We already had our invitation to Microsoft’s “major” announcement in Hollywood next Monday — an Apple-style event so hush-hush, there isn’t even a location yet.
Now rumors are starting to coalesce around the thing being launched: a touchscreen tablet, manufactured by Microsoft itself, running on Windows RT (a version of Windows 8), intended to rival Apple’s iPad.
Hollywood blog The Wrap cites “an individual with knowledge of the company”, who claims the software giant would be “making a foray into a new hardware category that would put the company in direct competition with rival Apple” — tablets.
This would hardly be the first time Microsoft has tried its hand at a tablet device. Indeed, its first tablet preceded the iPad by the better part of a decade. But it was a bulky laptop hybrid that required a stylus, to which it wasn’t very responsive.
Between 2008 and 2010, the company was said to be working on a dual-touchscreen folding tablet — kind of like a book — called “Courier.” But Microsoft management killed that project — coincidentally, right around the time Steve Jobs launched the first iPad. (The Courier team went on to design the award-winning iPad notebook app, Paper.)
We’ve previously seen half-baked demonstrations of Windows tablets from CEO Steve Ballmer, and of course there are a variety of third-party tablets on the way for the Windows 8 interface that works on PC, phone and tablet.
But this forthcoming tablet, if the rumors are to be believed, will be made in-house — much like the most successful Microsoft product of the last decade, the Xbox.
What would a Microsoft tablet have to do to beat the iPad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Microsoft’s new site So.cl — which combines social networking and search — is giving college students a platform to learn and collect information, news and pictures from around the web. But can the latest social network truly stand out in an already-crowded social space?
Since So.cl borrows and builds from a bevvy of existing sites — and doesn’t aim to replace sites such as Facebook and Twitter — it has the potential to take off, especially among its target audience.
Following a series of tests at universities including the University of Washington, Syracuse University and New York University since December 2011, So.cl — pronounced “social” — officially launched over the weekend. The model allows you to create and share posts based mainly on Internet searches, but it also features many standard social features such as sharing text, photos and videos.
So.cl was first developed after Microsoft FUSE Labs staffers analyzed data from Facebook, Twitter and Bing, tracking how shared URLS spread around the web.
“We started to think about how we could create an experience around that — about making search social and making it easy to share rich, beautiful posts without having to leave your network,” said Lili Cheng, general manager of FUSE Labs, on Microsoft’s research site.
So.cl is intuitive, allowing users to easily navigate the platform, follow others, set up feeds and search popular trending topics. But the site boasts many traits we’ve seen before — its layout is similar to Pinterest in that users can create boards and registration is currently limited to college students. (Remember the early days of Facebook?) Its streamlined news feed also resembles Google+’s ultra-white minimalist design.
However, So.cl still differentiates itself in various ways, such as with its fun and engaging “viewing parties” feature. Whether you decide to watch a music video or an old reel of bloopers from Two and a Half Men, users can pop in and out of chat rooms that play video footage. This opens up the floor for discussion. (Note: Since So.cl is still young, we noticed that the chatting within these rooms has been relatively quiet.)
The network also showcases profiles from users in the community, flashing their interests with pictures of, for example, their favorite cuisines and bands. This allows members to connect with new people based on topics about which they feel most passionate. However, since it’s an open community, we also saw some graphic images that might catch some people off guard, including Osama bin Laden’s alleged death photos and a GIF of a couple engaging in some intimacy. You can, of course, unfollow certain users and set up restrictions.
Although So.cl requires you to sign in via Facebook or Windows Live, the good news is that it doesn’t automatically post searches, comments or likes to your Facebook stream unless you elect to do so. But be mindful — every search you do on the site is actually public unless you indicate via its search bar that you want restrictions. Right now, you can’t limit searches to those who you follow. In order for users to truly be at ease, more privacy options will likely roll out in the near future.
What do you think about So.cl? Do you think its model is poised for success? Let us know in the comments.
Bing has been reinvented, offering enhanced search results that tap into the power of social media. Microsoft has done this by pulling people out of search results and putting them in their place: A right-hand social column that will eventually include Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Quora and LinkedIn integration, as well as people who may know something about your most recent Bing query. It even offers a way to ask questions on your favorite social network, directly through Bing.
It’s something of an about-face for the Number 2 search engine, which up until earlier this year has been slowly but surely integrating Facebook information (like “Likes”) directly into Bing Search results. This update is actually Phase 2 of a major overhaul. Bing quietly rolled out the first part last week. It stripped away the right column of results information (leaving a large white well) and moved a more concise “Related Searches” to a small middle column. Facebook Likes results integration remained, but appeared as a more subtle, gray thumbs-up next to the result, and there was a lot of white space on the right.
