Music focused Windows 8 ads going global today

Microsoft have just announced their plans to get the advertising steamroller underway for the launch of Windows 8.

They are set to kick off the full scale assault in 42 countries in the run up to the Windows 8 launch. They have decided to highlight local upcoming bands using “the universal medium of music”. Bands such as Best Coast (US), Lenka (China) and Hogarth (Brazil) are being cited as some examples. Check out the videos below…

We selected music from up and coming bands. We didn’t want to use overly popular songs because we wanted to bring the viewer on a journey of discovery, both through the storytelling and the music that accompanies these stories. Sometimes, as in “Express Yourself,” by Labrinth we found a new take on a classic old song, much like the reinvention of Windows – Rob Reilly

Folks, we’re just at the start of the Windows 8 advertising, Microsoft has a long way to go until the holiday season is over. MS are set to spend a record amount on advertising Windows 8 and its certainly easy to see why they have set so much aside. The next version of the OS comes with a totally new UI, services and links to the likes of Windows Phone and the Xbox, forming one happy eco system. Oh yeah, they are making a tablet computer too which is already selling out.

In the post is also the following message, we’re sure some of you will be popping along, would you even consider missing it?

And if you are in New York on October 25 thru the 27th don’t miss Times Square where Windows 8 will be featured on over 39 digital boards in the largest takeover of Times Square to date—the biggest Start Screen ever! And we will be hosting a hands-on experience on the ground in Times Square and at our Microsoft Stores in the North America for consumers to touch and try the new Windows —and maybe even see yourself up on the boards in Times Square. We hope to see you!

We’d really like to know what you think of these ads, and more importantly, the music in them. Tell us all about it in those comments below…

Source: blogging windows

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Lots of updates going out and Amazon Mobile picks up Windows Phone 8 support

Just like our London busses, you wait around for ages and then they all come at once. It seems that someone has flicked a switch somewhere and released a few updates today for Windows Phone.

Of particular note, Amazon Mobile on its way up to version 1.9.1 and picks up support for the oh-so close Windows Phone 8. It’s good to see some developers with early access readying their apps for the shiny new operating system which is only days away.

As regards to the Amazon Mobile update, we can’t say if it’s going to bring any new WP8 specific features or just being brushed up so that it works.

Also in the update to-do list today is

Xbox Live Extras – No change log (tsk tsk!) – I am unable to login to this at the moment with an error “We can’t access you avatar items, try later” so cant see what has changed, if you see something, do let us know.

Ceton Companion App – Brings a host of minor updates including Password authentication support and improved syncing and recording adjustments.

Podcatcher – Adds support for podcast audio and video streaming, podcast description improvements and some other UI changes.

Nokia’s App Highlights – No change log (tsk tsk!) But we know Nokia are constantly updating this to help improve app discoverability.

Good to see the updates train up and running again, if you are seeing any interesting updates going out, do let us know.

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ScienceApps going all-in on LunaCE with stack launching and big notifications [video]

There's a lot of goodness happening with LunaCE, but the user-facing features are just scratching the surface. webOS developer ScienceApps has been around the block a few times, including popular apps like Multiple App Launcher and Starter. With LunaCE, ScienceApps is amping up Starter, fixing one of our biggest complaints with the app.

The cool part about Starter is that it could launch multiple apps at once. The not-so-cool part was a limitation of webOS 3.x: those apps would all launch as separated cards, even if it would make sense to launch them in a stack. Starter users with LunaCE installed, however, can expect to now be able to launch multiple apps directly into a stack. The feature makes Starter, in our not so humble opinion, eminently more useful. Now you can set up a multiple app launching sequence of, for example, Facebook, Twitter, Messaging apps, all in one neat little 'communicate with your friends' stack instead of having them spread out and needing to manually regroup them on every launch. Video after the break.

Starter isn't the only ScienceApps app getting the LunaCE treatment. The developer is currently working on an update to Lithium News HD that will take advantage of the dynamic dashboard height API in LunaCE, finally allowing the TouchPad to display larger-size dashboard notifications of your news stories. The LunaCE-enabled version of Lithium News is still a work in progress, but we're looking forward to its release.

LunaCE is currently in beta, though interested users can install it as always via Preware, so long as you've enabled the beta feeds (check out testing.preware.org for info on how to do that). ScienceApps is one of the first developers to take advantage of what LunaCE has to offer, and we hope more webOS app developers will follow down their path. Not all TouchPad users are going to install LunaCE, in fact we'd wager a relatively small portion even know of its existence, but for those that are taking the extra step of pimping out their TouchPad with the help of WebOS Ports, there's more goodness to come.

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Viber for Windows Phone: voice calls months away, beta still going strong

Viber beta for Windows Phone has been available over in the Windows Phone Marketplace for some time but with some limitations. We are now getting indications that Viber is still working on the Windows Phone version and a full version is expected in the coming months.

For those not familiar with Viber, it is a cross platform app for messaging and voice calls. It is currently available for iOS and Android systems. The Windows Phone version, in beta, only supports the messaging portion of the equation.

In a Facebook response for when voice calls will become available for the Windows Phone version, Viber responded

"Although there are technical limitations inherent in the Windows Phone 7 architecture that makes it challenging to engineer the deep integration needed for voice, we have been hard at work on it and will release the full version with HD-quality voice support in just a few months."

There was some speculation earlier that the voice feature was already available but such is not the case.

Viber beta comes across as a simple to use, cross platform app that lets you connect with your friends who have opted for a platform other than Windows Phone. Viber beta synchs with your mobile phone number and contact list to instantly show who already has Viber.

Viber beta is a free, ad free app for your Windows Phone that you can grab here. Again, for the time being it is a beta and limited to messaging capabilities. There may be some bugs present and once voice goes online, we'll pass it on.

Thanks, Cyril, for the tip!

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