It seems that Microsoft might not be the sole supplier of the Hololens as Asus is apparently in talks with the company to build its own version. This would make Asus the first third-party company to build a version of Microsoft's augmented reality headset if a deal can be made. …
Read More »PS4 and Xbox One combined sales 40% higher over last gen
We knew that the current generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft have been doing pretty well in terms of sales but it seems that things are going significantly better than even last generation. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 went on for eight and seven years respectively before being …
Read More »Microsoft hasn’t fixed Windows 10’s sticky corners in six months
Although Windows 10 was only released at the end of July and is now in the hands of more than 110 million users around the world, it was nestled into a few million Windows Insider PCs well before that. The purpose of that OS early access was to make it …
Read More »Lenovo didn’t want to sell Microsoft’s Surface due to competition
Microsoft has been pushing its Surface pretty hard recently, striking deals with Dell and HP to get the tablet in to businesses. It turns out that at one point, Microsoft's plans also involved getting Lenovo on-board to help sell the Windows tablet but the company got turned down. Lenovo didn't …
Read More »Microsoft claims a ‘vast majority’ of Xbox One owners use Kinect
The Kinect has never been all that popular. The peripheral didn't perform all that well back when it first launched on the Xbox 360 and even now on the Xbox One, the Kinect can still be very hit and miss. Microsoft made the popular decision to unbundle the Kinect from …
Read More »The Xbox One wireless controller adapter for PC arrives next week
Back at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year, it was announced that those with Xbox One controllers would get the chance to use them with their PCs at some point this year. Now, that time has finally come, plenty of PC gamers like to use a controller from time …
Read More »Halo 5: Guardians is a massive game
Microsoft's biggest exclusive of the year is about to roll around in a few weeks time and it looks like retail copies are leaking out already. Halo 5: Guardians is due out on the 27th of October but just days after the game going gold (meaning ready to ship), images …
Read More »Rise of the Tomb Raider will have microtransactions
Microtransactions in full-priced $60 game releases is a trend that is catching on scarily fast at the moment. The latest title to incorporate them is Rise of the Tomb Raider, the sequel to the highly rated 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. In Rise of the Tomb Raider, you won't be buying …
Read More »Microsoft may be replacing the Windows 10 control panel
Windows 10 has been out for a few months and for the most part, people seem to like it. However, at the moment there are two systems for changing system settings, the classic control panel that we've grown familiar with over the years and the new ‘Settings' menu. Now as …
Read More »Sony cuts the price of the PS4 by $50
Sony has a tough holiday season ahead of it. Microsoft's Xbox One has been slowly gaining popularity over the year and while Sony still has a lead in terms of PS4 sales, it doesn't have a lot of first party titles on offer this Christmas, leaving Microsoft to lure people …
Read More »Windows 10 is coming to ‘other devices’ in December
Windows 10 has been out for desktop users since the end of July, with it already being installed on 110 million devices. However, Microsoft is also bringing the operating system to other devices, in December, starting off with Windows 10 for smartphones, launching alongside the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL. …
Read More »Microsoft claims its Skylake Surface Book is ‘most powerful on planet’
Although Microsoft has never not been a hardware company, it's software has always been its bread and butter. Its tablet drive in the early ‘oos never really gathered much steam and the Zune series was hardly a game changer. However it's had much more success in recent years with its Surface …
Read More »The Hololens dev kit will be available early next year
Microsoft surprised us all back in January when it showed off the Hololens for the first time. Since then, the company has put a ton of effort in to showing off interesting demos for the device, including ones based around Halo and Minecraft at E3. Now, developers know exactly when …
Read More »110 million devices are already running Windows 10
Microsoft has revealed that 110 million devices have already made the jump to Windows 10, just a few months after its original launch at the end of July this year. Now the company just has another 900 million devices to go before it hits the 1 billion device target it …
Read More »Microsoft wants to use machine learning to improve battery life
Over the last few years as our portable devices get more and more powerful, battery life has started to take a bit of a hit and unfortunately, nobody has quite figured out how to make bigger, longer-lasting batteries for super thin and light products yet. As a result, companies have …
Read More »All Xbox One controllers will soon be remappable
Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One Elite controller has a lot of cool benefits, like higher quality build materials, extra trigger switches on the back and replacement thumbsticks and buttons, but perhaps the most exciting feature is that users can remap the gamepad's functions. The only real downside is that it's much …
