Microsoft hosted its “Open House” last night at the Seventh Regiment Armory in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood. There, in the cavernous space, the company’s many representatives on hand showed off the latest gadgets powered by or utilizing Microsoft’s technology, including Ford cars, HTC phones, XBoxes. Guests could also get their photos taken by an employee dressed as an owl with a HTC cameraphone or have their tweets “sung” by another employee dressed in the distinctive blue of Twitter’s bird mascot.

Much of the night, however, was dedicated to a live and rather intimate concert by DJ Tiesto. In the center of the armory, Microsoft had set up a DJ booth, flanked by large speakers, and the hundred-or-so guests were able to watch him spin while partaking of the free appetizers and ordering drinks from the fully-stocked bar located to the right of the booth.