It’s no secret that Microsoft is doing its best to get more developers to write apps for its Windows 8 platform. Today, the company is announcing its newest initiative: Microsoft will host app labs for developers in 30 “technology and design hubs” around the world, including San Francisco, New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, and Bangalore. → Read More
“Floored.” “Wow.” “Wild.”
Those are some of the reactions within Microsoft tonight upon hearing that Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky would be leaving the company “effective immediately“. Those are the reactions because nearly all Microsoft employees found out about the news tonight alongside the rest of us. → 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
Love it or hate it, Windows 8 is a big deal and it’s only going to get bigger. Particularly the Metro side. The Windows Store will bring app store economics to the PC in a way that most users have never experienced before, and that represents a golden opportunity for developers. However they will have to move incredibly quickly to get ahead of the rush. → Read More
Microsoft plans to offer devices based on Perceptive Pixel technology that uses both pen and touch to create what is equivalent to the human as the user interface.
Microsoft General Manager Jeff Han, who sold Perceptive Pixel to Microsoft earlier this year, hinted at the news with a slide in a presentation at this week’s Build conference in Redmond. It said “Devices *are* coming” along with an… → Read More
Cloud gaming may have taken a hit with the floundering of OnLive, but Agawi is still going strong and today, the Menlo Park company is officially launching its GameZen app for Windows 8. We previewed that partnership back in September, before Windows 8 had even launched, when executive chairman Peter Relan talked about how his service differs from the competition. Now, the app is live, and Relan… → Read More
Following Monday’s reveal of Windows Phone 8, the most recent update to Microsoft’s mobile phone operating system, backend service provider Urban Airship is announcing that it has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to be the preferred provider for push messaging services on the new platform. → 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
Hope you weren’t waiting for an Acer Windows RT tablet. The company is not releasing its offering until later next year. Originally, Acer was going to launch Windows RT tablets in the first quarter of 2013, but the company is wisely going to sit on the sidelines a bit and watch the market’s reaction to other WinRT tabs — most notable the Microsoft Surface. → Read More
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 event takes place later today — where we expect to find out exactly how the integration between WP8, Microsoft’s new mobile OS, and its new desktop OS Windows 8 will work. In the meanwhile, the Verge has spotted a companion app that’s surfaced on the Windows Store which will allow WP8 users to sync content with a Windows 8 PC. → Read More
Microsoft’s heavy schedule of launches and events this month, including the Windows 8 and Surface events in New York last week and its Windows Phone 8 event in San Francisco on Monday, is set to reach its end with the Build developer conference on the company’s huge Redmond, WA campus starting on Tuesday. In some way, this is almost symbolic, given that the future of the Windows 8 platform is now… → 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
Driving through Times Square is a tricky proposition even on normal nights, but for a few moments tonight it was basically impossible to cruise down 7th Avenue. That’s because Microsoft officially kicked off sales for its new Windows RT-powered Surface tablet, and briefly closed the street to ensure none of the curious onlookers were hit by errant cabs. → 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
At Windows 8 launch event, Microsoft co-founder and CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage to discuss Windows 8 on desktops, laptops and tablets today. According to Ballmer, who was his own energetic self today, today marks the start of a “new era for Microsoft and our customers.” According to Ballmer, the new slate of Windows PCs that’s coming on the market in the next few weeks will be the “best PCs… → Read More
During Microsoft’s official launch event for Windows 8 in New York City today, Steven Sinofsky, the president of the company’s Windows and Windows Live division, said that the company’s new operating system went through 1,240,000,000 hours of testing in public in 190 countries. “No product anywhere receives this kind of testing anywhere in the world,” he said. → Read More
There’s been a lot of chatter about the amount of apps in the Windows Store ahead of this week’s Windows 8 launch. Earlier today, I had a chance to sit down with Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Windows Web Services Antoine Leblond to discuss the current state of the Windows Store and the new developer ecosystem → Read More
