Microsoft has just earned itself a bit of James Bond flair, having taken the wraps off its new Cybercrime Center. Calling it the company’s “new headquarters for the fight against cybercrime,” the Cybercrime Center fights all sorts of online evils, whether it be child exploitation, Citadel botnets, or anything in between. The center was introduced […]
How do you close out a console generation? By reclaiming your crown. According to NPD’s October figures, Microsoft is back on top: The Xbox 360 is once again the best-selling home console. It’s hardly surprising — Microsoft has dominated home console sales for years, losing out to the PlayStation 3 for the first time in ages just last month. It almost wouldn’t be notable, save for the fact that this month’s numbers are the last NPD figures before the industry moves on. The PlayStation 4 launches at midnight tonight, and the Xbox One will be available in just a few days. You can almost see the anticipation in the numbers. Hardware sales totaled $171.7 million for the month, 8 percent less than the same period last year and over $10 million less than the previous month. Business as usual, really. Care to take stab at who will take the cake in generation eight’s first NPD report? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony, Microsoft
Source: Joystiq
Microsoft has come up with a spanking new Cybercrime Center headquarters as part of their efforts to highlight its fight against cybercrime. This particular project has also been admitted by Microsoft to be a “CSI kind of place,” where it does seem to be focused on building awareness of potential threats as well as promoting Microsoft’s efforts when it comes to the non-stop fight against cybercrime. Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit general counsel David Finn said, “It’s like a functional movie set.But there is real-life cybercrime going on, and these are real-life labs to fight it in a cutting-edge way. This is not a TV show – we have important cases we’re working on right now, right on the other side of the window.”
Microsoft figured out that around half of online adults have fallen under the shadow of cybercrime in the past year, and cybercrime itself is said to cost the global economy up to $500 billion each year – now that is certainly a whole lot of money. Those who drop by the headquarters will be treated with information about specific cases which Microsoft did work on, where among them include the Citadel botnet which was believed to have infected millions of computers, and it was used to steal around $500 million from businesses and individuals. [Press Release]
Cybercrime Center By Microsoft original content from Ubergizmo. 
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![Microsofts New Temporary CEO Expected To Be Kevin Turner [Report]](https://i0.wp.com/cdnrss.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/microsoft-coo-kevin-turner.jpg?resize=600%2C418 "Microsofts New Temporary CEO Expected To Be Kevin Turner [Report]")
Ever since Microsoft announced their current CEO, Steve Ballmer, would be exiting the company within the next year, the hunt for his replacement has been going on behind the scenes. With last week’s report of Microsoft CEO candidate Stephen Elop considering to sell the company’s Xbox business and kill off Bing, we’re sure many of you were hoping he wouldn’t take the CEO position. According to a new report, it looks as though Microsoft has already picked their next CEO. (more…)
Microsoft’s New Temporary CEO Expected To Be Kevin Turner [Report] original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The rest of November is going to be big for gamers with the launch of the PlayStation 4 only hours away and the launch of the Microsoft Xbox One next week. Ahead of the official launch of the Xbox One game console next week, a video has turned up that shows how quickly gamers will […]
So we know that the Microsoft Xbox One console will be able to boot up using voice commands but exactly how fast will it be able to do so? Well Microsoft’s Major Nelson recently posted a video showing the Xbox One console starting up itself with a voice command that was detected using the Kinect’s microphone, and it seems that it’s a pretty fast ordeal. (more…)
“Xbox On” Voice Command Boots Up The Console In 13 Seconds original content from Ubergizmo. 
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This article was written on April 04, 2008 by CyberNet.
If you’ve got a video recording device and two minutes to spare, you could end up with a $10,000 Digital Home Makeover, courtesy of Microsoft. They started a contest to help celebrate the availability of several new Extenders for Windows Media Center. There are thousands of people out there with all kinds of digital media on multiple devices that don’t interact with one another (many of you can probably relate) who could benefit from such a makeover. Microsoft thinks all digital media should be shared across devices and so one lucky winner will receive a Windows Media Center PC along with Extenders to create a “connected entertainment center.”
How to enter: Create a two-minute video explaining why you need the experts to come to your house and set you up with an entertainment system. What do you do with your media currently, and what do you wish that you could do?
