InsideMicrosoft

New Zune Ad Features Crazy Cubs

Check out this new Zune ad:

Those are bear cubs or teddy bears, right? Whatever they are, it’s a real crazy ad, very trippy. Thought?

July 12th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | Marketing, Zune, Windows Media | 4 comments

Microsoft To Buy Facebook For $6 Billion?

Rumor is that Microsoft is looking to close a deal to buy Facebook for the amazing sum of six billion dollars. Henry Blodget says that while he can’t confirm it, he has definitely heard that Steve Ballmer is desperately trying to make a big splash play to counter Google in the internet game. Considering that all we’ve been hearing of Ballmer recently is that his focus aas the new leader of Microsoft is in services, it would make sense to grab the most buzzworthy free agent on the web.

What could happen with Facebook? Unlike buying Yahoo, Facebook actually fits into Microsoft’s portfolio, since they don’t have a social network. What Microsoft does have is Windows Live Spaces, the most popular blogging service on the planet, and the two should complement each other. In fact, if an acquisition happens, the Facebook team should be combined with the Live Spaces team, and the two services should become one.

Live Spaces should become the blogging component of Facebook, while features of Facebook should become full-fledged services with those of Live Spaces, like the photo sharing. Soapbox could be integrated with Facebook for video sharing, Live Messenger has a ton of integration opportunities for messaging, pokes, notifications. Facebook applications could be ported as Live.com Gadgets and Sidebar Gadgets. A Windows Live Search box could top every Facebook page.

The more you think about it, the more you see how Facebook would make Windows Live work. I’d argue that Ballmer should be willing to go as high as ten billion, since Facebook can make their Google competitor reality. If Facebook makes Windows Live work, we’re talking maybe a billion dollars a quarter in revenue, more if they reach Yahoo levels. That six billion could be earned back real fast.

July 12th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | Live, Corporate, Windows | 41 comments

Windows Live Quick Apps Announced

Steve Ballmer showed off Windows Live Quick Apps, some slickly developed websites that take advantage of multiple Windows Live Services, like Silverlight Streaming, Virtual Earth, Windows Live Contacts, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Expo, and others. All the information used on the sites is “in the cloud”, and the source code is available, so you get an idea of some of the cool things that are possible with Windows Live.

There are two demo sites, one for a fictional bicycle club, the other a fictional school. The coolest usage has to be the bicycle ride videos, which have the video on top (using Silverlight streaming) and a map below (using Virtual Earth). As the video plays, the progress is updated on the map. Very sweet.

More by Steve Clayton and James Senior.

July 12th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | General | 3 comments

Microsoft Confirms AND Denies Xbox 360 Price Cut

Ooh, this is always fun: Two seperate stories I read last night, one saying Microsoft was smashing an analyst who claimed the Xbox 360 was about to get a price cut, and one another saying they had finally admitted one was going to happen. I love official contradictions!

First, at Gizmodo, Microsoft officially stated that Wedbush Morgan-analyst Michael Pachter didn’t know what he was talking about when he stated price cuts of $50-80 were coming for all three Xbox 360 models. Pachter has said to expect the Elite to drop to $400, the Premium to $350, and the Core system to $250. It didn’t happen Tuesday night, and Microsoft said it ain’t happening, period.

For the record, I’d love a job as an analyst, because it seems to be the only media job where you get to make stuff up. Sure, there are analysts who base what they say on actual investigative reporting, like leaks from the supply chain, but then there are analysts who look at a product and announce, “I think a new version is coming!” or “I think a price cut is coming!” Well whooppidy-doo! I can be an analyst, too. Here’s a prediction: Microsoft will sell a lot of copies of Halo 3. Now give me a paycheck and call me an analyst!

Anyway, on the other side of the coin, Microsoft finally admitted that a price cut was coming. Contradiction? Not exactly. Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim said in an interview with Bloomberg that Microsoft needed to drop the price of the console, and “We definitely are working on that area.” He didn’t say when or how much, just that it was definitely happening.

How is that not a contradiction to the first statement? Because, as any analyst could tell you, a price cut is an obvious thing, it’s the timing and amount of the cut that is relevant. Most company spokespeople would deny one entirely, as they are told to do, but everyone knows these things happen eventually. Kim was just being honest.

When will the 360 get a price cut? It’s way overdue, considering that Tuesday would have been the perfect time to announce one. In the last generation, the first price cut came from the last place company, Microsoft, at six months, as well as the second place company, Nintendo, at six months, and lastly, by the market leaders, Sony, at 18-19 months. So the market leader tends to cut prices last.

Problem is, Nintendo is doing so well it’s acting like a market leader, and may not cut prices for another year (see how I can talk like an analyst?). Microsoft can’t wait that long and let Sony regain its momentum, and it can’t wait until after the holiday season to lose a great opportunity to boost sales. My prediction: There are three times Microsoft may announce a price cut, and if it didn’t happen at one of them, I’d be shocked.

• Mid-August - Since Microsoft passed on E3 for announcing a cut, forget it, it isn’t happening now. But it might happen mid-to-late next month, announced as a special back-to-school price cut. That’s the first opportunity, and it accomplishes the same thing as the second possibility, which is…
• September 25 - It is highly possible Microsoft is announcing a price cut for the day Halo 3 comes out, in order to create enormous buzz and turn Halo 3’s huge opening day into an even bigger one, by selling hundreds of thousands of consoles alongside it. This is a very likely scenario.
• Mid-November - If Microsoft fails to price cut by November, it’ll have to do it then or risk bad press. A two-year period with no cut is unheard of, and it’s going to piss off potential customers (read: people with less money) who are going to give up waiting and just buy a Wii. Microsoft can’t have the bad press of failing to cut at all, so they will have to at the two-year birthday of the 360. Don’t be surprised, though, if it’s a “reluctant cut”, that the only console dropping in price is the Premium.

July 12th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | Halo 3, Halo, Xbox 360, Xbox | 2 comments

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta Launches

Participants in the beta of Windows Live OneCare 2.0 had their software updated to the new beta over the last day or so. Take a look at some of the interface changes:

So, what’s different?

Well, you’re supposed to install OneCare on all your computers, then manage it centrally here. You manage everything on your network, including backing up to a central location. If you have Windows Home Server, it’ll take advantage of that as well. There’s also an online photo backup feature, with free storage for your photos, but you’ll have to wait until the end of the beta to use it, unless you get an email instructing you to test it right now.

The Firewall has a new setting that turns off certain activities automatically if you are in a public place. These activities will be suspended until you change zones. Take a look:

The Configure Firewall dialog is WAY streamlined, with everything on a single page instead of a growing number of tabs, with the more advanced options hidden under a second dialog. This means there is an interface for less advanced users to fix firewall problems, while there are still tons of options for tweaking your firewall if you know how to.

There is a new feature under Tune-up for tweaking what happens at the startup of your system. It lists some programs that run at startup, with stats for how often and how recently you use those programs, and a simple click to disable that program. Goodbye, Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher! So long, Google Toolbar Notifier!

Virus protection has an option to “look for virus-like behavior”, or just check for viruses and spyware. You get to choose how proactive it it.

There’s printer sharing, which automatically shares any printer connected to any computer in your OneCare “circle” with all the other computers. This should take the guesswork out of printer sharing in most cases.

There’s detailed support logging, including a Monthly Report you can have displayed automatically so you know if anything happened in the last month.

Read more at Bink (including a link to get the beta).
See screenshots at Paul Thurrot.

July 12th, 2007 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | OneCare, Live, Windows, Security, General | no comments