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 »First photo of Microsoft Surface Mini published by case maker
A smaller version of Microsoft Corp.’s Surface media tablet has been discussed ever since the launch of the original Surface back in 2012, but the software giant has never confirmed plans to release such a product. Nonetheless, in many cases rumours do materialise and the so-called Surface Mini tablet is …
Read More »Microsoft Surface 2 4G gets UK release date
The 4G version of Microsoft's much improved Surface 2 tablet will be coming to the UK next month, Microsoft has confirmed. Currently only WiFi models are available and with networks getting stricter on mobile tethering, its getting harder to use your tablet to get online while on the road. The …
Read More »Microsoft demos new Windows 8.1: like Windows 7, but without beauty
At this week’s Build conference, Microsoft Corp. demonstrated the look of the new Windows 8.1 update 2014 as well as a number of new capabilities of the modernised operating system. As expected, Microsoft returned a number of “classical” Windows elements and added some new features. Key features of the Microsoft …
Read More »Microsoft to drop Windows license fees for select devices
Microsoft Corp. announced at the Build 2014 conference on Wednesday that it would waive licensing fees for special versions of Windows operating systems for select devices. Microsoft wants to enable partners to offer lower-cost systems in the highly competitive smartphone, tablet and PC categories. Microsoft Windows will be available for …
Read More »Microsoft readies ‘Windows on Devices’, teams up with Intel
What do smartwatches, intelligent coffee mugs, robots and smart goggles have in common? It looks like Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have an answer: Intel chips and Windows software inside. At the Build 2014 conference, the two companies indicated they would team up for wearable devices, tiny intelligent electronics, robots …
Read More »Xbox head vows to bring leading games to all Microsoft platforms
Satya Nadella, the newly appointed chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., continues to re-appoint executives in an attempt to create an efficient executive team at the software giant. In addition to the new team, we are starting to see changes that Mr. Nadella wants to bring to Microsoft. For example, …
Read More »Qualcomm confirms plans to support Microsoft DirectX 12
Although Qualcomm took part in the announcement of Microsoft Corp.’s DirectX 12 application programming interface, the company’s plans regarding support of the new API were not completely clear. Last week an executive of Qualcomm confirmed that the future Adreno graphics cores will fully support DirectX 12. The current Snapdragon 800 …
Read More »Native DirectX 12 games to emerge in late 2015 – reports
While Microsoft Corp. revealed yesterday that it will release preview version of its DirectX 12 application programming interface this year, its press materials did not disclose when to expect the final version of the API and games that take complete advantage of it. According to various media reports, it looks …
Read More »Microsoft unwraps DirectX 12 for PCs, tablets, smartphones and Xbox
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday unveiled DirectX 12, the latest incarnation of one of the world’s most popular application programming interfaces. The new API can not only greatly improve rendering performance, but to also bring top-notch quality graphics to all Microsoft platforms, including personal computers, tablets/smartphones and even Xbox One. One …
Read More »Asus Transformer Book T100T (Windows 8) Tablet Review
Today we are going to take a look at a hybrid tablet from Asus – the Transformer Book T100T. Asus have been pushing the hybrid tablet concept for a while now and have released a handful of models to date … we looked at the impressive Android powered Transformer Book …
Read More »Microsoft knew that users wouldn’t like the Metro UI
Microsoft has admitted that it knew most users wouldn't like the new Windows 8 Metro user interface but not for the reasons you might think, according to Jacob Miller, a UX Designer for Microsoft, “Familiarity will always trump good design. Even if something is vastly better, if it is unfamiliar it …
Read More »Intel: we’ve changed chip design approach in the recent years
Historically, companies like Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices designed microprocessors and then software developers developed applications that took advantage of those chips. According to the head of Intel, that pattern was changed several years ago and now, before designing a new central processing unit, the world’s largest chipmaker first …
Read More »Sales of Windows 8 surpass 200 million licenses
An executive from Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that the software giant has sold over 200 million Windows 8 licenses in the first 15 months of the operating system’s general availability. While the number is high and is definitely important to Microsoft and its investors, it does not mean that …
Read More »Windows 8.1 update to bypass the Start screen, boot to desktop
Microsoft continues to go back from its modern Metro user interface to the good-old classic in a bid to lure customers to its latest operating system. Many traditional Windows users got annoyed with the boot up process of Windows 8 since it led them not to the familiar desktop, but …