Starting today, some of Bing’s reported network of 100 million users will see a new column filling that space: The “What Your Friends May Know” social sidebar. For now, the sidebar only works with Facebook, but even with just that one network, the level of integration is quite intense. To see the new pane at work, you have to sign into Facebook and install the Bing App in Facebook. With that done, your social pane will be filled with recent Bing activity that’s also been shared on Facebook. When you enter a search query in the Bing interface on the left, the pane will also display a list of Facebook friends, and topic experts who might be able to assist with your query.
Bing Exec Derrick Connell told me the goal of the new Bing is to “surface people, not web pages.”
In the social pane, there’s also an “Ask friends…” with a small Facebook icon next to it. Here, you type a question possibly related to your search. When you click within the field, a link icon appears next to your search results on the left; click any of them to add them to your Facebook posts. You can also ask those experts and friends to assist in your search. A tiny person-plus icon appears next to each of them. Click one (or more) and they will get a notification about your query.
How does Bing build these “Friends Who Might Know” lists? Microsoft execs explained they’re leveraging as much publicly available data as possible from Facebook (for now) and soon Twitter and other networks. Inclusion in the list is not necessarily based on something you posted about the topic. The sidebar includes people you know through your social networks that have, say, posted a photo about the topic, liked a certain relevant topic or searched for a similar topic in Bing, and people you don’t know, who are, for example, known Topic Experts and Enthusiasts (identified by Bing). All of them could be considered helpful in your quest for knowledge. Conversations revolving around a query topic are viewable through the social pane — you just hover over the activity and a small box will slide out to the left with the original post. You can add comments in any conversation in the activity pane or see the conversation in the slideout.
Not all public posts on these social networks can be scrapped in, so Microsoft turned, first, to its close friend Facebook. Thanks to that close relationship, Microsoft gets “a set of public data that’s part of the fire hose deal with Facebook,” Microsoft’s Connell told me. In fact, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was, according to Microsoft, shown the project and liked it. He was even happy to see the other social networks in the mix.
Eventually the Social Sidebar will add Twitter data. Microsoft says it has access to at least 6 months of publicly-available posts.
Google+ content should make an appearance, too, though it will only be what Microsoft can scrap in. It’s unlikely Google will ever agree to share its private network data with Microsoft. Google is heavily invested in deep integration between Google+ and its own search engine, having launched Search plus Your World earlier this year.
Despite all the new guidance from friends and experts, Bing still wants to help search users with more-targeted results. So it’s taking that somewhat sparse second column and introducing “What Bing Knows” or snapshot (Get it? The first column is “What the Web Knows,” The second column is “What Bing Knows” and the third is “What Your Friends Know”). This well won’t fill up for every search — instead, Microsoft identified four key areas of where it can help: Restaurants, Hotels, Movies and Events and People. The results in this area will include action items like restaurant and hotel reservations. In People, Bing will search across multiple social networks help you find the right person. These features were not available to test at press time.
Microsoft’s goal with all these changes? One, to clean up Bing. The company admits the page was getting too cluttered — it had assumed Web pages would be getting taller and thinner, when in fact, everything is getting shorter and wider. However, one of the key reasons for the change was to “stop corrupting the [search] experience with people,” said a Bing exec. That might also be a subtle dig at Google and its people-populated Search plus Your World. Bing execs also repeatedly said they think users want people — not Web pages — to help them.
There was also some direct criticism of Google. Microsoft execs said the difference between Bing and Google is Microsoft’s product is open while Google’s is closed. When Google’s “Search Plus Your World” Launched, Google faced some criticism for not surfacing Twitter and Facebook results. Bolstered by Bing’s 300 million entities in its database, Microsoft execs contend that its approach is more valuable than Google’s “pure semantic-based model” because it offers pure search information, letting users get info from topic experts. Additionally, Microsoft includes structured data around core topics that are of interest to the broadest set of people.
But Does It Work?
I’ve been running the new Bing for a few days now and can report that it more or less works as advertised. First of all, the search results interface is the cleanest I’ve seen it in years. Yes, it looks almost Google-like. I tried a bunch of searches like “Barcelona,” “Tesla,” and “Broadway.” In each case, my “Friends Who Might Know” field in the Social pane filled up with people who had, for instance, posted photos of Nicola Tesla, or “Liked” the “Broadway League.” I was able to blend links and questions in the open field above and then post directly to my Facebook page, along with notifications to my individual friends and experts. No one has answered yet, but those seeing these queries were part of a fairly small beta group.
I noticed, by the way, that when I put in multi-word queries, I got few, if any, “Friends Who Might Know” results.
In Facebook, I did have to install the Bing App. It defaults to sharing your posts with Everyone. If you do a lot of searching, you may want to dial that down a bit.
