Microsoft has been voted the UK's number one brand for the second year running, according to a survey out today.
Brand monitoring group Superbrands surveyed 3,000 consumers for its annual rankings, which put Microsoft top, followed by Coca-Cola, Google, the BBC, BP, British Airways, Lego, Guinness, Mercedes-Benz and Cadbury. Brands falling out of the top 10 this year included Porsche, Marks & Spencer, Heinz and Duracell.

Via an update of the Individualized Blackbox component (IBX), FairUse4WM can now remove DRM for Microsoft IBX versions 11.0.6000.6324 and earlier, on both XP and Vista.
This is another drawback for Microsoft since for the past year hackers have managed to defeat DRM in more than one occasion.
This release was first announced on Doom9 forums where a user nicknamed 'Divine Tao' managed to update FairUse4WM to support new keys (v1.3 Fix2). In any case so far 'Divine Tao' does not seem to be working with the same hacker(s) who broke the Windows Media DRM code a year ago, as the user says that he could not access the FairUse4WM source code.

Editors note: It is a federal crime to remove the copy protection from any song in the United States. If you are caught, you can be fined $25,000 and put in jail for 5 years. TechPowerUp! does not support piracy.

If rumors are to be believed, which they sometimes should be (Google DID buy YouTube, after all), then Microsoft is about to spend $6 billion on the acquisition of Facebook. From a business standpoint, buying one of the largest social networking sites in America would bring Microsoft ahead in the game of internet business. This makes sense, especially considering the last profitable thing Microsoft did involving the internet was the acquisition of Hotmail.

V2 of Windows Mobile Search has been released.
Along with a major update to the browser interface we see Improved Navigation, Cache, Movie Searching, GPS, Traffic reporting and more!
Whether your phone works with J2ME (Java) , Windows Mobile, or any other device with a browser, Live Search has you covered with maps, directions and business search.
There's also a beta version of the app for Blackberry devices.

Windows Mobile / J2ME / BlackBerry
Other Devices

If both IE and Firefox version 2.0, or later are loaded on a persons computer a zero day security hole may occur.

Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, Shane Kim, said in an interview that the company needs to lower the $299 - $479 price tag to increase sales among those who are not typically interested in traditional combat and racing video games. No word on how much the price will be cut or when it will happen but Mr. Kim's comments come a day after Sony cut the price on it's Playstation 3. Microsoft has sold 5.5 million XBOX 360 units in the United States and 11.6 million worldwide.

Microsoft announced on Thursday an extension to the Xbox 360 warranty. While the official warranty at the present time is one year (two years in some countries), Microsoft announced a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message or also known as "the red ring of death." If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge-including shipping-for three years from the console's purchase date. Microsoft has also made some improvements to the Xbox 360 console that will reduce hardware lockups. This may refer to reports of Xbox 360s being outfitted with extra heat sinks to prevent console failure. The whole repair-extended warranty thing will cost Microsoft at least $1 billion, according to the company.

A Mexican online financial Web site estimates that tycoon Carlos Slim has a net worth of $67 billion, which would place his fortune above that of the Microsoft chairman, according to various media reports. Slim is known for a wide swath of holdings including banking interests, CompUSA and telecommunications firms.

The Mexican site, Sentido Comun, noted Slim's rising wealth in April, saying that they believed he had passed both then No. 2 Warren Buffet and Gates, Britain's The Guardian said in its report. But with a recent rise in shares of mobile phone carrier America Movil, Sentido Comun founder Eduardo Garcia said, there is no doubt that Slim has surpassed Gates.

Back in February, a blogger who went by the alias "DigDuality" got fed up with Microsoft's accusations of the open source community. And so, from work, he started a website that challenged Microsoft to find any IP violations *nix was making. May came, May went, and the website became about as active as an exhausted gold mine. Now, a few days into July, "DigDuality" has returned to his blog. He claims that Microsoft traced the website to DD's company, and that Microsoft threatened his company. The company, according to DD, then proceeded to give DD a choice: he could either keep the website running, or keep his job. DD preferred the latter, and so, the website has remained inactive for quite some time. DD refused to name the company that told DD to hold his tongue.

Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced the 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project, designed to lower the barriers to entry for filmmakers to produce and distribute movies in the HD DVD format through the innovative manufacturing-on-demand technology of CustomFlix, a part of an Amazon group of companies. Jointly sponsored by Amazon and Microsoft, the project will provide free authoring and setup services for up to 1,000 selected indie titles.

Anyone who's ever had the Red Ring Of Death (the Xbox 360's way of saying it's dead) knows what an unfortunate position they are in. There are various ways to fix the RROD, but most of them indicate that it's time to get a new Xbox 360. Ordinarily, this would not be a problem. In a classic RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization), a customer says they got a broken product, want a new one, ship the broken one to the manufacturer, and get a new one for their troubles.

However, what happens when this keeps happening? A certain Justin Lowe has done this classic RMA procedure with his Xbox 360 eleven times over, and still isn't sure whether or not he'll have to do it again. And with the wide range of problems he's had, why should he be sure? He's lost three Xbox 360s to the infamous red ring of death, two to disc read errors, two were dead on arrival, several had random audio and video-related issues, and one actually exploded. Customer support was at first friendly and fast, but now, it seems to Justin as if they are slow and unhelpful.

Nintendo has continued its recent console success throughout May, with the DS taking top spot and the Wii in a comfortable second in terms of sales. The Nintendo DS sold an impressive 423,000 units and the Wii 338,000 units, with the PSP next in line with 221,000 units, ahead of the PlayStation 2's 188,000 units. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are continuing to lag behind, with Sony's latest console on just 82,000 and the Xbox 360 on 155,000 units - the PS3 only beat Game Boy Advance figures by a mere one thousand units. Sales in May totalled $815.5 million, up 49% compared to figures from last year - a strong month for the games industry.

