Computerworld is reporting (and ReadWriteWeb is confirming) that Microsoft will be joining the Data Portability Working Group. Microsoft adds to the growing list of companies that have signed on with DataPortability.org. Since the beginning of the year, Google, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr (Yahoo!) and SixApart have joined the project. The project, which in its own words, aims to allow users to "connect, control, share and remix" their data across multiple online services and protocols. As the Computerworld article points out, getting Microsoft to join in is a real boon to the project because of its vast user base. More than 400 million users have an account with Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail or both.
The concept of data portability has become a pretty hot topic in the last few weeks, thanks to the brouhaha over Robert Scoble's screen-scraping scheme that led him to get banned from Facebook for less than a day and with the announcement that high profile players, Google and Facebook, would be joining the endeavor.
As a video we posted last week explains, attempting to keep accounts and contacts synchronized across multiple sites and platforms is one of the more tedious side effects of the whole Web 2.0 revolution. DataPortability.org wants to change that.
And although it is still very early, moves like last week's announcement that Yahoo! will begin supporting the OpenID 2.0 framework leave us hopeful and inspired.
The arms race between Microsoft and Google has just gone up another notch with the release of Windows Live Translator. Much like Google's Translate Tool, Windows Live Translator lets you enter a block of text for translation from one language or another, or you can enter a URL to have an entire web page translated. Also like Google, Microsoft's web-based translation tool is powered by Systran.
But the interface is quite different. Enter a URL in Google Translate, choose your language options, and you essentially see a full screen version of the website with the text replaced by a computer's best guess of what each word and phrase means. Windows Live Translator doesn't have a full screen option, but gives you a choice of views:
See each page side by side
See one page on top of the other
See the original page, with each line translated as you hover your mouse over it
See a translated page with the original text of each line displayed as you hover your mouse over it
You have a variety of languages to choose from, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. But as with any machine based translation, don't expect Windows Live Translator to give you a perfect translation. But it should give you a good idea of how much that Japan-only notebook computer you've had your eye on really costs.
Microsoft has released the third public beta of its Windows Live Writer blogging application. The program is available as a standalone download or as part of the new Windows Live unified installer which will throw so many Microsoft applications on your machine you'll think the company owns you.
So what's new in this beta of Live Writer?
XHTML support
Insert videos using "insert video" dialog
Upload images to Picasaweb when publishing to Blogger blogs (we weren't able to confirm this feature. Anyone else have any luck?)
Support for 28 additional languages
Better image handling
A slew of bug fixes
Overall, it's a pretty handy blogging tool. But one thing that we really don't like is that Microsoft tries to cram every Windows Live service down your throat when you install Live Writer. Even if you download the standalone installer, a window pops up during installation asking if you'd like to add Windows Live Mesenger, Mail, Toolbar, and other applications. If the answer was yes, we probably would have downloaded the unified installer, now wouldn't we?
As promised (or perhaps threatened), Microsoft has launched its latest effort to extend its desktop software dominance online. The company has released a "unified installer," that lets you install a bunch of Microsoft desktop and online applications all at once. It's sort of like Google Pack, but with nothing but Microsoft software.
So what do you get with the Windows Live installer? Windows Live Mail, Messenger, Photo Gallery, a browser toolbar, OneCare Family Safety, and Windows Live Writer (for blog posts, this isn't an MS Word replacement).
While the big news is that Microsoft is releasing a single package with all of these applications (or you can pick and choose), there are a few other updates included. The Windows Live Photo Gallery had previously been in closed beta. And Microsoft has also released updated versions of Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Writer.
The New York Times reports that Microsoft is set to launch software this week that will more seamlessly connect the company's desktop software (like Windows), with its online services (like Windows Live Search, Mail and Spaces).
While Microsoft's competitors in the past have been desktop software makers, competition is increasingly coming online from companies like Google and Zoho.
On the one hand, Microsoft is relatively late to the web services game. On the other hand, Microsoft has a ridiculously large share of the operating system market. If the company makes it just a wee bit easier for customers to write blogs, share photos, and send email in a way that blurs the distinction between online and offline software, Microsoft could make some serious headway.
Personalized webpages are all business when it comes to the New York Times personalized My Times page.
Like other start pages, Netvibes, iGoogle, PageFlakes, MyYahoo and Windows Live, MyTimes allows users to pull in all of their important everyday RSS news and build a single resource. Widgets like weather, Flickr, stock quotes and crosswords can also be added to pages. Sections can be dragged around and reorganized like the other offerings as well.
Where MyTimes differs is that readers can choose to have their pages set up by Times journalists for news and entertainment. Offering a first hand look into their sources of information.
Microsoft is preparing to launch a public beta of Windows Live Folders, a service that will let you upload and share files from your web browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox). You'll get 500MB of free space with a Windows Live ID, and you can upload files up to 50MB in size.
Sure, there are plenty of other free file hosting services that give you more storage space, including AOL's 5GB XDrive service. But this is just a beta, and there's a good chance Microsoft will increase the storage space down the road.
The thing that sets Windows Live Folders apart is its integration with other Windows Live services, for example letting you share your files with just users on your contact list.
It looks like Microsoft is getting ready to release Windows Live Hotmail sometime in the next few weeks, although no official release date has been set yet. The new web mail client updates Microsoft's existing Hotmail service.
Winxperts.net has some screenshots and info on the new release. According to their tipster, Windows Live Hotmail will include an improved user interface, a reading pane like the one in Outlook or Yahoo! Mail beta, and indexed search capability.
