As regular readers will know I’m a big Microsoft fan, even if sometimes for no other reason than to annoy all my friends that use Macs. For the last month I have been testing out their new version of Microsoft Office 2010 and thought I would share what I think are the top ten new features. Office has more than 100 new and improved features, and has already been downloaded over 7.5 million times for the beta version alone. Office 2010 is now on general release at all computer shops everywhere, click here for a price guide, or here to go the Office 2010 site and try it out yourself.
Top 10 Office 2010 New Features

There are a whole host of other upgrades and features, such as being able to preview copy and paste edits. To put it simply though, if you are looking for a full office suite then Microsoft office is still the only way to go and with 2010 they have just made it better and more user friendly. Click here for a video look at the new Office.

To find out more on Office 2010 click here.

The world famous Rock Band franchise has managed to get exclusive first time ever gaming rights to the Beatles catalogue for the launch of  its new game “The Beatles RockBand” due to be released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii on the 9th of September 2009. The above ad is one of the launch campaigns done by Passion Pictures, great work. To begin with they will be offering a limited edition game set complete with a replica Höfner bass guitar used by Sir Paul McCartney, a drum kit with black oyster pearl finish and Ludwig branded Beatles drum Kit, mic and mic stand for $249.99 or £179.00 as pictured below. You will also be able to buy replica John Lennon and George Harrison Guitars to ad on for $99, £89.99 each. If anyone from Microsoft is listening I’m keen to give it a go and have an Xbox 360 ready and waiting ! For more all the finer details go to the Beatles RockBand site. For an in game peek click here or just enjoy the pics below. Cant Wait.     

I was watching the live Xbox E3 coverage on the Microsoft site the other night and I must say the above clip for Project Natal just blew my mind. At present its still just a prototype but this is an actual product that will be available for the Xbox360 in the not too distant future ! At E3 they demoed some examples of games and it looks like it actually works already. If they succeed Nintendo’s Wii console will look like a antique. Lets just pray Microsoft get this right as I for one cant wait to give it a go. Looks like Microsoft have been heeding Hugh MacLeod’s advise “Change the world, or go home”. Check out the below Quote from a chap some of you might know: "This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games" STEVEN SPIELBERG For more info and some live demo videos got to http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/ Or check out all the video’s on their YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/xboxprojectnatal Also if you want to stay up to date on all the new and world changing stuff that Microsoft are getting up to go have a look at Steve Clayton’s blog, he is a great chap and its one of my personal must reads: Steve Clayton Link

Great new ad for Microsoft windows phones from Andy Lees team. Nice to see the guys making their ads a bit fun and great soundtrack from The Fratellis (Chelsea Daggers) Cant wait to see more of their upcoming Windows mobile 7 as currently I still find 6.5 a bit slow and fiddly to take full advantage of, here’s hoping that they can release it before the year end ! (Hat Tip to Microsoft’s Steve Clayton for the above find)

I was born in the 80′s and I think one thing that has remained a constant in my life is the huge leaps in tech innovation that seem to happen every month.

I can remember clearly been taught when I was 7 about basic programming on BBC computers (I recall we made a game so probably not surprising I remember it), I then remember learning how to boot up programmes with DOS, then windows, and now my mobile phone can do it all and more!.

Its the same story you hear every day from friends: “But how can my new laptop be out of date? I only bought it 6 months ago!”. Well now Microsoft have shown us the above video on what they are working on for circa 2019 just to show us how out of date we will be soon. I must say my initial thought was “Holly ***t !”.

Everything shown is Microsoft’s inspirational view of what they are working towards, based on research and tech exploration from within Microsoft and their partners. Basically this is stuff we will see in some guise or another in the near future.

All the products shown are designed to improve productivity for businesses and individuals.

I personally cant wait to be able to carry around just one card that can be my everything from a wallet to a phone and in between. I also would love the huge touch video wall in my sitting room for work, video and catching up with friends (imagine the innovative parties you could have!).

The Video was first shown at the Wharton Business Technology Conference by Microsoft’s Stephen Elop a few days ago.

For more info go to Steve Clayton’s Blog from Microsoft. He’s a great chap to follow and has all the links to the full video and presentation as well as all the latest updates from Microsoft in plain English.

This Friday will see the return of the first Cape Town 27 Dinner for 2009 As opposed to the normal speaking routine we have a little treat in for attendees this month. Microsoft will be coming to the party and will give a talk on some of the most innovative and exiting projects they are up to at the moment such as Silverlight, Windows 7 and Surface, etc. After the talks we are going to have a bit of a Guitar hero Xbox360 jamming competition to see who can rock the Mother city bowl the hardest. Prizes will be given out to the winners (Hat tip to Microsoft) and as always wine will be there by Stormhoek. The venue we have secured is called Doppio Zero in Mandela Rhodes place (Map Below) and the evening will start at 6.30pm, places are limited and we already are near capacity, but if you’re keen go to www.27dinner.com to sign up and be sure to join the Facebook group too for future updates or if you prefer your messages within a 140 character limit  follow us on Twitter at @27Dinner. P.S If you don’t know what 27 dinners are they are basically a gathering on the 27th of every month alternating between Cape Town and Joburg of SA’s young brightest and best minds in Tech, Media and business. There are usually 2-3 speakers talking about new/interesting projects and its a great place to network and get to know all the best looking people in South Africa !