Tag: microsoft

Microsoft developing “30 to Launch” Windows Phone app, but what is it?

Post author By J.B.
Post date November 6, 2011
1 Comment on Microsoft developing “30 to Launch” Windows Phone app, but what is it?

Microsoft appears to be developing a new Windows Phone app called ’30 to Launch’.

On November 4 according to WHOIS records, Microsoft registered the domain names 30toLaunch.com, 30toLaunch.net, 30toLaunchWindowsPhoneapp.com, and 30toLaunchWindowsPhoneapp.net.

All of the domains were registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.

No details are available on exactly what ’30 to Launch’ will be.

No trademark applications have been filed and the only exact match domains taken, are the ones Microsoft registered: 30toLaunch.com and 30toLaunch.net, neither of which resolve to a website at the time of this story.

As far as social media usernames, twitter.com/30toLaunch went online for a very short time in 2009, but is no longer active. ’30 to Launch’ was setup as a collaborative project between Sarah Lewis and Alex Terry that asked users, “What would you do if you had 30 days left to live?”

Tags 30 to Launch, 30 to Launch Windows Phone app, 30toLaunch.com, microsoft, Microsoft domains, Windows Phone app, Windows Phone app store

News Video Games

Microsoft launching a Halo Monument for its Combat Evolved remake [UPDATED]

Post author By J.B.
Post date November 1, 2011
6 Comments on Microsoft launching a Halo Monument for its Combat Evolved remake [UPDATED]

In mid-October I wrote about Microsoft registering the domain names HaloLivingMonument.com and HaloLivingMonument.net.

I suggested that Microsoft might be launching a website having to do with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which is set to be released on November 15th for the Xbox 360.

Well, today Microsoft temporarily put a website together (pictured above) on the web address halolivingmonument.com for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, but it’s currently not operational.

None of the links are active and the Windows Live sign in in the top right is disabled.

I took a screen shot before the site was taken down by Microsoft, which occurred while I was writing this post.

It appears the website is part of the online marketing campaign for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary as I suspected, similar to the Remember Reach website it released for Halo: Reach. Remember Reach had visitors create a “living monument” of lights to honor Noble team members.

While details are limited, according to the source code pictured below, it appears visitors will enter their birth date when entering the site in order to view the multimedia. The same way it works for Remember Reach. .

Apparently, Microsoft has been working on the site at halomonument.cloudapp.net (which I also noticed in the source code), but neither halolivingmonument.com nor halomonument.cloudapp.net resolve to a web page.

The look-and-feel of the site is much like the product page for the game and has the exact same background.

With the game’s release only 2 weeks away, one would imagine the site will be back online within days, if not sooner.

[Update 1, Nov. 2, 5:00am EST: Halolivingmonument.com has been officially confirmed. A commenter on the Joystiq article who goes by MrGreenCastle points to The Halo Fan of The Decade Contest, where one winner will receive a chance to be immortalized. All entrants will have their photos uploaded to the interactive Halo living monument beginning on November 13.]

[Update 2, Nov. 3: Microsoft has now posted a teaser page on HaloLivingMonument.com that displays nothing more than the launch date of 11-13-11, as shown in the picture below.]

[Update 3, Nov. 13: HaloLivingMonument.com has gone live.]

Discussion: Joystiq

Tags featured, Halo, Halo Fan of the Decade, Halo Living Monument, Halo Monument, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, microsoft, xbox

News Video Games

Microsoft may launch a living monument online for Halo: Combat Evolved remake

Post author By J.B.
Post date October 19, 2011
2 Comments on Microsoft may launch a living monument online for Halo: Combat Evolved remake

[Updated, Nov. 1, 2:40pm EST: The Halo Monument website went online, temporarily. I took a screen shot before the site was taken down by Microsoft.]

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is set to be released on November 15th for the Xbox 360.

Earlier this week, Microsoft registered the domain names HaloLivingMonument.com and HaloLivingMonument.net.

So is Microsoft planning to launch a website as part of its marketing campaign? In 2010, Microsoft launched the Remember Reach website as part of its online marketing campaign for Halo: Reach. The site had visitors create a “living monument” of lights to honor Noble team members.

Or better yet, is Microsoft planning to launch a “living monument” online for players who achieve legendary feats in the game?

It appears as if the “Living Monument” domain registrations may have something to do with the achievements that can be unlocked in the game.

The achievement list was recently unveiled by Xbox who reported: “…you can now get an achievement if you complete The Library on Legendary in 30 minutes or less. No small feat but if you pull it off, you will then gain a monument to all your sins. I mean, a virtual monument for surviving the experience.”

Here’s a look at the WHOIS record for HaloLivingMonument.com.

Registrant:
        Domain Administrator
        Microsoft Corporation
        One Microsoft Way
         Redmond WA 98052
        US

Domain Name: halolivingmonument.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com

    Administrative Contact:
        Domain Administrator
        Microsoft Corporation
        One Microsoft Way
         Redmond WA 98052
        US

    Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
        MSN Hostmaster
        Microsoft Corporation
        One Microsoft Way
         Redmond WA 98052
        US

    Created on…………..: 2011-10-17.
    Expires on…………..: 2012-10-17.
    Record last updated on..: 2011-10-17.

At the time of this story, neither the .com or .net resolve to a web site.

Discussion: Halo.Bungie.Org

Tags Halo Living Monument, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo: Combat Evolved Remake, HaloLivingMonument.com, microsoft, Microsoft domains

News Video Games

Microsoft has something bigger planned for AnswerDesk.com

Post author By J.B.
Post date September 19, 2011
2 Comments on Microsoft has something bigger planned for AnswerDesk.com

If acquiring a bunch of domain names is any sign of a company’s plans to launch a service or product, then Microsoft may have something up its sleeve for AnswerDesk.com. On September 12, 2011, Microsoft Corporation took ownership of the domain AnswerDesk.com. Before that, the domain was registered to NameRally,Inc.

The name “Answer Desk” isn’t new to Microsoft.

Answer Desk is Microsoft’s response to Apple’s Genius Bar available in retail stores. With the Answer Desk, you can make an appointment for a face-to-face session with a Microsoft Technical Advisor and get answers to technical questions about your PC, Xbox, or Zune. The Answer Desk also performs diagnostics and repairs on-site.

AnswerDesk.com isn’t the only domain centered around “Answer Desk” that Microsoft has acquired in recent weeks, signalling its interest. Just in the past week alone, Microsoft has acquired answerdesk.ch, answerdesk.fr, answerdesk.jp, answerdesk.tw, and answersdesk.com (plural), to name a few.

Could the Answer Desk be seeing an expansion online as Microsoft continues its push to open more retail stores?

(Photo of Microsoft Answer Desk via Stone Tree)

Tags Answer Desk, microsoft, Microsoft Answer Desk

News

Microsoft registers Upgrade Your Email domain names for Hotmail upgrade

Post author By J.B.
Post date September 17, 2011

ZDNet reported earlier this month that Microsoft was planning a Hotmail press event in October that would introduce an overhaul of Hotmail.

As Google did with its “Email Intervention” campaign with the address emailintervention.com, Microsoft has gone off and bought it’s own batch of domain names for its own online marketing campaign as the press event gets closer.

Here’s a look at the new domain registrations.

http://whois.domaintools.com/upgradeyouremail.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/upgradeyouremail.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/upgradeyourmail.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/upgradeyourmail.net

No website is online on any of the web addresses, at the time of this story.

Discussion: @maryjofoley

Tags Hotmail, microsoft, Upgrade your email, upgrade your mail