Microsoft invested $15 million in location sharing app Foursquare in February this year. Today, the company has integrated Foursquare’s data into Cortana, its own digital voice assistant.
Continue reading “Microsoft adds Foursquare integration to Cortana”
Facebook has updated its beta Windows Phone app with new video uploading feature. Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 users can now upload videos to Facebook directly from their mobile. At the menu bar at the bottom of the app there are three buttons Status, Photo and Check -in. By clicking on the Photo button users can now select a video to upload to their Facebook account.
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The Unicode Consortium has just updated the Unicode Standard with new emojis, characters and symbols. The latest version 7.0 will bring 250 new emoji characters to iOS, Android and Windows Phone smartphones. This is possible as Apple, Google and Microsoft are among the nine full members of the Unicode Consortium.
Continue reading “Unicode Consortium unveils 250 new emojis that focus on objects”
Intel showcased world’s first 14nm fanless mobile PC reference design at the ongoing Computex 2014 in Taipei. Dubbed as Llama Mountain, the tablet is based on the company’s upcoming Broadwell processor and is runs on Windows 8.1.
Continue reading “Intel unveils ultra-thin Llama Mountain prototype tablet cum laptop”
ASUS has taken wraps off another of its hybrid devices at the ongoing Computex in Taipei. The company has announced the Transformer Book V, a 5 in 1 device which can be used as a phone, tablet and laptop running on Android and Windows.
Continue reading “ASUS unveils Transformer Book V, a 5-in-1 hybrid with Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4”
Microsoft is all set to unveil its new Surface devices at an event in New York today. Looking from some of the pictures being tweeted from the event, a lot of decorations at the site are related to inking, which is rumoured to get a huge push in the company’s latest push in the tablet market. This means that the Redmond company will unveil the 8 inch variant of the Surface with special inking capabilities, like a Wacom digitizer with stylus on the Surface Pro. Microsoft Research is said to have orchestrated a push for digital inking across microsoft’s services and devices, and we might just start seeing this vision take form, at this live event. If you’re interested on having a look at all the new devices Microsoft is set to launch, here is the live stream – Continue reading “Watch Microsoft unveil new Surface devices live”
Windows Phone 8.1 debuted as a developer preview just a month ago, and today, it has received its first update, in preparation for a wider consumer launch later in the coming weeks or months. The update, first publicized by Windows Phone champion Joe Belfiore, reportedly brings many bug fixes, some new features and the much needed battery life improvements some users had wanted. The update is immediately available for download from the “Phone update” section under the Windows Phone settings menu.
With the Windows Phone 8.1 update in the hands of developers in the form of a preview, Microsoft has chosen to release some of its own apps that take advantage of the new OS features and the APIs. Movie moments, a basic video editing app that takes advantage of the video editing APIs and reading List, a Read-it-later style service, have been made available for Windows Phone 8.1 as universal apps on the store. These apps were part of the Windows 8.1 update that launched for the bigger screened devices in October last year, which means we are finally starting to see some parity within Windows. If you are one of the many developer preview users, download these two apps from the Windows Store and test them out –
Reading List for Windows Phone 8.1
Movie Moments for Windows Phone 8.1
Continue reading “Movie moments and Reading List now available for Windows Phone 8.1”
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.
Continue reading “Universal Windows apps start showing up on the Windows Phone 8.1 Store”
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.
Continue reading “Universal apps are coming to Windows on Phones, PCs, Tablets and Xbox”
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”
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
Continue reading “Xbox One Smartglass beta previews support for OneGuide and Universal Remote”
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.
Get ready for Dual SIM Windows Phones people ! At Mobile World Congress 2014 here in Barcelona, Microsoft announced that it is adding support for Dual-SIM functionality in Windows Phone with an upcoming update. This is heavily requested feature amongst users especially in India and China.Dual SIM smartphones are extremely popular in India and that is one of the main reasons that Windows Phone has failed to catch up with the ever expanding Android smartphone market. With support for Dual SIM cards, Microsoft can now compete with Google in the mid-range dual SIM smartphone market. One example of a hugely successful Dual SIM device is the Motorola MotoG which went on sale in India recently.
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We are back to this part of the day where we tell you about a popular application available on either Google Play Store or Apple App Store or both stores that has just made its way to the Windows Phone Store. Today, it is not the same case, but you would agree that it is one the same lines. Marvel Run Jump Smash!, yet another Marvel title has arrived on Windows Store and has been already available on the Windows Phone Store.
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