While the Sony press event this week has largely been received as a wasted opportunity, it speaks more to the fate of the game console than the PS4. Microsoft may win the next generation, but will winning really look like total victory or merely an example of being the best loser? With microconsoles shaking up the entire industry from top to bottom, the game console as we know it looks doomed. → Read More
A number of solid reports, including a new domain name, XboxEvent.com registered to Microsoft, are pointing to an Xbox event in April. While most console reveals happen at E3, as evidenced by Sony’s mystery-filled conference, Microsoft will probably announce specs and some launch titles and leave the money shot for Los Angeles in June. → Read More
Microsoft’s Lync, the company’s enterprise communications platform, doesn’t get a lot of hype, but it’s currently being used by 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies. The Lync ecosystem now includes more than 1,000 partners, and Microsoft has sold more than 5 million subscriptions to Lync’s voice service (up from 3 million just over a year ago). This week, the company is hosting a three-day… → Read More
Six months after its initial launch, the preview of Outlook.com, Microsoft’s free webmail service that is meant to replace the aging Hotmail brand and design, now has over 60 million active users according to the company’s own data. Today, Microsoft is officially taking Outlook.com out of preview and will start prompting its 360 million Hotmail users to switch to the new service (while keeping… → Read More
The news that Opera is shutting down the development of its own browser rendering engine and moving to the open source WebKit engine cause quite a stir earlier this week. With WebKit powering the built-in browsers of Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, it’s already the de-facto standard engine for the mobile and it has the potential to do the same on the desktop. Worldwide, Chrome now holds a … → Read More
Both Microsoft and Sony like to wow us with big numbers proclaiming how they are moving beyond games, but the numbers don’t really stack up. For all its vaunted efforts in TV partnerships, for example, the average Xbox is only used for a couple of movies per week. All the rest is games. Both need to stop distracting themselves with some ur-market fantasies of media hubs, or be destroyed. → Read More
What I’m about to say is undoubtedly going to piss some of you off. And that’s fine. Because in a few years, I’ll be right and you’ll look silly.
While everyone is focused on the next generation video game consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft — the latter two of which should be coming later this year — Apple is going to dominate them all. And it won’t even be that… → Read More
I love the idea of the Surface: compelling hardware, striking form factor, and, in the case of the Pro, smart compromises to offer a good value. But the products fail to live up to their promise. They have first generation bugs. But maybe a low-priced Surface with a smaller screen could finally help bring the Surface promise to life. It just better run Windows Phone 8 and not Windows RT. → Read More
At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference this morning, Microsoft’s CFO Peter Klein was asked about the importance of Bing for the company. According to Klein, Microsoft decided to launch its own search engine because it saw it as a “massive business opportunity,” not only as a stand-alone search engine, but also to help it improve other parts of its business. → Read More
Yahoo’s search deal with Microsoft is underperforming, CEO Marissa Mayer said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. → Read More
Microsoft launched its curious Surface Pro hybrid earlier this week, but it turns out that actually trying to buy one was a bit more problematic than people had hoped. Folks looking to get their respective hands on one of the 128GB models had it especially rough — the $999 device sold out in Microsoft’s online store and some of the company’s retail outlets, not to mention some Best Buy and… → Read More
Today at the D: Dive Into Media conference, representatives from Microsoft provided more details on its new video-production studio, which will provide a whole new level of interactivity for viewers. Nancy Tellem said that the company has already hired 150 employees in its Santa Monica studio in L.A. That’s a huge commitment to creating a whole new type of content for its Xbox game console. → Read More
The war for your living room rages on, and Microsoft has no intention of yielding any hard-fought ground to its gaming rivals. Rumors of a new Xbox have been flying around for months now, but Kotaku has put together the mother of all next-gen Xbox (a.k.a. Xbox 720, a.k.a. Durango) posts thanks to a secretive-but-chatty source known as SuperDaE — if the moniker sounds familiar, he’s the guy who… → Read More
A handsome man pulls out a Microsoft Surface Pro from his bag. He’s wearing a well-cut suit (he’s at work.) He’s a hipster, but a serious one. While putting the Surface Pro on the table, two attractive women stop their conversation to look at this unknown and remarkable computer. Or is it a tablet? Either way, they’re ready to dance. → Read More
Three American companies-Apple, Microsoft and Adobe-have been summoned by the Australian Parliament to explain why they charge higher prices Down Under than in other countries. → Read More
The year was 2004. I had just graduated college and my old Gateway mini tower PC was on its last legs. I was about to move out to California to begin my life. My parents asked what I wanted as a present before I left. But they already knew the answer. Dude, I was getting a Dell.
