Hasta La Gadget!

The news wasn’t so good for Nokia this morning, but its new bedmate is in much, much better shape. Microsoft’s Q4 earnings for the 2011 fiscal year have been posted, showing revenue of $17.37 billion — up eight percent over the same period last year, and besting the $16.43 billion record Q3. That drove $5.87 billion in net income, which is a whopping 30 percent climb over the year previous. Looking back over the full year, revenue broke another record, clocking in at $69.94 billion, 12 percent higher than the year before.

Why all the good news? Well, the Entertainment & Devices Division saw a 30 percent revenue jump in the quarter, 45 percent over the year, as the Xbox 360 and Kinect continue to sell like gangbusters. Bing and Online Services also had good news, 17 percent revenue growth in the quarter thanks to the plucky search engine gaining ever more ground against the competition. But, not everything is rosy, with the Windows-related revenue staying flat — down one percent this quarter, two percent over the year. Windows 8 will surely turn things around on that front, though, right?

Microsoft Q4 FY11: revenue, earnings, and profits all up, beating expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fanboy. There’s perhaps no franchise more immediately connected with our mental conception of a fanboy than Star Wars. Then there’s Xbox. A whole ‘nother world of chest-thumping, battle cries, and utter devotion. Those two worlds just smashed into each other at lightspeed. Meet the Star Wars Xbox 360. More »

This article was written on January 24, 2007 by CyberNet.

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I don’t think that anyone would argue that getting used to Microsoft Office 2007′s new interface takes some time. I’ve been using Beta 2 for what seems like forever (probably about 8 months in reality) and I finally feel comfortable being able to find the commands that used to reside on toolbars and menus in previous versions of Office.

It turns out that Microsoft is working on a plug-in for Office 2007 with the codename Scout, according to I Started Something. It will offer an additional tab that is similar to the one pictured above so that users will be able to quickly search for the commands that they could instinctively find before. As you start to type a word in the search box, such as “pictur” in the example, it will show you live results from the list of available commands.

One recommendation that I can give you is to make good use of the Quick Access Toolbar that is located above the tabs. It keeps you from having to constantly switch back and forth between tabs to get to the commands that you use frequently. The easiest way to add something to the Quick Access Toolbar is to just right-click on any item located on a Ribbon, and select the “Add to Quick Access Toolbar” option:

To keep the toolbar from getting too cluttered you can customize it using the respective option on the right-click menu. That way you can reposition items and put separators in.

Of course, you’ll have to be able to find the command in the first place. I’ve found the help to be quite useful and it can save you more time than you think, but once the Scout add-on becomes available that will surely speed things up. This morning I actually came across an interactive tutorial that Microsoft is offering for Word 2003 users that lets you hover over a command to see where you can find it in Office 2007 (as pictured below). If that isn’t enough for you then click on the command and it will actually demonstrate how you can find that command in Word 2007.

I was really impressed that they even let you go through all of the menus and select commands there as well, so it will be pretty comprehensive for most Word users. It would have been nice, however, if they put a tutorial like this together for Excel and PowerPoint but I couldn’t find one.

Once you start to get used to Microsoft Office 2007 it is hard to switch back to the previous versions that only have the toolbars. Everything works so smoothly and, despite the initial frustration, you can find things much faster. If you really give the new interface a fair shot, and still walk away not liking it I would be quite surprised.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Microsoft Lets Users Test Drive Office 2007 OnlineMicrosoft Office 2007 Gets A Small FaceliftDownload Office 2007 Beta 2 Legally And FREEOffice 2003 and Office 2007 Toolbar/Ribbon Size ComparisonMicrosoft Releases An Office 2007 Video Demonstration

Need a little extra unlocked WP7 incentive to keep you from buying those oh-so-distracting iOS and Android devices? Well, that official homebrew love is going to cost you — $9 to be exact. We already knew the Microsoft-sanctioned ChevronWP7 Labs would be open for business soon, but recent tweets from the jailbreaking outfit’s Chris Walsh have shed a little more light on the process. In addition to the nominal fee users will have to fork over for the official unlock, Walsh also points out that software updates to Mango and Nodo will close any security holes in the platform. So, if you were planning on getting your pirate-y hands dirty hacking away at WP7, think again — Microsoft’s still got the keys to its mobile OS’ house.

ChevronWP7 Labs to unlock your Windows Phone 7 handset for $9, hackers not welcome originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stephen Elop himself spilled the beans about Nokia’s first WP7 handset, codenamed Sea Ray, when he told a large live audience and some whirring video cameras that he wanted the phone to be kept “super confidential.” Now we have a whole new puddle of legumes lying on what sounds like a Chinese factory floor, courtesy of the authentic-looking video above. The clip reveals the N9-like device removed from what appears to be a stealth case, followed by a speedy boot-up into the Windows Phone OS. We’re also treated to a quick look at the camera in action — triggered by a dedicated shutter button that’s missing on the N9 — before a hurried “goodbye.” There’s not much else to see here, but could that reddish theme be a hint that this particular example is destined for Vodafone? Only time will tell.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nokia ‘Sea Ray’ WP7 handset revealed on a factory floor? (Video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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