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Today is an exciting milestone for MSN. We are beginning the launch of our new homepage to our customers in the U.S. The new MSN homepage cuts through the clutter with a clean, new design and offers search, news, local and social networking – all in one place. We encourage you to try the new homepage today and learn more about the many cool features.
Since the preview of our new homepage began in November, we’ve been very busy gathering over 70,000 pieces of customer feedback and introducing over 30 updates in our quest to deliver the best homepage to stay in the know.
Check it out here: http://www.msn.com/preview.aspx
Source: http://msnblog.msn.com/blogpost.aspx?post=1686726
Preview of the new MSN page along with the new butterfly logo is up.
Check it out at preview.msn.com
MSN Direct, the service that offers traffic, weather, movie times and more to some GPS units, including Garmin Nuvi 780, 880, 885, will go dark on January 1, 2012. The announcement was made with the backdrop of other technologies coming forward, namely the slow promising crawl of broadband connected devices. The service is a step up from the FM based TMC traffic, and has more capability to deliver other services directly to the unit while you drive.
Source MSN Direct to End Service Jan 1, 2012 GPS Lodge - GPSLodge.com
Microsoft is closing Soapbox, its onetime video-sharing rival to Google's YouTube, the company said Tuesday.
Last month, Microsoft told CNET News it planned to significantly scale back Soapbox. Now it turns out Soapbox will be scaled all the way down to nothing.
"We have decided to shut down the Soapbox feature," said Microsoft Vice President and MSN leader Erik Jorgensen in an e-mail. "Beginning today, July 21, we will be notifying both our customers and our internal and external partners that on July 29th, people will no longer be able to upload videos to Soapbox and on August 31st, the service will no longer be available."
Microsoft will continue to support MSN Video, which has 88 million unique users each month and delivers 480 million video streams each month, he said. Soapbox was responsible for less than 5 percent of MSN Video's streams.
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Microsoft plunged into the crowded field of online entertainment and celebrity news on Thursday, taking the wraps off a new website known as Wonderwall.
Wonderwall.com is a joint venture between MSN, the internet arm of the US software giant, and BermanBraun Interactive, a media company based in Santa Monica, California.
"Wonderwall offers people an engaging and visually dynamic perspective on the day's hottest pop culture stories, personalities and trends," MSN and BermanBraun said in a statement.
The main feature of Wonderwall.com is a nearly full-screen wall of pictures with links to stories, photo galleries and video.
Microsoft Corp. plans to acquire the 50.1% it doesn't already own in MSN Israel Ltd. from partner Internet Gold Ltd., the companies said on Sunday.
The companies said in a statement that they're "discussing the terms of migration and possible future cooperation." Meantime, they're still "working together to support employees, advertisers and users."
Microsoft is dangling prizes made by arch-nemesis Apple to entice Australian web surfers to give its online search products a second chance.Through its local joint venture with the Nine Network, ninemsn, Microsoft recently completed a full revamp of Live Search to improve results and integrate video, images, news and maps into search queries.But in what is perhaps a sign of desperation given Google's growing market share dominance, ninemsn is running a new Live Search promotion - Secret Search - offering surfers the chance to win prizes including the iPod Nano, Shuffle and Touch just for conducting searches.A Microsoft source said using competitor products was frowned on at Microsoft and the company was offering large discounts on Windows Mobile-based smartphones to dissuade staff from buying iPhones.At ninemsn, staff are forbidden from using Google search.At the entrance to Microsoft's Zune headquarters in the US there is an "iPod Amnesty Bin" for staff to throw away their iPods. The words "bite me" are plastered across the bin below a picture of an Apple with bites taken out of it.Ninemsn's head of Live Search, Alex Parsons, said if the Zune music player was sold in Australia it would have been offered as a prize instead.
After taking some heat for its April decision to shutter its MSN Music servers, Microsoft this week backtracked and decided to allow access until the end of 2011.
"After careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to continue to support the authorization of new computers and devices and delivery of new license keys for MSN Music customers through at least the end of 2011, after which we will evaluate how much this functionality is still being used and what steps should be taken next to support our customers," Microsoft wrote in an e-mailed letter to customers that was posted on BoingBoing.
