In fact, EU data protection authorities have asked Google to ‘pause’ implementation of changes to its privacy policies(Update: which Google has declined. see more details below), until the implications of the changes become clear. And the concerns raised by various authorities aren’t baseless.

Google has in fact been in the possession of exorbitant amount of user data at this point. Even a gmail conversation, which is totally a personal and confidential data for any gmail user, is used by Google to serve targeted ads to that user.

For the same reason, Microsoft is leaving no stone unturned in reporting to the end users about how much of their data is exposed to Google via various free services that Google provides.

They plastered tons of ads on major newspapers in United States this past week, alerting the users about the intrusion in user privacy, countesy Google services.

They also posted the video of Gmail Man, a portrayal of how your data is used to target ads according to you and make Google more money.

It is yet to be seen how end users may react to the whole ‘user privacy’ controversy as going by the early experiences, users are way too inclined to set of services offered by Google that they may not really care about privacy invasion that much.

UPDATE: As per latest update, Google has declined to honor EU Data protection authority’s request to delay implementation of changes to its privacy policies. Here’s Google’s reply in its entirety.

While the statement of next Office version being “most ambitious ever” seems more like a marketing jargon, there are good chances that the next Office version may bring some drastic changes into the Office UI, specially at the time when Microsoft is  aggressively embracing Metro UI for all its applications and software programs.

PJ Hough, corporate vice president for Office program development recently wrote an official post announcing the beginning of limited Technical Preview for Office 15(or Microsoft Office 2012).

Under Technical Preview, the software program will be given out to limited set of people who will get their hands on the yet-to-release Office 15 and will offer their feedback to Office team throughout their use. This previewing process will not be shared in the public domain as users will have to abide by NDA(Non-disclosure agreement) that Microsoft applies to all its users of technical preview.

Hough said the updates to Office 15 will bring revisions to Office-related cloud based services, mobile & PC clients along with server clients as well. Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio will likely be updated and may get integrated altogether.

Limited Technical Preview will soon be followed up with Beta release of ‘Office 15′ when everyone will get to use next Office version in beta mode. Office 15 Beta could arrive by as early as summer of 2012.

Taking a cue from the product release schedules of Office 2010 and earlier Office versions, we can take a safe assumption that the next version of Office may come out for public release by the end of 2012, probably coinciding with the public launch of much awaited ‘Windows 8′.

For more details, see detailed coverage of Office 15 aka Office 2012

Starting Jan 10 next month,  CES 2012 will see Microsoft making their last keynote on the stage.

So, come 2013 and beyond and Microsoft’s popular keynotes, product announcements and dedicated booth will become a part of the history.

The reason behind Microsoft, drifting away from making future product announcements at CES is the misalignment of product development schedules of Microsoft with the January schedule of CES.

The reason is sensible enough and there’s no reason for a tech giant as large as Microsoft, to rely on CES, in order to attract media eyeballs and consumer attention.

Microsoft is big enough to hold its own product announcements and host them for their own line of products, more like Apple does.

And therefore, this is actually a nice move by Microsoft to not focus on trying to align itself with CES or show early-stage products(mostly with bugs), just to manage to show something to millions of eyeballs gazing at them.

We will surely miss Microsoft’s impact-making presence at future editions of CES but we will have at least one additional, massive tech event in a year that will make tech media salivate for sure!

This year, Microsoft has its agenda crystal clear. Windows 8 it is.

Xbox Live has been a valuable subscription service for Xbox users as more than 35 million users are currently subscribed to it and the future growth is set to accelerate even further in the time to come.

With Xbox, Microsoft has always envisioned a long term strategy of dominating the living room by positioning Xbox hardware as the core platform for all entertainment needs.

Be it games, movies, music or TV shows, Microsoft has made way for all types of entertainment content through Xbox Live and with most recent announcement, Xbox Live will be even bigger entertainment hub for its users.

With a software update coming to Xbox Live users across the globe on December 6, Microsoft is all set to add more than 40+ Entertainment services to the already-rich Xbox Live platform.

Xbox Live users will have even more choices at their disposal, to get what movies they want, what game they want to play, what TV show they want to catch up with.

And not only that, Voice navigation through Kinect is also getting a big boost as the voice controls are going to be far better than what they have been this far.

Microsoft has partnered with tens of content providers within the U.S. and across the globe. With content providers such as NetFlix, Epix, Hulu Plus, Last.fm among others, having tied themselves up with Xbox Live, users are going to be spending much more time using Xbox 360 in future.