If you’re usually logged into Facebook and often turn to friends for, say, travel or buying advice, this could be a useful tool for you. Microsoft contends that this is a natural way to find answers. They do not want to reinvent the web, Bing execs explained, “We don’t have to own it to surface it. The beauty of the Internet is you don’t have to be a social network to surface people, you don’t have to be a hotel to surface reservations.”
You may not see the What Your Friends Know or Social Sidebar in Bing for a while — Microsoft said it’ll be rolling this out slowly — but starting today you can visit http://www.bing.com/new to sign up for availability notification.
With this update, the competing search philosophies are clearer than ever. Google sees the world as a deep blend of data, people and activities, all of which can be mined simultaneously for a rich and useful experience. Bing sees a more structured world, where social interactions, while extremely helpful, are kept a safe distance from the core results you desire. Which approach is right? Let us know what you think in the comments.
For more details, check out the video where Microsoft explains the Bing update.
This is the famous Microsoft Garage. It actually has two giant garage doors. It's also a place were Microsoft encourages free-from, grassroots invention.
Microsoft The Garage Visitors Wall
Note Steve Ballmer's signature on the far left.
Microsoft Video Wall
Microsoft runs some of the future tech demo video it created in a continuous loop on this wall.
Microsoft Research Model Room
Right after I took this picture, one Microsoft PR person worried that, perhaps, I was photographing secret stuff. Microsoft Research General Manager Kevin Schofield reminder her that it was unlikely they'd have it all there behind glass if that was the case.
Microsoft's Beamatron Device
Beamtron Skeletal Tracking
Microsoft Sense of Humor
My favorite sign from the trip.
Microsoft Cafe Room View
Microsoft's Bellevue offices offers amazing views. This is from the cafe.
Microsoft Cafe Room View 2
Microsoft Cafe Room View 3
Microsoft Campus Bicylces
Everywhere you look on Microsoft's Redmond, WA, campus, there are bicycles and places to store them.
Microsoft Commissioned Art
You see art all over the place on the Microsoft Campus
Microsoft Campus Jam
Microsoft is planning a big outdoor event for employees.
Microsoft Campus Shuttle Connect
Want to get around the sprawling campus? Take one of these buses.
Microsoft Ping Pong and Foosball
Never saw anyone playing on these, but elsewhere I did see a pool game in progress.
Microsoft Surface Sighting
This woman sat right in front of the Microsoft Surface 2 device, but chose to use her laptop, instead. Perhaps she thought it was just a table.
Microsoft Surface at Microsoft
I tried out another Microsoft Surface setup.
Microsoft Windows 7 Nerdomat
Your guess is as good as mine.
Play Xbox 360 with Kinect at Microsoft
Waiting for a meeting Microsoft? You can kill some time with one of these Xbox 360 kiosks.
Scale Model of a Microsoft Windows Store-Windows Mobilization Flagship Envrioment - 1-18 scale
Look, it's a tiny, little Windows store, built to 1/18th scale
Windows Flagship Store Model Up Close
The Wave art at Microsoft
This piece of art was commissioned for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices building
Don't Ride the Wave
Apparently, some enterprising Microsofties were taking this "wave" a little too literally.
Microsoft Plant Wall
These vines were growing right up a wall.
Microsoft Logo on Wall
Sometimes I think I know how Microsoft feels. It’s the older, more well-established guy living and working amongst a bunch of scruffy, young startup types who have big ideas, take huge risks and are the embodiment of cool.
When I asked people on Twitter to describe Microsoft and four other tech companies (Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter) with just one word, Apple and Twitter were lavished with terms like Innovative, Sexy, Informative, Superior, Fun and even Innocent. Microsoft didn’t fare as well. Old was a common theme, as was Stodgy, Boring, and even Dying.
Some of this is fair. Microsoft has been around since the ’70s while Facebook and Twitter launched after the start of the new millennium, so it is old by current startup standards (Instagram and Pinterest are just a couple of years old). Perhaps Microsoft did rest for too long on its dominant OS market share (Microsofties are only too willing to admit past mistakes). Apple, though, is just as old as Microsoft, and has been through its share of trouble (it barely survived the 1990s). Yet, it’s seen as Ground Breaking and Chic.
I get it — maybe Microsoft is not cool, but I’m not so sure it’s stodgy, and it’s definitely not dying.
More Like Facebook Than You Think
Walking the halls of Microsoft’s sprawling campus (many buildings, multiple locations), you’re struck not by an uptight atmosphere, but by how similar it is to other tech companies. The walls are covered in art, meeting notes and interface ideas (they have a lot of marker-friendly walls). Virtually every building has a vast commons area where co-workers hang out and hash out ideas. There are ping-pong and even pool tables (though I rarely saw anyone using them). There are bicycles everywhere, electric car ports and Microsoft minivan transportation. I saw in-house coffee shops and, while there’s no free lunch, all the drinks are free.
