Image of PRISM slide from The Washington Post

In response to reports that the government has direct access to the servers of a number of leading technology companies, Google and Microsoft are calling for more transparency as it relates to their relationship with the NSA. These companies are among others to deny that the government has direct access to their servers and they want to be able to publish security requests to prove it.

Yesterday, David Drummond, chief legal officer at Google published a letter addressed to the attorney general and the head of the FBI. He wrote:

We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their scope. Google’s numbers would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made. Google has nothing to hide. Read more

Australia has revised its Whole of Government policy, deciding to switch its standard format from Microsoft Office format to the Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF). Do you think more organizations should switch?

ODF was created by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, building an “open, XML-based file format specification for office applications” that will work with any digital suite of office tools. Here’s more about why the Australian government switched:

 Standardising on a format supported by a wide range of office suites provides for the greatest possible degree of interoperability without mandating the use of a specific product, as well as providing the best basis for reliable interchange of information between agencies deploying differing office productivity suites … Support for a format based on an open standard ensures the long-term availability of the data contained in documents produced while eliminating the potential for a vendor ending support for a specific format … This format may provide greater support for cloud-hosted office productivity suites, should use of those become more widespread in the future.

Last week, rumors were circulating that Microsoft was gearing up to buy out Barnes& Noble’s Nook business in what could have been a $1 billion deal.

Insider Monkey is reporting that this story is false and that the story was “nothing more than a rumor.” Check it out:

Insider Monkey received word from a highly placed source inside Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) who said that the story was only a rumor, and that nothing imminent is happening in regards to Microsoft and its investment in the NOOK Media entity, or reports that it is buying out Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) from the operation.

“I literally just walked out of the meeting today discussing all this Microsoft/NOOK hoopla going on,” the anonymous Microsoft source emailed Insider Monkey.

Microsoft is considering offering Barnes & Noble $1 billion to buyout the Nook Media business, an asset that the Washington-based technology company already has a 16.8% stake in, according to a report in TechCrunch. Microsoft would redeem some of its shares in Nook Media, and take over the Nook eBook and tablet business. Here is more from TechCrunch:

The documents also reveal that Nook Media plans to discontinue its Android-based tablet business by the end of its 2014 fiscal year as it transitions to a model where Nook content is distributed through apps on “third-party partner” devices. Speculation about the plan to discontinue the Nook surfaced in February. The documents we have are not clear on whether the third-party tablets would be Microsoft’s own Windows 8 devices, tablets made by others (including competing platforms) or both. Third-party tablets, according to the document, are due to get introduced in 2014. Read more

In a move to help build up its apps available for Windows 8 devices, Microsoft is offering developers a financial incentive to create apps for the Windows app store. For every qualified app that a developer releases in the store, Microsoft will pay them $100 in the form of a Visa gift card.

Developers can earn up to $2,000 each. Here is more from the Microsoft blog: “Publish your app to the Windows Store and/or Windows Phone Store between March 8, 2013 through June 30, 2013. Submit up to 10 published apps per Store and get a $100 Virtual Visa for each one that qualifies.”

Microsoft could use the boost. According to this infographic, published last month, as of January the Microsoft Windows Store only had 40,000 apps, as compared to 700,000 in Google Play and 800,000 in iTunes.

Microsoft is eliminating its Messenger service and moving 100+Million users to Skype on March 15, 2013. Chinese users will be the only ones on Messenger after the March date.

Microsoft purchased Skype in May 2011 for $8.5 billion, but failed to obtained China’s Skype services. The complex structure of joint ownership in China makes a complete Skype and Messenger merger impossible. However, Chinese companies will not see any layoffs as a result of the merger since it will not affect the mainland.

On 15th March 2013 we are retiring the existing Messenger service globally (except for mainland China where Messenger will continue to be available) and bringing the great features of Messenger and Skype together. Update to Skype and sign in using a Microsoft Account (same as your Messenger ID) and all your Messenger contacts will be at your fingertips. You’ll be able to instant message and video chat with them just like before, and also discover new ways of staying in touch with Skype on your mobile and tablet.

The merger will undoubtedly increase Skype’s number of active users from its current 280 million. Users will still have to purchase Skype’s premium subscription to take advantage of the app’s group video chat features.  Further, older versions of Messenger will not automatically notify or update users of the change, so you’ll need to manually upgrade your service.

Via

Andrew Sokolowski has sued Microsoft over the storage limits on its new Surface tablets. The Los Angeles man quickly filled up his tablet and discovered that the the 32 GB edition has half the space most users would expect.

Here’s an excerpt from the suit: “Microsoft continues to mislead consumers by representing that its Surface RT tablets are equipped with either 32 GB or 64 GB of storage space while concealing, omitting and failing to disclose that approximately 16 GB of that space is not available storage space that the purchaser can access and use to store his or her own files.”

Microsoft has not concealed the issue. They created a chart on their website showing how much space you can find on its new tablets.

Rumors concerning a mobile version of MS Office have been circulating for over a year. I had not been taking them seriously, but today it looks like I might be wrong.

The Verge is reporting that they have multiple sources which have told them that Microsoft will be releasing Office for Android and iOS next year. They cannot offer a firm release date, but all signs point to a release in the first half of the year, with March as the most likely month for the release.

The iOS apps will come first, with the Android version of the apps reportedly coming in May.  The apps will be free to download, but if you want to do more than simply view Excel, Word, and other Office files you will need to buy a copy of Office 365.

Your Microsoft Surface tablet might have a lot less space than you originally imagined.

One Reddit user explored the Surface disk space section of Microsoft’s site, discovering that the 32 GB edition has half the space most users would expect. Check it out:

Surface with Windows RT comes with either 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage space (hard disk space). However, not all of this space is available for your music, photos, videos, and other content. How much storage space do I have? Here’s how much hard disk space you have available out of the box: The 32 GB version has approximately 16 GB free hard disk space. The 64 GB version has approximately 46 GB free hard disk space.

Read more

Microsoft will open a pop-up holiday store in the Time Warner Center tomorrow. TVNewser managing editor Chris Ariens snapped a picture (embedded above) of the store.

Crain’s New York has more about the nationwide effort: “The company will temporarily lease space in Related Cos.’ prestigious Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The store will be one of 30 such holiday shops throughout North America, in other malls in Nashville, Columbia, Maryland and Garden City’s Roosevelt Field … A real estate insider said that Microsoft still does not have plans yet for a long-term Manhattan store, though a site is expected to do well.”

Do you think a permanent Microsoft store survive in New York City? Follow this link for all our coverage of the Microsoft Surface launch.