Nokia, which was recently acquired by Microsoft, has long built great smartphones, particularly those of the Lumia variety. But while the market has been enticed by the sleek, funky designs and top-notch rear-facing camera technology, most have been put-off by the Windows Phone OS, which is nowhere near as evolved as, say, Android.
The Nokia Lumia 830 may have only made its first appearance in a spy shot that popped up a few days ago, but it's already making headlines once again after new renders were leaked which appear to show the unannounced smartphone with some rather new branding.
Now that Google has well and truly shown its hand in the smartwatch arena, all eyes are firmly on Apple and the supposed iWatch announcement that's been penciled in for October time. With all the focus on those two companies, Microsoft has flown somewhat under the radar, but new reports suggest that het software giant may have its very own smartwatch on the way with a similar October release timeframe.
As most of you will be aware, Microsoft's deal to acquire Finnish telecommunications outfit Nokia was recently given the rubber stamp of approval by the relevant bodies overseeing such takeovers, and even though ties between the two firms have been fairly close for years now, the software giant has gradually been integrating Nokia's staff and product lines with its own business model. As a part of this ongoing process, Microsoft is said to be on the cusp of licensing the iconic Nokia brand, and according to leaked info, may opt for "Nokia by Microsoft" labeling on its smartphone line-up.
When Microsoft bought Nokia, many understandably thought that the latter's brief flirtation with Android would come to an end. After all, Microsoft makes its own mobile operating system and having its own hardware to run it on made perfect sense. Why compete with yourself by letting Nokia make Android phones? Right?
Microsoft's OneDrive, formerly SkyDrive, is one of a large number of services vying for your attention in the battle of the cloud services, and in order entice customers into signing up, the software company has announced its intention to more than double the amount of storage space offered as standard. At the present moment, those signing up to a free OneDrive account can enjoy 7GB of cloud-based storage for photos, videos, documents and other such files, but soon, this will be bumped to 15GB of free storage.
As a part of the Windows Phone 8.1 announcement, Microsoft finally took the wraps off Cortana, it's ecosystem's very own answer to Siri and Google Now. At the time, the software maker touted it as a voice assistant encompassing the best features of Apple and Google's respective services, and such is the faith that the Windows maker has in Cortana, that versions for iOS and Android are now being prepared.
Today, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, has just kicked off, and Microsoft has gotten us under way by announcing the release dates of some big titles headed to the Xbox later on this year. The keynote confirmed the retail market date of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Forza Horizon 2 1080p, as well as demoing the likes of Evolve, Assassin's Creed Unity, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Sunset Overdrive, and of course, Halo 5, so if you've been waiting for any of these epic titles to land, check the low-down after the jump!
The Microsoft Xbox One is set to get a graphics boost that will offer around a ten percent bump on the current configuration, although it will only be effective when the Kinect sensor is not connected to the machine. The motion-detecting peripheral, which Microsoft opted to bundle in with the console for several months before recently offering a cheaper, Kinect-free solution, is not deemed essential by some avid gamers looking for a better all-round performance to better match the PlayStation's, and thus, this move actually makes a great deal of sense.
Microsoft spent an unspeakable amount of money in improving the Xbox One's controller over that of its predecessor, but up until now, PC gamers haven't been able to take advantage of it without following the fairly tedious, hacky methods demonstrated on YouTube and such. But now, the official PC driver for the Xbox One control pad has just been rolled out, so if you want to enjoy your favorite titles on Windows while also utilizing the decidedly comfortable new controller, check the details below.
