Microsoft | Fone Arena

Tell me voice assistant aka Cortana rumoured to launch on Windows Phone this April

Long rumoured voice assistant, codenamed “Cortana”, is all set to make its beta appearance on Windows Phone, starting April 2014, according to a very credible source – @msftnerd. The Siri-like feature is reportedly voiced by Jen Taylor, who actually did the voice acting for Cortana, an AI character in the hit game-series “Halo”. The voice assistant, which might carry the name “Bing Tell me”, will launch for developers, in beta, in April, which coincides with the Build 2014 Developer event by Microsoft. “Build” is where Microsoft plans to unveil information about the next release of Windows, codenamed Threshold.

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Microsoft Surface 3 to be powered by Tegra K1 processor

Nvidia spilled the beans on its brand new Tegra K1 processor earlier this week at CES and it looks like the new fangled chipset will form the core of the next gen Surface RT tablet. Nvidia’s new chip dubbed the Tegra K1 sports 192 Kepler cores and has a new CPU as well. The K1 chip will ship in two variants. Either with a quad core ARM A15 CPU or a dual core 64 bit Project Denver CPU, the specifics of the latter are still somewhat murky. Continue reading “Microsoft Surface 3 to be powered by Tegra K1 processor”

Windows Phone outshipped iPhone in 24 emerging markets, according to Microsoft

We’ve been hearing how the Nokia Lumia 520 has been the best selling Windows Phone of all time, but if Microsoft’s recent words are to be believed, Windows Phone, as a platform, is now outshipping iPhone in 24 markets. Before you jump to conclusions, the iPhone is not doomed, because it’s the emerging markets where the 3rd ecosystem is cementing its place, most likely behind Android in the first place. This is a decent achievement for the platform, but tells us more about Nokia rather than Windows Phone, because these markets are clearly influenced by their legacy supply chain, and hence the obvious sales. Microsoft recently floated this fact with TechRadar claiming that it is the fastest growing mobile platform right now.

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Windows Phone users to get 20 GB of free SkyDrive storage for an year thanks to Microsoft

Windows Phone users have something to be extra happy about this Christmas. Microsoft is spreading around some festive cheer in the form of 20GB of free SkyDrive storage. Microsoft says that the free storage is valid for 1 year after which we presume you’ll have to pay for it. Continue reading “Windows Phone users to get 20 GB of free SkyDrive storage for an year thanks to Microsoft”

Windows Phone 8.1 leak suggests incoming on-screen controls

Rumors have been going around for a while that Microsoft might drop the hardware buttons requirement for their mobile operating system. This first leak by the infamous Evleaks seems to reaffirm this. Continue reading “Windows Phone 8.1 leak suggests incoming on-screen controls”

Shareholders approve sale of Device & Services division in Nokia – Microsoft deal

At the long awaited extraordinary meeting in Helsinki today, shareholders have approved the deal that will allow the sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit to Microsoft. The deal was met with near unanimous approval with close to 99.7 percent of holders agreeing with the sale. The sale represents four-fifths of Nokia’s shares and the deal is worth around $7.2 billion. Continue reading “Shareholders approve sale of Device & Services division in Nokia – Microsoft deal”

Joe Belfiore, Windows Phone Manager at Microsoft to head Internet Explorer app development

Via a blog post on the official Internet Explorer Blog, Dean Hachamovitch who previously headed Internet Explorer development detailed that he will be switching over to a new team at Microsoft. What is even more interesting is that Joe Belfiore will now be taking over some of the responsibilities previously handled by Dean. Joe Belfiore who is well known for his work on Windows Phone will be leading a team focussed on the app side of Internet Explorer as well as the user experience development. Continue reading “Joe Belfiore, Windows Phone Manager at Microsoft to head Internet Explorer app development”

Micromax Windows Phones to arrive mid of next year, says co-founder

Is Micromax working on a Windows Phone? Well, the second largest smartphone manufacturer in India by volume recently made big news when it unleashed a series of promotions featuring Hugh Jackman for the Micromax Canvas Turbo, and also announced its plans to enter the European markets like Russia and Romania, but a Windows Phone that is currently dominated by Nokia? The company’s co-founder Rahul Sharma has admitted in an interview that they are indeed working on them, and claims to have them ready for a launch mid next year. Above image is just a mock up we did to see how Windows Phone might look on the recently launched Micromax Canvas Turbo.