Read More »Intel alters design of ‘Skylake’ processors to enhance security
Intel Corp. has announced that starting from late October it will ship new processors based on the “Skylake” micro-architecture with enabled Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology. The new central processing units will feature new S-Spec and MM numbers, but will continue to use the same physical dies as existing CPUs. …
Read More »Microsoft has acquired the Havok physics engine from Intel
Microsoft has revealed that it has completed its acquisition of the Havok Physics engine and animation software from Intel. You will likely recognize the Havok logo from many games, the engine has been used in more than six hundred titles over the years and now it is in Microsoft's hands. Recent …
Read More »Microsoft has a bunch of Xbox One bundles for the holiday season
The end of the year is approaching, which means lots of video game releases in the lead up to Christmas. The holiday season also tends to be the time for deals and console bundles, of which Microsoft has announced quite a few. Anyone looking to buy an Xbox One this …
Read More »Google and Microsoft call a truce on in-progress lawsuits
Google and Microsoft have called a truce on their legal battles in the US and Germany, spanning across many lawsuits all in regards to certain patents and royalties- perhaps Apple and Samsung could find some inspiration here. Some of the lawsuits concerned Xbox technology, while others were related to mobile …
Read More »Microsoft lists flagship Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL online
Microsoft jumped the gun a bit and went live with a listing for the Lumia 950 flagship Windows smartphone today, ahead of its official announcement. There were two devices, the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950XL, which we have hears about thanks to previous leaks and rumours. The prices weren't …
Read More »Intel Pentium ‘Skylake’ processors make it to retail
The most affordable microprocessors based on the “Skylake” micro-architecture have finally managed to reach the market. The new Intel Pentium G4500T is now sold in select stores in Tokyo, Japan, and is expected to become available in other parts of the world, making low-cost PCs featuring the latest micro-architecture from Intel …
Read More »HP unveils entry-level workstation with Xeon Skylake, DDR4, fast SSDs
Hewlett-Packard has introduced its new-generation entry-level Z-series workstations that use a variety of new technologies, including Intel Corp.’s latest microprocessors. The new machines can run serious tasks, yet they feature compact sizes and relatively affordable price-points. The HP Z240 Tower and Z240 SFF [small form-factor] workstations are based on Intel’s …
Read More »AMD’s talks with private equity firm Silver Lake stalled – report
The discussions between Advanced Micro Devices and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners have stalled because the two companies have failed to agree on the price and the future of AMD. The chip designer is reportedly considering other options. Silver Lake was interested to acquire a 25 per cent stake …
Read More »Project Spark drops micro-transactions, cancels DLC plans
Last year, Microsoft tried something a little different with Project Spark, a game in which players were given control to create their own levels and adventures. The initial game was free to play, though there were DLC plans in place and additional assets for the game could be bought to …
Read More »Microsoft gets slap on wrist from Chinese authorities over anti-trust
Giant tech firms have a history of getting hit with gut-shots during anti-trust cases, facing massive criticism and huge fines, but Microsoft seems to have mostly skated in its latest case in China, where it was given only a minor fine for breaching anti-trust law, as it was said not …
Read More »Intel: Usage of DDR3 at default voltages can damage “Skylake”
Intel Corp.’s latest “Skylake” processors officially support only DDR3L and DDR4 memory, but there are motherboards for the new chips that can also use DDR3. While the chips can work with previous-gen memory, prolonged usage of such dynamic random access memory (DRAM) can damage microprocessors, according to Intel. DDR4 memory …
Read More »Halo 6 is already being planned out, along with the next ten years of Halo
Halo 5: Guardians is just on the horizon but Microsoft and 343 Industries are already planning for the future. Not only is Halo 6 already in the planning stages, but so is the next ten years of the franchise. 343 Industries' own Frank O'Connor and Bonnie Ross have discussed the …
Read More »Minecraft is coming to the Oculus Rift after all
Back when Facebook originally acquired Oculus, quite a few people took issue with it, one person being Markus Persson, the man behind Minecraft. At the time, Persson cancelled his version of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift but things have changed since then, Mojang has since been sold to Microsoft, Persson …
Read More »Windows update disables SafeDisc DRM in Windows Vista/7/8
Earlier this year, it was discovered that Windows 10 doesn't support SafeDisc or SecuROM DRM software, which also means that games or software using those forms of DRM won't run without some tinkering. Microsoft did this for security purposes as these forms of DRM aren't entirely secure. Now, a similar …
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