Microsoft has confirmed that the company will be releasing a “cut-down” version of Windows 8.1 for OEM's. This will allow manufacturers to create cheaper devices for consumers and will help combat competition from open source solutions such as Android, Linux and even Chrome OS. The cheaper version of Microsoft's OS …
Read More »How successful can consoles be in China?
China lifted its 13 year long console ban back in January and as a result, console makers are preparing to capture the market. Microsoft has already announced that it will be launching the Xbox One in China sometime in September but Sony might not be far behind as it is …
Read More »Microsoft Mobile working on new Android-powered X smartphones
Microsoft Corp. does not have plans to discontinue Nokia X-branded smartphones that are based on the heavily-modified Google Android operating system. Furthermore, a media report claims that a team at Microsoft Mobile is already working on the next-generation X handsets featuring the same OS and some improvements. The Nokia X …
Read More »China bans government PCs from using Windows 8
Poor old Windows 8. It's not had the easiest time of things since it's launch back in 2012, getting slammed from all sides by gamers and pretty much anyone that wasn't using a tablet. Since then it's regained some momentum, especially with its 8.1 release, but continued to remain the …
Read More »Microsoft unveils Surface 3 Pro, calls it a laptop replacement
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday introduced its all-new Surface 3 Pro tablet aimed at business users and enterprises. The slate is extremely thin and light, yet, it has a high-definition retina-class 12” display, is based on a high-performance x86 microprocessor and sports Windows 8 Pro operating system. Microsoft claims that the …
Read More »AMD’s ‘Mullins’ APU fails to win designs with tablet makers – report
While Advanced Micro Devices was late to market with its chips for netbooks, the company’s accelerated processing units for inexpensive low-power laptops are quite popular nowadays thanks to relatively high performance, rich functionality and low cost. Unfortunately, AMD’s APUs designed for tablets still have not become any popular. Although AMD …
Read More »8GB of RAM may not be enough for future video games – Crytek
The new generation video game consoles have significantly higher amount of random access memory (RAM) than previous-generation systems, which allows to significantly improve visual quality of new video games. But will 8GB of RAM inside Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 be enough for future video games? According to …
Read More »WhatsApp has been pulled from the Windows Phone Store
Whatsapp has been mysteriously taken off of the Windows Phone Store by the app developer as it is completely incompatible with the upcoming and long awaited Windows Phone 8.1 update. The incompatibility was discovered by the developers while beta testing a preview version of the app. The developer has found …
Read More »Microsoft Xbox One to gain support for external hard drives ‘soon’
One of the biggest complaints gamers have about the new-generation game consoles – Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 – is the lack of support for external hard disk drives. While both companies promised to add such support in the past, so far neither has done it. Fortunately, according …
Read More »Microsoft officially announces Halo 5: Guardians
Microsoft has officially announced Halo 5: Guardians ahead of its E3 presentation in just a few weeks. The game is in development at 343 Industries and is currently on track for an Autumn 2015 release. The next big title is described as a “massive and exciting project” and according to …
Read More »Will Kinect-less Xbox One help it rival PS4?
In-case you hadn't heard, Microsoft announced last night that it was going to be selling an Xbox One without its Kinect motion tracking camera. This is perhaps the second biggest U-turn the company has taken since the original announcement of the console, where after endless backlash, it went back on …
Read More »Microsoft ‘unbundles’ Kinect from Xbox One, console now starts at $399
In a rather unexpected move Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a new version of Xbox One video game console that comes without Kinect and thus costs the same amount of money as the arch-rival PlayStation 4: $399 in the USA. The move outlines a major strategy change for the console. …
Read More »Microsoft may be removing the Xbox Live Gold requirement for media
Microsoft might be planning to remove the Xbox Live Gold requirement for media apps, something Xbox users have been asking for since the launch of the 360. The change in policy is said to be directly linked to Don Mattrick leaving the company, who has since been replaced by Phil …
Read More »Apple hires senior Nokia PureView camera specialist
Although sales of Nokia smartphones have been on the decline for quite a while, many market observers agree that the company’s handsets feature the industry’s best cameras. Select smartphones from Nokia even provide better imaging capabilities than many mainstream cameras. Apparently, not all people who developed the know-hows that are …
Read More »PS4 to sell 51 million units by 2016
According to the International Data Corporation, the Playstation 4 is on track to sell 51 million units by 2016 which will top the Xbox One globally. However, if Microsoft were to unbundle the Kinect, then its console would have a real shot at over throwing Sony in sales in North …
Read More »Microsoft, Google and Facebook join the fight for net neutrality
