Microsoft

I think my boredom with PCs is about to come to an end. I’ve been covering the PC industry since IBM introduced its first PC in 1981 and, for the most part, the news coming from PC makers has been pretty ho-hum. The original IBM PC was big news, as was introduction of the Apple Continue Reading →

Reprising a Windows Phone 7 giveaway from back in 2010, Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer announced at the company’s annual event that all 90,000 or so full-time employees are getting a taste of its latest hardware. That’s one Surface for Windows RT tablet and Windows Phone 8 phone (we’re told that last time around these came Continue Reading →

Continuing its rebranding quest, Microsoft announced on its Windows Blog that Windows Phone’s Marketplace will be renamed “Windows Phone Store” to match the upcoming Windows 8 app store, aptly called Windows Store. The change isn’t only in name, though. Along with the rebrand, Microsoft will be rolling out new updates that’ll make the Windows Phone Continue Reading →

Microsoft will reportedly launch an Office 2010 to 2013 upgrade program as early as next month, according to ZDNet. The program will be similar to what the company has offered alongside new Windows PCs, allowing users to buy the current software and upgrade to the next version for free or at a discounted price. According Continue Reading →

In an ideal world, Microsoft would like to have the word “Bing” become synonymous with online search instead of “Google”. But we can’t always get what we want in life, and Fast Company reports that Microsoft has acknowledged that its efforts to turn Bing into a verb have been spectacular failures. In fact, Microsoft’s attempt Continue Reading →

As the plethora of recent posts attest, Apple has indeed launched the iPhone 5, the next generation in its five-year-old iPhone family tree. But is it the best smartphone money can buy? For kicks and giggles, we’ve pitted the specs of Tim Cook’s darling against those found in the top Android and Windows Phone devices Continue Reading →

Just like it does with Windows, Microsoft typically offers its Office customers an upgrade guarantee program, allowing them to buy the current version of a product with a free or discounted upgrade to the next one being part of the package. One of my contacts said the Office 2013 upgrade guarantee will begin in about Continue Reading →

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is finally starting to look like a mobile operating system that can compete with iOS and Android. Nokia’s colorful and feature-packed Lumia 820 and 920 Windows Phone 8 smartphones only serve to cement that feeling with wireless charging and a PureView camera. But the platform really needs some killer apps to Continue Reading →

The march to the launch of Windows 8 soldiers on, as Microsoft has now opened the Windows Store for submissions from individuals in anticipation of the grand OS launch on October 26th. Previously, only those with company accounts were able to submit their applications for consideration in the Windows Store. The big news doesn’t end Continue Reading →

It’s tough to know exactly what Microsoft has in store for its next-generation Xbox (codenamed “Durango“), but that hasn’t stopped PatentlyApple from unearthing technologies that the Redmond-based company is dreaming up. Microsoft’s patent filed in the first quarter of 2011 and made public recently by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office outlines the use of Continue Reading →