This definitely isn't the first time we've seen leaked photos of the Nokia Lumia 'EOS' - in fact we've seen not just one or two leaks, but this is the fifth time we've seen a photo of the upcoming flagship Windows Phone, so this is looking almost certainly like the final product. What are we seeing in today's leak? Well, the device is being shown off in white, which adds to the other colors including black, yellow and (potentially) aluminium.

Rumor has it that this device will feature a 41-megapixel rear camera with a xenon flash (which occupies the large hole in the photo above), a WXGA OLED display, 32 GB of storage without a microSD card slot, and the latest version of Windows Phone. More about this device should be revealed at Nokia's "Zoom Reinvented" event that they're holding on July 11th.

This shouldn't really be too surprising to many people, but the latest rumors surrounding the Surface RT state that Microsoft is currently testing a new version of the tablet with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chipset inside. Bloomberg claims that Microsoft will update the tablet with new chips from Qualcomm, while NVIDIA will "continue as a supplier for some versions", presumably including the existing model with its Tegra 3 chipset.

Meanwhile, The Verge is citing separate "sources familiar to Microsoft's Surface plans", stating that a Windows RT 8.1 Surface device is already in testing at Microsoft, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset. The report accurately states that the ARM-based chip has integrated LTE radios, but it's unclear at this stage whether a future Surface will come with mobile broadband capabilities.

Why isn't this news surprising? Recently Microsoft appear to have been clearing out their remaining Surface RT stock, offering low prices to students, offloading 10,000 units to educators across the United States, and deeply discounting the tablet at TechEd earlier in the month. It seems likely that a refreshed Surface RT will make an appearance towards the end of the year, after the current model has been on sale for a year.

In March 2011, developer FourBros Studios launched the first version of its free Windows Phone game Taptitude. In April 2012, the company released some statistics from the first year of Taptitude, which now features 80 mini-games to play, showing growth in both the number of downloads and in the number of ad banner impressions generated for the game.

This week, the team released yet another look at those numbers for Taptitude and it shows that the game has now seen an acceleration in daily download growth since the end of 2012. Taptitude has now generated over one million downloads since it launched over 2 years ago.

Taptitude's daily download numbers have not gone below 2,000 and on a few occasions have been reached 9,000 downloads. In terms of ad impressions, the game generates around 40 million banner ads a month and on occasion reaches 50 million. The number of dollar amounts per 1,000 ad impressions has gone down and the total amount of revenue generated by Taptitude is now around $15,000 a month.

The game added support for in-app purchases in 2013 but so far the amount of revenue made by that method is about five percent of Taptitude's total revenue model. All in all, however, the team is pleased with the release of the game, saying that it "has been more successful than we had ever dreamed."

A Guatemala insurance firm, Seguros Universales SA, claims in a new lawsuit that Microsoft attempted to extort $70,000 from the firm as part of a raid of its offices in April 2012. Microsoft has already denied the claims.

The South Florida Business Journal reports that the lawsuit claims the raid occurred at the firm's Guatemala City location, with the assistance of armed local law enforcement officers. The lawsuit's statement added:

Microsoft then proceeded to extort Plaintiffs by demanding an on-the-spot agreement to pay $70,000 or Microsoft would remove all… servers containing ALL data and operational software.

Seguros Universales SA claims they already paid 98 percent of its required licensing fees to Microsoft. It added that the firm also had to pay $21,000 in taxes to the state government which it believes Microsoft should have handled.

Microsoft has denied the charges outlined in the lawsuit and added that "we look forward to addressing the claims." Guatemala does have a previous reputation of being a country with a rather high software piracy rate. The story said that as little as 20 percent of software in the country has been bought and used by businesses legally.

Earlier in June, Microsoft revealed details of a joint operation with the FBI to disrupt over 1,400 Citadel botnets centers. At the time, Microsoft claimed the botnet caused over $500 million in losses for individuals and businesses before actions were taken against it.

In a new interview with Reuters, Richard Domingues Boscovich, the assistant general counsel with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, offered up some statistics about the Citadel botnet operating. He said, "We definitely have liberated at least 2 million PCs globally. That is a conservative estimate."

The Citadel botnet, which infected their target PCs with malware that recorded the keystrokes of those users, might still have a few command centers in operation.  Boscovich says there is little reason to worry, saying, "We feel confident that we really got most of the ones that we were after. It was a very, very successful disruptive action."

It might be harder to go after the people responsible for the botnet in the first place. The alleged leader of Citadel is code named "Aquabox" and while he has not been caught, Boscvich says he is suspected of living somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are also "dozens" of other Citadel botnet operators out there and law enforcement authorities are trying now to find out their true identities.