Back in January a US court struck down the FCC's rules on net neutrality and since then the Federal Commission has been working on a new set of rules that would allow ISP's to charge Americans extra for things like watching Netflix or Hulu. Obviously this is a completely immoral …
Read More »Microsoft has no plans for portable Xbox – company
Microsoft Corp. has no plans to create a portable game system, the head of Xbox division said. Instead, the company plans to focus on advancing smartphones and tablets. This is not the first time when Microsoft denies any plans to develop a handheld Xbox dedicated video game console. “I don't …
Read More »Titanfall sales were positive- EA will publish its sequels
Respawn and EA have been pretty tight lipped on the subject of Titanfall sales numbers but it turns out, the game actually sold a lot which led to EA signing a deal to publish the game's sequels. Titanfall sold close to a million copies in the US alone throughout March, …
Read More »IDC: Sony’s PlayStation 4 to win this round of console wars
Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 was not a particularly successful product partly because one of its rivals was considerably less expensive and other was available for a longer time and at lower price. But with the PlayStation 4 the company is projected to make a comeback thanks to the fact …
Read More »Nokia’s new CEO bets on Internet-of-Things, new devices to revive the company
Now that Nokia Corp. got rid of its devices and services division which sold smartphones and mobile phones, it has three business units with which it needs to return to profitability and grow. While all three business units can potentially grow exponentially under certain conditions, the company clearly needs a …
Read More »AMD unveils new roadmap, plans to offer pin-compatible x86 and ARM chips
Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced details concerning its longer-term roadmap. The firm disclosed plans to develop its own ARMv8 core implementations as well as pin-compatible microprocessors and accelerated processing units based on ARM and x86 architecture. But while the company unveiled a clear and logical strategy regarding low-power and …
Read More »Bill Gates is no longer Microsoft’s biggest share holder
Bill Gates is no longer Microsoft's largest individual share holder for the first time in the company's history. It was revealed that Gates sold off some shares last week in a regulatory filing, leaving him with 330.1 million shares, which puts him second behind former CEO, Steve Ballmer, who owns 333 …
Read More »Microsoft fixes IE security flaw- even on XP
Earlier this week we reported on an Internet Explorer bug that could potentially hurt Windows XP users since the decade old OS was no longer supported. However, Microsoft decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to leave its XP users at risk and fixed the bug. Microsoft announced the …
Read More »Amazon Web Services reportedly begins to develop its own chips
Amazon Web Services, a service arm of Amazon and one of the world’s largest providers of cloud services, recently established silicon optimization engineering team (SOET) with the aim to create custom server platforms and microprocessors. The company has already begun to hire specialists to develop highly-tailored server platforms. Nowadays companies …
Read More »Xbox boss confirms that Microsoft is working on virtual reality
Since Sony revealed its Oculus Rift competitor, Project Morpheus, many have been wondering if Microsoft has any virtual reality plans up its sleeve but the company has so far been pretty quiet on the subject. However, Xbox boss, Phil Spencer has mentioned that Microsoft is testing it and realises that …
Read More »Skype is finally offering free group video calls to everyone
Microsoft is finally catching up to the competition and offering free group video calls to Skype users on Windows desktop, Mac and Xbox One. Previously, group video chatting was reserved for Skype Premium members only, which could cost as much as £8.50 a month. Rivals such as Google Hangouts have …
Read More »HP and Foxconn team up to make cloud servers for hyperscale datacenters
Hewlett-Packard and Foxconn Electronics, the world’s largest contract maker of electronics devices, on Wednesday signed a joint venture agreement under which the two companies would produce low-cost cloud-servers aimed at big online service providers. The machines will be tailored for individual customers. The changing needs of cloud computing require a …
Read More »Sales of Nokia Lumia drop for second consecutive quarter
Nokia Corp. this week announced financial results for the first quarter of 2014. While the company did not provide a lot of information regarding performance of its handset businesses, it clearly stated that there was a major decline. Apparently, as Nokia transits its devices and services division to Microsoft Corp., …
Read More »Sales of Microsoft Surface grow, but losses deepen too
Microsoft Corp. said last week that sales of its Surface media and business tablets grew significantly year-over-year in the third quarter of its fiscal 2014. While this is generally a good for the company, since the growing amount of consumers chose Surface over rivals, this also meant that the company …
Read More »Microsoft has no plans to keep Nokia brand on smartphones
As it appears, the Nokia brand-name will disappear from smartphones and mobile phones produced by the former devices and services division of Nokia Corp. that now belongs to Microsoft rather sooner than later. Microsoft Corp. is already working on consistent brand for its new devices. “The Nokia brand is available …
Read More »