MOBILE PHONES

Microsoft tries to entice startups
to make Windows Mobile apps

Many mobile-software developers are focusing heavily on Apple's iPhone App store, but Microsoft is looking to steal some of that thunder by getting more of them making programs for Windows Mobile in advance of its own application store's launch later this year.

The company is seeking startups to participate in a "Mobile Incubation Week" April 13-17 at its Mountain View campus, to be followed by similar events in Europe and Asia. Here's how Brian Hoskins of Microsoft’s Emerging Business Team described it in a recent blog post.

"The event will feature technical gurus from Microsoft, technology veterans who have built their own Windows Mobile applications, and influential venture capitalists and industry experts. Our developers will lead interactive discussions, provide helpful advice, and facilitate actual application development on the Windows Mobile platform. At the end of the week, we’ll select a winner who will be eligible for prizes and special PR opportunities."

Microsoft executives have said that their problem isn't as much a lack of Windows Mobile apps, but rather a lack of a centralized place to find them. However, by scheduling these events, they're clearly acknowledging that those existing apps aren't nearly enough, and the company will need to bulk up the third-party ecosystem prior to the launch of the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

It's a safe bet that applications for touch screens will be a big focus, given the new touch features in Windows Mobile 6.5. The mobile marketplace, previously known by the code name SkyMarket, is scheduled to launch with the release of the Windows Mobile update later this year. Applications in the new Windows Mobile interface will have a dedicated page accessed by pressing the "Start" button.

Typography Font Links

						Featured font pack fonts, templates and design tools. The Ascender Creativity Font Pack is a value-priced, inspiring collection of fonts, templates and design tools to enhance Microsoft Office. Featuring a great selection of 30 display, script and text fonts licensed from leading type designers, over 40 templates for Microsoft Word, the Ascender Font Selector (to help you find and pick the right fonts) and other design tools. Type foundries and font related product vendors. Type foundry links Commercial foundries, Shareware foundries and Freeware foundries. Other foundry & vendor links Custom font production, International font suppliers, Machine readable type suppliers, Type distributors, Tools and utilities and Type designers. Meta-lists All foundries, shareware and freeware foundries and registered vendors. If you would like to be added to our vendor database please see this page or contact us. Events Plan your typo life... TypeCon 2009 Atlanta, GA. 14–19 July 2009 The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) has announced that TypeCon2009 will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. ATypI 2009 Mexico City, Mexico. October 2009 ATypI will be held October 26-30th with the theme "The Heart of the Letter". This week-long event will consist of three days of workshops and small events held at Anáhuac University’s hilltop campus, and two days of main programming held in the Centro Histórico, the historic center of the city. All venues in the Centro, including the main conference hotel, are within easy walking distance. More events. In print Print isn't dead yet... Typo Magazine 31 Typo 31, dedicated to Korean graphic design and typography, is the first edition of this highly regarded Czech publication to feature a new size, exclusive paper and expanded number of pages. Eye Eye Magazine’s “Type special” includes special articles on lettering in public spaces and the “lust and likeability” of typefaces. How How's annual typography issue spotlights designers making and working with type in unique ways, including interviews with Akira Kobayashi and Matteo Bologna. Letter Arts Review Letter Arts Review features page after page of stunning calligraphy with insightful articles on the art form. Typography headlines Typography news archive News Break Redmond, WA. - 6 March 2009 The Microsoft typography news team apologizes for the lack of news over the past month and we hope to resume normal news service shortly. Rising Stars myfonts.com - 17 February 2009 MyFonts posts February Rising Stars newsletter. Smallest letter record broken New Scientist - 26 January 2009 Team of researchers makes letters 1.5 nanometers tall, beating previous record by .5 nanometers. OpenType editor: DTL OTMaster The Netherlands - 26 January 2009 The Dutch Type Library and URW++ Design & Development present DTL OTMaster, for reviewing, editing and saving tables of fonts with a snft file structure, such as CFF and TTF flavored OpenType fonts, TrueType fonts and TrueType Collection fonts. More details... Ethiopian beer labels… The Web - 26 January 2009 …just because they feature interesting lettering. TypeCon call for speakers Atlanta, GA. - 25 January 2009 Get your talk proposal in early for the typographic event of the summer. Inside the design lair Objectified - 25 January 2009 The blogs have gone gaga over this still (ie. photo) taken inside a hollowed-out-volcano product design base. ROFLCon round up The Internets - 25 January 2009 Vinncent Connare and a cast of several. Writeups here, here and here. Emoji phones it in The Internets - 25 January 2009 Those following the Unicode encoding of emoji, might be interested in this. DR RIP London, UK - 23 January 2009 Creative Review reports that UK based design agency Designers Republic, best known for its use of faux-East-Asian inspired techno typography and icons, has gone out of business. Klingon keyboard Tech Republic - 22 January 2009 Live long and prosper with the Klingon keyboard. Stars of January MyFonts - 22 January 2009 Myfonts posts this months Rising Stars newsletter. Typophile events Typophile.com - 21 January 2009 An online calendar of type related events. New Gothams inaugurated typography.com - 20 January 2009 H&FJ pick slow news day for Gotham update. Nothing to see here… thomasphinney.com - 20 January 2009 Tom’s new post-Adobe home on the Web. Bookmark it for future content. As reported on typophile. Enter (via) the (Dot) Matrix Engadget - 20 January 2009 New phone features dot matrix key-caps, exactly like the ones ancient computers didn’t have. Windows opens doors publicradio.org - 20 January 2009 Microsoft interface packs mentioned on Marketplace. Wood face book typophile - 20 January 2009 The most comprehensive book on wood type in 50 years, The Art of Woodtype. Scalable type goes mobile Mobile Dev & Design - 20 January 2009 “Scalable type has arrived in mobile devices” says Steven Martin of Monotype Imaging. Font Shop’s best of 2008 fontshop.com - 19 January 2009 Here’s one we missed, Font Shop’s top twenty or so fonts of 2008. FEX iconography revealed The Web - 19 January 2009 Designer describes the making of the font Explorer X icons. Via the Quips. Cheap and pro and 1 year old CheapProFonts.com - 19 January 2009 CheapProFonts offers a wide selection of mainly display-fonts with a large character set supporting 65 languages requiring more that the basic A-Z. More details... ATypI dates - official atypi.org - 19 January 2009 Lock it in… October 26 to October 30th, Mexico City. Brit stamps show no font love The Royal Post - 18 January 2009 Design stamp series passes over typographic achievements. MyFonts top ten of 2008 MyFonts.com - 18 January 2009 The top new font designs according to MyFonts. More on Emoji Various - 18 January 2009 Those following the Emoji encoding discussion on the Unicode list might be interested in this article and this one too. FEX ready for prime time Linotype - 18 January 2009 Linotype announces the commercial release of Font Explorer X and several font releases. Objectified premiere set Various - 18 January 2009 Objectified, the eagerly awaited follow up to Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica will get its first screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. Font Bros Update FontBros - 18 January 2009 Font Bros rings in the new year with two new foundries and a “TON of BRAND NEW FONTS for you to enjoy!” More details... Type Studio latest thetypestudio.com - 18 January 2009 Featuring: TypeTalk: You ask, we answer, OpenType Features, Who is Max Kerning?, Gourmet Typography January Schedule, Onsite Gourmet Typography and a recession discount. Raiders of the lost Gill Typophile - 9 January 2009 Long forgotten Eric Gill type design unearthed in Salfords. The form of the book London, UK - 8 January 2009 A one-day conference hosted by the St Bride Printing Library in London on January 30th. The first Arabic printing press ATypI List - 5 January 2009 Type designer Pascal Zoghbi has posted some artifacts from the press of Al-Shamas Abdullah Zakher, founded in 1734. Via John Hudson. Reviving the art of making books Buffalo, NY. - 29 December 2008 Rich and Carima pictured here, in an article about the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative.