The software giant initially planned to delete its MSN Music license servers on August 31, meaning any music purchased from the now-defunct MSN Music Store would only be accessible via the five computers users authorized to play the tunes.
Madonna’s exclusive performance at New York City’s famed Roseland Ballroom will be available live to millions of fans via an online broadcast at http://music.msn.com/madonna, it was confirmed today by MSN and Control Room, which announced that the show will stream live Wednesday evening, April 30, at 10 p.m. EDT in the United States and will be available on demand to international audiences on May 15. Along with some past hits, Madonna will be debuting several new songs including her 37th No. 1 smash single “Four Minutes” from her upcoming CD Hard Candy, which is scheduled to be released on April 28. The Control Room-produced show will also include never-before-seen rehearsal footage, a pre-recorded interview with Madonna and her full performance, giving fans around the globe unprecedented access to one of the biggest music events of 2008 by simply logging on to MSN Music In Concert.
“Madonna is a legendary performer, and we’re thrilled to be bringing this live online broadcast to her fans on the heels of her Hall of Fame induction, her record-breaking 37th top-10 single ‘4 Minutes,’ and in conjunction with the launch of this hotly anticipated new album,” said Aaron Grosky, Control Room president. “As experts in bringing live music performances to the Web, Control Room will deliver Madonna fans an online experience that captures the excitement and authenticity of this exclusive show.”
Control Room, the leading producer and distributor of world-class entertainment content, delivers nearly 40 live music shows per year to the MSN Music In Concert series. Past performances have included international superstars such as Rihanna, Jay-Z, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow and many more. Coming in May, fans can watch performances by Jack Johnson and Daughtry. The Music In Concert series (http://music.msn.com/inconcert), which is available in 42 countries and 21 languages through the international MSN network, gives music fans worldwide the chance to see live music performances from their favorite artists.
“MSN Music In Concert is one way we are bringing together the best and most compelling entertainment content on the Web,” said Rob Bennett, general manager, entertainment, video and sports, MSN. “Madonna has a huge international following, and we are very excited that we’re able to offer the exclusive webcast of her concert to her fans around the world.”
The identities of Microsoft's two online brands, MSN and Windows Live, have been a subject of confusion since the company launched the latter a few years ago. So it was interesting -- and a bit perplexing -- to see these billboards show up in Seattle recently.
Here's why: Microsoft has positioned MSN as a destination for "programmed content," such as the MSN.com portal, MSN Video and MSN Games. Windows Live, on the other hand, has been designated as a place for communications (Hotmail, Messenger), user-generated content (Spaces), and information retrieval/question answering (Live Search).
At first glance, the messages on these billboards seem more about retrieving information or answering questions: "Sherlock had Watson. You have us," reads one, south of downtown Seattle. Of course, that puts the consumer in the role of the famous fictional detective, digging for clues ... and MSN in the role of the not-nearly-as-sharp sidekick.
"Free IQ points. Collect them all," reads another, along Elliott Avenue West. Again, that might conjure up images of a hunt for information.
Granted, it's not easy to be nuanced in billboards. In fact, in response to my inquiry about the billboards, an MSN representative explained that they're part of a larger campaign that includes an online site, www.noonewantstolookdumb.com, radio spots, and related online videos. The underlying idea is to promote MSN.com's informational features and news as a source of knowledge. For example, one video shows a guy panicking about all the subjects his date might want to talk about. And the radio ads include one that promotes MSN's ability to "expand your mind."
Microsoft says the radio ads and billboards are running in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
The Motley Fool and Microsoft Corp. today announced the kickoff of The Motley Fool CAPS MSN Stock Challenge, an online investment contest created in response to the increasing popularity of the CAPS stock rating service on MSN. Contestants in The Motley Fool CAPS MSN Stock Challenge will create their own “fantasy” stock portfolio using the information from the CAPS community of investors, and then see how their portfolio performs over a period of 15 weeks. Through the competition, contestants will be able to learn about smart investment choices without risking real money while competing for amazing prizes weekly and a grand prize of $15,000 cash.
