With Microsoft's recent purchase of Skype, rumors were flying that they might be ditching support for rival platforms. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer put the theory to death by saying “We will continue to invest in Skype on non-Microsoft client platforms.” Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion which many feel is …
Read More »Microsoft spend $8 billion on Skype (update)
Latest reports are indicating that Microsoft have closed a deal with Skype to take over the business. Apparently a deal between Microsoft and Skype has been announced for a whopping £8.5 billion (£5 billion). Skype has been one of the industries biggest success stories in recent years, after being founded …
Read More »Insider info: Microsoft planning to take over RIM in next year
Rumors have circulated before that Microsoft have been contemplating the purchase of Research In Motion (RIM). This has been fuelled recently with the deal struck behind closed doors to include Microsoft's BING search client on all upcoming BlackBerry smartphones. KitGuru heard last night from some industry insiders that Microsoft may …
Read More »Sharkoon X-Tatic SX and SP Xbox 360 and PS3 Headsets Review
Sharkoon may not be a brand that you immediately associate with gaming headsets; they are better known for their golf ball style fans. But they have been producing headsets for a while now and currently have nine different models in their lineup. These range from budget-friendly stereo headsets to full-fat …
Read More »Microsoft quarterly earnings rise 31 percent to $5.2 billion
Microsoft announced a very healthy quarterly earning report which show a 31 percent increase to $5.2 billion. This fiscal third quarter report has exceeded analyst estimates. While the figure is very positive for Microsoft, there is a rather negative aspect to the report, this is the second straight quarter that …
Read More »Microsoft launch Office 365 public beta
Microsoft have announced the availability of the full public beta of Office 365, Redmond's cloud based enterprise productivity suite that puts Office, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online into a single subscription package. Six months ago Microsoft rolled out the first limited beta of Office 365, and now they …
Read More »Microsoft sell 10 million Kinect – developers sign up
Microsoft held the MIX conference this week and the hottest topic was body language. Yesterday Microsoft said that a new tool kit is coming for developers to build motion sensor applications to run on Windows and Kinect. Everyone who attended the conference got a free Kinect motion sensor. Kinect has …
Read More »Internet Explorer 10 planned for quick release – preview available
This is an insanely fast paced industry. It seems like only yesterday when Internet Explorer 9 was released to critical acclaim and now we are already able to download an Internet Explorer 10 preview. Internet Explorer 10 is due for release next year. “We built IE9 from the ground up …
Read More »Microsoft to patch 64 vulnerabilities
Microsoft had a relatively easy March, having just three bulletins fixing four vulnerabilities. April is a different story, with 17 bulletins being issued, with 64 different vulnerability fixes. This ties with the ‘most bulletins' since December 2010 and takes the top position for the number of flaws fixed. Nine bulletins …
Read More »Steve Ballmer rated worst CEO by own staff
The latest results from Glassdoor might not surprise many of our readers, but Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO has been voted the worst CEO by employees of his own company. The employees were evaluated for a full year before the final scoring was released. Google employees rate Eric Schmidt highly as …
Read More »Microsoft include ribbon interface in Windows 8
Microsoft are set to unify the appearance of their products, if the leaked screenshots of Windows 8 are anything to go by. New images of the operating system, such as the welcome screen highlight the Windows Phone 7 lock screen, while new navigation techniques used in Office 2010 look to …
Read More »Bill Gates accused of conning Microsoft Co-founder
In a new book published by Paul Allen, he accuses Bill Gates of trying to con him out of shares in the company. The allegations are made in a book of memoirs by Allen called ‘Idea Man' which is due to be published in April by Portfolio. Allen has said …
Read More »Windows 8 to copy Apple’s Time Machine: ‘History Vault’
A leak has shown that Microsoft are planning to imitate the behaviour of Apple's popular Time Machine which has been built into Mac OS X now for many years. Windows 8 will have the new feature, called ‘History Vault'. History Vault is based around the Shadow Copies feature that has …
Read More »Microsoft Windows Thin PC Beta – for free
Microsoft are offering a locked down version of Windows 7 designed to turn cheap hardware into ‘thin-client' systems. This operating system is geared to administrators who want cheap and easy PC systems for employees, without having to worry about fixing a plethora of user generated problems. This operating system is …
Read More »Microsoft offer $7.5m for 666,624 IPV4 addresses
Microsoft have offered to pay $7.5 million for 666,624 IPv4 addresses from bankrupt Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel. This move indicates that IPv4 addresses are increasing in value as they become more scarce. Nortel have filed a motion seeking approvals for the sale from the Bankruptcy Court for the District …
