REDMOND, Wash. – Dec. 27 – Before we turn the page and say hello to 2011, the editorial team at Microsoft News Center shares a look back at some of the interesting stories we presented this past year. You may also want to see our Top News of 2010 collection.
Emerging Technologies
Natural User Interfaces: Voice, Touch and Beyond
Jan. 6 – Article and video: Project Natal (now Kinect for Xbox 360) and other natural user interface products are helping usher in a new generation of human-computer interaction.
At Vegas Hard Rock Café, Guests Touch Music History
Jan. 18 – Article: Using Microsoft software and Microsoft Surface hardware units, visitors to the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas experience a vast collection of memorabilia from John Lennon, Michael Jackson and other rock ‘n’ roll legends.
March 2 – Article and video: Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie shares his vision of how technologies are converging to transform how humans and computers work together.
Microsoft Hohm + Social Networking = Community of Energy Savers
April 18 – Article and video: Updates via blogs, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are helping people find the most useful tools and techniques for saving energy in their homes.
Technology Showcase Tour Video
July 29 – Video: Microsoft’s Ryan Asdourian takes you through a showcase featuring Windows Phone 7, Bing, Windows Live, Kinect for Xbox 360, WorldWide Telescope and various types and sizes of Windows 7 PCs.
Cloud Computing
Aug. 2 – Article: Windows Azure is helping enterprise companies boost profits and maximize business value by pushing their computing infrastructure onto the cloud.
Cloud-Based Computing System Helps Scientists Study the Breathing of the Biosphere
Oct. 12 – Article: Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, work with Microsoft Research to analyze vast amounts of data without supercomputers.
Citizenship
Brazilian Rainforest Study Could Yield New Model for Environmental Research
May 20 – Article and video: Microsoft Research plays design role in sensor-network project on Brazil’s Atlantic Coast that will help scientists understand rainforest climate.
Technology Skills Training Initiative Aims to Elevate America’s Veterans
March 8 – Article and video: Microsoft launches the Elevate America’s Veterans Initiative to provide technology skills and other resources to veterans and their spouses.
Microsoft Employees Quick to Help in Haiti
Jan. 18 – Article: Microsoft employees contribute to a worldwide relief effort, both at the scene and remotely through technology assistance and cash donations.
Virtual Senior Center Enhances Lives of Homebound Seniors
March 10 – Article and slideshow: Microsoft, the City of New York, and Selfhelp Community Services use technology to create an interactive experience between homebound seniors and local senior centers.
DigiGirlz Program: Ten Years Inspiring High School Girls to Explore Careers in Technology
May 4 – Article and slideshow: Microsoft DigiGirlz camps and day programs bring business and technology skills to students worldwide.
Imagine Cup Contestants Aim to Use Phones to Help Stop World’s No. 1 Killer
April 20 – Article: A group of students from Wayne State University in Detroit wants to use mobile phones to help stop the planet’s No. 1 killer—cardiovascular disease. The team is one of many competing in the U.S. Imagine Cup finals.
Oct. 21 – Article: Accessible technology, designed to help people with disabilities, enables aging workers and others to personalize and improve their computing experience.
Microsoft Profiles
Chuck Thacker Attains Computing’s Peak
March 9 – Article and video: Chuck Thacker, pioneer in computer science and a technical fellow with Microsoft Research, has been named winner of the 2009 A.M. Turing Award, the most prestigious honor in computing.
Microsoft Vice President Margo Day Helps Build Girls’ School, Safe Haven in Kenya
Dec. 17 – Article: An encounter with 35 young girls in Kenya prompted Margo Day to start a secondary school there. The school will also be a refuge for girls who fled their homes to avoid the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.
Farmer a Fairy Godmother of Business Intelligence Solutions
June 18 – Article and video: Donald Farmer, a business intelligence program manager, shows how people can use the new PowerPivot feature to produce uncommon results from common programs like Excel.
Ben the PC Guy: Part Inspector Gadget, Part Rambo
July 15 – Article: Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph, a self-proclaimed gadget geek who is becoming better known as “Ben the PC Guy” on the Web and on television, wants to help match people with their dream machine.