In an effort to better reflect the capabilities of IPTV, Microsoft has decided to rename it "Mediaroom." The name change comes along with an upgrade which allows users to share media content with other computers on the network. Users of Mediaroom will also be able to view multiple channels and programs on one screen. Currently more than 18 of the world's largest providers have agreed to offer Mediaroom as part of their digital TV package.

Microsoft has posted its latest security bulletin, offering patches for 15 vulnerabilities in its operating system, Internet Explorer browser (both IE6 and IE7), and other software products. Nine of the 15 flaws are labeled critical. To get the Windows updates and Microsoft Office updates for your home computer or laptop go to the Microsoft Update webpage or click here for direct download link.

Internet search giant Google filed a 49 page document with the U.S. Justice Department and state attorney general charging that Microsoft's Windows Vista impairs the performance of "desktop search" programs that finds data stored on a computer's hard drive. Google believes that Microsoft is not complying with the 2002 antitrust ruling because "The search boxes built throughout Vista are hard-wired to Microsoft's own desktop search product, with no way for users to choose an alternate provider." Microsoft says it has already made more than a dozen changes to address regulators' concerns.

Microsoft Corp. and LG Electronics (LGE) today announced that they have entered into a patent cross-license agreement to further the development of the companies' current and future product lines. Microsoft has focused on patent agreements in the recent past to develop a best-practices model for protecting intellectual property (IP) and respecting the IP rights of others, as well as building bridges with an array of industry leaders, including consumer electronics, telecommunications and computer hardware providers.

Microsoft has released an updated version of DirectX for June, although it isn't clear whether the update is just for DirectX 9.0c or for DirectX 10 on Vista as well. Regardless of this, it is still recommended that Vista users update their systems because Vista will benefit from any DirectX 9.0c fixes when playing DirectX 9 games. The web installer is only for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions), whilst the redistributable version will also work with Vista. The download links are listed below:

• Web installer for Windows 2000, XP and 2003: download [44KB - 41.4MB]
• Redistributable installer for Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista: download [53.6MB]

Microsoft launched the Zune digital media player in the US in November 2006. It was anticipated that Microsoft will introduce the Zune player outside of the United States in late 2007. Microsoft-chief Steve Ballmer now said in an interview with the German Wirtschafts Woche that the Zune launch in Europe is canceled for autumn 2007. He does not give a new date and blames the delay on the fact that MS is still loosing money on the Zune. In October 2006 Microsoft's Media & Alliance Manager Dene Schonknecht already said in the UK that the Zune might not launch before 2008. Microsoft is also preparing new Zune player models for Christmas later this year.

New betas for the Windows Live Writer blogging tool, Windows Live Messenger IM client, and Windows Live Mail e-mail program have been released. Windows Live Writer is a tool to compose blog posts and publish them on some of the Web's most popular blogging platforms, such as Windows Live Spaces, Community Server, WordPress, and TypePad. In addition to the Writer update, Microsoft also released new betas for its instant-messaging and Web-based mail services this week.

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is now in official beta and includes a new Windows Vista Aero interface. Windows Live Mail, the successor to Windows Mail that is included in Windows Vista and Outlook Express on Windows XP, also has a new beta release. The new version includes a new UI that is similar to other services in Windows Live and also allows users to sync to their Windows Live Hotmail accounts.

The launch of Microsoft Surface marks the beginning of a new technology category and a user-interface revolution. Surface, Microsoft's first surface computer, provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday information - from photos to maps to menus.

Key features demonstrated in the videos included:

• Multi-touch ability.
• Recognition and syncing of wireless devices by placing on touch panel
• Ability to identify non-digital devices, such as a drink glass, based on shape.
• Hand gesture system to further interact with the touch panel.
• New, non-windows based interface.

The videos really speak for themselves. According to the website, Surface technology will be
available in Winter 2007.

Microsoft Live Search Maps will today begin offering three-dimensional, photo-realistic views of New York City buildings and landscapes, with perspectives that few people - apart from Superman - have ever seen. The free online service will provide a unique look at many of New York's iconic locations, along with local listings, ratings and reviews and driving directions to help people easily find, discover, plan and share relevant location information that is important to them on the Web.

As everyone knows Microsoft is planning to attempt to merge PC gaming and Console gaming. This plan will without a doubt fail miserably and ONLY to create tensions between console gamers and PC gamers. Why will it fail you ask? Really it's quite simple. As every PC gamer knows PC gamers have several distinct advantages over Console Gamers ...

At this week's WinHEC 2007 conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft gave the final name of what was previously known only as Windows Server codename "Longhorn." Windows Server 2008, which recently reached the Beta 3 milestone, is expected to be available in four different editions: web, standard, enterprise, and datacenter. Windows Server 2008 builds on the improved reliability, security and manageability of Windows Server 2003 R2 to help alleviate pressures on IT professionals today by adding enhancements to further automate daily management tasks, tighten security, provide a more extensible platform for hosting and Web applications, improve efficiency, and increase network availability. The final version of the operating system will be released later this year.

Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, sold 40 million copies in 100 days making it the fastest selling operating system in history. Premium Edition accounts for 78 percent of sales. Chairman Bill Gates credits an accelerated consumer shift to the digital lifestyle. Windows operating systems run on more than 95 percent of the world's computers.

The conflict continues between software giant Microsoft and the open source community. Lawyers for Microsoft say the Linux kernel violates 42 patents, the Linux GUI another 65 while Open Office infringes upon 68 of its patents. Email programs as well as other various software rounds out a grand total of 235. Microsoft has yet to seek royalties from these alleged infractions and would face tough opposition from the open source community.