MICROSOFT LINK

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEX: 4338) is amultinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.^[9][8] Headquartered in Redmond, Washington,USA, its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office

suite of productivity software.

Windows Vista is an operating system developed by Microsoft for use onpersonal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005,Windows Vista was known by its codename "Longhorn".[4] Development was completed on November 8, 2006; over the following three months it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers,business customers, and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide,[5] and was made available for purchase and download from Microsoft's website.[6] The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows.

Windows Vista contains many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such asWindows DVD Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista also aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and digital media between computers and devices. Windows Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which aims to make it significantly easier for software developers to write applications than with the traditional Windows API.

Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista, however, has been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system.[7]One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors has been their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility tomalware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairmanBill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computinginitiative" which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect ofsoftware development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.[8]

While these new features and security improvements have garnered positive reviews, Vista has also been the target of much criticism and negative press. Criticism of Windows Vista has targeted its high system requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of new digital rights management technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre-Vista hardware and software, and the number of authorization prompts forUser Account Control. As a result of these and other issues, Windows Vista has seen adoption and satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP.[9]However Vista is keeping well up with expectations stated by Microsoft before its launch of getting 200 million users by January

Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename Longhorn in May 2001,[13] five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security.[8] Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004 that it had revised its plans. The original Longhorn, based on the Windows XP source code, was scrapped, and Longhorn's development started anew, building on the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase.[14]

After Longhorn was named Windows Vista in July 2005, an unprecedentedbeta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers. The first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers andMicrosoft Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature-complete with the release of the "February CTP", released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of work between that build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance, application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded by over five million people. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users.

