Reactions to story from LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews

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  Windows Live Photo Gallery Will Get Facial Recognition Soon

  http://cybernetnews.com/2008/07/24/windows-live-photo-galler...
  167 days ago in CyberNet · Authority: 1,245

  Microsoft has done a fantastic job with Windows Live Photo Gallery, and its definitely become my favorite way to manage photos. Theres been no mention as to when the next version of Windows Live Photo Gallery will be coming out, but one thing that you
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  Windows Live Messenger 9 to have WPF effects

  http://www.jcxp.net/news.php?newsid=2354
  139 days ago in JCXP - The Ultimate Windows Information Site · Authority: 85

  You may have already heard that, alongside the rest of the Windows Live wave 3 package, the next version of Windows Live Messenger (version 9.0) will have a new user interface. Earlier on the website; Messenger Stuff, was tipped by an unaffiliated source, but now they have revealed that the new interface will use the graphics effects available through WPF. [Windows Presentation Foundation] To put it simply, we might finally see transparency hit Windows Live Messenger. It is believed that the design of the messenger is only slightly changed, but the WPF is believed to go in well with it. News Source: Messenger Stuff The Messenger team as well as nearly everyone else inside Microsoft are still keeping the details hidden from the general public. Although we do know about the new interface and that they have moved on from milestone 1 to beta 2 (counting this an alpha build, not beta 1), we don't know as much as we'd like to about the new features.
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  Windows Live Messenger 9 to have WPF effects

  http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/08/07/windows-live-messen...
  153 days ago in Neowin.net - Where unprofessional journalism looks better · Authority: 720

  You may have already heard that, along with the rest of Windows Live wave 3, the next version of Windows Live Messenger (version 9.0) will have a new user interface. After being tipped off by an unaffiliated yet trustworthy source who – naturally – doesn't want to be identified, Messenger Stuff can now reveal that the new interface will use the graphics effects available through WPF [Windows Presentation Foundation], where supported. To put it simply, this finally means that we will see transparency effects in the various windows of the program, possibly similar to those already seen in Yahoo! Messenger for Vista. We are led to believe that the actual design has not changed much but the WPF effects have been integrated well in what is bound to be a popular new addition. View: Full story at Messenger Stuff Read full story...
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  Windows Live Messenger 9 WILL use WPF effects!

  http://www.msgstuff.com/news/post/471/
  154 days ago in Messenger Stuff - MSN/ Windows Live Messenger news, downloads, skins, emoticons and display pictures · Authority: 44

  You may have already heard that, along with the rest of Windows Live wave 3, the next version of Windows Live Messenger (version 9.0) will have a new user interface. After being tipped off by an unaffiliated yet trustworthy source who ? naturally ? doesn't want to be identified, Messenger Stuff can now reveal that the new interface will use the graphics effects available through WPF [Windows Presentation Foundation] where supported (i.e. on Vista and with a decent graphics card). To put it simply, this finally means that we will see transparency effects in the various windows of the program, possibly similar to those already seen in Yahoo! Messenger for Vista. We are led to believe that the actual design has not changed much but the WPF effects have been integrated well in what is bound to be a popular new addition. In other version 9 news, the Messenger team ? as with nearly everyone else inside Microsoft ? are still keeping their cards close to their chest. Whilst we do know about the knew interface and that they have moved on from a milestone 1 build to a beta 2 build (seemingly counting this an an alpha build, not beta 1), we do not yet know as much about the new features. Presumably some, if not all, of the new features will be different to those in the aforementioned alpha version if they are not being publicly disclosed. Also, since all the other Windows Live software and services seem to be getting better integration with one another Messenger might get more integration as well, including with the mysterious "Groups" and "People".
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  Windows Live Messenger 9

  http://www.messengersworld.com/2008/08/windows-live-messenge...
  158 days ago in Messengers World · No authority yet

  As it is said in LiveSide, the first stage of developing Windows Live Messenger 9 is over, now the Wíndows Messenger Team coding the M2 build. The new Messenger has a new look and new features that are not disclosed yet, but hopefully soon. For more details you can read few quotes from the General Manager of Windows Live Brian Hall saying “Microsoft is planning to make the first test bits of software and services for the PC, Web and phone that are part of Windows Live Wave 3 available to folks outside the company as part of a private beta later this summer“.
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  Microsoft mashes up multiple natural-user-interface inputs

  http://zonepc.co.uk/2008/07/28/microsoft-mashes-up-multiple-...
  163 days ago in Zone PC - PC, Windows and Microsoft News and Updates · Authority: 1

  Publicly and privately, Microsoft officials have been making much of the company’s myriad multi-touch input projects (especially with Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 7). But Microsoft’s view of what the user interface of the future will look like is more complex than that. Instead of allowing users to interact only with touch or only with speech, Microsoft is working on interfaces that will combine multiple natural-input techniques. At last week’s Financial Analyst Meeting, Microsoft officials showed off a demo of an automated front-desk receptionist, which the company plans to deploy internally later this year. The receptionist will make corporate-shuttle reservations, provide campus information and the like. (The automated receptionist, it turns out, is one of the fruits of a Microsoft Research effort, known as the “Situated Interaction project.” Microsoft officials are discussing that project at this week’s Research Faculty Summit, according to the agenda for the event, which kicks off on July 28. Other projects upon which the Situated Interaction team is investigating include “multi-participant engagement and dialog models, conversational scene analysis, spatio-temporal trajectory reasoning, and behavioral modeling.”) Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, outlined some of Microsoft’s thinking during his keynote at FAM on July 24. Mundie told Wall Street analysts and press in attendance: “When people talk about a natural user interface, you know, we talk about handwriting and touch and speech and these things, but this is what a natural user interface is really going to be all about. And it won’t be just your receptionist. I mean, you should be able to come to computers and interact with them in a much more natural way, to ask questions, have them respond to you to do tasks that are valuable to you. And I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s the first example built in a completely new way using these robotics technologies that we brought to the market two years ago. And so this isn’t really about just programming arms that assemble cars in the factory or making things that run around hospital floors, this is in many ways the beginning of building very complex interactive applications.” Mundie also showed off during FAM a demo I’ve seen before that combined a variety of natural-interface technologies — everything from facial recognition (which also is expected to find its way into the next version of Windows Live Photo Gallery, by the way), to more spatial recognition. (Guess that explains, at least in part, Microsoft’s recent decision to merge the PhotoSynth photo-stitching team with the Virtual Earth mapping one.) Mundie referred to the demo as an example of “first life” — which he described as “a mirror world of 3-D that everybody can participate in constructing and maintaining and which gives us a navigational metaphor that’s completely consistent with the world we already live in.” I have to admit, I am old-school when it comes to interacting with my PCs and devices: I like the keyboard. What about you? What kind of input are you hoping for with cell phones, ultra-light-weight PCs and laptops in the future?

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