One of the largest potential draws of the Windows Phone handset line is its closeness in spirit to the Xbox 360. The ability for Windows Phone games to work with LIVE, for example, has been much touted. Microsoft has been working on product line unification in recent months, and the connection between its various devices is a critical component of that push. Microsoft recently demoed one way in which the Windows Phone pool of handsets will be able to interact with the Xbox 360 console: QR codes....

Lost under thecoming mountain of WWDC news and live coverageis E3, which if you have forgotten, is a pretty big deal. Microsoft is on the scene at the event, and after accidentallyleaking Halo 4, released ‘Kinect Fun Labs.’ Instead of an announcement, this is a release. If you head over to your Kinect Hub, Fun labs will be in there. What is Fun Labs? It’s a series of tools that allow users to scan in and interact with objects, evenbethat object, to make an avatar that looks just like you with ‘Kinect Me,’ and to create a bobble head from your avatar....

Tonight Microsoft showed to the world the tablet user interface (UI) for its upcoming operating system, Windows 8. Steven Sinofsky, onthe stage of the D9 event, finally tookdown the curtainof secrecy around Windows 8, and showed the goods to the world. In the name of background, some 6,000 people work for Sinofsky he revealed during his talk, a number that sounds about right, given the scope of the parts of Microsoft that he runs....

We’ve covered Android’spatent issuesquite extensively in recent months, and the crux of the issue is that Microsoft is laying claim to Google’s mobile operating system, in that it’s based on the Linux Kernel which Microsoft says infringes on its intellectual property (IP). And news hasemergedthat Microsoft has announced two new Android licensing deals on Thursday, with Acer and ViewSonic the latest companies to pen a patent license agreement with the software giant....

The final build of Internet Explorer 9 for its March 14th release has beensigned-off by Microsoft, meaning that the browser has gone ‘golden RTM,’ and is ready for its release. The launch of Internet Explorer 9 will mark the start of a new era of the modern web browser, with all major market participants playing by the same standards-compliant rules. While legacy versions of Internet Explorer will remain, as Internet Explorer 9 makes a rapid ascent to become the world’s most popular browser, the internet will never quite again be the same....