Microsoft

Microsoft will make available a new Kinect sensor for Windows in 2014, officials said on May 23.

The new Kinect for Windows sensor will include many of the technologies that Microsoft showed off in the Kinect for Xbox One product earlier this week. Microsoft is promising the Kinect for Windows sensor also will include higher fidelity, an expanded field of view, skeletal tracking and new active infrared -- all features of the Kinect for Xbox One.

A Google security engineer accused Microsoft of treating outside researchers with "great hostility" just days before posting details of an unpatched vulnerability in Windows that could be used to crash PCs or gain additional access rights.

Microsoft acknowledged the vulnerability late Tuesday. "We are aware of claims regarding a potential issue affecting Microsoft Windows and are investigating," said Dustin Childs, a spokesman for the company's security response group, in an email. "We will take the appropriate action to protect our customers."

Yesterday Microsoft announced the winners of, and finalists of their 2013 Partner of Year awards. These highlight the best and most innovative use of Microsoft technologies across their numerous hardware and software partners.

There were 44 winners in this year's categories and a total of 3000 entries across 100 different countries. The categories included Cloud Computing, Windows 8, Office and Sharepoint applications, as well as entrepreneurial spirit, sales excellence and corporate responsibility.

The big day is almost here. Microsoft reveals the new Xbox at an event held on its Redmond, Wash.-based campus tomorrow, and speculation runs rampant around the web. We do not even know the name of this next-generation console, let alone what capabilities the device will come with.

L33tdawg: It's always better to assume the answer to that question is a YES and act accordingly.

Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H's associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

As part of its latest Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft rolled out new fixes and updates for its Surface Pro and Surface RT tablet/PC hybrids.
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On May 14, the company made available UEFI firmware updates for both its Intel-based Pro and ARM-based RT models. Here's the full list of what's available for both kinds of Surfaces:

For Surface Pro:

Microsoft Windows 8 has confused users and disappointed the PC industry. Windows chief Tami Reller all-but-admitted it last week. But, she also foreshadowed that help is on the way in Windows Blue. She confirmed that this Windows 8 update—which has now officially been dubbed Windows 8.1—will be previewed for users this summer and will go live in the fall.

 Even as Nokia prepares to reveal some new Windows Phone Lumia smartphones on Tuesday, one Chinese designer already has a terrific idea for what future Windows Phone devices might look like and how they will work.

In a YouTube video that was posted in March but only recently promoted, designer KuanGaa Chen of IDEA Mediaworks brings us the 'Surface-N' concept video. As you can see above, the concept shows a display that fills almost the entire side of the case. It states that the phone would have 4K resolution along with Gorilla Glass that is 0.44 mm thick.

Microsoft has issued a warning that a new piece of malware masquerading as a Google Chrome extension and Firefox add-on is making the rounds, threatening to hijack Facebook accounts

First detected in Brazil, Trojan:JS/Febipos.A, the malware attempts to keep itself update, just like normal, legitimate browser extensions, Microsoft noted in a security bulletin late Friday.

"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.