Laura Foy

Microsoft announces Kin! The next Windows Phone (Formerly code named Pink): Full Demo

Laura Foy — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:41:00 GMT

It's been all rumors and speculation up until now. What some bloggers out there have been calling "Pink" or "Tribe" has just been officially announced as Kin, the next Windows Phone. Take a look at this full hands on demo followed by some Q&A.
Kin aims to be a new social experience from Microsoft that combines the phone, online services and the PC. It is designed for a socially connected audience with unique features such as The Spot, The Loop and The Studio. Check it out!

Bug Killer – A Channel 9 Halloween special

Laura Foy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:28:00 GMT

WARNING: This video contains blood, gore and one extremely frightening software developer.

Have you spent countless nights up late writing code? Have your eyes burned after staring at a monitor for 18 hours? Have you ever wanted to hack up a co-worker or two? Sure, we all have! Here’s the story of what happened to one developer on a dark and foggy night when the pressure was just too much…

Folder naming errors- But Why?

Laura Foy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:18:00 GMT

Microsoft is full of oddities and little known answers to mysterious questions. The purpose of this series is to seek out those answers and offer them to you. Please comment with other questions you'd like to get answered!

Microsoft Research Summit: Revolutionary DDR

Laura Foy — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:45:00 GMT

This year at the Microsoft Research Summit there were some life altering ideas showcased and some new projects which will change the way we interact with technology. There was also THIS FIX to the problems you may have been having with your Dance Dance Revolution game pad. Drew from Texas A&M University has the answer.

Microsoft Research Summit: WWT in 3D

Laura Foy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I had to stop by and try on the 3D glasses at the WWT booth during this years Faculty Research Summit. If you think the WWT is cool- just wait till you see it in 3D.

WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interesting places in the sky.

A web-based version of WorldWide Telescope is also now available for preview. This version enables seamless, guided explorations of the universe from within a web browser on PC and Intel Mac OS X by using the power of Microsoft Silverlight 2.0.

Playtest Labs : Get your gaming voice heard

Laura Foy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:41:00 GMT

Have you ever been playing a game and thought to yourself, "I just wish I could speak with the developers and let them know that this part of the game could be so much better!"? Well, now you can. Microsoft has launched PlayTest- where you can play games, give opinions and get free software. I stepped behind the scenes and behind the fake mirrored walls to show you the ins and out of life in the Playtest Labs.

Search Summit: Chris Sherman- opinions from a Search Engine Expert

Laura Foy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:38:00 GMT

Chris Sherman is Executive Editor of SearchEngineLand.com and President of Searchwise LLC, a Boulder Colorado based Web consulting firm. With over 25 years experience in interactive technologies, he is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Business Week, USA Today and other publications, and has appeared on CNN, NPR, CBS and other television and radio networks.
Check out this clip to hear what he think of the Microsoft Search Summit and, of course, Bing!

What is the Search Summit?
Search and Advertisers

Search Summit: Protecting the Advertisers rights

Laura Foy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT

While online advertising offers important improvements for targeting and measurement, it also challenges norms about relationships between advertisers and ad platforms. Ad platforms differ in the information they share with advertisers – not always disclosing where ads are shown, how much each placement costs, or how fees are computed. Platforms also vary in their approaches to dispute resolution – sometimes imposing onerous terms that limit the options available to dissatisfied advertisers. Ben Edelman presented to Microsofts Search Summit and offered thoughts on proper division of rights and responsibilities in advertisers' dealings with ad platforms.

More about the Search Summit
Words from a Search Engine Expert

The Microsoft Search Summit

Laura Foy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:45:00 GMT

Mel Carson was one of the visionaries who put together the Microsoft Search Summit. It is an invitation only event, but we were allowed to bring our cameras inside and get the scoop. Take a peek.

More:

Search and Advertisers
Words from a Search Engine expert

Fix it!