MSN Charm Quest
To win The Motley Fool CAPS MSN Stock Challenge, contestants must earn five charms in the MSN Charm Quest. Players are awarded charms throughout the course of the competition by completing certain tasks such as creating a blog or by reaching certain measurements of success such as having a stock pick with a score of 100 or more. The winners will be the three entrants who have earned all five charms and achieved the greatest increase in their portfolio value as measured from March 12, 2008, through June 26, 2008. The grand prize winner will receive $15,000 cash and the title of MSN CAPS Champ; the first runner-up will receive a four-day, three-night trip to New York; and the second runner-up will receive a four-day, three-night trip to Las Vegas.
In addition to a chance to win these prizes, all participants will be entered into a weekly sweepstakes to have a chance to win prizes such as gift cards, flat-panel TVs and much more. New CAPS users will earn a sweepstakes entry for registering for MSN CAPS and making seven stock picks, and earn an additional entry each time they log in. More information about the contest, including full official rules, is available at http://stockchallenge.msn.com.
“The MSN stock challenge is a great way for investors to both learn and put their investment ideas to work,” said John Keeling, senior vice president of Fool.com. “With the addition of CAPS community-generated stock ratings to the other financial tools found on MSN Money, anyone can get the information they need to create a stellar profile.”
“Cool, innovative new ways to help our consumers make smart financial decisions is what MSN Money is all about, and through this fun, fantasy game-like experience with The Motley Fool, we are doing exactly that in the investing arena,” said Chris Jolley, group manager for the Financial Products Group at Microsoft. “This is especially important given the current market conditions. We’re also excited to strengthen our relationship with The Motley Fool and continue collaborating with the company to help make the important task of investor education more fascinating.”
Today, RCA Music Group and Microsoft Corp. announced that MSN has signed on as the exclusive online broadcaster and as a title sponsor of Clive Davis’ legendary Pre-Grammy Party, which will be held Feb. 9 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
MSN will be the exclusive online broadcaster of the evening’s historic musical performances. On Sunday, Feb. 10, music fans can log on to music.msn.com for access to performances and interviews straight from the red carpet. On Monday, Feb. 11, fans will also be able to access on demand performances from the star-studded event.
This annual event, which occurs on the eve of the Grammy Awards, long-ago established itself as the destination for A-list celebrities, Grammy winners, Hollywood stars, sports legends, authors and influential entertainment industry executives. The evening consists of cocktails, a sit-down dinner and performances from some of the biggest names in music.
“MSN’s exclusive webcast of Clive Davis’ legendary Pre-Grammy Party highlights our commitment to providing fans with a variety of extraordinary music and entertainment experiences,” said Rob Bennett, general manager of entertainment, video and sports, MSN. “We are proud to be a part of this renowned evening, which brings together the recording industry’s finest talent and biggest celebrity names for a night of unforgettable music.”
Tom Corson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, RCA Music Group said, “We are delighted to welcome MSN as a first-time sponsor of what is always one of the entertainment industry’s biggest nights. We are thrilled to have MSN present this exclusive star-studded show to a worldwide audience.”
In recent years, performers at Clive Davis’ legendary Pre-Grammy Party have included Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Akon, Mary J. Blige, Pink, Foo Fighters, Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox, Barry Manilow, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Jamie Foxx, Kanye West, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Nelly, Carlos Santana, Ludacris, Wyclef Jean, P. Diddy, Chris Brown, Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, and Justin Timberlake, among others.
Attendees have included Prince, Jennifer Lopez, Sidney Poitier, Chris Rock, Vice President Al Gore, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Terrence Howard, Ashlee and Jessica Simpson, Courtney Love, Steven Tyler, Diana Ross, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi, Reese Witherspoon, Larry King, Sheryl Crow, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Antonio Banderas, Jackie Collins, Mariah Carey, Jerry Seinfeld, Magic Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Britney Spears, Nick Lachey, Martha Stewart, Quincy Jones, Howard Stern, Penny Marshall, Evander Holyfield, and many more.
