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Betanews says that digital music sales are soaring and “may finally have enough impetus to boost the industry.”
The Windows Vista Team Blog has screenshots of the latest iteration on the Windows Basic Theme that Vista users will get if they can’t run or don’t want the Aero user experience.
Chris Morris at CNN reports that Nintendo’s Wii game console may ship earlier (October) than expected. Coincidentally, Reuters reports that Nintendo rules Japan H1 videogame sales. Maybe Microsoft and Sony should worry less about each other? Speaking of which, Sony is talking up its E-distribution competitor to Xbox Live.
Microsoft released the ASP.NET “Atlas” June 2006 Community Technology Preview (CTP) of their ASP.NET support for spiffy Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) Web applications.
Carlos Bergfeld at BusinessWeek online has the latest alarming report on online advertising click fraud although Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft deny it’s a problem. What’s even more chilling:
Outsell’s study may only add to the concern. According to the Burlingame (Calif.)-based firm, 27% of advertisers reported they had already decreased their online ad spending, by an average of 33%. An additional 10% said they plan to reduce online spending until search-ad publishers come up with a plan to protect their investment. “I think it’s a piece of the drip, drip, drip—the Chinese water torture effect,” Outsell Vice-President and lead analyst Chuck Richard says of the study and the increased scrutiny of search engine companies
Nancy Gohring at PCWorld reports that Microsoft and and Yahoo Instant Messaging interoperability still isn’t there although promised for the second quarter. And speaking of IM, the::unwired has a preview of the Windows Live Messenger client for Windows Mobile.
Speaking of Windows Mobile, Microsoft just released Microsoft ActiveSync 4.2, the latest iteration in their utility for synching your Windows Mobile and regular Windows systems.
Microsoft announced a deal with France’s Bouygues Telecom:
Bouygues Telecom and Microsoft Corp. today announced collaboration to incorporate Microsoft® Windows Media® technologies progressively in Bouygues Telecom’s next-generation mobile music offering set to launch in the first half of 2007. In addition to the service, various Bouygues Telecom handsets will be tailored for the service and include support for core Windows Media technologies including Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Digital Rights Management and Microsoft’s Media Transfer Protocol as handset platforms’ capabilities evolve. Bouygues Telecom will also evaluate the use of other Windows Media platform components including Windows Media Video, Microsoft’s implementation of the SMPTE VC-1 standard, for use in future mobile media initiatives.
Gregg Keizer at CRN reports that:
Microsoft has released an add-on to Windows XP that creates a password-protected “My Private Folder” for storing private documents and files. Some enterprise administrators immediately objected.
John Pocaro at Gamerscoreblog lists some of the humorous reactions to the news that Microsoft received an exclusive contract to provide electronic control units for Formula 1 race cars. Follow the link to Pitpass for more.
My apologies to the Bard for the title, but that’s the question as Microsoft released the latest version of MSN Messenger under the Windows Live brand:
Windows Live Messenger, which had been available in test form, will officially launch Tuesday.The free program is an upgrade to MSN Messenger, the previous name for the software maker’s tool for quickly communicating online. Such products have become incredibly popular for a wide variety of audiences, from teens to business people.
The basic service gives people a way to quickly type messages back and forth. Windows Live Messenger also offers video calling and ways to easily share files, among other features.
Competitors, including market leader AOL, also are adding such functions.
Yahoo released the latest beta of their IM offering yesterday with similar features.
MSN Messenger was the second-most popular instant messaging service, after AOL, for U.S. home and worker users, according to May data from Nielsen/NetRatings.Globally, MSN Messenger is the most popular instant messaging client, with 204.6 million users in April, according to comScore Media Metrix. Yahoo is No. 2 with 76 million users, while Time Warner Inc.’s AIM and AOL messaging products together had about 51.3 million users, the research firm said.
That’s what we’re used to seeing, but there are various ways of counting for these market stats so you may see different rankings like eBay’s Skype as number 1 followed by AIM and then Yahoo.
The official press release has more on the new features in Windows Live Messenger and something else:
We can’t bring ourselves to let the company’s feeble attempt to link the launch to the new Pirates of the Caribbean film pass without comment. Actually we can. But have a look at the press release here, and share our pain.
Aside from the pain, it was rather odd since Windows Live Messenger has enhanced importance as the leadoff hitter in Microsoft’s lineup of the Windows Live online service offerings (discounting the misbranded Windows Live OneCare which launched last month). Microsoft underscored the importance in a press Q&A with Martin Taylor, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Windows Live and MSN:
Windows Live Messenger is the first core, global service to launch of the more than 20 new services currently in testing for Windows Live, a set of personal Internet services and software designed to give users greater control over how they stay informed, connected and protected on the Web.
