Universal Windows apps start showing up on the Windows Phone 8.1 Store

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Just after rolling out the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview, universal Windows apps, the key factor Microsoft aims to attract developers with, are already starting to show up on the store. Microsoft announced this new addition, along with several other enhancements to the developer side of things on Windows Phone, in a blog post today. Developers can now link their Windows Phone apps and Windows apps, as Microsoft has unified the Store front on both the platforms, with the same pricing and even streamlined in-app purchases. Apple has been allowing universal apps between the two form factors iOS is based on, but Microsoft is taking it to another level with support for all of its consumer platforms that occupy a wide range of form factors, from phones to tablets to desktops and even its Xbox gaming console on a TV.

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Age of Empires goes mobile with World Domination for iOS, Android and Windows Phone

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Age of Empires, the classic strategy game that put you in command of your favorite characters from history, is going mobile, with a game titled “Age of Empires: World Domination” for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. This Microsoft title, that has been the rage among RTS online multiplayer geeks for a long time, has gone through many iterations, with the company recently announcing that it will be licensing its franchise for the mobile platforms. As reported earlier, this mobile version takes its form thanks to KLab Global, a game development company that will be doing this port. The game is slated to be available for all the major mobile platforms including iOS, Android and Windows Phone and will ship this summer. Here’s the game trailer –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2PEXEO2ga0

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Nokia receives regulatory approval in China for transfer of Device & Services division to Microsoft

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The acquisition of Nokia’s Device and Services division by Microsoft which was announced on 3rd September 2013 has been long due to the long winded regulatory approval process in major markets. Today, the company has announced that it has received said approval from the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. Continue reading “Nokia receives regulatory approval in China for transfer of Device & Services division to Microsoft”

Windows Phone 8.1 update to be available as developer preview starting April 14th

Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM-4Itching to get your hands on the latest build of Windows Phone 8.1 and really don’t want to wait till your carrier pushes out the update? Microsoft has made it easy for you. Starting April 14th, you’ll be able to download the update as a preview release. Continue reading “Windows Phone 8.1 update to be available as developer preview starting April 14th”

Universal apps are coming to Windows on Phones, PCs, Tablets and Xbox

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Among the myriad of announcements Microsoft made at its Build 2014 keynote is one small but highly important detail. With the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system moving to a WinRT layer, all the Microsoft platforms now run on the same runtime, which includes all the devices like a PC, a tablet, a phone, and yes, even the Xbox One. Powered by a common runtime, developers will be able to target all these devices with a shared set of code that will work across all the platforms, like for example notifications, in-app security and so forth. This also means that users can buy an app from one store and use it on another, although the interface will change according to the form factor.

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Microsoft to make Windows free for devices with screens under 9 inches

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One of the more interesting announcements out of the BUILD conference today was Microsoft’s announcement to make Windows free for a whole host of devices. Traditionally OEMs have paid up to $15 per handset sold as licensing fee for Windows Phone 8. This has proven to be a hindrance in the growth of the operating system especially in the lower segment. With cost sensitive players like Micromax getting on board the Windows Phone bandwagon, this move makes all the more sense. Continue reading “Microsoft to make Windows free for devices with screens under 9 inches”

Micromax joins the Windows Phone party, devices coming soon

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Micromax, one of the top smartphone players in the Indian market, was rumoured to get into the Windows Phone game for a long time. We had expected the name to pop up when Microsoft announced new partners in India like Xolo, Lava and Karbonn, but it didn’t until now, when Microsoft revealed additional two partners, Micromax and Prestigio, at their Build 2014 keynote. Micromax now joins a big list of partners who are committed to bring Windows Phone 8.1 devices into the market. Bringing a seismic change of sorts to the ecosystem, the Windows Phone 8.1 update enables better hardware compatibility, with which a reference device from Qualcomm was developed. Adding on-screen button support and increased chipset compatibility has enabled players like Micromax to join the Windows Phone ecosystem.