Read More »Microsoft board to name Satya Nadella as new chief executive
Microsoft Corp.’s board of directors is preparing to appoint Satya Nadella on the position of the chief executive officer of the company, according to a news-agency report on Thursday. In addition, the company plans to replace chairman of the board, Bill Gates, with an independent director. The candidate to succeed …
Read More »Sales of Microsoft Surface tablets doubled in Q4 2013
Microsoft Corp.’s Surface series of media and business tablets is staring to gain traction on the market. According to the company’s latest financial results, sales of Surface doubled in the second quarter of the fiscal 2014 (calendar Q4 2013). Unfortunately, the slates still bring only losses to the software giant. …
Read More »Bill Gates denies plan to return to a full-time job to Microsoft
Along with unofficial information regarding availability of Windows 9 code-named “Threshold” operating system either in late 2013 or in early 2014, an even stranger rumour emerged: Bill Gates was set to return to a full-time executive job to Microsoft Corp. While the co-founder of Microsoft is helping to find a …
Read More »Microsoft could release Windows 9 ‘Threshold’ already this year
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8.1 has hardly become a success on the market of traditional desktops and laptops. Some PC makers are now offering to install Windows 7 instead of Windows 8.1 on their systems, which is a catastrophe for the software giant. Therefore, Microsoft has to take immediate actions. The …
Read More »Logitech M560 Wireless Mouse Review
Today we are going to look at one of Logitech's latest mice, the M560. Unlike many of the mice that pass through our labs this is not a gaming model. It has been designed for those who want a wireless mouse to use specifically with Windows 8. The M560 features …
Read More »Xbox One Gold subscription gets you free Xbox Music
If you're a current Xbox Music user and have been mulling over whether to upgrade your 360 to a One this Christmas, it might be worth considering that you won't have to pay for that music subscription if you already have a gold account on the new console. Announced by …
Read More »Haswell approach causes mass price cuts
With every new beginning, there comes an end. Just as Ivy Bridge slid into the Sandy Bridge space, so a new king will soon arrive – demanding the overthrow of the present regime. But with the glitzy new product range comes issues. Most notably for Intel and its partners, “What …
Read More »Windows 8 successor coming this year
Remember Windows ME? Windows Vista? Windows 8? Microsoft would rather you didn't and to help brush your memory of the last one further under the mat, it's already planning the release of the sequel. It's called Windows Blue and it's coming later this year. It's not a complete overhaul like you might …
Read More »Surface Pro coming to UK in May, rest of world by end of June
Microsoft has released an update on the intended release date for its Surface Pro tablet, letting eager UK buyers know that it'll be here before the end of the May and by the close of June, there won't be many places in the world you can't buy one. According to …
Read More »Asus VivoTab Smart (ME400C) Windows 8 Tablet Review
Want a tablet but struggling to justify the laptop-like price tag? Want a laptop but thinking that the larger size could be an inconvenience? Asus aims to make those problems a thing of the past with its best-of-both-worlds VivoTab Smart (ME400C) ‘hybrid' tablet. Has Asus successfully implanted laptop-class, x86 hardware …
Read More »Windows 8 a flop with Kitguru readers
It would be fair to say that Windows 8 hasn't received the warmest of welcomes among the enthusiast users who visit tech sites like Kitguru. Over the last three months we have ran several polls on Facebook and we are currently running one on the main Kitguru.net website. The results …
Read More »Windows 8, Microsoft and the upcoming Surface Pro
Yes, I am currently the very happy owner of the new Microsoft Surface. I decided to buy the 64gb version last week and have really warmed to it in the last 5 days of testing and experimentation. Windows 8 has been a hot topic of conversation for enthusiast users since …
Read More »Windows 8 supports most GoG titles
We've posted a lot of hate here for Microsoft's latest Windows operating system in the past few weeks, about sales numbers, how some people think its misguided, that it's not that fast for gaming – and of course there's been talk from Gabe Newell and Markus Persson about how it's …
Read More »You might hate Windows 8, but Microsoft Game Studio doesn’t
While Windows 8 might not be selling well, some might call it a misguided product and we know it isn't all that fast for gaming, not everyone is quite so negative. The new VP of Microsoft Game Studios, Phil Harrison, is planning dedicated development for the new OS. “We are …
Read More »DirectX 11.1 will be Windows 8 exclusive
A Microsoft spokesperson has made it very clear, that while we might have seen backwards compatibility for DirectX 11 – allowing for Vista support – DirectX 11.1 would be exclusive to Windows 8 only. “DirectX 11.1 is part of Windows 8, just like DirectX 11 was part of Windows 7. …
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