Microsoft's Socl social networking service was first revealed over two years ago with the name Tulalip, In December 2011, Microsoft officially announced the network, with the  new name Socl  and started by signing up a limited number of users. In May 2012, Microsoft allowed anyone to check out the Socl network and has been adding new features ever since.

On Tuesday, Microsoft added some more new features, including some that will either delight users or make them scratch their heads. One of them is called Picotales; it's basically an Internet meme generator that quickly adds some text to a picture.

Socl has also added support for Blink, the recently launched Windows Phone 8 photo app. When connected to a Socl account, the Blink app can be used to take animated images and post them on a Socl page. Microsoft has also revamped the Socl website UI so that it has its own user interface when viewed on a mobile device like a smartphone.

Yet another new feature is Video Party, which will let users create a quick video playlist they can share with their friends on the network. Finally, the Collage feature has been updated so that users can now upload their own images, rather than just find those images on the Internet.

So far, Microsoft has yet to offer any information on just how many people have signed up to use the Socl service.

Even in this age of Facebook and Twitter, good old fashioned message board forums are still being used by a wide audience to not only help with questions but to also foster an online community. Here at Neowin, we just finished an upgrade for our own forums.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that its developer-themed MSDN forums had received its own upgrades with a number of new features. In a blog post, Microsoft's Brian Henry revealed just what has been added or changed.

Henry says that searching for items in the MSDN forums should be easier, stating, "Instead of navigating categories to find those that might be relevant, we’ve started with search as the entry.  You can search directly from the root and get results immediately.  The categories show up on the right hand side allowing you to filter your results."

If a person comes to an MSDN thread via an outside search engine like Bing or Google, the search string that was used is now automatically sent to the internal forums search engine so people can quickly find related message board threads.

Previews of message content threads have now been added to the forums and there are new indicators in place for private forums. Microsoft has also added a way for forum users to vote for what they think is abusive content in the message boards.

Last October, Microsoft released the initial version of TypeScript that was designed to enable applications to scale using JavaScript. As Microsoft works towards moving TypeScript out of preview and into a full release, they have hit milestone 0.9.

The release of 0.9 brings several new features including expanded language features and improved tooling in Visual Studio. Soma Somasegar penned a post that you can read in full here and he states that the new langue service has been rewritten and the result was a dramatic improvement to interactive performance.

Microsoft states that a key piece of the TypeScript ecosystem is the development as an open source project on CodePlex. Currently, there are hundreds of developers engaging in the project to help define the direction of the platform.

While Microsoft has not issued any specifics on when TypeScript will hit the 1.0 release, they are committed to making it fast and flexible tool that is shaped by user feedback. Knowing this, if you have any feedback about the platform, make sure to let Microsoft know as they are listening closer to the developers’ requests.

Nokia has faced many difficulties in recent years, thanks in no small part to its failure to quickly respond to the rise of smart devices in the mobile space. Its Windows Phone strategy has so far struggled to gain traction; the company is by far the largest Windows Phone vendor, but it remains the biggest fish in a very small pond, with Microsoft's mobile OS holding on to just 3.2% of the global smartphone market. 

But Nokia has been putting up a strong fight with increasingly capable devices like the Lumia 925, which we recently reviewed, and exciting new handsets on the way such as the 'EOS', with its 41MP camera. Nonetheless, a cloud of uncertainty continues to hang over the company and speculation over its future resumed today, amid comments made by a senior executive at Huawei. 

Nokia's product portfolio has been getting stronger, with handsets like the Lumia 920 and Lumia 925 -
but that hasn't stopped continued speculation over the company's future

Speaking with the Financial Times at the launch of the company's ultra-slim Ascend P6, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's consumer business group, discussed the possibility of acquiring Nokia to help boost its presence in markets such as North America and, in particular, Europe. "We are considering these sorts of acquisitions," he said. "Maybe the combination has some synergies but depends on the willingness of Nokia. We are open minded."

According to ZDNet, further comments by Yu alluded to the possibility of ditching Windows Phone altogether, in favour of an exclusive focus on Android handsets, if Nokia was "willing to enter negotiations". Unsurprisingly, Nokia isn't discussing these reports, saying that it "does not comment on market speculation".

Nokia's share price is up thanks to that market speculation; at one point, it had risen by around 11% to $4.10, but at time of writing, its shares are just under 7% above their value at the start of today's trading. 

Source: Financial Times / ZDNet

In the last few weeks, there's been a good deal of buzz surrounding Huawei - including a teaser from the company itself - regarding the upcoming launch of its second Windows Phone, the Ascend W2. But while some expected that handset to launch today, the company instead announced the Ascend P6, which Huawei describes as "the world's slimmest smartphone."

