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Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint coming to Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia E7, Nokia E6

We know that Microsoft and Nokia are hard at work getting ready to wow us with the first Nokia Windows phone, but it looks like Symbian too will benefit from the closer relationship between the two companies.

Symbian Belle: 10 things you need to know

Nokia announced today that Symbian Belle will be receiving a series of updates called Microsoft Apps, a series of productivity tools aimed at boosting Symbian Belle's appeal to business users.

The next-gen Nokia OS won't launch with Microsoft Apps on board, but will be delivered over the air in two instalments starting just after the new year.

The tools are focused on delivering tougher security features to help protect the business user, along with the whole host of Microsoft productivity tools.

The first update will introduce Microsoft Lync 2010 Mobile, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft PowerPoint Broadcast and Microsoft Decument Connection – which provides access to Microsoft SharePoint.

Following that will be a second update in the first half of next year, which will include Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as native applications for the first time outside the Windows platform.

The updates will be available both over the air and via PC download, and best of all they'll be completely free.

Nokia says Microsoft Apps will be compatible with the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia E7, Nokia E6, Nokia X7, Nokia 700, Nokia 701, Nokia 600 and Nokia Oro – plus of course any further Symbian Belle handsets that appear between now and then.

It's a significant boost to Nokia's already strong business credentials, plus many of the features – especially Word and Excel – will also deliver significant benefit to ordinary consumers too.

What do you reckon? Will these exciting new features give Symbian Belle the edge on the boardroom? Let us know what you think in the Comments below.

Nokia E6 and Symbian Belle: what we can expect

The Symbian Belle update is all set to touch down before the end of the year, and one of the handsets we're looking forward to see making a step forward is the Nokia E6. Let's take a look what to expect.

Check out our Nokia E6 hardware review

Symbian Belle was officially announced at the end of last month, and while our first taste of the new operating system is set to come with the launch of the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 next month, Nokia has revealed the good news that it'll also be arriving in update form to all the Nokia smartphones currently running Symbian Anna.

And among those is the Nokia E6, which only went on sale a few months ago and itself was actually the first handset on the market available with Symbian Anna.

But that's not its only notable first: it was also the first smartphone to appear featuring both a capacitive touchscreen and a full physical QWERTY keyboard, giving it unique versatility from a usability point of view that is only set to improve with the arrival of Symbian Belle.

So what are the chief highlights we're looking forward to from the Symbian upgrade? Well for starters there's the increase in the number of homescreens you'll have to work with to six. In most cases this will see a doubling of the existing tally from Symbian Anna, but the Nokia E6 is unique in that it already gives you four homescreens, but assuming it will still be heading for the same tally of six that's still an impressive 50 per cent increase.

But it's what you'll be able to do with those homescreens that really sets Symbian Belle apart. The next Nokia operating system will come with the versatility of free-form resizeable widgets, which will come in a range of sizes so you can arrange your homescreens to prioritise the features and tools that suit you, something we can't wait to see in action.

And that's not the end of the highlights to look forward to. There's also the reworked status bar, which you'll be able to pull down to reveal full details on important details such as messages, notifications, missed calls and the like – a feature that should prove especially useful given the limited 2.46-inch screen real estate available on the Nokia E6.

Additionally, Nokia has also redesigned the lockscreen to provide more information than before and multitasking previews will actually deliver live real-time views of your apps and services so you can check out their general status without having to make them active, which should prove a real time-saver on a business-focused device such as the Nokia E6.

Time will tell if Nokia is working on anything specific for the E-Series all-rounder to arrive as part of the Symbian Belle upgrade, but even if not the forthcoming update has a superb range of new features that should give this business phone a real shot in the arm, delivering some great new ways of taking advantage of its many existing strengths.

Is there any particular Symbian Belle feature you're looking forward to seeing on your Symbian Anna smartphone? There's certainly plenty to choose from, but drop us a line in the Comments below to let us know what you think the highlight will be.

Decor Inspiration: {A Chilean Retreat}

{... hello lovelies... I saw this beautiful home a few weeks ago on the lovely blog "Aubrey Road" and haven't stop thinking about it... albeit the architect waived his fee, the home was originally built in 1999 "in a largely rural area with spectacular natural scenery some 40 miles southwest of urban Santiago" for only $80,000 using "economical materials and methods" such as pine white-painted floors, while the interior walls and kitchen cabinets were "faced with exposed sheets of plywood and painted white lightly as a wash"... I find the home exquisite in its simplicity, functional and beautiful... enjoy}

* Quotes from Cristobal Palma for the New York Times, discovered via Aubrey Road.