The performance lineup for the event is kept secret until the night of the show. This year the event is being held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Today Microsoft Corp. unveiled the Atlas Institute’s Seventh Annual Holiday Online Shopping Report, which analyzes consumers’ online shopping behavior in this peak shopping season. The 2006–2007 Atlas Holiday Online Shopping Report is available at http://www.atlassolutions.com/uploadedFiles/Atlas/Atlas_Institute/Published_Content/HolidayShoppingDMI2006-2007.pdf.
By tracking online sales volumes and online ad consumption over the 2006 holiday period, the report highlights the “online crush” as an intense period of purchasing that begins the day after Thanksgiving and peaks on Cyber Monday, which typically occurs two Mondays before Christmas. Concerns about gifts arriving on time for Christmas predictably turn Cyber Monday into a psychological deadline for many online shoppers. This year’s report unveils the fact that although online purchases decrease rapidly after Cyber Monday, the largest increases in Web usage and the highest consumption of online ads occur as the holiday shopping frenzy shifts offline. This period, described as the “offline rush,” highlights the role the Internet plays in traditional brick-and-mortar retail sales during the holiday shopping season.
According to the report, the number of consumers online grows by 10 percent during the offline rush as people gather information about pending purchases that are eventually made in stores. That increase in Web traffic translates to heightened opportunities for advertisers. For example, during last year’s offline rush between Cyber Monday and Christmas Day, the rate of online ad consumption increased by 18 percent.
“Although online sales fall predictably after Cyber Monday, our study reveals that the Web continues to fuel offline holiday sales,” said Young-Bean Song, vice president of Analytics at the Atlas Institute.
The report suggests that advertisers adjust their online ad messaging to reflect the mental shift in purchasing decisions that occurs during the offline rush. Specific adjustments might include alleviating shipping concerns with guaranteed delivery dates, highlighting the availability of in-store pickup, and promoting last-minute deals on gifts.
“There is a significant opportunity for online advertisers to increase their sales during this time frame by altering their messages and the time frame in which they are delivered,” Song said.
The report also reiterates that it is important for advertisers to maintain a solid online presence throughout the holiday season — even before Cyber Monday. Mondays and Tuesdays continue to be the busiest online shopping days during the holiday season, and prime online transaction hours occur between noon and 4 p.m. EST.
“For the past seven years, we have seen the continued integration between online and offline buying behavior,” Song said. “The role online advertising has on offline sales is never more obvious than during the offline rush.”
For this year’s report, the Atlas Institute analyzed transaction data from Nov. 20, 2006, through Jan. 31, 2007. The data represents 670 billion impressions and 193 million actions across more than 180 companies whose online campaigns are managed by using the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite. The measure of activity is via an index where a value of 100 indicates a day that had average online shopping activity for the six-month period from September 2006 through February 2007.
Who: Today MSN added a new channel to its online information and entertainment network called MSN Green — a one-stop online resource for the latest environmental news, exploring the issues and taking action. MSN has teamed up with some of the leading media and environmental sources, MSNBC, Hearst Magazines (The Daily Green), Conservation International, Environmental Defense, Grist.org, TreeHugger.com and StopGlobalWarming.org, to offer the new channel, located at http://green.msn.com.
What: MSN Green will provide consumers with environmental information, including articles developed by popular online publications and Web sites, along with multimedia, interactive features and other content compiled from MSN Lifestyle, MSN Money, MSN Autos, MSN Travel, and the network’s other information and entertainment channels.
Categories will include the following:
Articles. MSNBC, Conservation International, Environmental Defense, Grist.org, TreeHugger.com and Hearst Magazines (The Daily Green), publisher of Good Housekeeping, as well as other popular consumer publications, will be among those providing articles on global warming, energy, health, biodiversity, social responsibility and other environmental topics. These articles will be available on MSN Green.
Tools. Interactive tools featured on the channel help inspire people to take a stand on the environment. For example, MSN Green visitors can determine the amount of carbon dioxide their lifestyle produces (the carbon calculator), measure how green they are (the Green-o-meter), gauge their awareness of eco-issues (the Eco-Footprint quiz), and add their name to an online petition to freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions (Stop Global Warming Virtual March).
Photos. Galleries of photos culled from around the Web will show, rather than tell, the effects of climate change. Other recurring pictorials will spotlight eco-friendly places to live; how to live a greener lifestyle; and celebrities, politicians and others who are leading the green charge.
