microsoft

First look: Microsoft Surface tablet

October 24, 2012 2:00 am by Richard Waters

If you’re one of those people who has been dying to use Excel or Word on a touch-optimised tablet, your wait is over. But that may not be enough to justify paying a premium for a device that is both Microsoft’s first foray into personal computing hardware as well as the flagship for the new Windows 8.

Try, for a moment, to put comparisons with the iPad out of your mind (admittedly not so easy on the day that Apple has just shown off the new iPad mini and a souped-up 10in version). The Surface, which goes on sale on Friday, deserves to be judged on its own terms: as a tablet that is designed to function equally well as a notebook PC. Read more

Tags: microsoft, Surface, Tablets
Posted in Digital media, Hardware, Mobile, Personal technology | Permalink

Microsoft prices Surface tablet at $499

October 16, 2012 4:18 pm by Chris Nuttall

Microsoft has announced its Surface tablet, due to go on sale next week with the launch of Windows 8, will be priced from $499 in the US.

The initial Surface tablets will have Windows RT installed – a version of Windows 8 designed for Arm-based processors – and will come in three versions. Read more

Tags: microsoft, Surface, Tablets, windows 8
Posted in Personal technology | Permalink

From FT.com July 19, 2012

Office 2013 looks to new ways of working

Microsoft Office 2013
Rating: 4/5

It may seem hard to think of getting touchy-feely with a spreadsheet or sociable with a word processor but a more connected, collaborative, mobile, app-ified version of Microsoft Office seems set on converting us to new ways of working.

Tags: microsoft, office
Posted in Personal technology | Permalink

Story of the Week: Microsoft reveals Surface

June 24, 2012 2:20 pm by Maryam Nabi

The way in which a new product is unveiled can sometimes be just as important as the product itself. However, in Microsoft’s case this week, a few hiccups didn’t appear to distract some tech commentators from writing glowing reviews of the company’s tablet computer, Surface, announced on Monday. Read more

Tags: microsoft, story of the week, Surface, tablet, windows 8
Posted in Hardware, Mobile, Tech | Permalink

E3 2012: Microsoft announces Xbox SmartGlass

June 4, 2012 9:47 pm by Chris Nuttall

Microsoft has announced Xbox SmartGlass, a new way of transferring content from smartphones and tablets to a TV, using its home console.

When movies and other media are moved to the TV, the phone or tablet becomes a second screen on the couch, offering more information on what is being shown. Microsoft also announced the long-awaited introduction of its Internet Explorer browser to Xbox, tight integration with devices running the new Windows 8 operating system and a revamped music service. Details from its press conference on the eve of the E3 video game convention in Los Angeles are after the jump. Read more

Tags: E3, microsoft, xbox 360
Posted in Games | Permalink

Wintel launch updates for Computex

May 31, 2012 8:00 pm by Chris Nuttall

Just in time for the big computer show of the year – Computex in Taiwan next week – Microsoft is announcing a new version of Windows 8 and its longtime partner Intel has launched new versions of its latest Ivy Bridge-codenamed Core processors.

Both seem certain to be featured in new Ultrabooks later this year, although models unveiled at Computex will still feature Windows 7 and be Windows 8-ready, judging by briefings by PC manufacturers ahead of the show. Read more

Tags: intel, microsoft, Ultrabook, windows 8
Posted in Asia, Hardware, Personal technology, Software | Permalink

From FT PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY COLUMN April 26, 2012

Clouds gather for more storage

Apple has accumulated 125m users of its iCloud service just six months after the launch. But while it does a great job of saving and moving photos and music between different Apple devices, it is less agile with documents, video and non-Apple products – a weakness that three updated services are exploiting.

Tags: dropbox, google, microsoft
Posted in Personal technology | Permalink

Netscape’s ignominious end: Swallowed by Microsoft

April 9, 2012 8:55 pm by Richard Waters

Microsoft just wrote the final chapter in a historic rivalry that defined the early years of the Web – and which became Exhibit A in its anti-trust showdown with the US government.

We hear that the legal remains of Netscape – along with its patents – have just been traded to Microsoft by AOL as part of a landmark $1.1bn deal. More than a decade after it was vanquished in the browser wars, Netscape really does seem to be worth more dead than alive. Read more

Tags: AOL, microsoft, netscape, patents
Posted in Internet, Tech | Permalink

Windows on ARM: the short version

February 11, 2012 2:40 pm by Richard Waters

It’s the weekend. What better time to pour a glass of wine, put your feet up and settle back with… a 9,000-word blog post about the future of Windows?

Not this post (which comes in at a mere 300 words) – this one, from Steven Sinofsky, which lays out Microsoft’s plans for bringing Windows to ARM-based mobile devices. But don’t worry: there’s no reason to read the whole thing to see why it’s got Microsoft-watchers buzzing. Read more

Tags: Arm, microsoft, windows 8
Posted in Tech | Permalink

Microsoft turns to advertising to poke Google

February 1, 2012 6:47 pm by Richard Waters

Microsoft, which often lobbies intensively behind the scenes against Google, has for the first time taken its campaign into print. It began a three-day series of adverts in US newspapers on Wednesday taking aim at Google’s latest moves to integrate its services and standardise its privacy policies.

The message: You can no longer trust Google to put its users first. Read more

Tags: google, microsoft, privacy
Posted in Internet, Tech | Permalink