Anyway, an internal Microsoft memo explaining the ads to employees confirms what most of us suspected as Seinfeld compared PCs to some sort of chocolaty dessert—the first commercial was just an "icebreaker."

This first set of ads features Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we’ll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go. At that time, I’ll be back to share more information about our plans to further strengthen the bond between consumers and Windows–one of the most amazing products, businesses and brands of all time, and, with the right tenacity, passion and agility from all of us, a story that has many great chapters to come.

For the full memo, head on over to the link. [All Things Digital]

For Windows 7, a top goal is to significantly increase the number of systems that experience very good boot times. In the lab, a very good system is one that boots in under 15 seconds.

So it looks like 15 seconds may be an internal goal that Microsoft knows better than to announce just yet—for decent systems, at least. [Engineering Windows 7 via ZDnet]

London, UK — 3 September 2008— Sony Ericsson today published its Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Xperia™ X1 and invited developers and content creators to capitalize on the opportunities offered by developing mobile content for the phone. Whether it is music, photography, email or instant messaging, gaming, social networking or video applications, developers can now create a host of unique multi-media entertainment and content for the Xperia™ X1 for consumers to enjoy.

Xperia™ X1 brings a totally new experience to mobile phone users by introducing nine easy-to-use, interactive panels which sit on the touch screen interface of the phone.

Developers can use the Windows Mobile SDK, free of charge, to produce a wide variety of panels to meet the consumer’s demand for a rich, individualised multimedia experience on their phone. Users of the Xperia™ X1 will be spoilt for choice as they personalize their handset with panel applications to suit their mood and lifestyle. Whether it is a search engine, advanced calendar or social networking application, music or film catalogue, sports or news related content, the panels enable you to access any information – quickly and directly – with a simple tap on the 3” super high resolution touch screen.

“Sony Ericsson is committed to providing its customers with rich, open content environment to make their mobile experience more enjoyable and entertaining,” said Rikko Sakaguchi , CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson. “Making the Windows Mobile SDK available for free to developers and mobile content creators will accelerate the development of new panels and applications for the Xperia™ X1, offering consumer choice and personalisation.
The Xperia™ X1 will offer the richest mobile user experience, putting the world at the fingertips of the user.”

Entertain yourself:

* Customise your Xperia™ X1 panels so you are a touch away from your favourite content – music, film, TV, sports
* Or, be the envy of your friends by watching TV or film clips in DVD quality on the three-inch high resolution touch-widescreen
* Get picture happy on the 3.2 megapixel camera and show the images in crystal clear clarity on the 800 X 480 pixels screen
* Access the latest 3D mobile games by simply touching a favourite gaming panel you have selected

Make your personal life a little easier:

* Access all your contacts and calendar entries wherever you are, as the Xperia™ X1 can automatically sync with your PC making sure you never miss a birthday, anniversary or meeting
* Search or book a holiday in your lunch hour by going online via a travel panel
* Add your local supermarket website and do your weekly food shop in just a few taps on the bus on the way home
* Read the latest restaurants reviews, look up cinema listings, call a friend or reply to personal email on the move using the full QWERTY keyboard
* Find that bar, restaurant or hotel using Assisted GPS and Goggle Maps™ for mobile when you’re on vacation or a business trip

Work on the move:

* Windows Mobile™ 6.1 makes working on the move easier with easy access to work emails and Microsoft® Office Mobile applications, such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint
* Always stay up-to-date with colleagues and important appointments by syncing the handset to Microsoft Outlook on your work PC

“The X1’s panels are a simple but immersive way of interacting with content, services and applications that will delight and engage consumers,” said Todd Peters, corporate vice president, Mobile Communications Marketing Group, Microsoft Corp. “Sony Ericsson’s X1 is a fantastic demonstration of how to harness the power of Windows Mobile to connect people to the things they care about most.”

Xperia™ X1
The Xperia™ X1 is the first product under Sony Ericsson’s new premium sub-brand Xperia™. Designed to meet consumers’ needs for a converged entertainment and mobile web communication experience, the Xperia™ X1 is an extremely stylish handset, with a striking arc-slider design, encased in real stainless steel, supported by a powerful panel multimedia ecosystem.

