How Microsoft lost the future of gesture control
Microsoft used to rule the technology world.
Ten years ago, Windows, Office and Internet Explorer were the only "platforms" that really mattered.
Microsoft historically attained its glory by making end user products for the masses, and only later and secondarily going after enterprise and vertical markets.
But the rise of Apple as a consumer electronics company, Google's emergence as an everything company, and the advent of Web 2.0, the cloud and the social Internet have left Microsoft struggling to find a way to succeed in the markets of the future. Read more...
EC: ‘Friends-only’ natter not subject to ‘right to be forgotten’
The operators of social networking sites, such as Facebook, would not be obliged to delete every piece of information about individuals that they host under proposed new EU 'right to be forgotten' laws, the European Commission has said.
The Commission said that the platforms would not have to delete information that users elect only to enable their 'friends' on the sites to access. The processing of that data would be outside the scope of the draft new data protection laws, it said, according to ZDNet.
Under the draft General Data Protection Regulation, published by the Commission in January, individuals will be given a qualified 'right to be forgotten' that will generally enable them to force organisations to delete personal data stored about them "without delay". Organisations that have made the data public will be liable for the data published by third parties and will be required to "take all reasonable steps, including technical measures" to inform them to delete the information. Read more...
Microsoft reassures Apple, Android users of Skype
As it wrapped up its acquisition of Skype, Microsoft again assured users that it would continue to develop versions for platforms other than Windows.
Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it had closed the $8.5 billion deal for Skype, the Luxembourg-based Internet phone and chat giant. Microsoft and Skype unveiled the planned acquisition in May.
Skype will operate as a new business division within Microsoft, and Tony Bates, formerly the chief executive of Skype, will report directly to Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer.
In May, Ballmer promised that his company would continue to develop and support Skype on rival platforms.
"A, I said it and I meant it," Ballmer said when a reporter asked for assurances that Skype would continue to support operating systems and devices not sold by Microsoft. "B, we're one of the few companies with a track record of doing this," Ballmer added, citing Microsoft's Office edition for the Mac. Read more...