The Microsoft you don’t know, however, is nowhere more in evidence than in Microsoft Research. It’s a 20-year-old group where some of Microsoft’s most interesting — dare we say edgiest — ideas percolate and sometimes come to fruition. No, it’s not where the company builds Windows 8, but it could be the place where some of Windows 8’s biggest innovations begin. It was not the birthplace of Xbox 360, but Kinect had its germination there.
Edgy for Microsoft does not necessarily mean black hair, torn clothing and nose rings. It’s more about the bleeding edge of technology, stuff (like Microsoft Surface 2.0) that makes us mere mortals say, “wow.” Microsoft Research’s 850 Ph.D. researchers (300 in Redmond and the rest spread around the world), are working on some amazing innovations. Take for example, the Beamatron, an augmented reality mash-up of Kinect, a computer running a gaming physics engine, a projector and a theatrical motorized light system. It uses Kinect to create a 3D map of the room, including objects and people in it, and then renders and projects objects (cars, presentations) that appear to interact with the real-world room. I drove a virtual car around the room and used the Beamatron to “hold” a PowerPoint presentation in my hand and then transfer it from one hand to another as if it was a ball.
That doesn’t sound particularly like “yesterday’s” technology.
24 year Microsoft vet and Microsoft Research General Manager Kevin Schofield told me Microsoft Research is also focused, at least in part, on “solving big problems” like the HIV virus.
Cutting Edge
Medical Research would seem an odd fit for Microsoft, but the research group is filled with all kinds of experts, including a couple of MDs. One of them is also a computer scientist and became fascinated with how doctors make crucial decisions in high-pressure situations when they have incomplete information (think emergency room visits). This led to work in machine learning (Microsoft Research does a lot of work in this area), which uses what’s known to figure out the unknown. Spam filters work this way. They can look at email and if the word “Viagra” is in it, decide with some degree of certainty that it’s spam. Now, that research is being applied to HIV vaccine research.
The HIV virus is known for its tendency to mutate, which makes it hard for people to develop an immunity. A spam-like filter can find the known in the unknown — in this case the core, recognizable virus.
I asked Schofield, who began his carrier at Microsoft in the OS group, if Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates used the legendary Bell Labs as a model for Microsoft Research. “At a 30,000 foot level,” Schofield said, “Bell Labs was the model, but on the ground it was more Carnegie Mellon.” There are, apparently, two styles of research lab: The Xerox Parc model, where you isolate research from the business and the other model, where you basically have business fund and drive research. Both approaches can hinder tech transfer. The second method, in particular, said Schofield, tends to guide research too strongly so that most of the work is spent delivering product enhancements. Schofield said Microsoft took the middle road.
Microsoft Research’s building is right in the heart of the campus, but the work is not guided solely by business imperatives. The best way to understand how Microsoft Research really works is to understand Schofield’s approach to tech transfer. It’s not, he said, a Rube Goldberg process where you “turn the crank and a product pops out…. It’s not a machine process, it’s a social process.”
Schofield went throughout Microsoft, finding the product managers with the best social and communication skills. He then paired them up with Microsoft Research team members. Product managers talk about the problems they’re struggling with. It’s not unusual for a Microsoft Researcher to realize the company already has a solution, likely developed for something else or simply because someone wanted to try it.
Choose Your Project
This serendipitous tech transfer is one of the reasons researchers pick and pursue their own projects. Yet, even as these researchers do work on oddball innovations such as Beamatron, wearable Kinect sensors (to project a map in front of you of where you need to go), HIV Spam filters, and new cinemagraph techniques, they’re not working in a vacuum. Even back in the early days, Bill Gates would wander the halls, and there would be “random Bill sightings.” Later, when Gates had to spend more time on bigger picture projects, he and current CEO Steve Ballmer would have regular meetings with Microsoft Research. The yearly TechFest is designed to showcase 15 or so key demos from Microsoft Research, and to spark more conversations.
Like any true research facility, Microsoft Research has its share of duds. I asked Schofield if there was a room where Microsoft Research keeps its failed experiments. “Failures would be a big room,” Schofield said, laughing. But he also counts some of those failures among Microsoft Research’s successes.
“You build a blob of what’s possible and what’s not possible outside. The blog keeps expanding out as you figure out how to do more and more, but knowing where the fence is is a useful thing. So we learn a lot from failures.”
Does all this experimentation, trial and error and the creation new and sometimes important discoveries make Microsoft younger and sexier? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s hard to deny that you might want to add one more word to describe the tech giant: relevant.
How does Microsoft Research and the work it’s doing change your perception of this venerable tech giant? Let us know in the comments.