The Xperia™X1 can be personalised through its nine panel user interface to suit the user’s moods and lifestyle. Users can access content quickly and directly through the touch screen, easily switching between applications by touching one of the unique customisable panels.

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X1 – A new era in mobile convergence

* Unique arc slider with 3.0” WVGA display and finger touch navigation
* Customisable panels
* Wide pitch easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard
* Four way navigation keys and optical joy stick for stressless browsing
* 3.2 megapixel camera
* DVD quality video and 3D Gaming capabilities
* Windows Mobile® capabilities such as Microsoft® Outlook Mobile, Internet Explorer® Mobile and Microsoft® Office Mobile: World, Excel, Powerpoint

Distribution information
The Sony Ericsson SDK for Windows Mobile™ 6.1 will be made available for easy download on the Sony Ericsson Developer World website: www.sonyericsson.com/developer.

Click on http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1panelvideo/ to see a video of Ramanath Bhat, Application and Product Planning for the Xperia™ X1, talk about the phone’s unique panel interface and the benefits of publishing the Windows Mobile SDK for Xperia™ X1.

The Good: It has Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, if that's your thing.

The Bad: All the rest. It felt slow and buggy. I found the stuttering interface particularly bad. The side bar widgets, which need to be dragged and dropped onto the screen to make them appear as tiny little programs, is an atrocious, gimmicky interface design. Wastes space and requires a motion that is simply not needed. Samsung designers should learn that a telephone is not a desktop computer, and replicating the Mac OS X Dashboard doesn't work in a tiny screen at all.

Bottom line: After 45 minutes poking and getting frustrated by it, my verdict is to avoid it like the pest. As a consumer, my first impression is clearly one of horror and frustration. I would rather get an HTC. Or a Sony. Or a Nokia.

The Price: $550 (Unlocked, no contract)

The Verdict: In terms of design, performance and non-OS features, this is the best hardware Palm has ever made. Though my personal dislike of WinMo has me wishing it ran the PalmOS, the truth is that this is a phone for the corporate crowd, and WinMo 6.1 can do things and reach audiences the PalmOS never could. That it is aimed towards a business crowd also justifies the $550 unlocked price tag. People in the corporate world travel to other countries, and need to switch SIM cards quickly and effortlessly.

The feature that deserves the most mention is the redesign—because it's beautiful. Not only is the phone comparable in size and weight to the iPhone 3G (just a bit wider and thicker), but it's visually appealing. The shiny black case, and jewel-style Centro keyboard gives it a look that is appealing and eye-catching without being gaudy. Rounded edges prevent it from feeling too sterile, and the flush screen marks the first time a Palm touchscreen hasn't been sunken in.

Like the Palm 800w the Treo Pro it has been given many of the same key features. The 320x320 resolution screen, GPS and one-button wi-fi are all present, and the 400 MHz processor and 256 MB RAM really run Windows Mobile 6.1 well. It's as fast and responsive as I've ever seen the platform run, due in large part to having proper components. And the 1500 mA battery means you can get a few days worth of moderate usage between charges.

As far as real-life performance goes, the full-sized keyboard is definitely more useful than the one on the Centro, but the lack of definition between keys caused me to make typos on a semi-regular basis. Anywhere signal strength was strong, the 3G was speedy, and call quality was loud and clear. The GPS, complete with turn-by-turn navigation, worked well enough, but seemed to take an abnormally long time to connect to the satellite. And the touchscreen was as responsive and pinpoint accurate as Palm has ever made.

Some of the custom Palm features from the 800w, such as their own chat-style SMS interface and the GPS search bar on the home screen are absent, which is unfortunate, because they were both useful. And in direct light, the screen had a tendency to washout and be difficult to read, even on the highest brightness setting. A dedicated button to take you back to the home screen would have also been nice, but it doesn't kill the phone.

If you're looking for a Windows Mobile phone, I'd strongly consider the Treo Pro, as it has a good balance of design, features and performance for the user. And even if you're not looking for a WinMo phone, it just might tickle your fancy enough to have one around. [Treo Pro on Giz]

New features:

Windows Mobile 6.1
HTC Home Screen
Video Share Calling
Threaded SMS
MS Voice Command
OneNote Mobile
Remote Desktop Monitor
Enroll Domain
Managed Programs
PTT Button now available
for reassignment under
Start>Settings>Buttons.

Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
Weight: 140g with battery
Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
Memory card: microSD™
WLAN: 802.11b/g
Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
Battery: 1000 mAh
Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

It has a Centro-style keyboard, except bigger, and it feels good, but not great. The flush touchscreen is about as responsive as previous offerings and the 320x320 resolution looks bright and crisp. The 3G internet operates at full speed and call quality is nice and clear. Other features like GPS seem on par with that on the 800w, though Palm's own chat-style SMS interface is missing this time around. Palm is selling the phone without a carrier, opting for the unlocked route (win!). And like the Palm 800w, the hardware seems more than adequate to run WIndows Mobile 6.1. Check out the pics, and check back soon for a full review. [Palm@Giz]

The organization is divided up into 25 teams, which encompases stuff like Applets and Gadgets, the File System, Core User Experience, Find and Organize, IE, Kernel & VM, Media Center, and Security. Of course many features span various parts of the OS, and it's up to the management to coordinate between the numerous groups. What would we want to see more of? Better and smarter integration between various apps on Windows, for example having their Mail application be tied into Calendars for meeting schedules and Contacts, or making Gadgets able to access various parts of the OS. These are just two examples we came up with in as many seconds, but you get the idea. More integration. [Windows 7 blog]

"Here honey, this is the new iPhone!"
"Why does it say Windows Mobile on it?"
*CHOKES HER*

Apologies for the spoilers. [Gemini Division via Screen Junkies]

Update: As people pointed out in the comments, the download goes to the old 6.0 ROM for some reason. Probably a mixup by HTC, so it should be fixed soonish?

Click here and drop in the code GizmodoAUG. Let us know how it goes, 'specially the NBC Olympics stuff since Skyfire is pimping it pretty hard.

Skyfire Mobile Browser Satisfying Hunger for the Olympics with Live Access to Olympic Footage from NBC's PC Website

NBC-Universal is offering an unprecedented amount of video footage of the summer Olympics from Beijing on its website NBColympics.com. While Google, Yahoo and even NBC have limited mobile offerings, the Skyfire mobile browser, currently in private beta, has full access to all of NBC's full-PC site including access to full video. Skyfire users can not only see highlights of Michael Phelps' first medal-garnering performances, they can watch live as he swims toward his next gold.

In addition to being the only mobile browser that allows full access to the NBColympics.com site, Skyfire has also added a widget on its launching page, linking to video and picture slideshows of the latest from Beijing. This custom blend of images and video is updated through RSS several times a day, making Skyfire the best way to follow the Olympics from a mobile device.

Skyfire is the only mobile browser which supports full Flash, which is the most popular online video codec. Fans of the Olympics who watch the games at home on their desktop PCs, probably had to download the Silverlight plug-in in order to view the video. Skyfire added Silverlight support seamlessly, without its users having to install a new plug-in or even update the browser version.

The Skyfire browser is currently in private beta on the WindowsMobile and Symbian platforms.

[Skyfire]

Hard to tell how big it is—if it's Centro-sized or more like the Treo 800w, though it looks slightly more like the former in terms of design. [WM Experts]

I Am Rich app ported to WM devices

I made this one. Nobody can delete this application now. WM users could be richer than iPhone users :)

Just a joke app. I promise there is no virus.

Thank you, Julien, but that said, use at your own risk. [Clie]

UPDATE: And it's been confirmed on the NBC broadcast by commenter cirby on his DVR.