Laura Foy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:29:00 GMT

Microsoft's support Knowledge Base contains thousands and thousands of articles describing problems that users may encounter. The articles include detailed instructions for fixing each problem, and I do mean detailed--some of them go on for pages and pages. An ordinary user who reaches one of these solutions may find the instructions impossibly confusing.

That's where Microsoft's new "Fix it" button comes in. On selected Knowledge Base pages (over a hundred so far) users can simply click a button to resolve the problem.

Microsoft Underground Research Lab

Laura Foy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:23:00 GMT

With all the amazing technology and products coming out of Microsoft recently- you might think that's all we've got to offer. Well, that's just not the case. We have a team of researchers working 24/7 on new products to thrill you and exponentially increase your productivity. Until now, we've kept these products under lock and key- but today, we're taking you inside the Microsoft Underground Research Lab.

Microsoft gets in on the celebrity action with Wonderwall

Laura Foy — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:14:00 GMT

Microsoft was been covering the entertainment world for years now but they've finally dedicated an entire site to the fascination the world has with Hollywood these days. Now, you might be thinking..."Another celebrity gossip site?" But trust me- Wonderwall offers you a completely new take on the tabloid culture and gives you smart and witty commentary from the perspective of the fan- which we all are (even if you don't like to admit it). In this clip I spoke with Adam Berliant about some of the largest concerns facing Wonderwall and how they are overcoming the nay-sayers.

Ping: Episode 3

Laura Foy — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:28:00 GMT

This week , as always, Max and Laura observed and listened to what people here at Microsoft were buzzing about, what was on their minds and what they talked about at the water cooler. Here is a recap of what was on the minds of Microsofties this past week. Topics include:

No Ipods at the Gates house!
Sobees it!
Is 2019 real?
Make a wish

...and more...WATCH IT HERE

TechFest: Back of Device Touch Input

Laura Foy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:27:00 GMT

This demo explores how to add pointing input capabilities to very small screen devices. On first sight, touch-screens seem to allow for particular compactness, because they integrate input and screen into the same physical space. The opposite is true, however, because the users fingers occlude contents and prevent precision. Microsoft Research Redmond has created a 2.4 inch prototype that allows a back-of-device interface. This clip explains how and why it works.

TechFest:Core Tools For Augmented Reality

Laura Foy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:58:00 GMT

This demo will explain the development of a new kind of image feature that can be used within a variety of applications, ranging from image stitching to augmented reality. The features are already finding their way into Microsoft products and are being considered for many new applications. The demo shows a fun example application: A treasure hunt! By using the posters and other graphics on display during TechFest, the users then borrow a device that augments the workd wih virtual clues to find the hidden treasure.

TechFest: Image-Centric Advertising Platform

Laura Foy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:37:00 GMT

Matthew Scott of Microsoft Research demonstrates new technology that can make advertising based on image content a reality. In existing online-advertisement platforms, the relevance between advertisers and users is decided largely by textual keyword matching. With this new technology, advertisers bid on images instead of keywords. For example, a toy seller could bid on the image of a related movie poster, while a restaurant could bid on the image of a cooking magazine cover. Users would then receive ads based on the content of images they upload or interact with if those images contain the images bid on by advertisers.

TechFest: Social Desktop

Laura Foy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:40:00 GMT

Today, it's easy to share a webpage or a blog post, because items on the web have unique ID's: URL's. We don't have this on the desktop. Social Desktop adds URL's to the files and folders on your desktop, letting you share anything on your computer with anyone who can click a URL. Persons receiving links can either access via e-mail or comment, tag and search across all shared items via the Social Desktop webpage. Brought to you by Microsoft Research Redmond.

TechFest: GeoLife 2.0

Laura Foy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:35:00 GMT

The increasing availability of GPS-enabled devices is changing the way people interact with the web and brings a large # of GPS trajectories representing peoples location histories. GeoLife 2.0 is a location based social-networking service on Virtual Earth that enables people to build connections with each other using their location histories. By mining the similarity between peoples locatoin histories, this system can help a user automatically discover potential friends in a community with similar interests. This system also enables travel experts who can help plot the ideal sight-seeing locations for you to visit in any part of the world. Brought to you by Microsoft Research Asia.

