Windows Blue will be called Windows 8.1 and will launch as a public preview on June 26, Microsoft revealed today. While the company remains mum about what exactly we can expect from Windows 8.1 (boot to desktop? the return of the Start menu?), Microsoft says that Windows 8.1 “will help [it] to deliver the next generation of PCs and tablets with our OEM partners and to deliver the experiences… → Read More
Windows 8 launched to mixed reviews just over half a year ago, and Microsoft has dutifully pushed out nearly 740 tweaks and updates over the intervening months. Even so, rumblings of a sizeable update (codenamed “Windows Blue”) have been making the rounds for months now, and we’ve finally got a firm idea of when to expect the first public preview.
Microsoft Windows chief Julie Larson-Green… → Read More
By most accounts, Windows 8 isn’t all that popular, but according to Microsoft’s latest numbers, the company has now sold more than 100 million copies of the latest version of its desktop operating system. In January, the last time Microsoft provided updated numbers for Windows 8, the company said that it had passed the 60 million mark. Windows 8 users are also getting used to using… → Read More
A few months ago, Google announced the Windows Start button-like app launcher for Chrome on Windows, and with it, a way to easily launch Chrome packaged apps, a new way to write apps that are based on Chrome and web technologies but behave like native apps. These packaged apps for Chrome are based on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, but they behave like native apps and have access to Chrome APIs and… → Read More
Our long, national nightmare is over: according to a rumor sourced by the Verge, Redmond will bring back the Start button in the lower left corner of the upcoming Windows 8.1. This icon – essentially a copy of the “charm” that appears on the right side of the desktop when you mouse to the edge of the screen – will simply bring up the live tile interface. It is not, however, a real start menu like… → Read More
Mailbird, a very Sparrow-like email client for Windows users, is launching into beta this week with plans to take its email desktop app beyond where Sparrow left off before being acquired by Google last July. The similarity between the two clients is striking, but co-founder and CEO Andrea Loubier insists that Mailbird isn’t copying Sparrow – it’s using that mail client’s look-and-feel for… → Read More
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei launched a Windows smartphone tailored for and exclusively available in Africa. The device, a customized version of the Huawei Ascend W1, was created in partnership with Microsoft as part of its new 4Afrika initiative. → Read More
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has given the company’s clearest hint yet that it wants to get back into tablets. Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, he stopped short of announcing a Nokia-branded tablet is coming but confirmed the company is taking a close look at the space. → Read More
According to a beta tester listing on OnlineBeta.com, Logitech is finally preparing to support OS X gamers, with plans to release a new Gaming Software for Mac OS X that lets users configure their Logitech gaming mice and keyboards to optimize performance and play.
It’s unclear what this type of software will do specifically, as it hasn’t been announced yet, but the most obvious conclusion is… → Read More
Whether you’re a Microsoft user or not, you have to respect the fact that its install base for operating systems is massive. The company spans plenty of sectors, specifically enterprise, but of course in the home, too. Today, the company announced that its latest operating system, Windows 8, has sold 60 million licenses. Finding out how many of these licenses are consumer and how many have… → Read More
The good news keeps rolling in for BlueStacks, the startup best known for making technology that enables one and all to download and use Android applications on their desktop PCs — and more recently, their Macs. In anticipation of CES, the company announced today that it has secured a global distribution deal with Chinese PC maker, Lenovo.
