Weekend Reading: Sept. 9th Edition–Xbox 360 Stays No. 1 in the U.S., Microsoft Shows How Twitter Will Work in Windows Phone “Mango”, plus Lync for Mac and Hotmail

This week’s edition of Weekend Reading has stories on Xbox 360; how Twitter will work in the next version of the Windows Phone mobile platform; two new surveys on science, technology, engineering and math education and more. Check ‘em out!

Xbox 360 continues to rule the console market. Xbox 360 continued its lead over competing video-game consoles in August and has now sold more units in the U.S. than any other console for 14 of the past 15 months. For the latest numbers out of the NPD Group, an independent market research firm that tracks the video-game industry, read this Thursday post on The Official Microsoft Blog.

Microsoft offers tips to U.S. teens and parents on digital citizenship. A new Microsoft study shows that before posting personal information online, more than half of U.S. teens and parents don’t truly consider the potential consequences of their actions. Teens recognize the importance of limiting what they share online, yet they still reveal more personal data than their parents. Six in 10 teens also say they have “friends” in their social networks whom they’ve never met in person. For more on this story, read this Thursday post on the Microsoft on the Issues Blog.

Fox Sports on MSN Mobile users – are you ready for some football? Just in time for football season, Fox Sports on MSN Mobile has updated the NFL and NCAA Football mobile Web experiences. Now when you visit Fox Sports NFL or NCAA Football on your mobile device (Windows Phone 7, iPhone/iPod Touch or Android 2.x or higher), you’ll see newly designed main pages, sports headlines, photo galleries (with full-screen slideshows) and our easy-to-navigate video page. Read this Sept. 2nd post on the MSN Blog for the full story.

Lync for Mac 2011 released to manufacturing. When Microsoft first announced Lync Server 2010 last November, we talked about our commitment to supporting multiple platforms and how over the course of 2011 you would see Lync become available for other platforms. We’re excited to share with you that Lync for Mac 2011 has been Released to Manufacturing, commonly referred to as RTM. Starting in October, our Mac customers will be able to experience the integrated communications experience that Lync has become well known for. Read this Thursday post on the Office for Mac Blog for more detail.

Tweet-ness! How Twitter works in Windows Phone “Mango.” Worried that the integration of your Twitter feed into the People Hub on your Windows Phone will unleash a fire hose of tweets and overwhelm you? You don’t have to worry. Check out this Sept. 1st post on the Windows Phone Blog, which explains how Twitter will work with the next version of the Windows Phone platform, codenamed “Mango.”

Microsoft releases findings of national surveys on STEM education. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced the findings of two national surveys, conducted online by Harris Interactive, of college students currently pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees and of parents of K–12 students. The goal of the surveys was to gain insight about what can better prepare and inspire students to pursue post-secondary education in STEM subjects. For more detail on this story, read this press release on the Microsoft News Center and this Wednesday post on the Microsoft on the Issues Blog.

Huffington Post makes it easy to share stories via Hotmail. A key goal of the revamped developer platform is to make it easier for websites to integrate Hotmail, SkyDrive and Messenger into their sites in ways that are meaningful and beneficial. The Huffington Post recently added integration with Hotmail, allowing Hotmail users to easily share content with their friends and even sign up & sign in to the site using their Hotmail account. Want more detail? Check out this Sept. 2nd post on the Inside Windows Live Blog.

That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading! Thanks for stopping by The Official Microsoft Blog.

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog

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