Microsoft Archive

A couple of years ago I blogged about the original Arc Mouse and couldn’t contain my excitement back then.

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Steve Ballmer at CES 2010

Took this photo last year in Vegas when Steve was speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show.

I’m not there this year, but am eager to hear what he has to say, especially after such a rip-roaring 2010 with the launches of Windows Phone 7 and Kinect for Xbox 360.

His speech starts at 6.30pm PST so watch it live on the Microsoft News Center or on our Facebook page

If you’re in Europe and 3am is a little early for you, watch the webcast in the sames places tomorrow over your cornflakes.

Also, make sure you follow Microsoft on Twitter for all the updates from the show!

See more photos from last year’s CES!

Did you know that 77% of jobs in the UK require some sort of IT skills? To us digital marketers, sparking up a laptop or downloading the latest version of Tweetdeck seems like second nature, but to a lot of people just sending an email must seem like a hefty mountain to climb (ask my new mother-in-law!)

This morning on BBC Breakfast our UK MD – Gordon Frazer – talked about Microsoft’s new Britain Works initiative.

A company as big as Microsoft would not be doing its duty during a recession if it just battened down the hatches and fended for itself. All the research says that skills and investment in business developed during lean times pay dividends in the end, so MS have kicked off a 5 part plan:

1.    Partnerships with NGOs – Microsoft will build on existing relationships and create new partnerships with employment focussed NGOs to support their work in getting hard-to-reach people back to work.  Support for NGOs will be in the form of cash, software and volunteering time.

2.    Apprenticeships – The Partner Apprenticeship programme will be rolled out from the pilot area in the West Midlands to a national offer. The apprentices are trained by a Microsoft IT Academy and after 7 months are working full time for the partner.

3.    Technology start-ups – Through the BizSpark programme we are supporting the creating of thousands of software development jobs in new technology startups.

4.    Training Vouchers – We will be providing 450,000  training vouchers to enable selected client groups access to IT training.

5.    Britain Works Skills Portal- www.microsoft.com/uk/britainworks  – The Britain Works website will provide people with full information on all the training and work opportunities available through the programme.

The idea is to help 500k people into work by 2012.

It’s things like this that make me proud to work for Microsoft!

4 years and counting many more………I hope!

The Live Search guys have announced a new homepage design on the Live Search Blog!

The above design is just the first in a number they’ll be rolling out. I’ve seen a couple and I can only describe them as gorgeous.

What makes them better is the inclusion of “hotspots” that pop up on hover with different facts, or possible searches that can take the user to services on Live Search that they may not know about.

This hotspot clicks through to:

And this one:

Leads to:

It’s only being released in the US right now with other countries to follow.

If you want to see, just change your Live Search country setting to United States here:

Like it? I do 🙂

Carolyn over on the adCenter Blog has announced yet another high profile Microsoft adCenter content ads deal with Rodale.

A hilarious feel-good video showcasing Live Search Maps, Microsoft Zune, Xbox, Media Player & Windows Live Photo Gallery – All to the boppy number, Girl From Mars by Ash covered by Magneta Lane!

Video: Your Digital Lifestyle: Girl from Mars