Before Windows 8, Microsoft Unveils New Logo

In advance of the Windows 8 launch on Oct. 26, Microsoft today unveiled a new logo that's 25 years in the making.

For almost three decades, Microsoft's logo has simply been the company's slightly italicized name in thick letters (below). Going forward, however, the new Microsoft logo (left) will feature the logo on the right and a block of four, colored squares on the left.

"From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs," Microsoft said in a blog post. "This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning."

Microsoft opted to use the Segoe font for the new logo, which is also used in its marketing communications and on Microsoft products. For the symbol to its left, Microsoft said the colors - red, green, blue, and orange - "are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products."

Redmond will start rolling out its new logo today. It will be displayed prominently on Microsoft.com, as well as in Boston, Seattle, and Bellevue, Wash. retail stores, and will appear at other retail locations and on global TV ads in the coming months.

"Fully implementing a change like this takes time, so there may be other instances where you will see the old logo being used for some time," Microsoft said.

In recent months, Twitter also rolled out a new version of its blue bird logo, which some thought looked a lot like Batman.

Android to overtake iOS and become the top mobile platform for developers

Google's Android will become the preeminent platform for developers over the next 12 months, edging ahead of Apple's iOS, according to a study by research firm Ovum. Nearly all developers, however, will support both platforms.

Ovum's call comes as Android continues to suck up market share, with more companies using the platform to crank out a wave of mobile devices. While iOS has seen its market share growth slow in the recent years, it has always been seen as a more lucrative location for developers to make money. As a result, most apps came to iOS first, and the other platforms second.

That, however, could all change in the coming months, Ovum said. Android's prevalence is getting hard to ignore, and developers have incorporated new business models such as advertising and in-app purchases to spur revenue.

Ovum also said there is growing developer interest in Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS. The results come as both Microsoft and Research in Motion attempt to woo developers over to their respective camps.

"The growing momentum behind Windows Phone indicates that Microsoft has managed to convince developers that its platform is worthy of investment; its challenge now is to persuade consumers," said Ovum analyst Adam Leach.

The study also said developers are abandoning mobile-centric development tools such as Java, Flash and WAP, and moving to HTML5, a Web-based standard that can run across multiple devices and platforms.

by Roger Cheng
source 

Bringing Windows Phone 'Mango' to Nokia developers

Today, Microsoft previewed the next major release of Windows Phone. Code named ‘Mango’, this newest release brings a number of substantial improvements in both the software platform and developer tools.

Jo Harlow, executive vice president for Smart Devices, explains today in Nokia Conversations that Nokia is planning to release its first Windows Phone devices based on Mango.

“We are very excited about our strategic partnership with Microsoft, and Mango is a great milestone for the first Nokia with Windows Phone devices,” said Harlow. “We believe Mango offers developers opportunities to create new mobile experiences leveraging both companies’ complementary assets while providing consumers with a new choice in mobile.”

Featuring over 1,500 new APIs, 16 new languages and hardware-accelerated IE9 and HTML5 support, Mango brings enticing new opportunities to developers. Updates for tools, such as enhanced debugging, emulator support with accelerometer, gesture support and profiling will also improve developer productivity.

Rather than simply create one high-end device, Nokia plans to develop and release a portfolio of products that address as many of our audiences and markets as possible. Knowing that Windows Phone represents Nokia’s primary smartphone strategy, all of Nokia's smartphone engineering resources are being prioritised to make the best hardware for the forthcoming Nokia with Windows Phone devices. Nokia will work closely with Microsoft to differentiate its devices with Mango by featuring its iconic hardware and services, while applying consistent design principles for a unique look and feel.

As Nokia embarks on the next phase of this partnership with Microsoft, we are beginning to put in place a number of activities that will help our developer community quickly prepare for the upcoming Nokia with Windows Phone devices. We recently published a technical article on the Community Wiki; and there will soon be a number of development guides that will help developers make the most of the apps they already have in Nokia’s application store. In the Projects site, members of the Nokia developer community are beginning to contribute some interesting examples that illustrate how to build apps for Windows Phone.

In the coming months, we will deliver regular updates from experts on both sides of this partnership to help Nokia developers make the transition to developing for Windows Phone. There will also be new improvements, new benefits and simplification to our Nokia developer support offerings, so please stay tuned.

To learn more, please watch this video where Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president in Windows Phone, shows off some of the new features coming in the Mango release of Windows Phone:

An Introduction to the Windows Phone 7 Development Platform

On Sep 16th 2010, Microsoft made available the RTW (Released to Web) version of the development platform for Windows Phone 7. In some ways, for many of you, parts of this will be a re-introduction to technologies you already know or with which you have become familiar. This is great news because it means you can become productive very quickly, and that’s no mistake. If you are wondering whether this platform is going to be a success then consider that there are millions of developers out there with existing skills which they can already leverage to build applications for Windows Phone 7. Even for those who have never used tools like Visual Studio before, the barrier for entry is low because the basic toolset has been made available completely free of charge!

CES 2011 - Microsoft Keynote: New Laptops and Microsoft Surface