What they’re looking for in a video: Enthusiasm, show your current system, and give a story that will appeal to other digital home entertainment users. Contestants must upload their video to video.msn.com.
When the contest starts/ends: The contest started on March 21st, 2008 and runs until May 2, 2008, so you’ve got plenty of time to come up with something good.
At this point, we say that the Xbox 360 is still one of the best Media Center Extenders out there for the price, even though there is a whole selection of extenders available. One such extender (on the high-end) is the Niveus Media Extender which retails for a whopping $1,499! On the lower end is the Linksys DMA 2200 Media Center Extender which retails for around $300.
Unfortunately this contest is available only to those living in the United States. Oh, and don’t expect Microsoft to come in and remodel your home if you’re the winner. While reading the rules of the contest, I noticed the following statement: This prize does not include remodeling or redecorating the winner’s home to accommodate any new equipment awarded. It’s humorous the kinds of statements companies have to put into the rules of contests to protect themselves from lawsuits, isn’t it?
Source: Windows Vista Blog
Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com
When Microsoft announced their own brand of Windows tablets in the form of the Surface tablets, many were surprised and wondered if this could mean that Microsoft would launch their own brand of Windows Phone devices in the near future. Microsoft has since denied those reports, but according to a report in DNAIndia, an anonymous Microsoft executive has “confirmed” that Microsoft is planning to launch their own brand of Windows Phone handsets, despite the fact that they will soon be acquiring Finnish handset manufacturer, Nokia.
According to Microsoft Director of the Windows Phone Business Group, Vineet Durani, “We are waiting for regulatory clearances on the Nokia deal to merge the devices and hardware business, with Microsoft’s software business. The Microsoft-branded phone is under review, but in the meanwhile we continue to work with our partners like Huawei, Samsung and HTC for Windows OS handsets.” Like the statement said, the device is under review meaning that there is a chance that it may or may not see the light of day. In any case what do you guys think of the idea of Microsoft producing their own handsets?
Microsoft-branded Windows Phone Handset Reportedly “Under Review” original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Microsoft has announced today that Zune Marketplace will not support rental and purchase of content from November 22nd, 2013. Browsing the Marketplace for movies or TV shows is off the cards as well. This move is part and parcel of the Fall 2013 update through which Microsoft Points are also retired. Those who have remaining Microsoft Points balance can transition it to local currency by initiating a purchase or redeeming a Microsoft Points card or code on Xbox 360 or the Xbox Music and Video apps on Windows 8.1.
With Zune Marketplace gone, what remains of Microsoft’s once popular music project is the Zune hardware that’s still out there and the Zune desktop software. In a recent related announcement, Microsoft announced that users will no longer be able to play Xbox Video content that they own on Zune devices, Zune PC client or Windows Phone 7 devices. Video content already purchased through Zune Marketplace will be available to users in Xbox Video, whether they access it through the web, Xbox 360, Windows 8.1 or RT tablets and PCs or through the Windows Phone 8 app which Microsoft says is likely to be released around the holiday season. So that’s that, the Zune project gets yet another nail in its coffin.
Microsoft Retiring Zune Marketplace As Early As November 22 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Managing machines is an easier task than managing humans, as any human resource manager will be able to tell you. We have now received word that Microsoft has decided to stop using its employee ranking system, which is a system that forced managers to provide a set proportion of employees a poor review, never mind just how well they have performed, there will always be a bunch at the bottom of the pile. It is this very system where the blame has been pinpointed for hampering not only innovation, but it has also pitted employees against one another.
Employees picked up this good news in an email from Lisa Brummel, Microsoft’s executive vice president of human resources. The system has been called “stack ranking,” and it has also become more or less an emblem or example of what is not right where Microsoft’s corporate culture is concerned. In fact, employees have even described it to be the most destructive process within the company, where it has been blamed for crippling Microsoft’s ability to innovate. Hopefully this move will not come too late to help Microsoft turn the innovation boat around to calmer waters. Hopefully, we will see more innovative products from Microsoft in the near future after this.
Microsoft Drops Employee Ranking System original content from Ubergizmo. 
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