Search Engine Marketing Blog | Tug » Microsoft

Thanks to Microsoft your productivity will be boosted

Carlo Pandian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:55:08 +0000

I love technology because it makes my life easier and I adore it when it makes me work more efficiently ?. As I work in SEO and in particular link building, I am always looking for new tools and software that can speed up my tasks while improving my overall results. I strongly believe this is a key aspect of everyone’s work and nowadays it is essential to be competitive in the market.

Microsoft has launched a great tool called Outlook Social Connector that can help you in different tasks (from online PR to sales) and boost your productivity. As soon you type an email address in the receiver form, the software enables you to check the social activity of the receiver . In particular it pulls out data available in two main social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn so you can see the name of your contact and her/his conversations.

As sometimes I need to email hundreds of bloggers, this has helped me to craft bespoke emails and has saved me a large amount of time which I would have spent checking their profiles or searching for their real names. I am now tailoring better emails without wasting time and I am also increasing my connections on LinkedIn, the main platform for business purposes.

As people have lost their confidence with their privacy and have extended their personality online with public profiles, I bet this kind of tool will become more popular so early adopters, be aware!

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Kinect will be availabe for PCs

Carlos Rabanillo — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:03:18 +0000

Microsoft will officially open Kinect to third party developers. Microsoft is planning on releasing a development kit for third parties, so that they can build applications that make use of their sensor. They decided to do this because a) the device has already been hacked and b) the announcement of various companies working on a similar devices for PCs.

Kinect became very popular since its release, not only among the general public but also among the hacker community, which has used it to control all kind of applications. However, according Winrumors, Microsoft is preparing a Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows third parties to build any type of Windows-based program with support for Kinect.

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Windows 7 tablets from Samsung and Dell

Carlos Rabanillo — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:40:04 +0000

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer will announce the launch of the new tablets in Las Vegas. The intention is clearly to compete with the iPad. Nick Bilton reports in the New York Times that sources close to the manufacturers have assured that the devices come with Windows 7, they’ll include a sliding keyboard that hides and HTML5 applications.

He also tell us that Microsoft has made agreements with Samsung, Dell and other manufacturers. Balmer himself said in July that a new Windows tablet would be available “very soon”. Since then there has been much speculation about the specs of the device. In my opinion most people will be disappointed with the Windows 7 tablets.

A Windows 7 tablet can only compete with Apple if Microsoft offers a simpler consumer experience. A Microsoft tablet that can be integrated with the Xbox and with Kinect, that tablet could become the beating heart of digital entertainment … but I doubt that will happen.

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Google offered 2,5 billion for Twitter

Carlos Rabanillo — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:17:12 +0000

Google may have tried to buy Twitter, offering around $2,5 billion dollars for the company according to a source close to the negotiator involved in the talks. According to BusinessInsider, Microsoft may have also tried to bid on the microblogging site.

It is well known that Twitter is looking for a profitable business model, with initiatives like the recently launched, but they could also need funding. Nevertheless, the fact that Google made an offer for Twitter is not a surprise.

The news comes from a source close to an executive involved in the talks. He says that Google recently offered $2,5 billion dollars for Twitter, but it wasn’t a formal offer. Another source, a shareholder of Twitter, also said that the site turned down an offer from an unknown entity for the amount of $4 billion dollars.

Both sources also believe that Microsoft may have made an offer, which gives an idea of the interest of large multinationals on the microblogging website. Digital Sky Technologies, Facebook’s Russian investor, is also keeping an eye on Twitter.

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Facebook mail coming soon

Carlos Rabanillo — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:56:01 +0000

Facebook Mail could be the new service unveiled by Mark Zuckerberg, if the rumors of a new e-mail service to compete with Google’s Gmail are real.

The code name for what will appear on Monday is ‘Project Titan’ and it could offer an email service that would look like ‘@facebook.com’. The address would have POP access, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think of a collaboration with Microsoft Office Web Apps.

In fact, people talk about a source close to Microsoft which confirms that Facebook will present a full range of email services. This alliance will not be the first between the two companies, which already have agreements in other areas such as Bing, Docs.com or transfering contacts with Hotmail.