Follow Simply Seductive on Facebook | Twitter | Bloglovin’ | Pinterest. Copyright © 2008-2011 Simply Seductive all rights reserved.

Lasers Could Be Used to Detect Roadside Bombs

The laser, which has comparable output to a simple presentation pointer, potentially has the sensitivity and selectivity to canvas large areas and detect improvised explosive devices -- weapons that account for around 60 percent of coalition soldiers' deaths. Marcos Dantus, chemistry professor and founder of BioPhotonic Solutions, led the team and has published the results in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters.

The detection of IEDs in the field is extremely important and challenging because the environment introduces a large number of chemical compounds that mask the select few molecules that one is trying to detect, Dantus said.

"Having molecular structure sensitivity is critical for identifying explosives and avoiding unnecessary evacuation of buildings and closing roads due to false alarms," he said.

Since IEDs can be found in populated areas, the methods to detect these weapons must be nondestructive. They also must be able to distinguish explosives from vast arrays of similar compounds that can be found in urban environments. Dantus' latest laser can make these distinctions even for quantities as small as a fraction of a billionth of a gram.

The laser beam combines short pulses that kick the molecules and make them vibrate, as well as long pulses that are used to "listen" and identify the different "chords." The chords include different vibrational frequencies that uniquely identify every molecule, much like a fingerprint. The high-sensitivity laser can work in tandem with cameras and allows users to scan questionable areas from a safe distance.

"The laser and the method we've developed were originally intended for microscopes, but we were able to adapt and broaden its use to demonstrate its effectiveness for standoff detection of explosives," said Dantus, who hopes to net additional funding to take this laser from the lab and into the field.

This research is funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security. BioPhotonic Solutions is a high-tech company Dantus launched in 2003 to commercialize technology invented in a spinoff from his research group at MSU.

Ralph Lauren's Natty Nuptials

No bride walked the runway in Ralph Lauren's latest fashion show, but wedding bells were unmistakably in the air in this snazzy, celebratory and opulent collection.

"I've had two kids get married ever since I started working on this show about, well, nine months ago, so I suppose there must have been some influence," chuckled Lauren after his show, staged in a lower Manhattan art gallery on Thursday, Sept. 15.

Lauren's daughter Dylan married hedge fund founder Paul Arrouet in July, while his son David wed Lauren Bush earlier this month.

But these runway nuptials featured wedding goers who began their morning way downtown, as the show opened with a damsel in daffodil print skirt and a mohair cardigan riddled with holes. Topped with a straw cloche hat, the model carried an embroidered straw picnic bag for a look that was daffy but beautiful. Lauren kept things romantic initially, with a whole sherbet-hued section where each outfit was anchored by huge raffia platform wedges.

Then the glamour hit high tempo - high gloss ivory silk cocktails with flapper hats, box-pleated dresses accompanied by ostrich feather capes and brilliant white gabardine jackets with wide lapels. Finished with long thin earrings - a major Manhattan trend - and worn with braided satin shoes with golden heels, it made for a sophisticated statement on the final day of the eight-day New York Fashion Week.

A series of stunning pants suits, in ecru or ivory pinstripe, cut with board shoulders and finished with dress shirts and ties made for a polished Great Gatsby revival that was sleek and sure.

But the summer wedding moment was most apparent in the evening clothes, including a remarkable ivory tulle beaded dress with brilliantly fashioned fabric flowers, rose hammered satin columns and silver plume lame cocktails.

Defiantly pure in its slim silhouette and shiny new colors, and elegantly staged on a white marble catwalk, Lauren's latest collection was the best expression of a key trend in this season of shows - an aching for ladylike grace.

Microsoft CEO sees Windows as key to growth plan

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer assured analysts on Wednesday that Windows remains the software maker's financial foundation, even though slowing personal computer sales are raising worries about the operating system's ability to adapt to the new ways people and business are using technology.

"Windows is at the center of our 'go-forward' strategy," Ballmer said during a presentation held in Anaheim, near Disneyland. "We feel very comfortable that this is a smart thing to do for our customers and the smart thing to do for our shareholders."

