Microsoft: Don't forget, we've had voice control in Windows Phone for more than a year

While everyone seems to be talking about Apple’s Siri voice control technology, Microsoft is keen to let us all know that it has had a similar feature baked into Windows Phone for more than a year.

Here’s a Forbes magazine interview with Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie where he reminds us not to be fooled by Apple’s marketing:

People are infatuated with Apple announcing it. It’s good marketing, but at least as the technological capability you could argue that Microsoft has had a similar capability in Windows Phones for more than a year, since Windows Phone 7 was introduced.

Here’s the video:

But is it as good as Apple’s Siri?

Well, the folks over at Australian tech blog TechAu aren’t that impressed with Microsoft’s ‘Tellme’ technology:

I don’t know about you, but that comparison seems overly biased to me. A better videodemonstrating the voice capabilities of Windows Phone was put together by Tom Warren of Winrumors:

Where does Microsoft thing that ‘Tellme’ technology is going? Here’s what the Redmond giant think you’ll be able to do with voice control in the future:

Pretty cool, eh? Whether any of this will ever see light of day, who knows.

Microsoft has a problem when it comes to marketing. Apple introduced Siri to the world less than two weeks before the handset went on sale, and hordes of potential buyers knew about the technology (according to a few polls, it was the technology that sold the 4S to people). Microsoft on the other hand has to remind people that they’ve had something similar (although not as impressive) on its handsets for more than a year.

Once again, it shows the importance of marketing.

Microsoft Is Said to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreement With Yahoo

Microsoft Corp., the largest software company, has signed an agreement that lets it take a closer look at Yahoo! Inc.'s financial information to help it consider financing a bid, a person briefed on the matter said.

Yahoo's advisers asked that bids be submitted next week, said two other people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Bidders are likely to offer to buy only a minority stake in Yahoo, as they haven't arranged financing for a full takeover, the people said. Microsoft may help finance a bid and not try to buy Yahoo outright, two people said.

Private-equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake also signed non-disclosure agreements to help size up a possible bid for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo, people close to the companies have said. Microsoft would join other investors to safeguard its Web-search partnership with Yahoo and bridge any financing gap a buyout would require, people have said.

Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, and Dana Lengkeek, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, declined to comment.

Yahoo has asked interested parties to sign the NDA to receive management presentations and more access to confidential financial information.

Yahoo, the largest U.S. Web portal, embarked on a strategic review of its options in September after firing Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. Under Bartz, the company struggled to stem sales declines or compete with Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.

Microsoft's Yahoo Deal

Microsoft forged a 10-year agreement to provide search- technology to Yahoo sites under Bartz. The deal was aimed at helping both companies vie with Google, the leader in U.S. search-related advertising.

Yahoo shares were little changed yesterday at $14.94. Microsoft fell 1.3 percent to $24.47.

KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP are among the private- equity firms considering possible bids for Yahoo, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China's biggest e-commerce company, has said it's interested in acquiring Yahoo, in part to buy back a stake owned by Yahoo. With a holding of about 40 percent, Yahoo is Alibaba's biggest investor.

DealReporter previously reported that Microsoft signed the NDA.

--With assistance from Jeffrey McCracken and Cristina Alesci in New York. Editors: Tom Giles, Cecile Daurat

Google’s iPad App: Almost Chrome, and Trouble for Apple Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/11/25/googles-ipad-app-almost-chrome-and-trouble-for-apple/#ixzz1esQTQXKm

GOOGLE

Google has earned a reputation of late for releasing troubled iOS apps. Gmail was so buggy in its initial state that Google had to pull it from the App Store. Google+ was temperamental too, and even now it lags behind its Android counterpart in getting new features. After the launch of iOS 5, Google had to pull its Voice app for a week due to crashes.

So when Google releases a beautiful, flawless iOS app like Google Search for iPad, I figure the company is up to something.

Despite the name, Google Search does more than spit back search results. The app presents you with big, colorful links to several Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Google+, Picasa, YouTube and Google Books. These are apps within the app, sliding onto the screen in a self-contained web browser. You can also search by voice within the app, and get instant search results as you type.

As is, I can see myself spending a lot of time in Google’s iPad app, but what’s frustrating is that with a few tweaks, Google Search could be a proper iPad web browser, and probably the best one. All it needs is a full URL bar instead of a search box at the top of the screen, some bookmarks and a way to open multiple browser tabs. The groundwork for a clean, snappy interface with useful search tools is already in place. Add some more features, and suddenly it’s Chrome for iPad.

And that’s where things could get really crazy–as in, Google creating its own competing app platform within iOS.

I’m not the only one to suspect a secret plot in Mountain View. Over at The Next Web, Matt Panzarino argues that this app is Google’s way of sneaking its own web-based operating system, known as Chrome OS, onto the iPad. He figures that Google could update the app over time, replacing each web app with native software, and he suspects that Google’s Chrome OS team is behind the whole thing.

I think Panzarino has it backwards. Instead of tying in more native apps, Google should be adding more web apps, not only from its own services, but from the Chrome Web Store. By working with third-party developers to make their web apps touch-friendly, Google could build up a tablet app catalog that works in its own iPad browser.

A GRID OF EMPTY SPACES HINTS AT MORE APPS TO COME.