I went online and customized the hell out of an Inspiron 8600. The price tag was well over $3,000. The thing was a… → Read More
The news that next-generation consoles may lock games to devices is not controversial by itself, but the willingness to price those games effectively is not historically a strength of Microsoft or Sony. More likely a have-cake-and-eat-it attitude is at play, but that risks driving away younger players to microconsoles like the OUYA. → Read More
Microsoft’s 128GB Surface Pro has sold out in the online Microsoft Store in the U.S., just a few hours after going on sale today, February 9. The 64GB version is still available as of this writing, and the Surface Pro is still likely in stock at physical retail locations like Best Buy, where it also went on sale today, although checking the stock levels via their online tool reports the Surface… → Read More
Spotify has just landed on the Windows Phone 8 platform, giving Microsoft’s mobile users access to one of the world’s largest music streaming platforms.
Before today, the app was only available on iOS, Android, Symbian, and to legacy Windows Phone users, but Spotify has spread the love around to the newest version of the Windows Phone software. → Read More
A new feature from Microsoft allows people to share and edit documents from SkyDrive in Office Web Apps without the recipient having to sign in to their Microsoft account. → Read More
Hey Microsoft, 2004 called. It wants its privacy outrage debate back. Microsoft is on the rampage lately, aggressively attacking Google on search, shopping, and email, the latter which is now featured on Microsoft’s infamous “Scroogled” site where – get this! – Microsoft goes after Gmail because Google reads your email to target you with ads! Seriously. → Read More
One of the most-rumored features of the mythical Apple television set is Siri integration that would allow you to naturally ask questions and issue commands to your TV, but Microsoft may beat Apple to the punch, if a new report from The Verge is accurate. Microsoft already has some voice features built into the current generation Xbox, but the next-gen console will get much-improved abilities… → Read More
I come bearing glad tidings. After decades of OEM malaise, a constant parroting of the speeds and feeds mantra, and an aesthetic that was formulated in the back room of a dingy Staples office supply store, the PC is really back.
In short, the Surface Pro is so good that it could drive Windows 8 adoption with enough force to make people reconsider Microsoft’s odd new OS. Microsoft bet the farm… → Read More
The gap between a full-fledged PC and a touchscreen tablet has finally found a bridge in the Microsoft Surface Pro. The Windows 8 device will be available for purchase on February 9, but we got a sneak peek with the Surface Pro and took it for a test spin in the Fly Or Die studios.
So what’s the verdict? → Read More
When it comes to designing new hardware, most companies are pretty quiet about the design process. Microsoft, with its Surface tablets, is taking a far more open approach than many other companies. Just a few days ahead of the launch of the Intel-powered Surface Pro, I got a chance to sit down with Ralf Groene, Microsoft’s Director of Industrial Design, earlier this week to talk about the history… → Read More
I loathe using some websites. Twitter and Facebook are horrific on the web when compared to their iOS/Android apps. I simply refuse to use Zillow’s website; I’ll wait until my kids are done with the iPad to look for our new place. The same is true for Tumblr and other sites. The mobile first strategy is in full force and Microsoft needs to hop on board.
With Windows 8, Microsoft is forcefully… → Read More
In an effort to create more synergy between its products, Microsoft’s search platform Bing has announced that Office 365 Premium is now available to users. The five apps included in the add-on for the newly launched Office 365 and Office 2013 make it easier for users to insert information and images directly from Bing searches into their documents. They are: Bing Finance for Excel, Bing Maps for… → Read More
Even though Microsoft itself would prefer to change this, many users still rely on older versions of Internet Explorer. For developers, this means spending hours on testing their web apps to ensure they work on IE8 and IE7, for example. Microsoft, which has worked hard on making IE9 and IE10 compatible with standards like HTML5 and CSS3, is fully aware of this problem and today launched modern.IE… → Read More
Microsoft just made a major announcement that will likely take many developers by surprise. At the ALM Summit in Redmond, WA this morning, Microsoft Brian Harry just announced that its Team Foundation Server and hosted Team Foundation Service (TFS), as well as the complete Visual Studio 2012 suite (through a plugin the company is releasing today) will offer support for Git, the increasingly… → Read More
Microsoft is pinching CIOs by not providing an easy way to run the just released Microsoft Office 2013 on anything except Windows RT. With little cross-platform integration, Microsoft is creating an opening for vendors that have a more clear path for accessing documents on a mobile device. → Read More
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