At just 6.18 mm thick, the P6 certainly is slim, and it's light too, weighing in at just 120g. Inside its sleek, metallic body, there's a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, along with 2GB of RAM, although onboard storage isn't exactly generous, with just 8GB available. Thankfully, a microSD card slot will allow users to expand storage as needed, and a 2000mAh battery should keep the device going for a while.

Up front, you'll find a spacious 4.7-inch in-cell display with HD (1280x720) resolution, with Huawei's "MagicTouch" technology, similar to the touch optimisations that Nokia has introduced on its Lumia range, which allows users to interact with the screen while wearing gloves. 

Above the screen, there's an "industry-leading 5MP front-facing camera," an 8MP rear illuminated camera with f/2.0 aperture, capable of 1080p video recording. Running the show is the latest build of Android Jelly Bean, version 4.2.2, with Huawei's overlay, "Emotion UI." The company says it's used feedback from over five million customers to help improve its user interface. 

The Ascend P6 launches in China later this month, and will be available in western European markets from July, with operator agreements in place through Vodafone, Telefónica/O2, Orange, TalkTalk and Three, while retailers including Carphone Warehouse and Amazon will also be stocking the handset. It'll be available in black, white or pink, and if you're thinking of picking one up off-contract, you'll have to set aside €449 EUR (straight currency conversion is $602 USD / £384 GBP, but local pricing may vary).

June 18, 2012 got off to a very odd start for me. I woke up bright and early in San Francisco – where, two days later, I would be covering the Windows Phone 8 announcement – and zoomed off to the airport, still half-asleep, to catch a flight for the short hop down to Los Angeles.

As I loaded up on coffee at the airport, my phone was starting to heat up from the number of calls, text messages and emails going back and forth between me and my colleagues at Neowin. All of these communiqués were more or less identical; I would be frantically asking “Where the hell am I going?!” and the replies would come back: “We don’t know! We’re trying to find out!”

On the TVs in the airport terminal, all the morning news shows seemed to be talking about the same thing, reporting what I already knew: Microsoft had invited the world’s media to LA for a major new product launch, but no-one knew what it was launching, and no-one had any idea of exactly where the event was being held.

I landed at LAX around half past 9. The coffee was kicking in and I was ready for action, but to my frustration, my inbox was still devoid of details about where I was supposed to be going. Defeated, I went to find more coffee, and slumped on to a bench outside the terminal, hoping that news would arrive before I got arrested by airport police for loitering.

I contemplated the significance of what Microsoft had achieved here. Without revealing a single detail about its new product, the company had managed to generate a huge storm of publicity around it. People were actually excited about what Microsoft might announce; they were talking about Microsoft with genuine anticipation and a curious sense of wonder. It was like the build-up to an Apple launch but somehow, Microsoft had made itself the object of people’s interest and excitement.

It was over an hour before I finally got word of where to go. I flagged down a cab and told the driver to get me to Milk Studios in Hollywood. The excitement must have been getting to my head, because I added “…and step on it!” to the driver; to my disappointment, he did not.

It was probably for the best, since the event wasn’t due to begin until 3:30pm. I got to the venue, and expertly reconnoitred the area, looking for banners, signs, some hint of what was to come. There was nothing so, again defeated, I found a Subway at which to recharge my batteries – and those of my devices – and waited.

When I returned to the venue, the media had descended en masse. Local news vans were parked around the block, and tech media from around the world were queuing to enter the building. I chatted with various journalists and bloggers, most of whom seemed genuinely impressed by what Microsoft had managed to pull off, without the leaks that frequently ruin the surprise before many major product launches - although that's perhaps not entirely surprising, given that it was partly developed by a team working in "an underground bunker with no windows". 

We were soon allowed to enter and take our seats, in a presentation space decorated with branding that would soon become familiar as Microsoft’s marketing machine took to the streets – literally – to promote its new product in the weeks that followed.

Steve Ballmer took to the stage to welcome us to the event, before Steven Sinofsky, Panos Panay and Mike Angiulo introduced an exciting new chapter in Microsoft’s history, as the company announced its first PC hardware in the form of Surface.

There was plenty to like. The design of the tablets was fresh and exciting; the ‘click-in’ keyboard covers offered more than just screen protection, and the kickstand was a thoughtful addition that hinted at Microsoft’s attention to detail in creating the devices. There was some disappointment when we were told that the Surface Pro would launch a full three months after the Windows RT model, but there was enough to be excited about for that not to seem like too much of a disaster.

