Take this with a salt shaker at hand, but it appears that Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud service is getting some expanded functionality that’s been long overdue. Dedicated desktop applications for Windows and OS X appear to be in the cards, along options for extra storage if you’re willing to pony up some funds. Felipe Zorzo of Gemind uncovered the unannounced details (example above) while accessing its Brazilian web interface. Notably, if SkyDrive’s free 25GB of storage has been too paltry for your needs, the paid storage options we mentioned should afford you an additional 20 ($10), 50 ($25) or 100GBs ($50) for your account.

SOURCE via Gemind

Microsoft is making plenty of big changes with its Windows 8 operating system, and that has now also extended to a new logo. As explained by Microsoft’s Sam Moreau in a post on the official Windows blog, the logo was created with the help of the design agency Pentagram, which posed a simple question when it began on the project: “your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?” That discussion eventually led to the four-paned window you see above, which not only looks more like a window than the previous logos, but clearly echoes the company’s new Metro design language. Microsoft also notes that the logo is “authentically digital,” and says it will welcome you with a slight tilt and change color based on your desktop. You can see a bigger version after the break, and read the full story of its creation (along with a look back at past logos) at the source link below.

SOURCE via Microsoft

This slide was reportedly displayed at a press conference yesterday, but perhaps it gives away a little bit more than Fujitsu — or at least Microsoft — would have intended. The box on the far right appears to show a tablet with a Metro-style UI and it clearly says “Win8 Launch” and “Q4 2012,” even though there is still no official launch schedule for the operating system.

Of course, the slide might specifically be referring to the introduction of a Fujitsu tablet running Windows 8, in which case the OS itself may be planned to launch earlier — and indeed previous leaks and rumors have suggested the new Windows will be a summertime baby.

In other news, the slide also notably shows two Ultrabooks planned for May, perhaps taking the little and large approach we’ve seen from Samsung, as well as a hybrid slate and possible Transformer Prime rival, due in September. Will it be enough to reverse the manufacturer’s fortunes?

SOURCE via Notebook Italia

Ready to submit your premier Windows 8 app? Interested in adding some new accessibility features? Microsoft wants to ensure that its incoming OS can be used by people with disabilities right out of the box, detailing its “comprehensive accessibility platform” that will arrive on the next version of Windows. It’s redesigned the built-in screen reader, improving performance speed while adding more languages and voices. Microsoft has also extended its compatibility, including the ability to read output from applications. The Narrator will even assist with the installation of Windows 8, something that’s already integrated into the developer preview. The voice assistant will also be better equipped to keep up with your web browsing habits, with improved processing speed and keyboard shortcuts to navigate during narration.

Microsoft’s looking to ensure that developers will find it easier to include accessibility into their projects, including support for standards like HTML5 and XAML, as well as accessibility testing tools found within the Windows SDK. Stylistically, the new Metro UI allows for new high contrast viewing options alongside the ability to adjust element sizes. Microsoft promises that these are now simpler to apply and adjust within the OS. Touch-only Windows 8 devices will also benefit from redesigned tools like the magnifier, now transformed into a touch overlay around the border, while a preview view will show exactly where you’ve zoomed in. Catch the developers explaining it in their own words right after the break. Read more…

Last summer’s PSN breach has meant companies are being watched more closely than ever when it comes to protecting users and securing their networks. This week, Microsoft has found itself to be the latest victim of hacking as hackers targeted the Microsoft Store India. Owned and run by Quasar Media, the site yesterday displayed (Google Cache) this welcome message to visitors to the site:

Those responsible for the attack go by the name of EvilShadow team and appear to be Chinese. The group has not yet provided a reason for the attack, except to say that “unsafe system will be baptized.” According to Windows Phone Sauce, EvilShadow managed to access the site’s database where users’ passwords were being stored in plain text. The group has posted a screenshot showing a sample of the stolen login credentials on its blog. Needless to say, if you’re registered with Microsoft Store India, now might be a good time to change your password. Microsoft has not yet commented on the breach, and Quasar Media, the company that operates MS Store India, hasn’t released a statement regarding the incident either.

The site seems to be back in right hands, but it isn’t up and running as normal just yet. The homepage right now shows an apology for the store being down:

The Microsoft Store India is currently unavailable. Microsoft is working to restore access as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We’ll keep you posted regarding any statement from Microsoft of Quasar Media.

