真乄科技業的頂尖投資團隊

美國科技大廠微軟（Microsoft）宣布將以每股196美元現金收購商務社群網站LinkedIn（領英），總價262億美元（8498億元台幣）， 為微軟歷來規模最大購併行動，較LinkedIn上周五收盤溢價達49.5%，激勵LinkedIn今盤前股價聞訊飆漲近50%。

LinkedIn未來仍將維持獨力經營，可保有品牌、文化，現任執行長韋納（Jeff Weiner）也將留任。微軟執行長納德拉（Satya Nadella）在聲明中表示，這項購併不僅可挹注LinkedIn成長，也將刺激微軟Office 365、Dynamics等服務成長。這樁收購案金額為微軟史上最大，遠高於微軟2011年收購Skype付出的85億美元及2013年買下諾基亞（NOKIA）的72億美元；同時，這也讓臉書（facebook）2014年收購WhatsApp的交易價碼190億美元相形失色。

In 2007, Bill Gates wrote his influential "A Robot in Every Home" article in Scientific American*, envisioning a future "in which robotic devices will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives." The article reflected his belief that robotics was going to be hugely important, and Microsoft had to have a major role in it. Two years earlier, Gates had asked one of his top lieutenants, Tandy Trower, also a big believer in robotics, to lead a group with the bold mission of bringing robots into the mainstream.

This week, word got out that, as part of its current restructuring, Microsoft decided to shut down its robotics group. (Two sources at Microsoft have since confirmed the news to IEEE Spectrum.) At a moment when excitement about the future of robotics seems to have reached an all-time high (just ask Google and Amazon), Microsoft has given up on robots.

微軟年度論壇TechDays昨（9）日在台登場，為期三天。台灣微軟總經理邵光華表示，微軟以開放態度面對創新，在跨平台上要快速前進，針對OEM合作夥伴推出9吋以下裝置「免收授權金」方案，加快跨平台與轉型腳步，未來將持續傾聽市場的聲音。

人體是導電的，但怎樣也想不到 Microsoft 竟有利用人體作為傳送資料媒界的專利。它名為「生物實體溝通渠道」，根據專利的描述，一個配備訊號傳送器的裝置會被連接在一個生物實體的表面，例如人類的皮膚，並至少使用人體的其中一部份作為傳輸的「同軸通道」。換言之，配帶了這個裝置的人理應可通過接觸來傳輸東西，有機會是用手指一點商店的接收器就能付費之類。

不久前，微軟毫無爭議，就是科技之王，控制約90%的作業系統市場。但隨著需求由桌上型電腦轉移至筆記型，再轉移至平板電腦與智慧型手機，微軟的市場主導權已漸流失給了Google與蘋果。

Gartner今日公布一份報告，預測到2017年，使用Google公司Android作業系統的產品交貨量，將遠高於視窗個人電腦與電話的交貨量。蘋果iPhone與iPad的交貨量，則將與微軟驅動的產品相當。

We already knew that Microsoft would be upgrading its Touch Mouse to support Windows 8 gestures, but the outfit never confirmed which finger movements, exactly, would be built in. Now, Redmond is explaining it all, even though the mouse won't actually get updated until Win8 goes on sale in late October. According to the company, you'll be able to swipe two fingers to the right to toggle between open programs, and two to the left to expose those Charms. Sliding three fingers up and down will allow you to use Semantic Zoom. (Naturally, you'll be able to swipe from side to side to move through the tiles on your Start screen, but you probably already guessed that.) We have a Touch Mouse here at Engadget HQ that we're just itching to update, but until those drivers drop three months from now, it seems we'll just have to find something else to keep us entertained.

Valve head honcho Gabe Newell stepped away from his desk – or, pushed his desk away from him, since apparently it has wheels so he can maneuver it around the office – to discuss the future of open platforms, Linux and wearable computing at Seattle's Casual Connect conference last night. Newell even weighed in on Windows 8, calling it a "catastrophe," All Things D reported.

"I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," Newell said. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

目前新 iPad 的 2048 x 1536 解析度 9.7 吋螢幕是平板界當之無愧的解析度之王，比 Android 陣營那邊看到的 1920 x 1080 要高出甚多。但微軟的這張圖顯示，即使不是馬上就會有產品出現，Windows 8 也已經預先在為更高解析度的未來做足準備。看到最左上角了嗎？這裡寫著 2560 x 1440，擠在 10.1 吋的螢幕大小裡 -- 13.3 吋的 Full HD 螢幕（Vaio Z）上面的 UI 元件都已經小到不行了，還要再縮到更小？根本不可能嘛！解決的方案，只能朝將 UI 元件和螢幕解析度脫勾的方向進行，利用向量的字型和圖檔（SVG），確保 UI 不會小到按不到（或看不見！）。實話說，這件事早就該進行了，被微軟一直拖到現在實在不是件該讚揚的事。

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will finish work on Windows 8 this summer, setting the stage for personal computers and tablets with the operating system to go on sale around October, according to people with knowledge of the schedule.
The initial rollout will include devices running Intel Corp. (INTC) and ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) chips, making good on Microsoft’s promise to support both standards, said the people, who declined to be named because the plans are confidential. In embracing ARM technology, Microsoft is using the same kind of processors as Apple Inc.’s iPad. Still, there will be fewer than five ARM devices in the debut, compared with more than 40 Intel machines.

