This week at Microsoft: Hunger Games, Kinect, and Chrome

Happy Friday dear reader, I trust that your last day on the grind is going as well as it should, and not a bit worse. However, TNW simply cannot let you leave for the week without wrapping up Microsoft’s last seven days of newsworthy actions, and shipping them to your monitor.

By now, this roundup is as much a part of my DNA as ester bonds. I just can’t let it go. Now, ensure that you are following TNW Microsoft on Twitter, and Facebook, and let’s dig into the news. This week we’re taking a light approach, so enjoy yourself.

Hunger Games

By now you have heard of ‘The Hunger Games,’ a young adult series of books in which the reader is propelled through a mystical competition, while being stuck in the head of a 16 year old girl. It’s a running monolouge of her thoughts. I’m 174 pages into the first volume and can confirm that I don’t want to be a teen again.

Anyway, the Internet Explorer team got in with the Hunger Games movie crew, and put together a site that both shows off the now released movie based on the book, and the HTML5 chops of IE9. Sure, this is a perfect example of two brands wanking, hoping for synergy, but you deserve a break, so peep the site if you want some entertainment.

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

But if you haven’t started reading the Hunger Games, and have graduated High School, don’t.

Minority Report

Alright, we love Microsoft Research. There, we said it. They hang out in the back of some warehouse (we presume) and tinker with projects that never have to make it to market. Sounds like fun to me. I would do that, if I could code, solder, or think creatively.

Anyway, the team built an interactive 3D display that makes Minority Report look flat and sad. Get some:

Chrome: On top?

You must have seen the news this week that Chrome had become the world’s number one browser, if only for a day. Microsoft bit back, but not directly. Before that news dropped, the company put out a post claiming that StatCounter’s analytics were biased towards Chrome. A few days later, StatCounter said that Chrome took top prize for a day.

We doubt that this was coincidental timing. The excellent Paul Thurrott called foul in full terms:

Presumably tipped off that this was coming, Microsoft on Sunday posted an analysis of web browser usage share measurement, noting that StatCounter’s metrics are seriously skewed because of pre-rendering and other factors. As a result, Microsoft claims, StatCounter cannot be trusted as a reliable source of information.

As they say, bazinga.

Microsoft ships Windows Phone in China

Consider this your one real ‘newsy bit’ for the day: Windows Phone is a go in China. From our coverage:

Microsoft has officially launched its Windows Phone 7 platform in China at an event in Beijing, where it revealed that it will partner with no fewer than four handset makers. Microsoft confirmed to The Next Web that alongside HTC, it is partnering with Nokia, Samsung and ZTE, in a line-up that has been very much expected for some time.

And that is all for this week. Now, go forth and make a proper whisky on the rocks.