stir. I found most reviews to be surprisingly negative.

According to Microsoft the Kin is targeted to the youthful audience and the main focus is on social networking. However, recent studies show that the dominant age segments in the most popular networks including Facebook are actually people in the 30s. Something that they should think about.

Anyway, both models feature touch screens, slide-out Qwerty keyboards and GPS. WiFi and Bluetooth is also standard. However, the major differences between the two model are the cameras and memory. The Kin One which is more compact has a 5 MP camera and 4 GB of memory whereas the Kin Two has an 8 MP camera and a huge 8 GB memory.

Just read that they would be launched in the UK by Vodafone. Have no news about when they would be available in the UK nor the price. Can't wait to try them out.

Microsoft Office Ultimate offer

If you are a student, I have some great news. Just found out about this amazing offer from Microsoft. You can now grab a copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate for ONLY £38.95.

That's a steal, considering that the package retails for £477.35 on Amazon UK.

All you need is a .ac.uk email address.

Microsoft Office Ultimate conatins Access 2007, Outlook 2007, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Groove 2007, Publisher 2007, InfoPath 2007, Word 2007 and OneNote 2007.

Oxite - the new blogging platform from Microsoft

Just got to know about Oxite - an open source blogging platform from Microsoft. Yes! We thought we would never see the day but Microsoft does give away software for free.

Check out the numerous open sources projects on Codeplex - their Open Source community site. Oxite is in Alpha, meaning that it is still in the Internal Test stage. Hopefully they shall have a Beta version out soon ready for public testing. Not sure how it's going to compare to Wordpress but it would definitely need to have more features if they are going to compete against the World's most favourite blog platform. From what I read, they might position it as a full fledged Content Management Systems like Joomla rather than just a blogging platform.

Free online storage with MSN SkyDrive

Good news for all of you guys who have an MSN, Windows Live or Hotmail account. In case you are not aware, Microsoft's Free online storage service known as SkyDrive has now increased the storage limit to 5Gb from 1Gb.

You have the option of keeping your files "personal", meaning that they are only meant for your eyes. You can also put them in the "Shared folder" to share with friends or in the "Public" that anyone can access.

The service is available in 38 countries/regions. In addition to Great Britain, India, and the U.S., it is now available in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey. Unfortunately Malaysia is not in the list as yet.

Do check out the SkyDrive team's blog for more information.

Unlimited Storage with Yahoo! mail

It was Google, which broke away from the rest and offered us a gigantic, never before heard of, 1000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free email storage with Gmail (or Google mail).


They were soon followed by Yahoo and later by Hotmail (Now Windows Live Hotmail).

However, whatever they did and how much they upgraded, Gmail was always one up. That is, until recently. Today I noticed that Yahoo! is offering UNLIMITED storage to both new and existing users. More information here.


Can't wait to see how Google and Microsoft are going to respond to that.

The Amazing Microsoft Surface

The Microsoft Surface is really amazing. Reminds me of the 2002 sci-fi movie "Minority Report" starring Tom Cruise.

Interaction with this 30-inch computer that looks like a tabletop, is through it's touch-sensitive surface instead of a mouse and keyboard. Users directly interact through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects.

It is expected to cost $10,000 and will be available later this year.


Watch the clips below:





Tags: Microsoft Surface