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Interactive NUads advertisements tied to the Kinect sensor will roll out in late spring, Microsoft told CNET this afternoon. But will all other Kinect apps be as privacy-sensitive? [Read more].

As a part of the Industry Consortium for Advancement of Security on the Internet (ICASI), Microsoft is pleased to present an initial set of monthly security updates – originally released on May 8 – in the consortium’s newly established Common Vulnerability Reporting Framework (CVRF) format, for your examination and feedback. Today, ICASI released version 1.1 of its CVRF – a markup system designed to make security bulletins and advisories machine readable in an industry-standard fashion.

Netflix just launched a new video player for web-based viewing, and it's hot: Viewers can preview all other episodes while watching an episode of a TV show, the player allows seamless size changes and the overall design is much slicker than before.

Microsoft has started to update a range of its core Windows 8 communications applications ahead of the Release Preview debut next month. The updates, available in the latest internal builds of Windows 8, include UI improvements, new features, and drop the "app preview" banner from the top of the application. Microsoft originally released a range of its own Metro style applications with the release of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, designed as simple replacements for full Windows Live desktop apps.

Sharing a link to a Web page is a common activity on the PC, and it gets better with IE10 on Windows 8. One of the new features on Windows 8 is the Share charm, which allows you to seamlessly send content between apps on your PC. Previously, if you wanted to share an interesting article with your friend, or post a funny picture on your blog, you’d copy the link from the address bar, switch to a different site or app, and then paste it.

Big mobile plans afoot for Baidu, the Google of China that leads in search and has launched a host of other services in the wake of that business. The company today unveiled the first smartphone to be built on its own platform, the Changhong H5018. And while that device is designed on a "forked" version of Android -- forked Android devices being very popular in China -- Baidu says that it doesn't want to stop there: the idea is to take its platform, the Baidu Cloud Smart Terminal, to other operating systems like Windows Phone and iOS.

One of the intrinsic capabilities of Windows 8 is the ability to use multiple accounts on any PC. This makes it much easier for parents to use tools that can help protect their children from content on the Internet as they see fit. It is also a great way for each family member to maintain their own unique online identity while still sharing a single PC. Microsoft has been a leader in creating tools to help maintain a safe computing environment for all users as well as for parents in particular.

By Paul Thurrott. A coming Microsoft promotion will provide Windows 8 Pro to buyers of Windows 7-based PCs for just $14.99, according to my sources. The promotion begins June 2, and was first reported by my Windows Weekly cohost Mary Jo Foley.