According to reports out of Bloomberg, Microsoft is holding discussions with HTC in hopes that the Taiwanese manufacturer will bake in Windows Phone right alongside the Android OS on select handsets. In turn, Microsoft will possibly waive the Windows Phone licensing fee, which will then give consumers the option of choosing a default OS on the phones. As weird as it sounds, HTC may try just about anything to turn its fortunes around, after posting less-than-ideal quarterly numbers. (more…)
Microsoft is finally getting around to developing a personal assistant for Windows Phone users, as they ready a Windows Phone 8.1 update that is said to feature Cortana. As for the name Cortana, she is an AI character featured in the Halo video game series, personified by the above-pictured girl. (more…)
Microsoft released Office Mobile for Android this morning, bringing Office 365 subscribers a chance to access, view and edit their Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents. The app itself is technically free and works on devices running Android 4.0+, but again, you need a 365 subscription in order to actually use it.
Everything with this app revolves around the cloud, though, which is to be expected in 2013. You can make simple edits, view “great-looking” docs, resume reading Word documents from where you last left off, and even edit while offline.
We’ve got the full list of features below. (more…)
On Monday, Apple revealed the latest version of iOS to the press and developers at its annual World Wide Developers Conference. Apple showed off a lot of new features on iOS, many of which are iterations on ideas from other companies. Unsurprisingly, I saw a lot of people complaining on Twitter that Apple was claiming to reinvent everything and that they stole everything from Android. The truth is that they took ideas from Android, webOS, Windows Phone, and a handful of jailbreak tweaks and, most importantly, iterated on them. Apple didn’t claim to be reinventing anything (they’ve avoided that claim for years now); instead, Apple claimed to be iterating. iOS 7 really is the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone was released in 2007.
If you are a fan of tech as a general subject, then today is a day to pay attention. There may not be many Android-related bits, but as most of you know, there will be plenty from its number one competitor. Today kicks off WWDC, Apple’s developer conference, where they have already essentially confirmed that they will unveil their next version of iOS. But outside of Apple, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) starts this morning with Microsoft on stage to discuss all things XBOX One. And actually, the event runs simultaneously with Apple’s WWDC keynote, so juggling news out of both should be entertaining to say the least. Finally, later this evening, Sony will finish up day 1 at E3 to talk PlayStation 4. (more…)
For the most part, Microsoft’s campaigns against Google, Android, and iOS that promote Windows Phone or their other products are all pretty lame. Think “Smoked by Windows Phone” or even those “Scroogled” spots. Not really the most clever of marketing ideas, to say the least. This new Lumia/Windows Phone 8 spot, on the other hand, is actually funny and worth a quick look.
In the spot, you’ll see iPhone users taking shots at Galaxy owners with their “enormous” phones and S Beam feature followed by comments made in return to grandmothers about being too young to own an iPhone. There are Apple logo tattoos, app availability trash talking, and even the thought that Samsung and Apple fanboys love the constant fighting. Silly.
“Weeeee!”
Cheers Scott!
Back in November, Microsoft released an official Outlook.com app for Android that was, to put it simply, a terrible design. It brought back painful memories of Gingerbread with tabs, a dark theme, and nothing that reminded us of Microsoft’s other beautifully designed apps. No one used it – we all laughed at it. But today, a new update has been released that brings the app into line with apps like Xbox Smartglass. It also matches the design you’ll see in most of Microsoft’s current Windows products, which is a design language we have always been fans of.
There aren’t many new features, but Microsoft did add in conversation threading, filters for unread and flagged mail, and the ability to mark messages as junk. So if you are an Outlook.com user, go pick up the new goodness.
Via: Outlook Blog
This morning, Xbox fans can update the official SmartGlass app for Android through Google Play. Inside the update, there is now official support for Android tablets 7″ and up, an “always-on” mode where your device will stop going to sleep while you are connected, and some other minor fixes and enhancements. (more…)