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Messenger sneaks into Facebook as an application

Carlos Rabanillo — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:29:52 +0000

AppData is the page that measures how many users use applications on Facebook, and usually the top 10 is plagued by Zinga applications such as Texas Hold’em Poker, FrontierVille and Coffee World. The big surprise for us was to find that Windows Live Messenger is positioned as one of the applications most used on Facebook.

Microsoft recently launched the latest version of Messenger which includes Facebook chat to enable 300 million of Messenger users connect to it easily. The two companies have decided to extend their working relationship to improve their services. At this point, Microsoft says that only 20% of Messenger users have access to Facebook chat, which makes the figures even more surprising.

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Microsoft to Launch Windows Phone 7 Today at 14:30

David — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:58:06 +0000

Microsoft are to launch their new mobile platform known as Windows Phone 7 at 14:30 today. Most people already know what to expect in terms of operating system but the new phones by various manufacturers should make for an interesting launch. As always, Engadget will be hosting a live blog for the launch so head over there if you want to see how it goes. In-case you didn’t already know, the 2 people launching the platform on stage will be Microsoft’s famous Steve Ballmer and AT&Ts (American mobile provider) Ralph de la Vega.

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Bing Rewards Search Queries with Prizes!

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:13:05 +0000

Bing have introduced a new rewards system similar to a credit card or airline loyalty program that offers users credits that can be exchanged for prizes, such as; products, gift cards or charitable donations.

How does this work I hear you ask? Well, first of all you need to install the Bing toolbar, have a Windows live ID, be on a Windows machine and use internet explorer. No Chrome, Firefox or Macs.

Once you have completed that process you will be rewarded with 250 credits. Additional ways to stack up your points after that will have to be done by taking desired Bing actions or conducting search queries. According to Bing’s FAQ: “You can take advantage of offers to earn credits. Offers may include earning credits for conducting searches on Bing, setting your browser search defaults to Bing, or trying out new Bing features.”

Apparently 5 searches are worth the equivalent of 1 credit point and you can receive a maximum of 8 points per day. Below is a list of things you could potentially win if you choose to stay loyal to Bing:

So if you save up your credits for just under a year, you can qualify for a Scrabble game (8 credits per day X 359 days = 2872 credits). Yippee!

Apparently Bing have released this new feature to get casual users to become more engaged and have conversations with them about Bing’s functions and capabilities. The Bing toolbar will unobtrusively push suggestions, messages and new features to their users.

Microsoft say that they would love to gain as many new users as possible from a direct result of Bing Rewards, this is not their primary objective and they know it will be a hard task to break the Google habit.

Personally I think that the Salad utensil set has sealed the deal for me, its just too good to resist! (I’m joking of course).

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Microsoft Confirm Windows Phone 7 Manufacturers

David — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:48:23 +0000

Microsoft have confirmed the manufacturers who will be launching with new Windows Phone 7 smartphones. The companies confirmed are HTC, Dell, Asus, Samsung and LG. Microsoft have planned a launch for Windows Phone 7 by Christmas time this year. With Windows Mobile now nearing the bottom of the Smartphone pile, this is a well needed refresh from Microsoft. Microsoft have also announced that they will be giving out free handsets to each member of staff in a bid to create awareness along with the hope that employees will create apps for the new mobile operating system. Click here for a in depth preview of Windows Phone 7.

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MySpace in Discussion with Yahoo & Bing

David — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:26:44 +0000

The search advertising deal with MySpace and Google is going to be finishing next month and MySpace will be free to move their search to a new supplier. The Wall Street Journal report that MySpace is in talks with Yahoo and Bing for a new search deal. See below for a quote from the WSJ:

“News Corp. is in discussions with Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. about replacing MySpace’s crucial search-advertising partnership with Google, which expires next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the existing deal, Google agreed to make up to $900 million in guaranteed payments for the right to sell small ads as users surf and tap out searches on News Corp.’s My Space.com and on a handful of smaller News Corp. websites.”

It will be difficult for MySpace to find a new deal worth any more than Google’s offer with their decreasing number of users. We’ll let you know if we hear anything!

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