Users who signed up for @Live IDs during the beta will be able to continue using those IDs when the final product is released.
Get badged, by going to badged.net, where you can simply build a custom badge widget for your site or blog. The list of available badges you can include in your custom widget is pretty good:
Digg This Story
Sphere It
Add to Technorati Favorites
View Blog Reactions (via Technorati)
Add to del.icio.us
Add to Furl
Add to Netscape
Add to Yahoo! Myweb
Add to Google Bookmarks
Add to Newsvine
Add to Blinklist
Add to Reddit
Add to Blogmarks
Add to Magnolia
Add to Windows Live
Add to Tailrank
Add to Favorites (Internet Explorer)
Email This
You type in your site URL and name, check the boxes, and get the code at the bottom of the page. It could not be any easier to do and you can insert the whole thing at the bottom of your posts, your site, whatever. Sweet, slick, and fan-tas-tic. Here is what the actual badge I created looks like:
[Via The Global Geek Podcast]
Basically, what Windows Live for TV does is add a ten foot interface to a number of Windows Live services, such as Spaces, Messenger, and Live Call. The program is meant to work with Windows Vista Media Center. That means you can plug your PC into your TV and access Windows live services from the comfort of your couch.
Here's a few of the things it'll let you do:
Browse Windows Live Spaces in 3D graphics, with keyword searches
Have text and voice chats with other Windows Live Messenger users
Make PC to telephone calls using Verizon Web Calling
Navigate with a mouse, keyboard, or Media Center remote control
You'll need a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate RC2 or higher to run Windows Live for TV. It looks like Windows XP and Windows XP Media Center Edition users are out of luck.
The developers have launched a blog, which already features a couple of tips, such as keyboard shortcuts and quick search tricks.
Considering the backlash from publishers Google has received for its book search offering--despite the fact that it's publishers whom it benefits most--one wouldn't think Microsoft would touch book search with a ten-foot pole. But here we are two years after Google launched what was then called Google Print, and Microsoft is set to launch its own book search offering in beta today. Windows Live Books will initially be available as a separate search engine that can be accessed from the Windows Live Search home page, but once the service is out of beta Microsoft says it will integrate its book search database with its main web search index. Unlike Google's book search, Windows Live Books will initially include only public domain works, to be followed by books whose publishers have given Microsoft permission to scan, and all books scanned will have their full text available through the site.
Microsoft has launched a public beta of Windows Live Search for mobile, and David Ciccone over at Mobility Today has been kind enough to demonstrate Live Search on his Windows Mobile phone.
The service service is free, but you'll need a J2ME-capable or Windows Mobile phone and a data plan to to try it out.
Overall it looks pretty nifty. You can search for maps or directions, and can even get traffic updates. The maps seem to load pretty quickly, even when you're zooming in on an aerial view. If you're too lazy to type in what you're looking for Microsoft includes a list of built in categories, such as government & community, health & fitness, or nightlife.
You can download the software from the Windows Live page, or you can install it directly to your device. While web page says you need a Windows Mobile phone, I found that the program runs just find on my Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC as long as I have an active internet connection. And the maps look great in VGA resolution.
Just two years after Google launched its SMS search service, Microsoft has launched a beta version of its own SMS service that lets you perform Windows Live searches from a cell phone. The service is available to Cingular, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel customers in the uS.
Here's how it works.
Send a SMS text message to WLIVE (95483)
For a business, type the name and location (street address, city, state, zip code etc) Example: Starbucks Seattle, or high school 90210
Search residential listings with a name and location
Reverse phone number lookup
Get Instant Answer by starting with a question mark. Example: "? father's day," "? population of France"
Get word definitions using a D instead of an ? Example: "D mollify"
Within a minute or so, you'll receive an SMS reply with the answer to your query.
There's a whole bunch of other features. For example, you can find area codes by texting "area code + city name." You can also get stock quotes, perform math calculations, etc.
Did you know that every time you log onto Gmail you're getting infected? Okay, okay, you're probably not, but Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare thinks otherwise. Many OneCare users are reporting that every time they access Gmail, they are confronted by an alert telling them that the page is infected with the BAT/BWG.A virus. Unless Google has really ramped up its world domination schedule, it's almost certainly a false positive, and though calling its competitors' products viruses is certainly the kind of thing we like to pin on Microsoft, it's more than likely a coincidence. Whether Microsoft will be remedying the trouble in their definitions or Google will be tweaking Gmail's code to ditch the false positive remains to be seen.
Microsoft is doing some connecting with leading edge suppliers in Europe to boost its Live service. Soon 375 millions people are going to be able to IM each other using mobiles or PC's though a deal with Orange in France. The new service will be called Orange Messenger by Windows Live. The application will essentially allow Orange customers to either use the IM tool online, or on their mobile devices to connect to other Windows Live Messenger users. Microsoft and Orange will be joining users in Spain and the UK as well in the near future. Microsoft chose to work with Orange because they are the leading edge supplier in mobile communications in Europe, and there are not many leading edge communication developments being made in the US.
Computerworld is reporting (and ReadWriteWeb is confirming) that Microsoft will be joining the Data Portability Working Group. Microsoft adds to the growing list of companies that have signed on with DataPortability.org. Since the beginning of the year, Google, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr (Yahoo!) and SixApart have joined the project. The project, which in its own words, aims to allow users to "connect, control, share and remix" their data across multiple online services and protocols. As the Computerworld article points out, getting Microsoft to join in is a real boon to the project because of its vast user base. More than 400 million users have an account with Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail or both. 