All these partnerships along with tons of big gaming titles making their way during this holiday season should ensure that Xbox 360 sales doesn’t lack its lustre and keeps making money for Microsoft.

Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft Office suite, which is still an absentee from any tablet available in the market today. There are unofficial mobile office apps but there’s no official Office app by Microsoft to cater to the ‘office’ lovers for work related use.

But the current scenario of absence of ‘Office’ is not going to remain the same for too long. Microsoft is rigorously working on an official version of ‘Office’, exclusively for iPad.

As iPad commands over 80% of tablet market, we wouln’t be wrong to say that developing for iPad at the moment is equivalent to developing for the tablet market.

As tablets are becoming more capable and gaining mass popularity with time, Microsoft had to give in to this and just like it develops a separate native Office version for Mac(latest being Office 2011), there will soon be native ‘Office’ app for iPad.

This will serve many purposes for Microsoft and therefore, it’s a strategically correct move by the Redmund company for many reasons:

• There have been too many unofficial ‘mobile office’ apps with very limited capabilities. Official ‘Office’ app, meant for tablet sized devices will fill up the void space
• ‘Office’ desktop app is the second biggest profit-making avenues for Microsoft and ‘Office’ app for iPad, if competitively priced, will take no time in selling like a hot cake to a huge iPad market.
• Office app for iPad will also serve as a dry run for Microsoft to see how the users react to an official ‘Office’ app, specifically designed for a touch-friendly tablet. As Windows 8 tablets will hit the market next year, performance of ‘Office’ app for iPad will help Microsoft gauge the future market scenario pretty effectively.

The price tag, however, is going to be a challenge for Microsoft as ‘Office’ app for iPad will not be a success without the price being affordable to tablet buyers, especially when there’s already an iWorks by Apple for productivity work on iPad.

We will keep an eye over this and report further info as it arrives..

Microsoft is likely to gear up beta release of Office 15 by early next year as the timing will be perfect to showcase Office 15′s at CES 2012 along with the other big release by Microsoft, beta version of Windows 8. Then, Microsoft may proceed to releasing beta version of Office 15 later in the month of January.

The biggest news here is the strong probability that the popular, tile-based Metro UI is all over ‘Office 15′. Microsoft has arguably made extensive efforts to metro-ize the whole UI for Office users so that next version of Office productivity suite, not only cater to the legacy users of Office 2010 but also offer a touch-friendly UI for tablet users.

In fact, Microsoft is reportedly working on a tile based “Moorea” application that will work as a starting place for Office 15 users to quickly navigate to documents, pictures etc

All these efforts to develop and present a touch-friendly Office suite would be challenging enough but that will also define the future of office suite.

Office productivity suite is the second biggest cash cow for Microsoft and at no cost can Microsoft afford to let the authority of Office suite get diminished. It’s a rock-steady and trusted revenue stream for Microsoft.

We will track this news and report as and when more info emerges on this…Till then, stay tuned for more…!

Just like black friday deals by Microsoft last year, this year’s deals are even more alluring and heavily discounted.

As time is running out, let’s get straight to the point:

Here’s the BIG FAT Black Friday deal for you…

PC Deals from Microsoft Store:

• Buy Samsung RC512 for just $499 (its regular price is $799)
• Buy Sony S137GX Notebook for just $599 (reg price $999)
• Buy Acer Iconia 6120 Dual Screen for just $599 (reg price $999)

XBOX Deals at Microsoft Store:

Software deals at Microsoft Store:

Mobile/PC deals at Microsoft Store:

Hurry as the following deals are not going to last for long…Black Friday is running out. Go for it!

According to CNet, Microsoft had two internal teams, having non-coherent vision for tablet computing. One was led by the creator of Xbox godfather, J Allard and the other by Steven Sinofsky, the head of Windows division.

J Allard was the pushing force behind Courier tablet and wanted the project to take off as an actual production unit. The only issue with Courier tablet was that it was powered by a modified version of Windows, probably not perfectly aligned with earlier Windows versions and had a different DNA than legacy Windows versions.

And it was indigestible for Sinofsky to drift away from Windows legacy in tablet computing, although tablet friendly Windows version was far from complete at that time.

In such a conflicting scenario, Steve Ballmer escalated the matter to Bill Gates for taking a final call on the fate of courier tablet. Bill Gates couldn’t digest the disruptive idea of specialized ‘courier’ tablet and hence scrapped the whole project there itself.