Click for high-res:

Ouch! More super-zoomed images for error message decoding here:
[Powerapple Forum (Chinese, original pic), and Rivercool (alternate angle pics) via Dvorak - props to Dvorak commenter Improbus for "Olympic Fail"]

Read more pan-Gawker coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Microsoft programmers are apparently aware of the exploit presentation at Black Hat, and are waiting to see the findings themselves. Presented by Mark Dowd and Alexander Sotirov, of IBM and VMware, respectively, the exploit negates key security features such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which make it difficult to locate and execute code and data. And apparently this exploit is so broad and game changing that it could be applied to other platforms. OS X, beware? [SearchSecurity via Electronista]

The Guide
•The Guide is like the electronic programming guide (EPG) in your set top box at home but built right into the SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 software. You can easily find what’s on without having to use SlingPlayer to access your STB's EPG.
•The Guide enables quick, easy navigation, channel search and channel change functionality right from your PC, using the SlingPlayer and just a couple clicks of your mouse.
•With the Guide there’s no IR delay when sending a command through the SlingPlayer to change the channel or program a recording, and the Guide slides out of the SlingPlayer software so it doesn’t obscure what you’re watching on the screen. With a comprehensive view of your channels, easy to navigate views and search capability, the Guide allows you to get right to what’s important, watching what you want to watch now.

Live Video Buffer
•Live Video Buffer with DVR-like control, allows you to easily pause, rewind or fast-forward up to 60 minutes of video on your PC, right from the SlingPlayer.
•Whether you have a DVR at home or not, this feature makes watching your TV on your PC even easier and more enjoyable by giving you greater control without the fuss of a remote control.

Integrated Sling Accounts
•Sling Accounts stores your key Slingbox information like your program guide line up, Slingbox IDs, passwords and favorites on central Sling Media servers.
•This feature allows you to access your information on any PC or laptop running SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 software so when you switch computers or want to install SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 on an additional computer, you no longer have to re-enter your information on the new computer. By signing into your Sling Account after installing the software, your Slingbox information will automatically appear. This is a first of many key features enabled by Sling Accounts.

New Look & Feel
•SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 is sporting a new look & feel. With detachable slide-out windows and a sleek new player design it presents all the new features and functionality in an easy to navigate way.

Multiple Viewing Modes & Sizes
•With different viewing modes, the SlingPlayer software allows you to work, surf the web and enjoy your TV, all at the same time.

To take part in the 2.0 beta, hit the following link to download the software. [Sling]

The average Mac desktop sells for about $1,000 more than the average PC desktop, which sells for a mere $550.

"But wait," you say, "that's because people interested in higher-end machines buy Apple, while cheap idiots buy PCs." Eh, maybe. But that doesn't explain away the discrepancies.

Specifications often vary sharply for these systems, with Apple often focusing on faster processors than some rivals in notebooks but at the expense of memory and hard drive space. Its insistence on using mobile processors and custom designs for desktops, however, has created feature discrepancies where a Dell Inspiron 518 tower nearing the $700 mark features two more processor cores, three times as much memory, and twice the hard drive space of an $1,199 entry-level iMac despite both coming with near-equivalent LCDs.

While the average price for Windows-based systems is described in the NPD data as having largely flattened and unlikely to drop further in the near future, the disparity between these and Macs has only widened in the last few months, according to eWeek. Apple's general policy of refusing to alter prices until its next hardware revision has reduced the value of its systems relative to Windows competitors.

So while Apple's marketshare has gone up quite a bit in the last few years, analysts don't think they'll be able to keep up the growth with prices so much higher than their PC counterparts. There are only so many video editors, bloggers and rich fanboys in the world, after all. Sooner or later, they'll need to appeal to those cheap idiots as well. [Electronista]

Says SD Times:

Midori’s design treats concurrency as a core principle, beyond what even the Microsoft Robotics Group is trying to accomplish, said Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group.

The Midori documents foresee applications running across a multitude of topologies, ranging from client-server and multi-tier deployments to peer-to-peer at the edge, and in the cloud data center. Those topologies form a heterogeneous mesh where capabilities can exist at separate places.

In order to efficiently distribute applications across nodes, Midori will introduce a higher-level application model that abstracts the details of physical machines and processors. The model will be consistent for both the distributed and local concurrency layers, and it is internally known as Asynchronous Promise Architecture.

Sure, it's a possibility that this could just be a technology that will be integrated into a more conventional desktop-based Windows successor, or that Midori will stay in the Research wing like many Microsoft projects tend to do. But with so many industry players jumping into cloud computing (and with the Microsoft lifers involved in Midori "going back to their roots and writing code like they probably did in the old days," according to a previous rumor), the chances for something more ambitious are interesting to consider. [SD Times via The Register]