Items tagged with Microsoft
NVIDIA's Tegra 3 has come alive at Mobile World Congress, first popping into select handsets in HTC's new "One" line of smartphones, and now, it'll be making its way into tablets that use Windows 8. At the trade show today, NVIDIA confirmed today that it is working with Microsoft on a program to distribute Windows 8 test PCs to software developers...
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Great news if you're a Windows fan. Microsoft has just made available the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which you can download right this very second. Included in the Consumer Preview is the much ballyhooed Metro UI along with scores of changes -- over 100,000 -- Microsoft made to the OS since releasing the Developer...
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Microsoft knows the times are changing, and change they will. With Metro taking over in Windows 8, it's about time we saw the refreshed logo for the next major step in the evolution of Windows. This is it. This is the redesigned Windows logo, and honestly, it looks almost nothing like the prior "flag." In fact, this...
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Last week, Windows 8's head developer, Steven Sinofsky, published an 8,600-word blog post describing virtually every facet of Windows 8's development, including the hardware Microsoft has used for system testing and simulation. One of the major bullet points of the announcement was the following: WOA includes desktop...
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Get ready to see Firefox like you've never seen it before. Mozilla is working on an all new version of its popular browser for Windows 8, which will include a new Firefox front end and system integration points that will better integrate with the Metro UI environment. It will be a full-screen browser focused on touch...
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The second Patch Tuesday of 2012 falls on February 14, otherwise known as Valentine's Day, and instead of a box of chocolates or flowers, Microsoft is giving its users the gift of security via nine security bulletins. Four of the updates are rated Critical and other five are labeled Important by the Redmond software...
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Doing anything special for leap year? Now you are. Microsoft just announced that a Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be made available to the public starting Feb. 29th, between 3PM and 5PM, presumably local time. Oddly, the move is being made in conjunction with the Mobile World Congress trade show, which is obviously focused on mobile, not...
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With all the recent discussions of future consoles from Sony and Microsoft, we've decided to tackle one of the most significant questions--should future consoles be upgradeable? Historically, console add-ons that boosted the performance of the primary unit haven't done well. Sega's Mega-CD and 32x additions to the original Genesis both failed;...
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Customer service. It's hugely important, but oft goes unchecked. In many cases, it's just outright overlooked. The amount of CSR complaints revolving around technology companies in general is staggering, and honestly, it's tough to find a single company with overwhelmingly positive remarks regarding service to the...
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Is there anything more rad than a Star Wars themed Xbox 360 game console? Had you asked us that question three decades ago, we would have looked at you funny, asked what the frak an Xbox 360 is, and then inquired if they make a Star Wars version of the Atari 2600, the coolest game system on the planet back then. It's...
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Nokia's hotly anticipated Lumia 900 smartphone built around Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 platform isn't scheduled to launch for another month and a half, but if you want to reserve yours now, all you need is $25 and you're good to go, assuming you live nearby a Microsoft Store. If not, you'll also need a tank of gas...
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As promised, Microsoft has released Kinect for Windows. You may recall that Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft's plans at CES to ship Kinect for Windows on February 1st. Now, that day is here, and Microsoft is making good on its promise. With version 1.0 of the SDK and runtime, you'll get full support for up to four Kinect sensors that...
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It didn't take Microsoft long to realize that they had more than they bargained for with Kinect. While originally intended only for use with the Xbox 360, the motion sensing device soon found a home with PC hackers. After first rejecting the notion, Microsoft soon changed their tune and began to embrace the hackerspace. Earlier this month...
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A leaked roadmap for AT&T suggests the carrier is planning to launch the Nokia Lumina 900 on March 18 for a bargain price of $99.99 with a two-year contract. Considering this phone is expected to be one of the high-end Windows Phone devices of the year, the budget-friendly price is a little surprising. Still, if this proves to be true,...
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It's been awhile since we covered the announcements coming out of the Building Windows 8 blog and there have been a number of interesting new articles published. We've got three of the biggest discussed below: New Network Management: Windows 7 made connecting to a WiFi network easy, but managing a 3G connection can be...
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It seems that there are a lot of people who aren't taking Microsoft very seriously when it comes to competing in the smartphone marketplace. However, various well-known analyst firms, including IDC, Gartner, and iSuppli, believe Windows Phone could actually overtake iOS and become the second most popular smartphone platform by 2015. The head...
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Microsoft is doing a bit of celebrating right now, if we had to guess. The company just wrapped up another quarter, and the profits are rolling in. They today announced quarterly revenue of $20.89 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011, a 5% increase from the prior year period. Operating income, net income, and...
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Remember the 'Vista Capable' lawsuit from a few years back? Microsoft appeared to have learned its lesson and enjoyed a much smoother roll out with Windows 7, and looking ahead, the Redmond software giant has already determined what will be required on the hardware side to run Windows 8. Microsoft actually released its "Windows 8 Hardware...
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We still can't get over the irony: Although Microsoft now owns Skype, the video calling service is still not available on Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. Microsoft has promised Skype will be available someday to Windows Phone users, but that's still a pretty vague timeframe. It would appear the Windows Phone Skype app may be nearing its...
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It's been a few years since Microsoft really shot itself in the foot by making itself look really unfriendly, and someone at the company must've been missing the pain. A careful read of the company's "Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements" document has revealed draconian policies that require vendors to block the installation of other...
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Perhaps Arfa Karim is a name you're not familiar with. A Pakistani student and programming prodigy, Arfa Karim became the world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in 2004 when she was just 9 years old, a title she held onto until 2008. Now, at the age of 16 years old, this talented young Pakistani who had the...
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Nokia's Lumia 710 smartphone landed at T-Mobile last week and is available for purchase for a mere $50 with a two-year service agreement (and after a $50 mail-in-rebate). It's a middle-of-the-road Windows Phone device that's fairly decent for the money, but if you're holding out for Nokia's upcoming Lumia 900 smartphone, you don't have too...
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