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Windows Phone 8.1 is official, brings Cortana and a ton of new features

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Microsoft has finally revealed Windows Phone 8.1, the long awaited update to its mobile platform. Packing lots and lots of new features, the operating system finally gets up to speed in several departments. Starting from the action center, the parallax wallpapers to Cortana, the intelligent digital assistant, it would be safe to say that the OS has finally come of age. It may be a little late, but it is definitely not a little minor update, as it brings with it the potential to change the ecosystem of devices it runs on. The update, announced today, will be available for all Windows Phone 8 devices in the coming months, while enthusiasts can get a hold of this update in the first half of April. Besides that, the OS will come pre-installed on all the new Windows Phone devices, including the just announced Nokia Lumia 930 and the Lumia 635 and the Lumia 630 Dual SIM phone.

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Xbox One Smartglass beta previews support for OneGuide and Universal Remote

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Xbox One, the latest gaming console from Microsoft, surprised a few by being the first console to have HDMI input for TV, and support for a unified TV channel guide, with voice activated navigation. The voice commands, using the next generation Kinect, might have performed well enough for most, but there is a better way to control the console now. Smartglass, the app that acts as the second screen input for Xbox One, is now in a separate beta channel which lets users preview the new and upcoming features. Amongst the latest features that are going to be added to this app later are support for One Guide, the channel guide that was initially usable only on the console, and a universal remote that can give out commands through the Kinect’s IR blaster.

Read more: Xbox One release date in India

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Cortana shows up on Bing’s personalization settings ahead of reveal

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Cortana, Microsoft’s own take on a virtual personal assistant, is all set to be revealed at the //build/ developer event today in San Francisco. While we still haven’t heard anything straight from Microsoft regarding Cortana yet, it’s own property, Bing, which will power Cortana, now has references to the long awaited assistant. Cortana has been rumoured to be like Apple’s Siri and Google Now combined, with it offering personalized results, recommendations and more, apart from setting your alarms, reminders etc like Siri.

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Phil Spencer will head Xbox, promises increased gaming focus on all Microsoft platforms

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The Xbox division at Microsoft was caught in a flux after Don Mattrick, the previous head, left the company for Zynga. Julie-Larson Greene then took over along with other hardware divisions like Surface until she was reassigned to user experience recently. And then Marc Whitten, who was all set to become the head of Xbox, left the company for Sonos, so now, the baton has been passed on to the head of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, announced this and other changes over a company-wide email, welcoming all the new heads into the senior leadership team. Phil Spencer will be leading the Xbox team responsible for Xbox – the console, Xbox Music & Video and Microsoft Studios.

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Nokia’s devices and services sale to Microsoft delayed to April

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The Microsoft takeover of Nokia’s devices and services division is easily one of the most high profile acquisitions from the recent past. After the announcement of this deal, it was said that the regulatory bodies all around the world would have to give their go ahead and only then can the deal be closed. Initially, it was meant to be completed within the first quarter of 2014, but it has now been revealed that some of the regulatory approvals are still pending and the deal is now expected to close in April 2014.

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Microsoft unveils Direct X 12, lists benefits for Mobile

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After a long wait, Microsoft has finally unveiled its plans for the next generation of its graphics APIs, Direct X. These APIs were developed by Microsoft for making game development easier on Windows and eventually on all of its other platforms. It provided a standard way, an abstracted layer, for developers, to take advantage of complex graphics hardware. This spurred the PC gaming industry, until the recent years, in which the development of the API tapered off, with evolutionary additions.

With Direct X 12, which is apparently a big departure from the current programming model, Microsoft hopes to reinvigorate game development on all its products, right from PCs to phones, tablets and of course, the Xbox One. Direct X 12 was revealed at the Game Developers Conference with hardware partners in AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm, to name a few, and will ship on products starting 2015.

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Microsoft and Google don’t want dual OS(Windows+Android) devices, Asus Transformer Duet may be cancelled

Earlier this year, at the CES 2014, Asus announced the Transformer Duet which ran Android and Windows side by side. This was probably designed for those who wanted the best of both the worlds and it was quite a hit at the CES 2014. Even an Indian manufacturer – Micromax, announced a similar dual boot device – Micromax Laptab which was supposed to be available in February.

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Microsoft opens up Office 365 Android SDK

Microsoft has released the Office 365 software development kit for Android. With this, Microsoft is now opening up its SharePoint lists and files, Exchange contacts, mails and calendars to developers. Microsoft has made the preview available for download straight from GitHub.

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