Microsoft has responded to the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Microsoft points. The company, according to a new statement, is invalidating points that were accrued illegally, and is contemplating reprcussions against offending accounts. The fullMicrosoft statement: “We are aware of the situation and have taken steps to invalidate the codes obtained illegitimately. We take safety and security very seriously and require that Xbox LIVE members use the service in compliance with applicable laws and specifically prohibit people from engaging in illegal activity as a part of our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct....

TNW Quick Hit: If you can actually believe it, some Windows Phone 7 handset owners have yet to receive their pre-NoDo, NoDo, and security patch updates. But for some of the patient users we have a slim glimmer of good news: certain Omnia 7 ownerswill receive NoDo today, and more will next Tuesday. The bad news is that if you are a user of the Deutsche Telekom, Orange, or SFR networks, you are slated for a later update....

Microsoft is to resume Windows Phone 7 updates for Samsung devices after the team at Microsoft successfully “pinpointed and fixed problems preventing a small percentage of Windows Phones from installing the February software patch”. Microsoft begansending out updatesto Windows Phone 7 devices on February 21, an update that did not include copy and paste, CDMA support, or faster application loading capabilities. The patch instead helped devices prepare for future, more feature-rich updates....

He’s back. The talking paperclip. And no, he is not less annoying than before. Microsoft has seen it fit to build a sequel to the application ‘Ribbon Hero,’ a training tool that masqueraded as a game, designed to help people learn the ins and outs of Office. Why, you might ask, would Microsoft do such a thing? Because, and honestly this baffles us at TNWmicrosoft, people are still afraid of the Ribbon interface of Office 2007 and 2010....

Microsofthas announcedit has retired its Windows Live Gallery repository, a portal hosting plugins, gadgets, add-ons for the company’s various Windows Live services, to concentrate on developing its Windows 8 ecosystem and the “much richer set of opportunities available” to it. The company says that it will continue to host some of the most popular and highest-rated gadgets, making them available on its Gadgets andGadgetspage of theWindows Personalization Gallery, helping users build out their Windows 7 Sidebars with additional widgets and associated services....