This week Microsoft held their annual Financial Analyst Meeting for 2013 and although press was not invited to attend the meeting in person it was live streamed. That means plenty of commentary was sent on Twitter and several articles were written on tech blogs highlighting some of the more interesting comments that were made.
This week’s wrap up includes news from FAM13 and Monday’s upcoming Surface 2 announcement in New York City.
Microsoft Office on the iPad? It’s complicated, apparently (GeekWire) – this is a subject that gets a lot of traction but it is still unclear whether Microsoft is moving in this direction. I wonder if this changes at all with the recent news that Google is now offering their QuickOffice mobile app for free to iOS and Android users. Microsoft has been very active in making their services available on other platforms despite the reluctance of their competitors to do the same but I suspect under the right circumstances Office will get there as well.
Microsoft: Phablets are Windows RT’s future (All About Microsoft – ZD Net) – During a FAM13 Q&A session Microsoft’s Terry Myerson the new Executive Vice President of Operating Systems was asked about Windows RT future. As Mary Jo Foley quoted him as saying “Windows RT was our first ARM tablet. And as phones extend into tablets, expect us to see many more ARM tablets, Windows ARM tablets in the future.” Phones into tablets – isn’t that what a lot of folks have been saying? Put the Windows Phone OS on a 8 to 10 inch tablet? So much to watch here and with the combined OS conglomerate now coming together the timing might be perfect for this to happen.
Microsoft’s Surface 2 launch: What to expect (All About Microsoft – ZD Net) – On Monday, 23 September 2013 in New York City Microsoft is hosting an invite only event to reveal their next generation Surface devices. Unfortunately, the event will not be live streamed so I will be watching social media for tidbits from folks like Mary Jo and Paul Thurrott. There is already a lot of info out there about the next generation devices and Mary Jo’s story summarizes much of that.
As a bonus I want to point you towards an app I discovered last night for Windows 8. The app is called Newseen and uses your Twitter account to see what types of stories and links are shared in your timeline and bring them together. It almost seems like a Techmeme for Windows in that it only lists the article once and then includes links to other sites that wrote about it and also any folks who tweeted about it. It is a great way to surface what is being discussed and shared amongst your Twitter community.
