Items tagged with Microsoft
There have been many concerns over the last few years that foreign entities have been interfering in elections. Microsoft is launching its AccountGuard initiative to protect elections and political campaigns from cyberattacks. AccountGuard is a free program for candidates, campaign offices, and other political institutions that already use Office 365, and it covers both personal and organizational accounts. Microsoft will notify the person or organizations if their accounts are threatened, will offer security advice and training, and will allow their customers to adopt previews of new programs....
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Microsoft seems intent on allowing you to access all the things from your Android device on your Windows computer. The biggest of these features has been the much talked about Your Phone app that is in testing and will be part of Redstone 5 build 1809. Your Phone will mirror content like recent Android photos over to your desktop to prevent users from having to email images to themselves. Eventually, it will allow users to text and answer calls directly on the PC. As Windows and Android users are waiting to get full Your Phone availability, Microsoft is also talking up another way to share...
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Windows users keeping an eye out for new versions of the Microsoft operating system have a new version that is now out bringing Windows to build number 17741. It's worth pointing out right up front that one big change is that Redstone 5 is now officially Windows 10 version 1809. Folks in the Windows Insider program are expected to get hands on that build in September. The feature set is expected to be identical to the 17741 build number that is out now. There are no major new features in this build, but Microsoft is still talking up Your Phone first and foremost. Your Phone is the feature that...
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Microsoft made a mistake in making available an early build of its Your Phone app for Windows 10, which is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) application that enables users to access text messages, photos, and other notifications from their smartphone on their PC. For a brief period yesterday, it was available for all users to download from the Microsoft Store, but that is no longer the case. Prior to being available to the public, the unfinished app landed for Windows Insiders earlier this month in the Windows 10 Insider Preview Built 17728. As we noted yesterday, however, users who are not part...
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Are you having trouble finding an avatar for the Xbox One that you can relate to, or otherwise would want to use? Microsoft is planning to address this with a much more diverse selection of avatars, and if you are subscribed to the Skip Ahead, Preview Alpha, or Beta ring for the Xbox Insider program, you can try it out in the latest build (1810). The same goes for Windows 10 Insiders. "We are releasing an update to Insiders in the Alpha Skip Ahead, Alpha, and Beta rings! This build includes updates to Avatar rendering as well as other improvements to the Avatar Editor user experience. Please check...
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It's been a year in the making, but Microsoft and Amazon have finally announced a full public preview rollout of Alexa-Cortana integration -- at least for users in the United States. The two companies first announced the collaboration in August 2017, and gave a live on-stage demo of the pairing in action at BUILD 2018. In practice, Alexa and Cortana will first have to be enabled as a skill on each competing platform. For example, the Cortana skill will have to be installed on an Amazon Echo, while the Alexa skill will have to be installed on a Windows 10 PC. From there, you...
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Microsoft has been talking up the Your Phone app as a way to easily get content from your smartphone to your PC. In May we first talked about Your Phone, which is a Windows Universal Platform App that promises to allow users to access text messages, photos, and notifications from your smartphone on your PC. Your Phone landed for Windows Insiders early this month in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17728. Now, however, it appears that many many people that are not part of the Insiders program were able to download the app for Android devices and get it to work without having to run an Insider Preview...
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Sony unveiled a special edition PS4 to celebrate the sale of 500 million consoles since the PS4 launched. The cool part about that special edition PS4 is that it was housed in a translucent blue chassis that let you see a bit of what’s inside and came with a matching controller. Microsoft is now getting in on the special edition translucent bandwagon with a new wireless Xbox One controller of its own. Rather than a swanky blue color, Microsoft is offering a black controller called the Xbox Wireless Controller Phantom Black Special Edition. The controller is translucent black that fades to...
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If your game console is feeling a bit old and you have your eyes on a new Xbox One X, this might be the best time ever to take that old console hardware down to your local GameStop and trade it in. GameStop has a deal going right now that could see you walking away with an Xbox One X for a scant $200. The Xbox One X normally retails for $499.99 and to get the maximum $300 discount you will need to trade in your PS4 Pro. That would be a hard deal to take for most gamers, as the PS4 Pro normally sells for $399.99. If you have serious buyer's remorse over the PS4 Pro this is the best way for you to...
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Back in mid-July, Microsoft added a new cross-platform call recording feature to its Skype chat client and announced that its desktop client would be receiving a complete UI overhaul with a design aesthetic that more closely aligned with the mobile client. "Everything about this new version, from the underlying performance improvements to the usability enhancements, is designed to keep you connected to the people who matter most," wrote Microsoft at the time. "We built Skype version 8.0 based on feedback from our community—adding exciting new features while ensuring it’s simple to use...
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Movies Anywhere is a popular service that lets you buy your favorite flicks at one place and then watch them in any other participating location. Essentially that means you can buy a movie on iTunes or Vudu and then port that movie to any other service to watch wherever you happen to be and on whatever participating device is most convenient for you. One of the big tech firms that wasn't part of the Movies Anywhere realm was Microsoft, but as of this week that is changing. Microsoft is now a Movies Anywhere partner with support for Windows 10 and the Xbox now available. To get encourage users to...
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It's almost comical to think of the sheer number of Windows 10 versions there are out there - a list that's still growing. Today, we have Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, N editions of some versions, and last, but not least, an "Enterprise for Remote Sessions" will soon be joining the list. Interestingly, Microsoft isn't talking about this edition quite yet, despite the fact that the listing has appeared in the latest Insider build (17713). Based on earlier information, it seems likely that this edition is designed entirely around the idea of using remote...
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Initial impressions of Microsoft's smaller Surface device, the Surface Go, are overwhelmingly possible with several reviews heaping on the praise. There is a lot to like about a more portable and affordable Surface. There are also compromises that come with form factor. Those compromises are highlighted in a new teardown analysis that reveals a sticky situation for DIY repairs. If you have the right tools, cracking open the Surface Go is not that difficult, though you will have to wrestle with adhesive right from the get-go. One thing that works in the Surface Go's favor, however, is its smaller...
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Microsoft's smaller, more affordable Surface tablet is now shipping to customers. Unveiled earlier this month, the Surface Go is a 10-inch tablet that weighs a scant 1.15 pounds, making it the smallest and lightest Surface to date. Best of all, it won't smack you in the wallet or purse—pricing starts at a reasonable $399 for the entry-level configuration "Surface Go marks an important inflection point in our Surface journey... At only 1.15 pounds, Surface Go gives you the versatility and portability of a tablet, the performance of a laptop and the option of smartphone-like LTE connectivity,...
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