Although I’m sure a sequel to the inspiring documentary about human flight keyed to Madonna’s “Ray of Light” otherwise known as the Windows XP commercial “Soar” have crossed their minds at least once, Microsoft seems to be taking a much more product-oriented approach comes time to promote Windows 7.

A number of conceptual TV commercial spots by director Marty Martin (awesome name) produced for Microsoft with a tight budget, short 3 days deadline and a Canon 5D Mark II SLR gives some clues to what the up and coming mainstream worldwide launch campaign for Windows 7 might focus on and look like.

Bearing in mind these are just three out of the five videos produced in total, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Even though two of the spots are quite strange to say the least, from watching these spots one could assume for the mainstream Windows 7 campaign there will be a heavy focus on communicating the actual features of the product. For example, all three videos uploaded from the series of five produced utilize the final scene of the spot to illustrate Windows 7 in use, putting into context what the rest of the ad is about.

If the above assumption is correct, then the Windows 7 campaign would address at least one criticism of Windows Vista’s “Wow starts now” campaign where the product was almost completely ignored except for the iconic but non-sequitor Flip 3D reference.

The (first) college spot is definitely my favorite. Might be the soundtrack.

(Left) Windows Mobile 6.5        (Right) Also Windows Mobile 6.5

Add this to the ever-growing list of Microsoft design decisions that doesn’t make sense.

Thanks to a thriving community of custom ROM developers at xda-developers.com, I’m been fortunate enough to be able to upgrade my year-old Samsung i780 Windows phone to the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS.

From the past couple of days my overall experiences with Windows Mobile 6.5 has been positive, but, I do find myself puzzled why Microsoft declared what appears to be a half-finished product “done”. It’s as if a builder was half way through renovating a kitchen and walked off. To illustrate this, take a look at the disconcerting side-by-side picture above.

Both pictures are from Windows Mobile 6.5 and both are native in-call status screens. The difference is that if you make a call or receive a call whilst your screen is unlocked, you get the interface on the left. However, if your screen is locked, you get the far more modern, intuitive and touch-friendly experience interface on the right.

Whilst I understand why there is a difference from a technical low-level code perspective, it baffles me why the better experience is “hidden” in such a way that most people would probably not be aware of it or be able to use it very often since WM6.5 doesn’t automatically lock the screen by default anyway. It’s not just inconsistent, it doesn’t even make sense.

Having said that however it’s obvious Microsoft is heading into the right direction but the question is whether they can get there before the iPhone or Android lapses them.

I would like to point out though the new WM6.5 multi-function lock screen is very innovative is much more functional than the iPhone or Android’s single-purpose lock screens.

If you have a webcam attached to your desktop computer then there’s a good chance it’s either sitting around gathering dust or taking hourly pictures of your uneventful window. One way or another, getting any value out of it when you’re not video chatting would be a nice bonus. Now with Windows 7’s Sensors API and a neat application, not only could it be productive but your eyes might thank you for it.

One of the more interesting entries into the Windows 7 “Code 7 Contest” is an application called “BLUntrl”. This conceptually simple but highly practical application lets you do on your desktop what newer model laptops also do – automatic backlight control.

However since desktops don’t have ambient light sensors built-in, this application turns your webcam into one through the “magic of software” and then hooks into the native Windows 7 Sensors API and the monitor configuration APIs to adjust the backlight of all your attached monitors for optimal brightness, according to ambient lighting conditions.

Anyone who use a computer near a window can easily testify how much lighting conditions can change and affect the readability of monitors. Also, night owls like myself will also know just how glaring a brightened monitor can be in a dark room. In both cases, adjusting the brightness can help.

In the accompanying video submitted by the developer he also suggests building in a feature that can detect motion using the webcams which perhaps could be used to intuitively suspend the monitors if the user leaves the desk.

The Code 7 Contest ends October 10. Good luck “sonic”.

Up and until now I’ve avoided promoting online gambling services and would discourage people from participating, but I’m making an exception for this one.

If you thought the recent Microsoft racial diversity photograph manipulation kerfuffle couldn’t get anymore ridiculous, then why not get out your wallet and bet on it.

One particularly clever gambling site, Paddy Power, is jumping on the advertising racial diversity issue by hosting a light-hearted bet on the racial mix of future Microsoft’s advertising campaigns for the upcoming Office 2010 product.

PADDY POWER PRESS RELEASE
27 AUGUST 2009. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOOKIES TIP 2010 OFFICE TO BE RACIALLY DIVERSE

[Dublin, Ireland] Following the recent controversy surrounding an advertisement on Microsoft’s Polish website where they superimposed the head of a white man on a Afro-American man’s body, Irish bookmaking outfit Paddy Power are taking bets on the race of those who front up Microsoft’s forthcoming major global advertising campaign for the launch of MS Office 2010.

According to Paddy Power a racially diverse mix of white, Afro-American and Asian actors/models is the most likely option and is the bookies 11/10 favourite. A white and Afro-American double act is the 9/4 second favourite with white only at 4/1 and Afro-American only at 6/1

Paddy Power said “This gaffe must have resulted in plenty of red faces in Microsoft but I’m sure that when it comes to the launch Office 2010 they will be ultra careful not be offend anyone”

Race of those who appear in MS Office 2010 global print advertising launch campaign

11/10     White, Afro-American and Asian
9/4       White and Afro-American
4/1       White only
6/1       Afro-American only
8/1       Asian only
10/1      Afro-American & Asian
12/1      White and Asian

All prices remain subject to fluctuation.

The Microsoft Australia competition “Ten Grand is Buried Here” which stirred some up a little bit of controversy just a little over two months ago has just come to an end earlier this week with at least one person who claimed the $10,000 prize on a hidden website. Whilst a winner has not yet been formally announced, it’s believed that user “puppydog4l1f3” on the Australian Whirlpool forums was first to claim the prize. The winner is Gavin Ballard of Brunswick East, Victoria.

The marketing agency behind the competition on behalf of Microsoft Australia, Wunderman Australia, wrote on the competition’s Twitter page,

“Congratulations to all who played. We hope you enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and that your brains don’t hurt so much from the last 2 months. This game was designed to create excitement and fun on the internet by doing something new and different, thanks to Internet Explorer 8.”

Now that the competition is over, it can be revealed that the hidden website was www.fastsafeprivatebetter.com – a nod to the features of Internet Explorer 8. And if figuring out the address wasn’t enough, one would also had to figure out the password which is now known to be “courval”.

Although you might have missed out on the ten grand, if you’re still interested in the puzzle, I’ve cached a list of all the clues (plus some future clues) and their respective answers in a PDF document. Be careful though, reading it may make your head explode.

Wouldn’t it be cool if search engines were as fast as you could type and actually showed you results as-you-type? As I found out this evening with jQuery in one hand and JSON in another, not only is it possible but turns out to be just as cool as I imagined.

Inspired by the realtime-ness of Google Wave, I wanted to build a prototype search engine that did away with a search button and page loads. Instead, search queries are sent character-by-character to the lightning fast Bing AJAX APIs which returned JSON results easily processed and formatted by Javascript on the page. The UI experience is driven solely by the browser.

The result is a truly “live” search experience which I’ve cunningly dubbed “The Real Live Search” as tribute to the former Microsoft search engine. I invite everyone to give it a quick whirl, but please bear in mind it’s only a couple hour’s work and may bite if prodded the wrong way.