Microsoft offers redesigned MSN for mobile
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. launched a redesigned MSN portal for mobile phones, with improved navigation and optimized display of Web pages. Users of many Web-capable phones can navigate to the mobile.msn.com site and from there access a variety of Microsoft online services such as Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger. PC users can visit the page to check if their phone is supported. MSN Mobile users can also read sports news from Fox Sports, check on the weather forecast, search the Internet and view maps. They can use Windows Live Local to search for local businesses and receive results including maps and directions. The site is designed to offer features similar to MSN.com for PC users. The new MSN Mobile also improves the way that pages are displayed for mobile users. MSN detects the phone a user has and then delivers pages that fit the device's screen, Microsoft said. Microsoft first launched MSN Mobile out of beta in May. Microsoft hopes to strike deals with operators to integrate MSN Mobile into their own portals. Operators in Europe have been more eager than their U.S. counterparts to form such partnerships with strong online brands like Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. U.S. operators often prefer to offer Web content and services under their own brands. Making a deal with MSN Mobile means that operators can display advertisements to mobile Web users, using technology based on Microsoft's recent acquisition of ScreenTonic, a developer of a mobile advertisement system. Microsoft is competing against online giants Google and Yahoo, as well as various startup companies, to deliver advertisements to mobile users. Because there are many more mobile phone users than PC users around the world, these online services companies see the potential for significant revenue from mobile advertisements. MSN Mobile is currently available to phone users in the U.S. and Microsoft plans to introduce the new portal around the world throughout this year.
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Today, the Redmond company is unveiling the first widespread preview of its new MSN Search technology, a key part of its effort to regain ground in a critical area where Microsoft concedes that it has fallen behind.
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Microsoft  unveiled on  Thursday a new version of its Windows operating system for  mobile devices, making it look more like Windows Vista and  adding features previously only available on personal  computers.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. said it has boosted the security mechanisms built into its newest mobile phone operating system, responding to the needs of business customers who will use the phones to access sensitive corporate data. One new feature inÂ Windows Mobile 6.0, the latest version of the software introduced on Monday, allows users to remotely wipe their device if it's stolen. Via a secure connection to their corporate Microsoft Exchange server, users can remotely delete content on the phone, including data stored on a removable storage card. Previously, only an IT administrator could schedule a remote wipe, said Marianne Roling, director of mobile embedded devices for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Microsoft, atÂ the 3GSM conferenceÂ in Barcelona. In addition, Windows Mobile 6.0 supports Windows Mobile Updates, a new policy similar to the security updates sent to PC Windows users. If a mobile virus surfaces, Microsoft will build a fix and work closely with operator partners who will send a message to users informing them that there's a security update. The message will ask users to approve the update before downloading. Most such security updates would be small files but it's up to the operator to decide if they'll charge end users for the bandwidth required to download it, said Roling. "If you are a customer of Vodafone and all your company's data is on your phone, guess how your customer loyalty will improve if Vodafone provides you with this." So far, few viruses have targeted mobile devices and those that have surfaced have failed to become widespread. However, mobile industry experts worry that as more users buy smartphones and begin downloading more online content, hackers may begin to target phone users. Microsoft's update service could work even for individuals who buy an unlocked phone independently of their operator, she said. That's because the operator can often detect remotely what type of phone the user has and so would be able to identify Windows Mobile users. Windows Mobile 6.0 also supports some new rights management features. Now, users will be able to view e-mails that are sent with protection that allows recipients to view but not print or forward the messages. Previous versions of the software prohibited users from reading such protected e-mails, said Roling.
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With the announcement of its new search engine, Microsoft is all geared to spoil the search engine party of Google and Yahoo. The software giant today released a beta version of its new MSN search service, claiming
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The latest update to Microsoft's MSN Direct service which will take effect on numerous personal navigation devices.
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Shadow sports a revamped Windows Mobile interface and aims to entice consumers.
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There must be a typo in the name of Microsoft's new software for handheld organizers and smartphones. It's called "Windows Mobile 6," but this release seems hardly different from the 2005 Windows Mobile 5.
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BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 11  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp.  today unveiled Windows Mobile(R) 6, the newest version of its mobile software platform.
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(InfoWorld) - For business users who want Microsoft Office on their cell phones, Windows Mobile 6, the upcoming version of Redmond's mobile operating system to be unveiled next week, will be a must-have upgrade. Mobile 6 comes with mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. With the continuing increase in sales of smartphones at the expense of handheld devices, Office makes a lot of sense, especially for synchronizing with desktop files, according to Rob Enderle, principal at the Enderle Group. Carriers and handset manufacturers who believe they can put the limited memory and storage to better use, however, are out of luck. Microsoft Office still comes with Mobile 6. According to John Starkwether, a product manager in the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft, Office is part of the package. Starkwether conjectured that if a vendor really wants to exclude Office from the operating system, an accommodation might be possible. Additional upgrades to the mobile OS include Microsoft's Direct Push Technology with automatic synchronization of Outlook calendars, tasks, and contacts using Exchange Server. For security and management, Mobile 6 will also give mobile network managers the capability of remotely wiping out all data from a device should it be lost or stolen. Other security features include certificate options and storage card encryption. Business users will also be pleased with the inclusion of mobile versions of the .Net Compact Framework and SQL Server in order to access a company's standard line of business applications remotely. The Office applications are the most robust to date for the limited capacities of a cell phone. Spell checking in Word, though, is not included. E-mail viewing will be easier on the eye with formatting, tables, and pictures viewable as originally generated. One-click options for e-mail, such as "reply all", moving a message to a subfolder and "delete" have been added to accommodate the restricted functionality of a small device. Windows Vista users on the desktop will be able to swap music, pictures, movies and Outlook information between the Vista PC and the mobile device. Windows Live will integrate mail, messenger, search, contacts, and spaces. Call history is now placed inside the individual contact card. Enderle said that although there was "a lot of great stuff" in Mobile 6 Microsoft still has to focus on ease of use. "Compared to the Apple iPhone with its simplified interface, Mobile 6 is still complex to use," Enderle said. Devices with Windows Mobile 6 will ship worldwide in the second quarter.
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Microsoft is announcing an upgrade of Windows Mobile. But a Gartner analyst called it "an interim release" that doesn't fix all of the problems in the existing version of the operating system.
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Microsoft has switched from McAfee&#39;s anti-virus technology to Trend Micro&#39;s for its free Internet E-mail service MSN Hotmail.
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Never content with the simple things in life, Microsoft is apparently on a mobile media crusade with the deceptively unassuming announcement of the companies MSN Music service.
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Company hopes that the rival to Apple's iTunes will make draw visitors to MSN website.
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Software giant, Microsoft Corp., has decided to release beta versions of its updated MSN search engine earlier today. The company hopes to compete against leading search engines such as Google and Yahoo by
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Microsoft prepares to release a new application for delivering "snippets" of data to Windows Mobile devices at the Mobile World Congress.
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Next week Microsoft will launch a new beta version of MSN Messenger. MSN Messenger 7 borrows personalization options from Microsoft's ThreeDegrees test bed, improves contact management and features keenly honed integration with MSN Search. What's more, Redmond is introducing new transactional services.