We know what you're thinking: another CES post about Tobii's eye-tracking Gaze UI? Why yes, yes it is, because this time we were actually the ones behind the driver's seat. We tracked down the company's booth and got some personal one-on-one time with the laptop. As the first matter of business, we first needed to calibrate our eye movements with the sensor, a process that took a couple minutes to push through before we were ready to have at it. The prototype laptop is running an early build of Windows 8, so we navigated around the Metro interface, played a couple games, switched back and forth between tabs, zoomed in and out of screens and plenty more.

深具發展潛力的智慧型系統(intelligence system)為開發者帶來大好商機；根據分析機構 IDC的資料顯示，智慧型系統出貨量將從目前的 8 億台，至2015 年成長至 23 億台，超越手機與個人電腦，產值將近5,200 億美元。針對此一市場，微軟(Microsoft)嵌入式平台(Windows Embedded)可提供合作夥伴與企業將其裝置延伸至雲端與再回到裝置所需的一切。
微軟表示，過去幾個月以來，Windows Embedded已為傳統嵌入式市場中的一項嶄新類別奠定發展基礎，此解決方案亦即智慧型系統，可將企業用軟體與雲端服務延伸至日常使用的裝置，例如銷售點(Point of Sale，POS) 終端機、車用資訊娛樂系統、醫療設備，甚至是桌上型遊戲機。Windows Embedded事業群全球總經理 Kevin Dallas 表示：「如同科技世界中其他許多不同的轉變，邁向智慧型系統之路也將以資訊為其主軸。」

如果有一件事是一定的Kinect的有關，它的這一點，微軟希望它是通用的 。案例來看，代碼空間-未來的合作與智能手機和筆記本電腦截至目前信息共享屏幕上看到的遊戲控制器的課外活動 。該項目的目的是介紹和交流在開發人員使用一個大型顯示屏和簡單的手勢的會議的代碼，雖然我們可以很容易地看到這是在課堂和通過董事會以及的。其他消息方面，Kinect的將能夠油漆你的房子今年春天，即使你可能不會對最終的顏色... 瘋狂更新：我們認識到它的有時有點慢，但如果你想看到的代碼在行動的空間，只是一跳突破。你會發現神奇的。[感謝，安德魯]

Steve Ballmer had a dilemma. He had two groups at Microsoft pursuing competing visions for tablet computers.

You have to hand it to the tireless folks toiling away within Microsoft's Research department. They're hard at the task of making tomorrowland today's province. Perhaps spurred on by the rapturous response to their HoloDesk, the Cambridge gang's previewing yet another virtual reality, and this time it's a handheld trio. The palm-friendly devices, split up into camera, room and SLAM models, incorporate pico projectors, coaxial IR cameras, inertial measurement units (IMUs) and the company's Kinect (for the latter two only) to project augmented visions onto surrounding surfaces. If you've been honing your shadow puppetry game over the years, that oft-used skill's about to get very useful. The environmentally aware (no, not the Go Green! kind) systems allow for shadow- and touch-based interaction with the CG overlays, offering pinch functionality, icon selection and even painting -- don't worry, it's definitely removable. This neat tech hat trick could one day soon spare you a trip to IKEA, letting you test out potential decorative pieces from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, we can't get handsy with the futuristic projectors just yet, so the video after the break will have to suffice.

So much for it being a fad. Kinect has evolved from a way to play with Elmo to a key tool in scientific research, delivering interactive presentations and managing your bank account. We've always called these non-standard uses of the device "Kinect Hacks" as people find more weird and wonderful ways to use it to their advantage. Unsurprisingly, Redmond has been paying attention and it's planning a commercial Kinect SDK. It's teaming up with developers to create the new software and has already received 200 applications from interested parties. It all kicks off early next year, and interested parties should be chatting up the company as we speak. Stuck for inspiration? We've got you covered, check out what other clever bods have already achieved with the technology in the video after the break.

微軟和仁寶電子公司已經簽署了專利協議，根據微軟的專利組合提供仁寶的片，手機，電子閱讀器和其他消費設備上運行的Android或Chrome平台，覆蓋面廣。雖然該協議的內容尚未公佈，各方表示，微軟將根據協議，仁寶收到版稅。