Videos. Amateur and professional video clips from MSN Video and partner Web sites will spotlight the environment, climate change and other green topics.
Why: MSN Green addresses a growing demand for green news and information, as measured by traffic and visitor click-throughs on the network’s other channels. The webcast of the July 7, 2007, environmental-awareness concerts on liveearth.msn.com was the most popular online entertainment event in history based on simultaneous viewers, generating more than 15 million streams the day of the concerts and surpassing the number of people who watched the event on TV.
When:Available beginning today
Where: http://green.msn.com
The latest research by comScore breaks out just how big search giant Google has become on a global basis, leaving would be competitors in the digital dust.
The results of the new search survey, released by tracking firm comScore this week, found that in August alone there were more than 61 billion individual searches worldwide.
The new monthly survey, called qSearch 2.0, goes beyond measuring searches performed through just the major search engines. Instead, it also includes data representing the top 50 worldwide Internet properties where search activity is observed.
"The study found that more than 750 million people age 15 and older – or 95 percent of the worldwide Internet audience – conducted 61 billion searches worldwide in August, an average of more than 80 searches per searcher," according to a statement released by comScore. (Because it’s the first time around for a new survey design, there is no previous survey data to compare it against.)
Even with the new criteria, which allows top retail sites like eBay and Amazon, as well as social networking sites such as MySpace, to be included in the survey, Google and related properties such as YouTube still came out on top as the origination point of 37 billion searches, followed by Yahoo in second place with 8.5 billion searches.
What's initially startling about the new survey, though, is that, unlike early surveys, Microsoft did not come in third. That ranking went to Chinese search engine Baidu, which was responsible for 3.3 billion searches compared to fourth-place Microsoft at 2.2 billion.
Meanwhile, Korean-held NHN Corporation's Naver search engine came in fifth with 2 billion searches. Interestingly, eBay came in sixth with 1.3 billion searches.
The difference for Microsoft appears to be due to the expansion of the definition of what qualifies as a search engine. Still, it's not great news for Microsoft.
"That's got to be disappointing for them," Andrew Frank, research vice president in the media group at Gartner, told InternetNews.com. But Microsoft's position is not what Frank thinks is most significant about the rankings.
"Baidu's [ranking is] interesting because it's an indication of how big China is," he said. "It shows that China is an untapped market in terms of the numbers of people one can reach via the Internet."
Indeed, the August numbers do appear to reflect that. Of the total of 754 million searchers, 258 million of them were in the Asia/Pacific region, according to comScore.
Additionally, however, the survey also clearly shows how large Google's global search share really is, Frank added.
Doing the math, of the more than 61 billion searches carried out globally in August, Google's search properties handled some 61 percent of them. Yahoo garnered 14 percent, while Baidu processed 5.4 percent. Microsoft's share of the global pie was a mere 3.6 percent.
Microsoft late but still a player?
Part of that has to do with Microsoft's late entry into global search markets. And while it may be trailing now, the software giant has the resources and determination to be more competitive.
"Microsoft is continuing to innovate in search, getting the basics right, and cracking the code to more deeply engaging its customers across the network. We believe the recent improvements to Live Search will help close the gap with our competitors,” a Microsoft spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an e-mailed statement.
In fact, Microsoft officials last month told press, analysts, and advertisers attending its "Searchification" event at its Silicon Valley campus, that it is concentrating on improving search for its existing users.
At the event, search team manager Brad Goldberg said the company plans to concentrate not on taking market share away from Google or Yahoo, but to grow its share by convincing existing Live Search users to spend more time with the engine.
To that end, Microsoft announced at Searchification the release of a new version of its Windows Live Search engine and said from now on it will release major updates to it every six months.
Perhaps a little ironically, last December, Microsoft and Baidu also announced a business alliance around search that pays Microsoft for showing Baidu paid advertising on its search results.
"As a result of this strategic alliance, Microsoft will display Baidu's paid search listings on the search results pages of certain Microsoft websites, including MSN, Live, and other partner websites in China," the companies said in a joint statement at the time.