Microsoft has officially confirmed the death of its Zune player devices. The software giant removed references to the Zune HD from its Zune site on Monday and later claimed that the removal was “a mistake.” It appears that the reference removals may have been planned for later but were mistakenly pushed early. A new support article on Microsoft’s Zune support pages makes it very clear: “We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune serv

Microsoft revealed on Wednesday that the company plans to issue its Windows Phone 7.5 update to existing devices in the next two weeks. Squashing rumours and speculation, Microsoft’s general manager of customer experience engineering, Eric Hautala, revealed that the company is making “solid progress” on the Windows Phone 7.5 update. “We now expect to start rolling it out in the next week or two,” said Hautala in a blog post on Wednesday. “At that time, we’ll also refresh the Where’s My Phone Update? table to reflect the worldwide rollout status,” he added. Microsoft warned users not to install leaked copies of Windows Phone 7.5. “Every Windows Phone will also receiv

Kindel joined Microsoft in 1990 and worked in a support role initially. He went on to work on Internet Explorer 3, Windows NT 4, Windows ME and Windows Phone 7. Kindel announced his departure in an email to colleagues on Monday noting that he might stop using some Microsoft products after he quits the company on September 1. “I may stop using some Microsoft products now that I’m out of here,” said Kindel. “But not Windows Phone. The BEST product Microsoft has ever built. Do not let up!” Kindel is leaving to work on a new startup based in Bellevue. He joins a long list of veteran employees who have quit Microsoft recently. Mich Matthews, Microsoft’s former marketing chief, quit

Microsoft is preparing to release Avatar Kinect next week. Avatar Kinect will be released as part of the company’s Xbox Kinect Fun Labs product. Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie revealed on Monday that the company plans to issue Avatar Kinect next week: Company insiders familiar with Microsoft’s plans revealed to WinRumors that the software maker is planning to release Avatar Kinect on July 27. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer originally introduced Avatar Kinect using his own Xbox LIVE avatar at CES earlier this year. Avatar Kinect is a unique way for Kinect users to interact with each other. Kinect supports facial tracking and even facial expressions that will

Microsoft announced two new key Hotmail security features on Thursday. The software giant is introducing a “My friend’s been hacked!” feature alongside banning commonly used and weak passwords. The hacking alert system will allow users to simply report accounts that have been compromised. “When someone’s account gets hijacked, their friends often find out before they do, because the hijacker uses their account to send spam or phishing email to all their contacts,” explains Microsoft’s Dick Craddock. The Hotmail team has built a specific feature to combat this. The “mark as” menu in Hotmail now contains “My friend’s been hacked!”. Hotmail users can also report hacked