While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for Christmas 2006, it was announced in March 2006 that the release date would be pushed back to January 2007, in order to give the company–and the hardware and software companies which Microsoft depends on for providing device drivers–additional time to prepare. Through much of 2006, analysts and bloggers had speculated that Windows Vista would be delayed further, owing to anti-trust concerns raised by the European Commission and South Korea, and due to a perceived lack of progress with the beta releases. However, with the November 8, 2006 announcement of the completion of Windows Vista, Microsoft's lengthiest operating system development project came to an end.

Windows Vista cost 6 billion dollars to develop, according to Microsoft.

Originally founded to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Windows line of operating systems. Its products have all achieved near-ubiquity in thedesktop computer market. One commentator notes that Microsoft's original mission was "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software"—it is a goal near fulfillment.^[10] Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBCcable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets bothcomputer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse as well ashome entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune andMSN TV. The company released an initial public offering (IPO) in thestock market, which, due to the ensuing rise of the stock price, has made four billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.

Throughout its history the company has been the target of criticism, including monopolistic business practices and anti-competitive business practices including refusal to deal and tying. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission, among others, have ruled against Microsoft for various antitrust violations.^[14][15]

Known for what is generally described as a developer-centric business culture, Microsoft has historically given customer support over Usenetnewsgroups and the World Wide Web, and awards Microsoft MVPstatus to volunteers who are deemed helpful in assisting the company's customers.

HISTORY

The company released an initial public offering (IPO) in the stock market, which, due to the ensuing rise of the stock price, has made fourbillionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.

1975–1985: Founding

Following the launch of the Altair 8800, William Henry Gates III, (known as Bill Gates) called the creators of the new microcomputer,Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), offering to demonstrate an implementation of the BASIC programming languagefor the system. After the demonstration, MITS agreed to distributeAltair BASIC. Gates left Harvard University, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded Microsoft there. The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, entitled "ASCII Microsoft" (now called "Microsoft Japan"). On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington. Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and later succeeded Bill Gates as CEO.

DOS (Disk Operating System) was the operating system that brought the company its first real success. On August 12, 1981, after negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft to provide a version of the CP/M operating system, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (PC). For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, which IBM renamed to PC-DOS. Later, the market saw a flood of IBM PC clones after Columbia Data Products successfully cloned the IBM BIOS, and by aggressively marketing MS-DOS to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft rose from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]} The company expanded into new markets with the release of the Microsoft Mouse in 1983, as well as a publishing division named Microsoft Press.

1985–1995: IPO, OS/2 and Windows

In August 1985, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a different operating system called OS/2. On November 20, 1985, Microsoft released its first retail version of Microsoft Windows, originally a graphical extension for its MS-DOS operating system. On March 13, 1986 the company went public with an IPO, with a starting initial offering price of $21.00 and ending at the first day of trading as at US $28.00. In 1987, Microsoft eventually released their first version of OS/2 to OEMs.

WINDOWS VISTA

kkWindows Vista is an operating system ms;"> developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops,Tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename"Longhorn".[4]Development was completed on November 8, 2006; over the following three months it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers,business customers, and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide,[5] and was made available for purchase and download from Microsoft's website.[6]The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time spanbetween successive releases of Microsoft Windows.

Windows Vista contains many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such asWindows DVD Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista also aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and digital media between computers and devices. Windows Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which aims to make it significantly easier for software developers to write applications than with the traditional Windows API. Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista, however, has been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system.[7] One common criticism of Windows XPand its predecessors has been their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computing initiative" which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.[8] While these new features and security improvements have garnered positive reviews, Vista has also been the target of much criticism and negative press. Criticism of Windows Vistahas targeted its high system requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of new digital rights managementtechnologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre-Vista hardware and software, and the number of authorization prompts for User Account Control. As a result of these and other issues, Windows Vista has seen adoption and satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP.[9] However Vista is keeping well up with expectations stated by Microsoft before its launch of getting 200 million users by January

Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename Longhorn in May 2001,[13] five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security.[8] Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004 that it had revised its plans. The original Longhorn, based on the Windows XP source code, was scrapped, and Longhorn's development started anew, building on the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase.[14] After Longhorn was named Windows Vista in July 2005, an unprecedented beta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers. The first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft Developer Networksubscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature-complete with the release of the "February CTP", released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of work between that build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance, application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded by over five million people. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users.[15] While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for Christmas 2006, it was announced in March 2006 that the release date would be pushed back to January 2007, in order to give the company–and the hardware and software companies which Microsoft depends on for providing device drivers–additional time to prepare. Through much of 2006, analysts and bloggers had speculated that Windows Vista would be delayed further, owing to anti-trust concerns raised by the European Commission and South Korea, and due to a perceived lack of progress with the beta releases. However, with the November 8, 2006 announcement of the completion of Windows Vista, Microsoft's lengthiest operating system development project came to an end.[16] Windows Vista cost 6 billion dollars to develop, according to Microsoft.