Here’s some news to brighten up your day: the Facebook client for Windows Phone has just been updated to version 2.3, bringing with it a host of enhanced features. Precise details remain a bit fuzzy at the moment, though in an announcement on its Facebook page, the app maker confirmed that the refresh will bring a redesigned profile and panoramic design, along with “news feed performance improvements,” including support for filters. Other “focus areas” include support for Facebook Groups, pages and banner images, which can now be changed directly from a user’s handset. The update is supposed to be available today, though at the time of this writing, it has yet to appear on the Marketplace. Once it hits, you’ll be able to grab it from the coverage link below.

SOURCE via Facebook for Windows Phone

We’ve been getting some mixed signals about Windows 8 for ARM-based devices as of late, but Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky has now returned with another of his exhaustive Building Windows 8 blog posts and cleared up some of the confusion. The short of it is that Windows for ARM promises to offer the same out of the box experience as the x86 edition of Windows 8.

This includes the full Windows desktop (complete with File Explorer and the like), and the same desktop Office applications including Word, Excel and PowerPoint (but only Office applications, it seems). So-called Metro-style apps from the Windows Store will also be able to support both Windows on ARM and Windows for x86/64, and you can expect hardware-accelerated HTML5 support with Internet Explorer 10.

What’s more, Sinofsky also notes that PC manufacturers are now working on devices designed specifically for WOA (or Windows on ARM), and that their “collective goal” is for them to ship at the same time as PCs designed for the x86 edition of Windows 8. While details on those devices remain light, Sinofksy did offer a new peek at one of the devices Microsoft used during the initial development of Windows for ARM when ARM-based tablets were hard to come by: an early Windows Phone. You can see it running the full desktop environment after the break (along with a video overview of WOA itself), but Sinofsky emphasizes that it is “not a product plan or even a hint at a product.” Plenty more details can also be found at the source link below, though you may want to prepare a cup of coffee before diving into that wall of text.

SOURCE via Microsoft

In a post its official blog, Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday an official change to its policy on licensing of industry standard patents

“The international standards system works well,” the statement says, “because firms that contribute to standards promise to make their essential patents available to others on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.” The statement also seems to call Apple to account, noting that “[c]onsumers and the entire industry will suffer if, in disregard of this promise, firms seek to block others from shipping products on the basis of such standard essential patents.”

As part of the new policy, Microsoft has vowed to “always adhere” to promises made to standards organizations. The Redmond, WA-based company has vowed not to sue or seek injunctions against companies using “those essential patents,” and to make licenses available without quid pro quo sharing of patents from a licensing company, except when those patents are “essential to the same industry standard”.

While this move could be interpreted as intended to avoid worldwide courtroom fights like the ongoing conflict between Apple and Samsung, it is also intended to force the hand of its competitors. Google announced on the same day its own policy regarding the licensing of industry standard patents, one directly at odds with Microsoft’s. Google intends to retain the option to seek an injunction should patent negotiations fail. As Microsoft’s new policy also states they will not license patents to companies whose policies are not in lockstep with their own, it would seem the disagreement over Google’s supposed cribbing of elements from Windows in the creation of Android will continue apace.

For further reading, Dave Heiner, the head of Microsoft’s Corporate Standards Group & Antitrust Group, elaborated the new policy in a lengthy post to Technet. The company has recently-inked patent sharing deals with Quanta, Samsung, Acer, and ViewSonic.

SOURCE via Bloomberg

Perhaps celebrating a push toward the mobile space with its traditionally desktop-bound OS — or maybe just doing its best to further confuse the similar naming conventions with its forthcoming smartphone operating system — Microsoft today sent out invites for a February 29th Mobile World Congress event that will see the launch of its Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Details are scarce about the two-hour event, but you’d better believe that we’ll be there in Barcelona with bells on.

SOURCE via ZDNet

The issue of whether or not the ARM edition of Windows 8 will support both desktop and Metro-style apps has been pretty hazy. Some have claimed it would, others that it won’t and, even when they’ve issued denials of the nay-sayers, Microsoft has stopped short of saying that ARM hardware would offer a desktop mode for non-Metro apps.

Well, buried in a post about improving power efficiency over at MSDN blogs was a passing reference to “both desktop and Metro style apps” running on “System on Chip (SoC) architectures.” Some, including the well regarded Mary Jo Foley, have read this to mean that desktop apps will indeed work on ARM-powered Windows tablets. Now, this seems to make sense since all of the SoC coverage has been focused on the powerful new RISC chips getting crammed in new slates and smartphones, and we’ve heard that Win8 and Windows Phone 8 will share the same kernel.

But, there is one tiny wrinkle in this narrative — Intel will have its own SoC solutions soon enough thanks to Medfield, so the passage could simply be a reference to those x86 chips. You’ll find the relevant excerpt via the link below.

SOURCE via MSDN