Lenovo, which some say recently surpassed HP as the… → Read More
There can be no doubt that 2012 was a very important year for Microsoft, though it probably wasn’t the successful year the company had envisioned during the planning stages. With the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Microsoft’s biggest challenge beyond just getting people to buy them, was getting developers to write apps for them. According to Todd Brix, Microsoft’s Senior Director for… → Read More
It appears that BlueStacks isn’t just a flash in the pan. The Silicon Valley-based startup, which makes software that allows users to run their Android apps on Macs and PCs, said today that it has passed 5 million organic installs through its homepage. Vanity stats like this are annoying, yes, but what’s notable is that BlueStacks hit this milestone in under eight months. And the news comes on top… → Read More
Windows Azure Mobile Services has added push notification for developers so they can fire off updates that may include sounds, badges or SMS messages. → Read More
I’ve been using Windows 8 off and on for the past few weeks and, while I agree with many of the sentiments expressed by folks like Chris Pirillo and our own MG Siegler, especially regarding the Surface RT, I still think Microsoft did a good (not excellent) job on Win8. → Read More
Microsoft is targeting the growing mobile workforce with a 15% hike in license fees directed primarily at companies that have employees who use smartphone and other mobile devices in their work. → Read More
Three weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it would hold a free global hackathon in over 100 cities around the globe. Today is the first day of this “Wowzapp 2012” event and Microsoft just announced that it has managed to attract over 17,000 developers – many of them students – who are currently working on their Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Azure apps with the help of mentors from… → Read More
Microsoft killed the traditional Start menu with Windows 8. Now, however, it looks like Google’s Chrome browser is about to launch a very Start menu-like option for its Windows users. As the good folks over at Chrome Story noticed earlier this week, the latest Chrome Canary builds feature an option to enable the same app menu for the Windows taskbar that Google already uses on Chrome OS. → Read More
Microsoft has made a deal with China to offer Windows Azure in the country. The deal is ballyhooed as a landmark agreement but, at its core, represents something that only the Chinese government can love. → Read More
Windows Azure Mobile Services will now support Windows Phone 8. The news came in the keynote this morning at the Build conference where today’s focus is all about Azure, the Microsoft cloud infrastructure. → Read More
In a lot of ways, with Windows 8, Microsoft got the jump on what Apple seems intent on doing with OS X and iOS: a convergence of desktop and mobile computing. But the approaches both companies are taking to changing consumer computing habits are very different, and both strategies have their merits and their pitfalls. So who will come out on top as the world figures out new digital paradigms? → Read More
Today at Microsoft’s surprise Surface press conference, Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows and Windows Live Division, reiterated what’s behind Surface. In particular, when it comes to the device, he said that “everything Microsoft has done is coming together.” → Read More
Skype hit version 6 today, with a rare simultaneous release for both Windows and Mac. This brings a whole bunch of new features to the table, including single sign-on with both Facebook and Microsoft credentials, so that new users don’t even have to sign up for Skype itself, Retina display compatibility for Macs, and multi-window chats. → Read More
Microsoft just released its earnings for the company’s first financial quarter of 2013. Microsoft posted revenues of $16.01 billion and earnings per share of $0.53. That’s down from the company’s Q4 2012 results of $18.06 billion but up from last quarter’s loss per share of $0.06. → Read More
Microsoft is sending out invites for a Windows Phone 8 launch event on October 29, to be held at 10 AM PST. The phone platform was shown off on stage during a joint event with Nokia, and also during another with HTC in September, but Microsoft is saying we’ll see more at its own show. → Read More
As anticipated in August, digital game seller Steam is now offering Windows non-game applications. It acts like a traditional app store. After the reviewing process, apps are available to purchase in a centralized store. Users can choose where to install their apps in the latest Steam beta. However, like Amazon’s Appstore for Android, Valve can discount apps if it thinks that it would benefit the… → Read More
Here is a reminder for developers who want to write apps for Windows 8′s Metro mode (or whatever Microsoft prefers to call it these days): the only way to distribute your apps to consumers is through the Windows Store. This isn’t actually a new policy but one that Microsoft announced a year ago. Judging from this Hacker News thread, though, this still comes as a surprise to many developers and… → Read More
Excuse the belated chortle here but it bears noting that Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, seems to have pushed the old maxim of a “new broom sweeps clean” all the way into the darkest recesses of Yahoo. To wit, consider the note the BI found from Mayer to her staff.
We have a very exciting update to share with you today – we are announcing Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun! As of today, Yahoo is… → Read More
It’s hard to blame Microsoft for making bold decisions with its upcoming desktop operating system. But the renamed Windows 8-style UI (or Modern UI) instead of Metro might be too great a departure from known and trusted interactions found in the previous versions of Windows.
According to Raluca Budiu, User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group, who gave an interview to Laptop… → Read More
Safari 6 brings improved performance and many new features to OS X, including offline reading lists, a unified search field and support for Do Not Track. What seems to be completely gone from Apple’s site now, though, is any mention of the Windows version of Safari. Indeed, it looks like Apple has removed all download links for Safari from its site for the time being. This could be because Apple… → Read More
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