Read More »Microsoft patch Windows Phone 7 – properly this time
Microsoft have updated Windows Phone 7, and it looks as if nothing has gone wrong this time. After a disastrous Windows Phone 7 pre update which hosed a lot of Samsung phones, the new update should fix many of the niggling issues with the mobile platform. The ‘NoDo' update features …
Read More »Microsoft take legal action against Barnes & Noble
More legal action news today, as Microsoft are targeting Barnes & Noble and their Android based Nook ereader device. They claim it violates their patents. Microsoft have filed legal action against Barnes & Noble and manufacturers Foxconn International Holdings and Inventec. “The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft's patents, …
Read More »Microsoft Zune wont be updated due to poor sales
By any estimations, Microsoft have failed to give Apple's iPad a serious challenge. Demand for the Zune player has led the company to finally reevaluate their strategy and shift focus to other devices. According to an inside source within the company who has spoken to Bloomberg. Microsoft will now concentrate …
Read More »Microsoft claim IE9 isn’t ‘handicapped’ like other browsers
Microsoft have made IE9 available for download yesterday, saying that IE9 relies on Windows more than any other browser on the market. Microsoft said that other browsers such as Opera, Safari, Firefox and Chrome are ‘handicapped', because they work on different operating systems. Internet Explorer 9 will use the power …
Read More »Microsoft sell 10 million Kinect – breaking world record
Microsoft may be floundering within the mobile space, but their Kinect device has just entered the Guinness World records as the fastest selling consumer electronics device. They have sold over 10 million units worldwide since it was released a short while ago. Microsoft are saying that they are selling over …
Read More »ComScore shows Android growth while Microsoft & Rim slip
ComScore have released their latest figures for the mobile OS market share, detailing the three months up to January 2011. Google's Android shows huge growth, rising 7.7 percent to take the top spot from the BlackBerry operating system. The Blackberry OS has fallen by 5.4% which will be worrying news …
Read More »Microsoft falter – tablet OS delayed until 2012
There is no doubting that in the desktop market, Microsoft have the lions share of sales figures. Sadly, the Redmond OS giant have failed constantly to make an impact in the mobile sector. The latest news just in suggests that Microsoft are delaying their tablet operating system, until 2012. Bloomberg …
Read More »Microsoft reissue Windows Phone 7 update
Microsoft have re-released the update for Windows Phone 7, after an initial problem which caused some phones to brick. The update has fixed a plethora of back end issues and was originally released last month. It all seemed to be fine until reports started filtering in that Samsung phones were …
Read More »Microsoft and Apple fight over ‘app store’ name
Apple have been trying to trademark the term ‘App Store' for a while now, but Microsoft aren't having it. The Redmond operating system giant have said that the ‘App store' name is too generic to trademark, but Apple see things in a totally different way. Apple's counsel have written a …
Read More »Microsoft say Kinect will change how we use computers
Microsoft may be having some problems right now with Windows 7 Phone software, but in the land of gaming they are reaping the rewards, selling over 8 million Kinect units in 60 days. Craig Mundie, Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer says that the Kinect way of working offers a …
Read More »Microsoft admit 10% of Windows Phone 7’s got bricked
Yesterday we reported that a recent Microsoft update for Windows Phone 7 was the cause of bricking. According to Microsoft, 90% of the people who actually got the update notification and started the process have managed to complete it successfully. 90% seems like a good number to be quoting, but …
Read More »Windows 7 SP1 official released
Microsoft have released the first official service pack for Windows 7 today. This update includes all previously released security, performance and stability updates for Windows 7. SP1 includes new improvements for certain features and services in Windows 7 such as improved relability when hooking up HDMI audio devices, printing using …
Read More »Windows 8 beta as soon as Q4 2011? (with ARM support)
A leaked roadmap of Windows 8 Milestone 2 development is hinting that the next version of Windows could be very close to release, educated sources have even indicated that it might get a beta release in Q4 this year. Windows 8 is said to be a hugely progressive release from …
Read More »Kinect gets Windows SDK release from Microsoft
The Kinect device has been a massive seller for Microsoft in the last couple of months. The modding community have also taken to it with open arms, with many videos already on Youtube showing it doing all sorts of weird, and sometimes wonderful things. Microsoft have announced that they are …
Read More »Skype dumps mobile Windows ?
There are a lot of ways to make calls in the world, and some are stranger than others. One of the more unusual couplings is using a phone call application like Skype to make phone calls over the web connection provided by a phone. KitGuru's heard Rumblings-Over-IP about a possible …
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