Some of the work is already done. Try accessing NPR’s Chrome web app from an iPad. It looks almost exactly like the native App Store version–it responds to finger swipes and it plays audio within the browser. Other apps are part way there. Vimeo Couch Mode, for instance, has the interface in place, but uses Flash for video instead of the iPad-friendly HTML5. (Vimeo’s main site uses HTML5 when accessed on an iPhone or iPad.)

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/11/25/googles-ipad-app-almost-chrome-and-trouble-for-apple/#ixzz1esQZ5x6s

Samsung, Google confirm Galaxy Nexus volume bug

It's the first phone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and Google and Samsung have confirmed it's got a bug that randomly drops the handset volume.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to ship with Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” pre-installed as its operating system—and it’s coming to Verizon Wireless next month—but early customers in Europe have been reporting problems with the phone’s volume level: the device’s audio volume will drop to nothing for seemingly no reason, after which the device’s hardware volume controls become unresponsive. Early Galaxy Nexus customers have been flooding user support forums over the issue, and now both Samsung and Google have confirmed that they’re aware of the problem—and a fix should be coming soon.

“Regarding the Galaxy Nexus, we are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix,” Samsung UK said in a statement. “We will update devices as soon as possible.”

Google released a nearly identical statement.

The bug is particularly problematic for listening to music or using other media, or relying on alarms or other audio alerts.

Neither company elaborated on the cause of the problem—debate has been raging whether it is in hardware or software—or detailed when a fix might be available. Some retailers have promised customers a fix will be available before the end of the month, although it’s not clear they have any concrete information on which to base those reassurances.

Speculation from hardware-savvy members of the Android community (like this one from Lee Johnston) seems to have centered on radio interference as the cause of the problem, with Google’s “fix” for the device basically amounting to increasing the threshold for what the device consideres to be user input on the volume controls, rather then random fluctuations caused by EM interference.

Oracle (ORCL) Leaps Ahead of IBM, Lands Deal for Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

In a surprise move yesterday (Monday), Oracle (ORCL 19.40 ↑3.08%) Corp. (ORCL) pounced on the opportunity to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA (9.18 ↑0.33%)), for about $7.4 billion in cash, stepping in after Sun’s talks with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM (100.826 ↑0.39%)) fell apart.

The deal gives Oracle control of server and software maker Sun’s coveted Java programming language and brings to a close Sun’s 27-year reign as the maverick of Silicon Valley. Java is the dominant language of the Internet and runs on over 1 billion devices worldwide.

The acquisition is in line with Oracle’s overall business strategy. Oracle, the world’s second-biggest software maker, has dropped $34.5 billion on buyouts since 2005, making it the most aggressive software company in the hi-tech field.

"The deal would strengthen Oracle’s position against IBM. Oracle has done a good job on acquisitions it has done earlier," Robert Jakobsen, analyst at Jyske Bank in Copenhagen, told Reuters. "It makes sense also historically. Oracle has been more successful commercializing software than Sun."

Oracle said it will pay $9.50 a share for Sun - a 42% premium to Sun’s April 17 closing price. Sun had previously rejected IBM’s offer of $9.40 a share, according to sources cited by Reuters.

The acquisition, scheduled to close this summer, will add about $1.5 billion to Oracle’s operating profit, excluding some items, in the first full year after closing, Oracle President Safra Catz said.

The merger cements the relationship between the two companies, who have been partners with each other for more than 20 years. Oracle’s Fusion Middleware, its fastest-growing business, is built on Java. Sun’s Solaris software platform is also the operating system for Oracle’s database business.

Solaris competes against Linux and Microsoft (MSFT 18.8092 ↑1.07%) Corp.’s (MSFT) Windows software. Software sales at Sun accelerated by 21% last quarter and the company projects revenue from those products will reach about $600 million a year. By comparison, software sales at Oracle totaled $17.8 billion in its latest fiscal year.
The takeover also gives Oracle entry into the server-computer market, pitting it against IBM in the market for selling products for data centers that run networks and corporate web sites.

“The industry is going toward data centers,” Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon, who rates Oracle shares “outperform,” told Bloomberg. “This is Oracle’s move to continue to consolidate the industry.”

"It moves Oracle more into the competition with Hewlett Packard (HPQ 34.89 ↑0.61%) Co. (HPQ) and IBM and Microsoft. It makes them a player in the (enterprise data center) space," Shannon Cross of Cross Research, told Reuters. “It’s going to give them access to customers who weren’t using the Oracle database."

Sun was known as a market-leading software innovator that rose to prominence in the 1990s, but fell on hard times when the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s. As demand for its servers dropped, it lost more than $5 billion from 2000 to 2005 and has never fully recovered.

The company has been in play for months, with IBM, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc. (DELL (10.45 ↑1.36%)) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO (17.48 ↑0.98%)) having all been rumored as possible suitors according to Bloomberg, citing bankers with knowledge of the matter. Many analysts were skeptical the company would be able to find another buyer after talks with IBM collapsed.

Besides price, IBM may have bowed out of the picture because it was reluctant to face antitrust issues. Since there are significantly fewer overlaps between Oracle and Sun, the deal is less likely to get bogged down in regulatory reviews.

By Don Miller