Since then, Microsoft started working aggressively on the development of tablet friendly version of Windows, which we now know as Windows 8.

That is, all Android patent disputes between Microsoft and Samsung are now settled with cross-licensing deal within the two tech giants.

With this deal, it is almost certain that other smaller players in Android market base will also have to surrender to Microsoft’s patent claims and therefore, we will soon hear about more handset manufacturers striking royalty deal with Microsoft for settling patent disputes.

In other words, Microsoft is now a ‘virtual toll collector’ for Android handset makers. Very soon, almost every Android phone sold anywhere in the world will directly benefit Microsoft and therefore, Microsoft will generate far more revenues from Android sales than its own Windows phone sales, which aren’t picking up pace despite being an innovative and well-developed Mobile OS.

The most astounding thing here is that Google, the key driver of Android eco-system makes nothing out of sales of Android phones as it licenses Android OS to handset makers without any fee. Now that the handset makers will indirectly pay(licensing fee to Microsoft) for using Android as their mobile OS in handsets, they may also consider other options such as using Microsft’s very own Windows Phone operating system.

According to some estimates, Microsoft may already be on its way to making ~$444Mn from Android patent settlements from the leading two vendors in Android eco-system. And with more settlements on the way, these settlement revenues will only go north for Microsoft.

As Windows Phone 7.5 a.k.a Mango update is just around the corner, Windows Phone is seeing some serious improvements and effectively competing head-on with Android OS from various perspectives. Microsoft has also made it clear that it is willing to go the ‘extra mile’ and take ‘Windows Phone’ to a commanding position in smartphone space, no matter what it takes.

The Internet company’s board recently ousted its CEO Carol Bartz and now, the board is finally considering sellout of the whole company. May be, that should have been done much earlier but better late than never.

Current market valuation of Yahoo! is little north of $18Bn, which is far, far lesser than what was offered to Yahoo! by Microsoft couple of years back.

Yahoo! board members must be cursing the day when Jerry Yang rejected Microsoft’s lucrative buyout offer, valuing the company at a healthy $45Bn but fate had different things planned for Yahoo!

Even after getting Carol Bartz as the dying company’s new face, the revival plan didn’t appear to work from the early days itself.

Cost cutting, layoffs, sell-out of assets helped temporarily to certain extent but Yahoo! had no clear vision on how it would re-establish itself as a ‘product company’ yet again.

And then came the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal, which killed the last chance for Yahoo! to reinstate itself as a product company. Carol Bartz strongly defended her decision of adopting Microsoft’s Bing search technology to power Yahoo! search by announcing a 10 year pact with Microsoft with a revenue-sharing model to benefit both the parties.

But almost all major decisions that Carol Bartz took during her tenure at Yahoo! resulted in eventual decline in company’s assets and depleted company stocks to a new low, quarter after quarter.

Fast forward to today, Yahoo! is still in a state of ‘limbo’(although its interim CEO categorically denies that) and doesn’t know what to do with their business to bring back those days of glory. They’re desperately hunting a new face for the CEO position at Yahoo! and also considering options for an outright acquisition by interested parties.

Yahoo!, although a dying web company, is still a big fish in the market and only few tech companies can afford to buy it. Out of those few companies, only handful of companies will gain something meaningful out of Yahoo! assets and business. Microsoft is one of them.

Although Microsoft already enjoys a search deal with Yahoo!, it still has a long way to go when it comes to competing with Google in Internet space, whether it be advertising, search market or media outreach.

Yahoo! is more of a media company than a product company and that’s something Microsoft may be interested in. Microsoft also has a chance of reviving Yahoo! by innovating in media space and doing what several CEOs couldn’t do for Yahoo! during last couple of years.

It’s Microsoft that made a $45bn buyout offer to Yahoo! years ago and now,  buying the same Yahoo! for just over $18bn would automatically become a sound financial investment, if not a fantastic one.

But there are couple of caveats too. Is Yahoo! really recoverable anymore ? A large chunk of Yahoo! valuation comes from its stake in Alibaba and therefore, there isn’t much valuation for the core media business of Yahoo! Search deal is already in existence so search share isn’t that crucial anymore.

It will be a tough call for Microsoft to buy Yahoo!(if at all) but Microsoft will certainly consider a possible buyout, albeit, with much less interest in negotiations and offering a lucrative price to Yahoo! shareholders.

We will be covering more on this news as it develops further.