diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/compiler/selector.ts b/modules/angular2/src/compiler/selector.ts
index 33aef6fdeb..0203011047 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/compiler/selector.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/compiler/selector.ts
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ export class SelectorMatcher {
    */
   private _addSelectable(cssSelector: CssSelector, callbackCtxt: any,
                          listContext: SelectorListContext) {
-    var matcher = this;
+    var matcher: SelectorMatcher = this;
     var element = cssSelector.element;
     var classNames = cssSelector.classNames;
     var attrs = cssSelector.attrs;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/di/injector.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/di/injector.ts
index 5a41312657..40c7e20493 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/di/injector.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/di/injector.ts
@@ -932,7 +932,7 @@ export class Injector {
   /** @internal */
   _getByKeyHost(key: Key, optional: boolean, providerVisibility: Visibility,
                 lowerBoundVisibility: Object): any {
-    var inj = this;
+    var inj: Injector = this;
 
     if (lowerBoundVisibility instanceof SkipSelfMetadata) {
       if (inj._isHost) {
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ export class Injector {
   /** @internal */
   _getByKeyDefault(key: Key, optional: boolean, providerVisibility: Visibility,
                    lowerBoundVisibility: Object): any {
-    var inj = this;
+    var inj: Injector = this;
 
     if (lowerBoundVisibility instanceof SkipSelfMetadata) {
       providerVisibility = inj._isHost ? Visibility.PublicAndPrivate : Visibility.Public;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/core/linker/element_injector.ts b/modules/angular2/src/core/linker/element_injector.ts
index fa45081b1f..cbfa777174 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/core/linker/element_injector.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/core/linker/element_injector.ts
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ export class ElementInjector extends TreeNode<ElementInjector> implements Depend
   ngAfterContentChecked(): void { this._queryStrategy.updateContentQueries(); }
 
   traverseAndSetQueriesAsDirty(): void {
-    var inj = this;
+    var inj: ElementInjector = this;
     while (isPresent(inj)) {
       inj._setQueriesAsDirty();
       inj = inj.parent;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/facade/browser.ts b/modules/angular2/src/facade/browser.ts
index 1a4f483a73..3e254932e4 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/facade/browser.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/facade/browser.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ export var document = window.document;
 export var location = window.location;
 export var gc = window['gc'] ? () => window['gc']() : () => null;
 export var performance = window['performance'] ? window['performance'] : null;
-export const Event = Event;
-export const MouseEvent = MouseEvent;
-export const KeyboardEvent = KeyboardEvent;
-export const EventTarget = EventTarget;
-export const History = History;
-export const Location = Location;
-export const EventListener = EventListener;
+export const Event = window['Event'];
+export const MouseEvent = window['MouseEvent'];
+export const KeyboardEvent = window['KeyboardEvent'];
+export const EventTarget = window['EventTarget'];
+export const History = window['History'];
+export const Location = window['Location'];
+export const EventListener = window['EventListener'];
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/router/router.ts b/modules/angular2/src/router/router.ts
index 6e2cd1d216..032f3932c5 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/router/router.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/router/router.ts
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ export class Router {
    * otherwise `false`.
    */
   isRouteActive(instruction: Instruction): boolean {
-    var router = this;
+    var router: Router = this;
     while (isPresent(router.parent) && isPresent(instruction.child)) {
       router = router.parent;
       instruction = instruction.child;
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ export class Router {
 
   private _getAncestorInstructions(): Instruction[] {
     var ancestorComponents = [];
-    var ancestorRouter = this;
+    var ancestorRouter: Router = this;
     while (isPresent(ancestorRouter.parent) &&
            isPresent(ancestorRouter.parent._currentInstruction)) {
       ancestorRouter = ancestorRouter.parent;
diff --git a/npm-shrinkwrap.clean.json b/npm-shrinkwrap.clean.json
index bbc826ca3e..09c91ec7af 100644
--- a/npm-shrinkwrap.clean.json
+++ b/npm-shrinkwrap.clean.json
@@ -14213,7 +14213,7 @@
       }
     },
     "typescript": {
-      "version": "1.6.2"
+      "version": "1.7.3"
     },
     "universal-analytics": {
       "version": "0.3.9",
diff --git a/npm-shrinkwrap.json b/npm-shrinkwrap.json
index 4f2f4fc192..a62e9deab8 100644
--- a/npm-shrinkwrap.json
+++ b/npm-shrinkwrap.json
@@ -21796,9 +21796,9 @@
       }
     },
     "typescript": {
-      "version": "1.6.2",
-      "from": "typescript@1.6.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/typescript/-/typescript-1.6.2.tgz"
+      "version": "1.7.3",
+      "from": "typescript@1.7.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/typescript/-/typescript-1.7.3.tgz"
     },
     "universal-analytics": {
       "version": "0.3.9",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 64a7e3847a..3493d2a91d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
     "ts2dart": "^0.7.16",
     "tsd": "^0.6.5-beta",
     "tslint": "^3.0.0-dev.1",
-    "typescript": "^1.6.2",
+    "typescript": "^1.7.3",
     "universal-analytics": "^0.3.9",
     "webpack": "^1.12.6",
     "which": "~1",
diff --git a/tools/broccoli/broccoli-typescript.ts b/tools/broccoli/broccoli-typescript.ts
index 0f01daeaef..9a4ab4b14f 100644
--- a/tools/broccoli/broccoli-typescript.ts
+++ b/tools/broccoli/broccoli-typescript.ts
@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ class DiffingTSCompiler implements DiffingBroccoliPlugin {
       this.rootFilePaths = [];
     }
 
-    // in tsc 1.7.x this api was renamed to parseJsonConfigFileContent
     // the conversion is a bit awkward, see https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/issues/5276
-    this.tsOpts = ts.parseConfigFile({compilerOptions: options, files: []}, null, null).options;
+    // in 1.8 use convertCompilerOptionsFromJson
+    this.tsOpts =
+        ts.parseJsonConfigFileContent({compilerOptions: options, files: []}, null, null).options;
 
     // TODO: the above turns rootDir set to './' into an empty string - looks like a tsc bug
     //       check back when we upgrade to 1.7.x