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Dhoom 3 game exclusively arrives on Windows Phone 8

Another day, another exclusive game/app for Windows Phone in India. Just after Krrish3, we now have Dhoom 3, another highly awaited multi starrer sequel in Bollywood this year, is getting its own game. Publishing games for movies is kind of a new marketing avenue for the respective movie producers and Yash Raj Films, Dhoom 3’s maker acknowledges this, by partnering with game dev 99Games Online Private Limited to release the Dhoom 3 game. It is an endless 3D moto racing game, which follows the popular formula of Temple Run and Subway Surfers with perks, power ups and feels like a good fit in this genre. You play Aamir Khan, whose bike you maneuver, who is being chased by Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra in two other bikes, and thus begins the endless chase to fight your boredom.

You can download the game from the Windows Phone Store here. And here’s a trailer for the game, it’s CG and does not represent actual gameplay –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0zuM-sWROs

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Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 – A Visual Walkthrough

Microsoft just announced the Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 release for all WP8 devices, and also announced the “Developer Preview” program for enthusiasts who want early access to the Operating System’s pre-release bits. All it needed was a simple 3-step method to install the update on your phone, and of course, without any second thoughts, we did it on our Lumia 820. Yes, we have installed the Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 on our device and it’s running great. The press releases didn’t have much to show in terms of what’s really changed with the third update of the operating system, so we are going to give you a visual walkthrough of what’s new in the GDR3 update.

Video –

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How to easily update to Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3

As you might have known by now, Microsoft have just announced the arrival of the Windows Phone GDR Update 3 for all WP8 devices. While the roll out has started, it might take a while to get through to the users after carrier checks, tests and more. But for the first time ever, after actually announcing it in June 2012, the “Enthusiast” program is now live for Windows Phone 8. It basically means that, if you are interested in previewing the latest version of the operating system, with a few constraints, you can get it on any of your Windows Phone 8 devices right away, that too for free! But how? That’s exactly what we are going to see right now. I am going to try and make it as simple and quick as possible for you to get this update.

Check out our visual walkthrough of the GDR3 update

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Microsoft to release Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android this month

Remote Desktop has been a popular feature for Windows PCs for a long time, mainly used to remotely help your friends or family, usually for troubleshooting. The Server-Client methodology has enabled the clients to exist on many platforms. In fact, the Remote Desktop Protocol is widely known to be used in third party apps, but as always, nothing comes close to the apps done by the people who created it. Microsoft are doing just that, by releasing Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android later this month, according to the company’s own press release.

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Microsoft wants Windows Phone to run on HTC’s Android phones – Report

Microsoft is apparently trying to court HTC, one of the major Android OEMs, to make Windows Phone run on its Android Phones, according to a report from Bloomberg. Another report from Android Central claims that HTC engineers are already looking at providing Dual Boot options of Windows Phone and Android for its upcoming devices. This is a surprising turn of events for the software giant, as the company has long stood by its licensing model that doesn’t allow this option of dual boot, but things may be changing fast, as the strategy is rapidly moving towards “Devices and Services”, especially with the announcement of a Nokia acquisition.

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Microsoft to merge Windows Phone and Windows 8 app stores

At a company meeting today, Microsoft evidently let out news that the Windows Phone Store and Windows Store will be merged into a single app store. Terry Myserson who heads the operating systems group confirmed the news at an internal meeting. First reported by The Verge and confirmed by our own sources, Myserson confirmed that the changes will appear over the next few releases of Windows and Windows Phone. The next major update for Windows is expected later this year called Windows 8.1. A similar update for Windows Phone called Windows Phone 8.1 will follow it.

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Whatsapp for the Nokia Asha 500 shows up alongside leaked press image

While we have already seen renders of the purported Nokia Asha 500 and its dual shot style shells, the bigger news to report here is that Whatsapp is finally coming to the Asha software platform, which includes the highly popular Asha 501 too. If the above leaked press image is to be believed(usually very trustworthy because of @evleaks), Whatsapp will finally arrive for the new Nokia Asha series. This has been THE highly requested app on Nokia Asha 501, and we are glad to see that it is indeed coming, but when is the question.

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