items tagged with Microsoft

This release is pre-alpha, and intended to get the product into the hands of early adopters in order to get feed back and bug reports. In order to focus our efforts on getting this release out, we have targeted only one device, the HTC Touch Pro. This has a number of user interface implications, including graphics designed for a 300 dpi screen, control layout intended for a vga screen and reliance on a hardware keyboard for text input.

Keep in mind, this is what Mozilla is calling a milestone build. It's not a beta. It's not even a public alpha. It's a "working, usable browser," but that's about it. There's no support for updates, plug-ins, or software keyboards. But many of the bugs that users found in the pre-milestone version should be gone by now.

Installation

You can install this on your HTC Touch Pro by navigating to the cab installer with your existing browser. This will download the cab file and kick off the installation process. Or you can download it to your PC and use ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center to copy it to your phone.

Microsoft Office Live Small Business is a web hosting service that gives you a domain name (any available .com, .net, .org, or .info), email, business management tools, collaboration tools, and more, for a surprising price tag: $0.

Despite the Small Business moniker, the service doesn't appear to be limited only to businesses—meaning you could probably use the service as a personal site (as CNET suggests). Check in with the Microsoft Office Live Small Business video tour for a closer look at what you can expect if you decide to sign up. The service is free for one year, after which you'll need to pony up a still-reasonable $15/year. If you've used it in the past, share you experience in the comments.

Alternately, if you're not keen on Microsoft's hosting offer, check out the most popular reliable and affordable web hosts according to Lifehacker readers.

The MSN Mobile site has recently been updated to include a lot more content, most notably additional videos from MSN Videos. The new videos section of the MSN Mobile site is now offering both high and low quality streaming videos in addition to a download option which you can use to save the videos onto your device. The videos can then be streamed anytime, even offline, with Windows Media Player. Within the videos section, you’ll find videos in several different categories including News, Sports, Music, Movies, TV, Comedy, Viral, Latino, and Lifestyle, as well as a “What’s Hot” section at the top. From your mobile device, go to home.mobile.msn.com to see the new content.

I stand on the roof of a concrete structure, surrounded by glossy purple dropships. A message comes across my headset, "Reinforcements are on their way!"

In minutes, wave after wave of whiny grunts, long-haired jackals, and muscular elites jump out of the dropships. I hit Right Button on my controller, igniting my jetpack. This is going to be a good time.

At E3, Efren and I had the chance to check out Halo:Reach's Firefight mode. First introduced in Halo:ODST, Firefight throws players into a maelstrom of madness as players must defend and hold a position against a Covenant attack. We played in two different environments: a night-time beach-side fortress and what appeared to be the outskirts of a city during daylight.

Just like in the multiplayer beta some of you played a month ago, Reach still doesn't have dual-wielding (Efren wasn't happy about that). In previous iterations, players raced to power-ups like a cloak or an overshield; now, players select a load-out ala Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2. Still, it is undeniably Halo. The best part: Bungie said Firefight will have matchmaking.

Bottom line: The game's visuals are beautiful, a step above Halo 3. The gameplay was smooth. No jitters or jaggies that I could see during my 20 minutes. The tactical variation introduced by the load-outs are a welcome addition for this gamer, though I will miss the mad dash for power-ups. Halo fans, you're going to have a blast.

Official Halo Reach Trailer:

Loke Uei has actively executed a worldwide Mobile Embedded & Developer Conference series across nine countries. Prior to his career with Microsoft, he was in software development for several leading software development companies in Malaysia. Loke Uei has been in the software business for 20 years.

Loke Uei blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/lokeuei and participates actively in the social media scene at @lokeuei.

Stuff Loke recommends you check out this summer:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit
• HTC Touch Diamond
• HTC Touch Pro
• Toshiba TGO1
• Windows Mobile Developers
• Windows Mobile Team Blog
• Windows Mobile Marketplace News
• Windows Mobile Widgets
• Pocketwit
• Twikini