I’ve talked many times before about Microsoft Tag . And now that Tag has officially moved from beta to fully released product (this happened months ago; but I’ve gotten way behind on my blogging and just now catching up) I wanted to highlight...

The Silverlight 4 Beta was unveiled at the Professional Developer's Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles, continuing the rapid pace of innovation for the Silverlight platform. In addition, ASP.NET MVC Beta 2 was released, which introduces improved Visual Studio...

Microsoft has made it easier for developers to get familiar with Surface and to build Surface applications. At this weeks Professional Developers Conference , Microsoft announced the broad availability of the Microsoft Surface SDK Workstation Edition...

It started with Microsoft Surface and now with the multi-touch capabilities native to Windows 7, it’s time to re-think the mouse and how we interact with computers. This video showcases five concept mice and how they might handle multi-touch and gestures...

I put together a quick webcast that reviews the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS for short) and how it can address some of the unique scenarios facing the hospitality industry. BPOS is Microsoft’s cloud based productivity offering which...

I’m sure there are more than a few lawyers in Redmond losing sleep over this, but Microsoft has signed a deal with Fox to sponsor a variety show produced by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane. The special show, named "Family Guy Presents...

You’ve probably heard about Microsoft’s plans to build retail stores . The first two locations have been announced as Scottsdale, AZ and Mission Viejo, CA. And Microsoft Retail Stores are hiring .

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Compliance Planning Guide is an update of the first version of this guide. The guide is designed to help organizations meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. The Payment...

I spent time yesterday with Joe Tenczar (CIO) and his technical team at the new Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas . Joe and team have created some outstanding interactive digital experiences based on Microsoft technology. The new Las Vegas cafe is the marquee...

Microsoft LookingGlass Helps Businesses Catch the Social Media Wave at Advertising Week 2009 Today at Advertising Week 2009, Robin Domeniconi , Vice President of US Sales for Microsoft Advertising, will unveil a proof-of-concept prototype business...

The new Hard Rock Las Vegas Cafe had it’s grand opening on September 5, 2009. The new Las Vegas cafe utilizes Microsoft Surface, providing a 360-degree, multi-user interface that uses cameras to sense objects, touch and hand gestures on the 30-inch display...

Internet Explorer 8 and Silverlight 3.0 are now available for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on the ECE for Windows Embedded POSReady 2009.   This update is also available directly from the Microsoft Download Center; however end-customers...

Bing 2.0 has released and Visual Search is here. The Bing team has made several improvements to the Decision Engine in this latest release and Visual Search promises to change the way we do research, shop and use the internet. Visual Search is a new way...

Hospitality Technology magazine has a great article new article on social computing -  “ Twitter: What Hospitality Execs Need to Know ”. According to the article, “Twitter is already changing the hospitality industry… If used correctly, the potential...

xRM is one of the latest buzz-words in business. If you haven’t heard it yet, you probably will. If you have heard it and wondered what it’s all about or what it means to you, check out this YouTube video. ";" galleryimg="no" mce_src="http...

A few of my Cincinnati Microsoft peers and I spent some time yesterday with a great group of high-school students with the INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati . Kids from about a dozen different local schools got together to form four teams and compete...

Hospitality Technology Magazine is reporting that loyalty program participation has gone up 19% during the recent recession. I haven’t had a chance to read the associated whitepaper yet. But I suspect the results are related to guests looking for any...

On June 16, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. launched 11 hotel Web sites that use Bing Maps for Enterprise to offer customers a better tool for searching for hotel information. Entering a city, state, country or target date presents customers...

Mashable has a great article on the pros, cons and how-to’s for luxury brands and social media . While the article isn’t hospitality specific, the concepts are just as applicable to luxury hotels and restaurants as Gucci, Mercedes Benz and other consumer...

Brad Anderson from Rainmaker reviewing their Profit Optimization Solution. Using the Microsoft BI stack and pulling data from a customers existing PMS and/or EDW, Rainmaker’s software can help properties maximize total customer revenue. The solution is...

  Sherilyn Martinez talks about Avanade’s experience with Surface and a new solution they’re working on for hospitality. The new app really highlights the business value of Surface, as well as, some fun… Surface as the front-end to a CRM/Guest Loyalty...

George Deplaris from Sonoma Partners talks about their Franchise Management solution based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Sonoma Partners is one of the leading Dynamics CRM partners and have customers across several industries. Their franchise management...

Windows 7 pricing has been announced on the Windows Team Blog . General Availability (GA) for Win7 is set for October 22, with the OS being available in 14 languages. On October 31, an additional 21 languages will become available. Here’s the low...

Hospitality Technology Magazine reports that Domino's Pizza ranked No. 1 in online ordering sales in the first quarter 2009 with a 28 percent share. In the past 24 months, Domino's jumped from an 11 percent share to a 28 percent share. In CY2008, Domino...

I spent time with Tyler Davey of Infusion Development at HITEC. Infusion is a licensed reseller of Microsoft consumer entertainment and devices technologies like XBox, Zune and Media Center. Using these technologies, Infusion creates Experience Lounges...