Items tagged with NASDAQ:MSFT
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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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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If you were hoping to score an Xbox One Day One Standard Edition console on day of release, you'll need to put procrastination in its place and get on the ball. New and used games retailer GameStop announced that it's taking final per-orders on the launch day edition of Microsoft's next generation console, which will...
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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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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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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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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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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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A few weeks back we gave you a first-hand look at the performance of Intel's new low power Bay Trail Atom System-On-A-Chip for tablets and hybrid devices. Bay Trail, the follow-on to Intel's Clover Trail Atom design, comes in both dual and quad-core variants and offers better overall performance-per-watt than the...
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Give Microsoft credit for its aggressive efforts to unify its ecosystem across a range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops. What's more, it looks like you'll be able to run Windows 8 applications on the company's upcoming Xbox One console, which launches to retail on November 22, 2013 in...
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Some of you are already rocking Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update (if you are, please let us know in the comments section below what you think of the new features) and that's because the Redmond software giant began rolling it out the yesterday in the Windows Store. Now 24 hours later, Windows 8.1 is available all around...
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Lenovo announced a new Windows 8.1 tablet to its lineup with the Miix2, an 8-inch device that comes with an optional cover and a stylus. The successor to the Lenovo Miix, the Mixx2 will ship with Windows 8.1 on board, with all that entails, and it boasts some impressive specs, too. The device rocks a quad-core Intel...
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We're being bombarded by gadgets and mobile electronic devices that offer persistent online connectivity, and if you're a parent, that means having to decide when to allow your child to have access to certain gear, like computers, tablets, smartphones, handheld gaming devices, and so forth. Every family is different...
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