Items tagged with Microsoft
There's no denying that Android is absolutely crushing Microsoft's Window Phone platform in the mobile space, yet the better Android performs, the more Microsoft laughs all the way to the bank. That's because Microsoft makes big money off of Android patent royalties, and if you can fatten your pockets off the success...
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As we inch closer to the U.S. release of Microsoft's Xbox One, you can bet that you'll be hearing more and more about its features and functionality. Of course, a major selling point for the next-generation unit is speed: graphics and otherwise. The new Kinect sensor seems markedly quicker at recognizing inputs, and...
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Ever since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his retirement in August, the company has been busily hunting for a new head honcho, and according to a Reuters report, among those on the shortlist are Nokia’s Stephen Elop, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, and three other external candidates whose names could not be...
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Microsoft has several valid reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 8.1, which is free if you already own Windows 8. However, there's a known issue that might give some gamers pause before clicking through in the Windows Store. There have been complaints of mouse problems after applying the Windows 8.1 update, most...
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It shouldn't come as any surprise that companies (particularly those in the technology realm) are now being asked to explain themselves more frequently when it comes to privacy. And, given that the next generation of home consoles are nearly here, it's Microsoft that's coming clean on privacy as it relates to the Xbox...
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If Microsoft ever had a "killer app," it could be argued it's their omnipotent Office productivity suite. From college students to home users, small business and the big iron enterprise, Microsoft Office is the de facto standard from which many a memorandum has been penned or spread sheet crunched. It's also one...
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Microsoft’s long-awaited update to its Windows 8 operating system, Windows 8.1, recently landed, and already it’s clear that many users are taking advantage of the free upgrade. According to NetMarketShare’s numbers, Windows 8.1 rose to 1.72% of the desktop OS market share after starting at 0.39% in...
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What’s that, you say? You’re sick to death of the high-stakes patent wars being waged by huge tech companies against one another? Well too bad, because if anything, things are just escalating. A consortium called Rockstar, which is comprised of Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson, and Sony, is suing...
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Microsoft’s Kinect is nothing short of impressive, but it can used for much more than just entertaining games. Microsoft Research Asia is developing the Kinect Sign Language Translator system which translates sign language into text or speech (and vice versa) in real time. Microsoft Research Asia has been...
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The PS4 and Xbox One aren't out yet, but that's not stopping them from facing off in Battlefield 4, the next-generation, just-launched title from EA/DICE. We highlighted some of the visual differences we might expect between the console and PC versions of the game based on the performance of the in-game scaling...
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If you're still rocking Windows XP, we admire your dedication and ability to squeeze over a decade of use out of an operating system you presumably purchased long ago (nobody pirates XP, right?), but the end is nigh if you care at all about security. Come April 2014, Microsoft will cease supporting the legacy OS, thereby leaving your system...
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When Windows Vista first came out, it was plagued by problems, including performance issues and compatibility woes (most of which were resolved with the first Service Pack). At the time, there were some who predicted that Linux would supplant Windows as the mainstream OS. That didn't happen, of course, partly because SP1 solved most of Vista's...
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One thing that's going to set the next-gen consoles apart from current-gen is the huge focus on multi-tasking. While the current crop of consoles support a multitude of different apps, switching between them isn't too elegant, and one might cancel another out. A new video showing-off multi-tasking on the Xbox One...
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Nokia's recently announced Lumia 2520 tablet is drawing high praise from Qualcomm, the company who's Snapdragon 800 processor is powering the device. There's nothing unusual about that -- Qualcomm has a vested interest in the Lumia 2520's success -- but what's interesting is that the praise is coming at the expense of...
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Microsoft reported its fiscal Q1 2014 revenue, and things are actually looking pretty solid for Redmond. For the three-month period ending on September 30th, GAAP Revenue was up 16% to $18.53 billion from about $16 billion, and operating income was up from $5.31 billion to $6.33 billion. The numbers include $113...
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Microsoft's Surface 2 became available for purchase at retail earlier this week and we've had an eval unit in-hand for testing since the day before launch. Powered by NVIDIA's new quad-core Tegra 4 SoC, and driven by Windows 8.1 RT, the Surface 2 offers stiff competition to the recently announced iPad Air. From a total package perspective,...
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Microsoft has gotten a bad rap at times over the years for being a bit too square and not really understanding what the cool kids want out of their tech, and those criticisms have certainly at times been warranted. But the company’s Surface Music Kit app, and especially its associated Music Cover, is very, very...
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This summer, Microsoft cut the price of its Surface Pro tablets by $100, and now it’s dropping the cost again by another hundo. The 64GB Surface Pro is now $699, and the 128GB version is $799. Both prices are for the tablet only--Touch or Type Covers are still extra. Regular Surface models, which run Windows RT, are $349 (32GB), $399...
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We've said before that we think Microsoft might be onto something with its second generation Surface systems. Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 are thinner, lighter, faster, and more feature-rich than the first generation Surface tablets, and though we'll reserve final judgement until we're able to formally review these devices, what we saw during...
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The future successes of wearable computing are uncertain at this point, but as we discussed back in August, some research firms do believe that shipping values could skyrocket over the next couple of years. In particular, IHS predicts that 10 million "smart glasses" alone will ship between 2012 - 2016 - intriguing...
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When we covered Microsoft’s unveiling of the second generation of its Surface devices, the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, we were impressed with the hardware and the in-person experience, and now those devices are available from the Microsoft Store and at several third-party retailers in 21 initial markets. The...
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That rumored Nokia tablet is now a Real Thing, as the company announced its Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet along with a slew of other products, including two new Lumia phones and three Asha handsets. The Lumia 2520 tablet looks quite a bit like Microsoft’s Surface tablets, right down to the kickstand and Type-style...
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