By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center A new approach to managing data over a network has enabled a Microsoft Research team to set a speed record for sifting through, or “sorting,” a huge amount of data in one minute. The team conquered what…
By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center Climate scientists, environmental scientists, governmental officials, shipping companies, business owners, farmers—all need access to accurate information about the weather. The challenge certainly isn’t the availability of data about weather. Climate scientists are swimming in it. The National…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research In Boston on April 17, in the Great Room of the Massachusetts State House, Victor Bahl, director of Microsoft Research Redmond’s Mobile Computing Research Center (MCRC), will be introduced as one of six recipients of the University of…
By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center People don’t do enough to protect themselves on the Internet. They don’t use good passwords. They’re poor at recognizing the URL of “phishing” sites. They ignore certificate errors. Yet, to Cormac Herley, that’s perfectly rational behavior, because…
By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research Microsoft Research Redmond researchers Hrvoje Benko and Scott Saponas have been investigating the use of touch interaction in computing devices since the mid-’00s. Now, two sharply different yet related projects demonstrate novel approaches to the world of touch and…
By Douglas Gantenbein The amount of data created and stored in the world doubles about every 18 months. Some of that data is distinctive—but by no means all of it. A PowerPoint presentation might start bouncing around a work group, and within a week, many…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research By any standard, Kinect for Xbox 360 has proved to be a technological sensation. Kinect, the controller-free interface that enables users to interact with the Xbox 360 with the wave of your hand or the sound of your…
By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research Each summer, Microsoft Research facilities from around the world welcome a fresh crop of interns. Microsoft Research considers the intern program a vital part of its interactions with the academic world, with some facilities increasing their head count by…
By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center Pioneering research into programming biology has earned a Microsoft Research scientist a prestigious TR35 award, presented by Technology Review. Andrew Phillips, a 34-year-old scientist who leads the Biological Computation group at Microsoft Research Cambridge, received the award,…
By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center When Microsoft Research hardware engineer Steve Hodges was developing SenseCam—a wearable digital camera that automatically takes pictures that track the wearer’s activities—he needed months to create a workable prototype. “It took me six months to get something…
How do you take a concept from research to product? In the case of the Microsoft Touch Mouse, it took a collection of prototypes, collaboration between transatlantic teams, and a lot of user testing. It also helps when the research that launched the project won…
By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research For the past 11 years, the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit has brought academic and government research professionals together to share perspectives on new research, the challenges facing the research community, and ways to break new ground. The 12th version…