Ever since we heard the first rumors about Microsoft dropping the “Metro” moniker for its new touch interface and its app, there has been a lot of confusion about what the new interface should be called. Is it the new Windows UI? Windows 8-style UI? Are they Windows 8 apps or Windows Store app? Is it still Metro and all the rumors were false? Even just a day before the launch of Windows 8, most… → Read More
With all the hullaballoo surrounding the new iPad Mini, it’s worth remembering that some actual Windows-flavored competition is ready to roll. We learned last week that Microsoft spent quite some time in a self-described Willy Wonka type studio, carefully crafting the clicky, compact Windows 8 tablet. And one of its most special, and most important, features is the Touch Cover, which doubles as a… → Read More
Microsoft is already screwing it up. Microsoft can’t win. Windows 8 is sunk. Seriously: to read the headlines this last week you’d think Microsoft wasn’t still one of the premier tech manufacturers in the world. While I would agree that it faces a number of challenges, both from Apple and its own OEM partners, Windows 8 will thud into the landscape with more a bang and much less than a whimper. → Read More
Microsoft co-founder and current chairman Bill Gates recently sat down with the editor of Microsoft’s own Next blog Steve Clayton to talk about Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface tablet. Unsurprisingly, Gates was pretty upbeat about all of the company’s upcoming product and argued that “Windows 8 is key to where personal computing is going.” → Read More
Windows 8 is almost here, but despite Microsoft’s best efforts, there just aren’t that many Windows 8-style apps available yet. To kick-start the Windows 8 development community, Microsoft today announced that it is hosting a global hackathon in over 60 cities from November 9 to 11. Registration for the event is now open. → Read More
Is it a cognitive burden or much better than you think? While I’m going to side with both camps – I think Windows 8 is going to confuse a hell of a lot of people and make a lot of people happy – the real test is for Microsoft to sell this thing to the average consumer. → Read More
The official Windows 8 launch is less than two weeks away and judging by much of the commentary ahead of the consumer launch, you’d think that Windows 8 on the desktop is a total, unmitigated disaster. It isn’t. It does take some getting used to, but the vast majority of desktop users will do just fine with Windows 8. → Read More
The Windows 8 Store could sure use a few good apps before the official Windows 8 launch later this month, but at least we’re seeing a slow trickle of interesting apps from known brands now. One of these is Netflix, which just launched its previously announced Windows 8 app. → Read More
Windows 8 launches on October 26. It’s been said to be Microsoft’s most important product launch to date. And Redmond is reportedly prepped to properly support the product with a massive marketing campaign. Forbes reports the campaign costs between $1.5-$1.8 billion, making it the largest product launch in the history of the industry. → Read More
At the Pepcom MobileFocus event at CTIA MobileCon, an unlikely underdog made a very big impression on me. It was the Kupa UltraNote, and it was my first hands on with a tablet that ships with Windows 8 installed. The Kupa impressed, from its modular design that allows for ample customizability, to its pen-based, pressure-sensitive input system that makes drawing on the tablet a pleasure. → Read More
Windows 8 will launch on October 26, but since it’s already available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers, as well as through a free trial, it almost feels as though it’s out already. Before it officially puts its latest masterpiece into the hands of mainstream users, however, Microsoft will update virtually all of the built-in apps that ship with the new operating system. These include SkyDrive… → Read More
With the official launch of Windows 8 just around the corner, Mozilla today unveiled its first preview release of Firefox Metro. The Metro version of Firefox, Mozilla says, was “designed from the ground up for Windows 8″ and already includes many of the usual Firefox tools and features. Despite the fact that this version is called “Firefox Metro,” this version runs in both the old-school Windows… → Read More
Today Acer officially unveiled the U.S. and Canadian availability, pricing and full spec list of its Iconia W700 Windows 8 tablet. The tablets will ship on October 26, the same day Windows 8 is scheduled for its public release, which should provide us with an early look at how third-party offerings will perform in a market that’s yet to really be proven. → Read More
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