Microsoft's internal Research division has been operating behind the public eye for the last 23 years. In that time we have seen the department demonstrate some utterly insane projects as well as some innovative pieces of technology that have progressed to form the basis of a number of popular products and software solutions in existence today. Microsoft has been a little preoccupied recently with the acquisition of Finnish smartphone maker Nokia, but it seems its research team has still been beavering away and have now presented a new type of augmented mechanical keyboard.
Microsoft's takeover of Nokia was finalized last week, and most of the news over the weekend has been related to the big transition. The newly-bolstered software maker is very keen to get back to business as usual, however, and on Monday, made a noteworthy tweak to the pricing of the app of its previous major acquisition - Skype. The change sees group calling go free on Windows, OS X and Xbox One, and you can catch the important details after the fold.
During the first week of September last year, it was announced that Microsoft was to acquire the devices and services division of Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia for the reported sum of $7.1 billion. With both companies having already established a close relationship thanks to the Lumia-Windows Phone partnership, the transition was always likely to be a smooth one, and with all the regulatory formalities done and dusted, Nokia is now officially a part of Microsoft.
A couple of weeks back during Microsoft's annual BUILD developers conference, we got wind that the software giant would be reinstating the traditional Start Menu for those running desktop versions of the famed OS. At the very least, it was said, the option would be there for traditionalists looking to restore a sense of familiarity to proceedings, and although we knew that it wouldn't be arriving with the just-released Windows 8.1 Update 1, it seemed almost certain that a subsequent release would reinstate one of the operating system's longest-serving features. Now, a new report has indicated that said feature will indeed re-emerge this fall.
When Microsoft detailed what would be part of its Windows Phone 8.1 update, one of the features that caught our eye was the introduction of 'Project My Screen.' Having the ability to display a smartphone's screen output on a computer may not seem too exciting at first, but if you throw a touch-screen monitor into the equation, things start to get interesting. Unfortunately though, the PC aspect of the whole thing wasn't quite ready, leaving eager tweakers to sit on their hands and wait.
Microsoft is known predominantly as a software maker, with the likes of Windows and Office among its most celebrated products. But for a long time, the company has also shown that it's not too shabby when it comes to building innovative keyboards and mice to accompany the experience of using its famed line-up, and moving with the times, the software company's new All-in-One Media Keyboard is designed specifically with your smart TV in mind.
The developer preview Of Windows Phone 8.1 is now out there for all to try out and assess, and even though the Cortana voice assistant seems to be the main talking point, Microsoft has thrown in many more useful features besides. Along with the Action Center, wallpaper support and other such niceties, it looks as though the software giant has included support for Apple's Passbook passes, which can be read and comprehended via Microsoft Wallet.
In the run-up to Windows Phone 8.1's announcement at the start of April, we heard that Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri and Google Now, would take elements of both pre-existing voice assistants and combine them into the best all-round voice feature in the mobile industry. Since the BUILD dev conference, we've heard a great deal about how wonderful Cortana supposedly is, although until we've seen it up against its two major adversaries, there's no telling just how it holds up. With the release of the developer preview of Windows Phone 8.1 today, though, we finally get to see first-hand if Cortana can compete with its more established peers, and the Cortana vs. Siri vs. Google Now video embedded below reveals all!
Last week at the BUILD developers conference, Microsoft unveiled its latest changes to the Windows operating system with Windows 8.1 Update 1. Designed with the desktop user in mind, the release offers a bunch of optimization features for those using the traditional keyboard-and-mouse set-up, and on a day that has seen official support cease for the 12-year-old Windows XP, the newly-updated edition of Windows 8.1 is now available to download.
Siri may have become something of a modern cult figure since its introduction alongside the iPhone 4s back in 2011, but with the big announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 last week, Microsoft also took the wraps off Cortana, its very own Siri alternative. Given the very nature of the mobile market, we know that competition will be fierce, and as per a very funny, mocked-up parade of the respective voice assistants on an American chat show, the blue touchpaper has already been well and truly lit.
