Tag archive: MSN

At the time of writing, 9pm PT, all msn websites around the world are down and have been since around 8.30pm PT. These include Microsoft services such as Hotmail, Office 365 and SkyDrive. A post on msn's Twitter feed at 8.50pm PT said, “We're currently experiencing an outage at www.msn.com We're aware of the issue and working to resolve it. Thanks for your patience.” In response to a tweet from someone complaining… Read More

MSN in the UK has announced plans to launch a service that will let users stream full-length television shows at no cost. Funded by ads, the service is set to begin next week with around 300 hours of programming, which will be extended. The beta will include content from BBC Worldwide and ALL3MEDIA. The programs will be available to both PC and Mac users, in both WMV and Flash formats, and they’ll be streamed without DRM – but… Read More

Microsoft's casual games portal MSN Games is getting in on the newfangled social networking thing, today launching versions of its two most popular titles—Hexic and Chess—on both MySpace and Facebook. Both of the games enable users to collect merit badges for game achievements, and feature leaderboards, MSN Games news feeds, and the ability to share applications with friends. “We're excited to bring two of… Read More

Microsoft has moved on from the SPOT watch from a few years ago, taking MSN Direct and its FM radio technology for distributing on-location data from your wrist to the automobile. Now with almost 30 partner devices (granted, many of them are Garrmin), the service is expanding in interesting ways. First up in the next few months: the Garmin 885T will be powered by MSN Direct for GPS-enabled services such as flight information, much… Read More

In an email message to customers, MSN's general manager for entertainment and video services Rob Bennett informed customers that Microsoft will cease supporting retrieval of license keys for songs purchased via MSN Music as of August 31, 2008. Users can authorize new computers to play music purchased through MSN Music up until that date—but after that, users will not be able to transfer the music. "As of August 31, 2008,… Read More

It's getting so mobile phone users had better hope they have an affordable data plan with their phones, because an ever-growing number of bytes they're paying to download come in the form of advertisements Today, Microsoft entered the fledgling mobile advertising market, starting with putting ads on its free MSN Mobile service, launching with promotions from Jaguar, Paramount Pictures, and Bank of America. Users will see both… Read More

Last weekend’s Live Earth concerts might have been criticized for their green credentials, but there’s one way they were a huge winner. The nine concerts, inspired by former Vice President Al Gore, held in cities spanning the globe, drew a record 10 million video streams.   Designed to raise awareness of climate change and global warming, concerts were held in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro,… Read More

Microsoft today relaunched its MSN Mobile service offering, unveiling what the company is calling a “redesigned, reinvented” portal for Internet-capable mobile phones to tap into news, email, and other Web-based information, as well as Microsoft's own Windows Live service offerings. Users can tap into the service by pointing their phones to mobile.msn.com, and Microsoft says it has gone to great pains to make sure the… Read More

Microsoft's MSN Video has inked an exclusive, multiyear deal to offer liveand on-demand streaming of live concerts from Control Room, the company behind the live Webcast of last year's Live 8 concert events. Under the agreement, MSN will exclusively Webcast 36different live concert events, which will also be available for on-demand viewing for a fixed period of time after the event. The shows will be available on MSN's 42… Read More

MSN has teamed up with LA production company LivePlanet to create Fan Club: Reality Baseball, a new unscripted reality program for the new MSN Originals initiative. MSN announced the MSN Originals idea back in May 2006, with the idea that MSN would produce original video programming for the Internet, with advertisers integrated into the productions from the very beginning. Described as “Bull Durham meets fantasy sports,” the… Read More

With all the talk about MySpace becoming one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the Internet, it's a little surprising to see that the comScore Media Metrix has ranked Microsoft's MSN Spaces as the largest blogging service on the planet, garnering more than 100 million unique visitors during April 2006, compared to 41.7 million unique visitors a year ago. More surprising: comScore finds that nearly one in seven Internet users… Read More

MSN and Hearst Magazines today unveiled plans to collaborate on "large-scale content projects" which will bring a wide array of lifestyle content to Microsoft's online portal. Placement of this programming will occur within MSN's Lifestyle Channel. Under the terms of the this expanded partnership, said the two organizations, Hearst Magazines will provide MSN editorial content and features from eight magazines, including… Read More

At a conference for online advertisers at its Redmond headquarters today, computing titan Microsoft plans to announce it's bringing video back to its MSN online service, this time focussing on free made-for-MSN programming dubbed “MSN Originals.” The shows will be produced in conjunction with Hollywood production company Reveille (behind The Office, as well as reality shows The Biggest Loser and Bravo's Blow Out) and… Read More

Microsoft has announced it has hired former Ask.com CEO Steve Berkowitz to head up its MSN business unit. Berkowitz will join the Redmond software giant as a senior vice president on May 8, 2006. Berkowitz formerly headed up IAC's search engine Ask.com, which used to be identifiable by its iconic butler mascot. The management change comes as Microsoft gears up to compete in the Internet services market with rivals Yahoo and Google,… Read More

KVH Industries, a provider of in-motion satellite TV and communication systems, and Microsoft's MSN TV division today announced a collaboration which will bring in-motion web browsing and interaction with Microsoft/MSN web-based applications to marine vessels cruising in U.S. waters. The new Mobile Internet Receiver with MSN TV will be available later this year. The Mobile Internet Receiver with MSN TV, said the two groups, is a… Read More