Hasta La Gadget!

Today’s going to be a big day for Microsoft, and Steve Ballmer’s kicking it off early. Showing up on the Today show, Samsung Cetus in-hand, he let loose a humble smile and spent a little time showing off a trio of phones. Along with the Cetus, nestled in the middle in the picture below, is an LG C900 on the right and an HTC Mondrian on the left, none of which got as much face time as the man himself, who took a (tersely) polite ribbing from host Matt Lauer about the status of Microsoft’s mobile efforts compared to the competition over the past year, even making mention of Ballmer’s recently cut bonus thanks in part to the Kin debacle. Steve was having none of that, not interested in looking back, showing off an “always consistent” interface that is simply “delightful” according to the man. How delightful is it? Look to learn a lot more as the day progresses.

Update: Thanks to muslimsteel for pointing out in comments you can watch the segment yourself right here.

Continue reading Steve Ballmer teases three WP7 handsets on Today, gets no respect from Matt Lauer

Steve Ballmer teases three WP7 handsets on Today, gets no respect from Matt Lauer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Like any two technology behemoths, Adobe and Microsoft have certainly had their ups and downs. But now that Google and Apple are looming over them in a number of ways, it seems as if the two may be courting one another in order to help re-level the playing field. According to a New York Times report — which was crafted after collecting reports from “employees and consultants to the companies who were involved in the discussions that took place” — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen recently met at the latter’s headquarters for a closed-door meeting. Purportedly, the meeting went on for over an hour and covered a variety of topics, with one of ’em being Apple and its newfound dominance in the mobile market. Shockingly enough, a “possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options” of stopping the skyrocketing growth. The report accurately notes that such a deal makes entirely more sense now that Redmond isn’t exactly the 800 pound gorilla that it was before Android and iOS hit the mainstream, though details beyond these assumptions were few and far betwixt. Whatever happens, no one can blame Steve Jobs for not giving Adobe every possible reason to hit Apple with everything it’s got — even if that involves buddying up with Ballmer and co.

Microsoft and Adobe CEOs meet, purportedly plan world domination originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The New York Times  | Email this | Comments

Horror, shock, surprise! Microsoft CEO and prime fanboy of all things Windows and developer-related, Steve Ballmer, will be the keynote speaker at Microsoft’s New York launch event for Windows Phone 7. He’ll be joined on stage by AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega and when the pep rally is over, we’re promised opportunities to finally handle the official incarnations of retail Windows Phones for ourselves. We know all this because Microsoft has just dropped a kind little invite into our inbox urging us to attend its October 11 get-together. We will, of course, be there live, but don’t forget Microsoft’s also holding a London event on that day, ostensibly for the same reason, so make sure to be up nice and early next Monday if you don’t wanna miss a thing.

As we reported last night, the company is also holding a gathering centered around T-Mobile WP7 handsets, though details are more scarce on that event. We saw an official invite from the folks in Redmond, but it looks like that showing may be smaller in scale. We have to imagine that AT&T and their GSM competition don’t want to share the stage, but as this is a Microsoft launch, anything is possible. Regardless, if there are multiple carriers showing hardware come October 11th, we’ll have all the goods.

Steve Ballmer and AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega to headline Windows Phone 7 launch event in NYC on October 11 — we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Steve Ballmer: Kin ‘defocused activity from Windows Phone’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Seattle Times  | Email this | Comments

Poor guy can’t catch a break. Talking to analysts today about the world of tablets, Steve Ballmer put on a brave face about his lack of a strong competitor to the iPad, saying of Windows 7 products in the works with third parties: “They’ll be shipping as soon as they are ready.” Unfortunately, Apple’s iPad looms large, with Ballmer stating that “they’ve sold certainly more than I’d like them to have sold.” Perhaps more revelatory, Steve likened the tablet challenge to the situation Microsoft faced when the netbook started out as a Linux product, mentioning that part of their chore is “tuning Windows 7,” in addition to working with hardware partners. Obviously Microsoft is down, not out, when it comes to tablets, but will a few million iPads be their eventual demise or the impetus they need to succeed? Tune in next week someday for the thrilling conclusion!

Ballmer on iPad: ‘they’ve sold certainly more than I’d like them to have sold’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  CNET  | Email this | Comments