The Associated Press monitored Microsoft's analyst meeting via webcast.

Ballmer's upbeat tone reflected a positive buzz surrounding Windows 8, a version due out next year that Microsoft is touting as the most radical makeover of its lucrative operating system since 1995. Windows 8 is being designed to run on devices that boot up faster and work on touch-screen computer tablets, as well as on PCs that depend on keyboards and mice.

The overhaul is Microsoft's most aggressive response to the tablet craze that Apple Inc. set off with its release of the iPad in 2009.

Since then, Apple has sold more than 28 million iPads and analysts expect tens of millions more to be sold by the time Windows 8 is ready to be shipped. Microsoft isn't saying when Windows 8 will go on sale, but analysts expect it to hit the market at some point between July and the 2012 holiday shopping season.

In the meantime, Microsoft is still promoting Windows 7, which has sold nearly 450 million copies since its 2009 release. It just recently surpassed Windows XP — a decade-old operating system — as the most widely used version of Microsoft's operating systems, according to company estimates.

To build the excitement for what's coming next, Microsoft provided its most extensive demonstration of Windows 8 so far Tuesday during a packed meeting with applications developers. It gave away 5,000 Samsung tablets running on a preliminary version of Windows 8 and also is allowing anyone to take the software for a test spin if they want to install it on their own machines. By Wednesday morning, Ballmer said more than 500,000 copies of Windows 8 had been downloaded.

"The initial reaction has been all we have been hoping for," Ballmer told analysts.

That may be so, but Microsoft still appears to have work to do to win back investors who have become increasingly convinced that the company has lost its competitive edge as Google Inc. emerged as the Internet's most powerful player and Apple Inc. shaped mobile computing trends with the iPhone and iPad tablet.

The Internet and mobile devices are now seen as more compelling franchises with greater future potential than the PC business that Microsoft has milked since the 1980s with Windows and its Office suite of software.

Since Google went public in August 2004, its stock has increased by more than six fold while Microsoft's shares have dipped 2 percent. And since Apple released the first iPhone in June 2007, its stock has more than tripled while Microsoft's shares have backtracked 11 percent. That shift enabled Apple to surpass Microsoft as the world's most valuable technology company.

Microsoft shares closed Wednesday at $26.50, up 46 cents.

The lackluster performance of Microsoft's stock has intensified the pressure on Ballmer, an exuberant leader who succeeded company co-founder Bill Gates as CEO in 2000. With Microsoft's revenue growth slowing, Ballmer has curbed spending and even laid off workers to save money. The penny-pinching helped Microsoft boost its revenue to $774,000 per employee in its last fiscal year ending in June compared with $622,000 per worker in fiscal 2006, Microsoft boasted Wednesday.

Ballmer, 55, is betting Windows 8 will help Microsoft catch up in tablets and renew demand for PCs that can be operated with a touch of the finger as well as with the traditional navigation tools.

Microsoft is also scrambling to build a mobile version of Windows that will be more widely embraced in the smartphone market, where it has fallen behind Google's Android operating system as well as Apple's iPhone system. "I don't love where we are now, but I am very optimistic of where we can be," Ballmer said.

The company's proposed $8.5 billion acquisition of Internet phone and video service Skype is expected to become a key part of Microsoft's mobile strategy. Microsoft is hoping to gain regulatory approval to close the Skype deal before January.

After losing billions of dollars investing in Internet search technology during the past five years, Microsoft believes it's in a better position to gain ground on Google — a name synonymous with looking things up online. Microsoft's Bing search engine has been steadily picking up market share since its 2009 introduction but the gains have mostly come at the expense of Yahoo Inc.

Deciding to rather save money than fight Google, Yahoo last year began relying on Microsoft's technology for most of its search results. That alliance has enabled Microsoft to process about 30 percent of the search requests made in the U.S. compared to about 65 percent at Google.

Yahoo has been struggling far more than Microsoft in recent years. The ongoing problems prompted Yahoo's board to fire Carol Bartz, the CEO who negotiated the Internet search partnership with Microsoft.

Since Bartz's unceremonious departure last week, there has been mounting speculation that Yahoo might put itself up for sale rather than hire a permanent CEO. Either way, Ballmer said Microsoft's 10-year contract with Yahoo won't be affected.