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PressPass: Why did Microsoft choose Windows Live Messenger as the first core Windows Live service to launch?Taylor: We regard Windows Live Messenger as one of the most pivotal services within Windows Live, because it’s built to help people connect and share in all kinds of rich, unique ways. Windows Live Messenger offers people the ability to see, talk and share with family and friends in such a seamless way that puts them in control. Windows Live Messenger is also integrated with many of the Windows Live services to serve as a convenient entry point into consumers’ online world so they can do even more than IM right from one place. From directly within Windows Live Messenger, users can launch a shared Windows Live Search query so they can pick out a restaurant with the person they’re talking with, or visit a blog on MSN Spaces to see what their friend has been up to, or browse to their favorite Web sites using Windows Live Favorites, or check their Windows Live Mail. So in many ways Windows Live Messenger is one of the main hubs of Windows Live. Windows Live Messenger also is the first core service that incorporates the sleek user interface and look-and-feel that will be used across all of the Windows Live services.
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PressPass: How big of a role will Windows Live Services play in the future of Microsoft’s business?Taylor: Windows Live is a huge growth opportunity for Microsoft. The online advertising opportunity will be a big growth driver for Microsoft in the coming years, as the market continues to expand. To ensure we are ready to take advantage of this opportunity, we plan to dedicate roughly US$1.1 billion of the company’s overall $6.2 billion research and development budget toward Windows Live and MSN in the 2007 fiscal year that starts next month.
As usual, Jupiter Research’s Joe Wilcox has an interesting take:
Granted, there are many new features in the updated Messenger client, but like many of its Windows Live counterparts, the software is rebranded MSN. As I said at the start of this “Live” drive, MSN rebranding would be the real new thing. Interesting, Microsoft is making more noise over Messenger than Windows Live OneCare, which is something new. That product launched about 20 days ago.About half the Windows Live products–nearly all betas–are MSN updates or rebrands, while some of the others moved from MSN to Windows Live testing. As of yet, there is little brand-spanking new, although Microsoft is improving products and cross-integrating loads of features among the “Live” stuff.
Wilcox also observes that if you had to pick a target for all this Microsoft effort, Yahoo might well be a better choice than Google.
It’s good news for Microsoft’s Windows cash cow when PC sales are good, and Amanda Cantrell at the AP reports that 1Q US PC retail sales were zooming based on data from market analysis firm, Current Analysis:
Computer makers enjoyed strong year-over-year growth during the first calendar quarter this year, according to new U.S. retail sales data.
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Of the companies and retail stores that Current Analysis tracks, first quarter laptop sales grew 43.6 percent over the previous year, while first quarter desktop sales grew 16.3.
The caveat is necessary because they don’t track direct sellers like the top vendor, Dell, and they don’t track all retail sales. Some company numbers: HP up 29%, HP Compaq up 69%, Gateway up 166% in laptops. The growth seems to be the result of falling prices across the board, with laptop prices in particular down 20% on average. One other factoid: “PCs running Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center OS now dominate the market, accounting for 60 percent of desktops sold in U.S. retail.”
Meanwhile in instant messaging, comScore networks released a study claiming that Microsoft’s MSN Messenger is the number 1 client worldwide:
The MSN Messenger application has the strongest penetration worldwide, with 61 percent of worldwide IM users utilizing the application in February. MSN Messenger is also dominant in Latin America, reaching more than 90 percent of IM users, and in Europe and Asia Pacific, reaching more than 70 percent of IM users in each region. North America is the most competitive IM market, with MSN Messenger, AOL/Aim and Yahoo! Messenger each garnering between 27 percent and 37 percent of IM users in February.
Also interesting were the differences in IM use by geography with Latin America being the IM leader.
Finally, the bad news for Microsoft was Internet search. Mary Crane at Forbes:
According to the latest data released by comScore, a global market research provider, Google continues to dominate the online search market worldwide.
Google’s market share increased to 60.3% in February, from 60% the month before, and gained most of its market share from Yahoo! and Microsoft MSN, reports Bear Stearns analyst Robert S. Peck in a Monday research note.
Not a big change, but no one seems to be able to dent Google’s share so far.
Windows Live Expo, Microsoft’s beta classified ad service, has gotten new integration with MSN features according to a posting on the team blog:
Today, we’re thrilled to launch our integration with MSN Spaces. This integration allows you to post a free listing on Expo and have an abstract and thumbnail image displayed automatically on the front page of your MSN Space. Visitors to your Space can view abstracts from your different Expo listings and click directly to view more information and communicate with you via IM or anonymous messaging.
Here’s why we’re particularly excited: one of the reasons we built Expo was to provide an easy experience to share and view listings with those you trust: your friends. MSN Spaces captures this vision as a great communication experience among both friends and the broader web community. By posting a listing on Expo, your Space is updated, your MSN Messenger contact card is updated, and you gleam to your Messenger buddies. We hope that this automatic ‘promotion’ of your listing among those who share your interests provides the right kind of directed traffic to your listing.
Spaces, of course, is Microsoft’s free weblog service and Messenger is the Instant Messaging client. I’m still skeptical of the broad-based utility of the social aspects of Expo, but I always appreciate a clever hack.