The tablets themselves impressed with what little we were allowed to experience of them. Microsoft only had the Surface RT on show and didn’t allow much interaction; we were allowed to pick the tablet up, photograph it, play with the Live Tiles on the Start screen a bit, but no more. Even so, it made a positive first impression with its sturdy construction, VaporMg body, robust kickstand and vibrant screen.

The future seemed bright for Surface.

It hasn’t exactly been a runaway success story since then. Surface RT launched in the US alongside Windows 8 in October, followed by Surface Pro in February, but the company has been slow to launch the devices elsewhere. Surface Pro only made it to some other major markets last month, almost a year after announcement, and many countries are still waiting.

Mistakes have been made too. For example, Microsoft extensively promoted its pop-up 'Surface Experience Centres' in the UK press, but when we visited one of the advertised locations, staff there had no idea what we were talking about, with managers saying they hadn't even had any contact from Microsoft. 

The company has been notably silent when it comes to discussing sales of the devices; one can only speculate that, if its sales figures were worth celebrating, Microsoft would have shared something about them by now.

A major issue appears to be pricing. For a nascent platform with an immature app ecosystem, Microsoft’s pricing of the Surface RT (from $499) and Surface Pro ($899 and up) certainly raised some eyebrows, particularly when the keyboard covers that were the primary focus of the marketing campaigns ended up being costly extras at $99 for the Touch Cover and $119 for the Type Cover.

It’s perhaps telling that Microsoft is currently giving away these covers free with the tablets, albeit in a limited-time offer. Comparisons have also been made recently with ‘fire sales’ of BlackBerry and HP tablets, as Microsoft sells Surfaces at enormous discounts, to developers and those in education.

But while Surface has had a rocky start, that’s perhaps understandable, given that Microsoft is still finding its feet as it redefines itself as a “devices and services company”. There appears to be much to look forward to as well; rumours persist of an ‘Xbox Surface’, with a focus on gaming and media, while an 8-inch ‘Surface Mini’ is also expected to launch alongside Windows 8.1 later this year.

Next week, just over one year on, I’ll have come full-circle when I return to San Francisco to report from Microsoft’s BUILD conference, and I’ll certainly be hoping that we hear more about the company’s plans for Surface. It’s been an unsteady beginning, but Microsoft has laid some strong foundations on which to build a new generation of amazing devices.

Microsoft’s Xbox One console has been the center of a lot of conversations lately because of the DRM policies that Microsoft has been introducing. While some of the concerns around DRM are legitimate, Microsoft is also trying to introduce new features that make the DRM seem not as restrictive as first thought.

But what about horsepower? We know that the guts of the Xbox One are all new and will be considerably more powerful than current gen devices, but the exact figure has been a bit of a mystery. On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Phil Spencer, who is the head of Microsoft’s Game Studio, said that the console is 3x the power of the Xbox 360.

But, Spencer then took to Twitter to correct that statement saying that the console is up to 10x as powerful, when talking about local power.

Microsoft has been all over the charts on how much more powerful the Xbox One is over the Xbox 360, and while it’s purely a numbers game with no tangible value, the company should try to keep its story straight on how big of a leap the processing power jump is from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One. The company recently stated that the console is up to 40x as powerful as the Xbox 360 when using the cloud, which seems like the marketing team got behind the numbers, but it's a number Microsoft did say to the public.

The video posted above also has some gameplay from Forza 5 and Killer Instinct, both of which will be available on the Xbox One. While only a brief demo was shown of Forza 5, it does show the high caliber of detail we can expect in the next generation consoles.

In September, Microsoft announced its proposal for a new website standard proposal called Pointer Events that will allow websites to accept inputs from a number of different sources, including touch, pen and the familiar mouse-keyboard input. Since then, Microsoft has releases prototype patches for its Pointer Events specifications that could be used in WebKit-based web browsers and in Google's Blink web browser engine for Chrome.

On Monday, in a new post on the Microsoft Open Technologies website, the company announced it has released a prototype patch that will allow the Pointer Events specifications to work on Mozilla's Firefox browser. Microsoft added, "This initial open source patch for Mozilla Firefox adds to the Web community convergence around the Pointer Events specification and we plan to continue our collaboration with the Blink, WebKit and Mozilla communities."

With the Pointer Events specification now available for developers to use as prototypes for Internet Explorer, WebKit, Blink and now Firefox, that means they now cover nearly all PC web browsers. The specification has already been published by the World Wide Web Consortium as a Candidate Recommendation and it seems likely that the W3C will approve Pointer Events as a true web standard at some point.