TechFest: Commute UX: The next level of in-car infotainment

Laura Foy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:35:00 GMT

After deploying Blue&Me for Fiat and Sync for Ford, in-car dialog systems are morphing from cool gadgets that amaze people and sell more cars to integral parts of in-car infotainment. Commute UX raises the bar for the functionality, usability and reliability of these systems. Microsoft Researchs presents you with novel technologies that enable natural-language input, expose a multimodel user interface inculding speech, a GUI, touch and buttons; and use the state-of-the-art sound-capture and processing technologies for improved speech recognition and sound quality.

TechFest: Write in The Air

Laura Foy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:20:00 GMT

TechFest is upon us so let the brilliant minds at MS Research (Global) share their latest inventions. "Write in the Air" is a proof-of-concept demo for recognizing characters written in the air. In order to input characters into devices such as the Xbox 360 and televisions equipped with a low-cost webcam but no keyboard or mouse, one can just face the camera and write the intended character in the air. The gestures captured by the camera will be fed into a robust handwriting recognizer. Take a look into the future!

New weekly show: "Ping" launches on Channel 9

Laura Foy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:07:00 GMT

Since we at Microsoft live in an email culture, we thought that was a great vehicle to bring to the forefront the hottest news, debates and headlines related to the world of Microsoft. Each week we will dive into our inboxes and cherry pick the most intriguing email threads for discussion on the show. Think of it as “Life at Microsoft through the eyes of our inboxes”

Check it out!

The Microsoft Guide to Valentine's Day

Laura Foy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:48:00 GMT

Are you a bit of mess when it comes to Valentine's Day? Are you nervous and lost when put under the pressure of being extra romantic on February 14th? Well, not any longer! Some people may not know this but Microsoft is a super romantic love machine of a company! Microsoft has services and products that will make SURE your sweetie feels nothing but love from you this Valentine's Day. (pssst- it's SATURDAY so get going!) Get ready to take some notes from the "Microsoft Guide to Valentine's Day."

Surface: The Banking Demo

Laura Foy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:28:00 GMT

Are you frustrated with all the conflicting information out there when it comes to investments, mortgages, insurance, etc? Well, soon you'll be able to walk into your bank and sit in front of a Microsoft Surface table and have it all displayed for you neatly with outstanding visual clarity. An in depth demonstration will be offered at the upcoming 7^th annual Microsoft Enterprise Developer and Industry Solutions Conference 2009 where you will learn about solutions in Microsoft technologies relevant to the Financial Services and Health & Life Sciences industries, as well as hear about the latest advancements in major industries such as media, communications, retail and hospitality. This two day event will be held in New York City on May 5^th and 6^th.

Contents are tailored for developers, architects, business decision makers, and technology decision makers in large enterprise organizations a clear roadmap of the Microsoft development platform. We will give specific examples of real world solutions using the best of breed technology to bring you from where you are today, to where you will be tomorrow. This is the only conference that will show case enterprise customer solutions directly from the mouth of developers that work in the enterprise industry space as well hear from Microsoft and their partners on topics such as Cloud Computing, Application Lifecycle Management and User Experience (REGISTER HERE) and you can see a quick over-view in this clip. Show me the money!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laura Foy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:18:00 GMT

Thanksgiving is ALWAYS my favorite time of year! Friends, family and food! Oh- and football :) It's a time to reflect on what you are thankful for...obviously there are so many things to be thankful for. Here's mine.

Register now for the MSDN Developer Conference!

Laura Foy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:34:00 GMT

Did you miss the PDC? Can't get enough of the big brain in the jar? Or perhaps you simply want to re-live good times? Well, now you can! The MSDN Developer Conference is kicking off an 11 city tour- We’re bringing the PDC to you! For just $99 you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7. Other sessions include the latest developments in .NET, Silverlight, Surface, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh, and more. So don't miss out- REGISTER NOW!