Microsoft's Xbox One is the console that the company hopes will carry it through to 2020 and beyond, but while all the talk is often about how powerful these new game consoles are and whether they will usher in a new era of hyper-realistic games or not, often one of the important aspects of a new console is overlooked - how does the thing look?
Fans of the work of Bungie, the people behind the Halo series of games, has announced that it expects to begin offering its new game for sale soon. Destiny will be available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4 and looks set to be quite the experience.
Even though the Xbox One bears many striking similarities to the 360, it's still a new interface and an entirely new console, with many more powers and facilities than its predecessor could ever have offered. To help Xbox One owners with the settling in process, Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson has released a three minute clip detailing some neat tips and tricks that you mightn't have discovered already, and with insight into some of the gestures as well covering the many ways in which the Dashboard can be manipulated to suit your needs, it's a fairly thorough video.
The Xbox One finally made its debut in several major markets almost two weeks ago, and since then, gamers have been busily familiarizing themselves with the new Dashboard interface, increased power, and generally reveling in that new-console feeling. The special Day One Edition of the Xbox One was offered by Microsoft in the run-up to the release, and brought with it a series of perks reserved only to those who pre-ordered it. Here at Redmond Pie, we managed to reserve our own limited Day One Edition Xbox One, and naturally, felt compelled to give it an elaborate, snap-happy unboxing for your viewing pleasure. Check out the photos of the grand unveiling after the leap!
The days of Microsoft releasing one new version of its Windows OS every few years are long gone. With the introduction of mobile devices into the frame - albeit somewhat belatedly - the Redmond, Washington outfit has moved to an annual release cycle akin to Apple. With Windows 8.1 following last year's drop of Windows 8, we haven't really heard a great deal about what's coming up next, however, Mary Jo Foley - renowned for leaking information about Microsoft - has come through with the news that the forthcoming edition of the famed desktop / tablet platform is codenamed ‘Threshold’.
Windows and OS X have been competing for years in the battle of the two major desktop platforms, and although Windows has been comfortably ahead since the beginning of time, Apple's Mac operating system has certainly made some headway in more recent times. Microsoft's Windows 8.1 and OS X Mavericks 10.9 are the latest entrants to the market, and although, as noted in the headline, Windows 8.1 has just sneaked ahead of Mavericks in terms of reach, the latter's 2.42% market share has now surpassed that of each of its predecessors.
Cyber Monday has finally arrived. Millions of consumers all over the globe are expected to utilize their existing technology to scour the Web for the best Cyber Monday deals out there, with the aim of grabbing some new gadgets at bargain prices. Reductions and money-saving deals aren't exactly alien in the tech world, but Cyber Monday has historically presented consumers with much deeper discounts. To get you up and running, we have scoured the Web for some of the best Google, Microsoft and Apple deals available during the course of the day.
Nobody could accuse Microsoft of being on a charm offensive of late. In fact, it's more likely that the finger would be pointed at them for doing the complete opposite after the Redmond firm set about Apple in various Windows RT ads, pitting its own tablet machines against Apple's wildly popular iPads. It seems that Apple's isn't the only one to find itself in the firing line though, after Microsoft apparently decided that if you're going to go toe-to-toe with one huge international technology player, then you might as well go against two.
Microsoft's Surface RT has not been the most successful of tablets since its release late last year, and although a myriad of factors have contributed to its shortcoming in the market, the fact is that tens of thousands of units remain unsold. As such, Microsoft has already dropped the price on a couple of occasions to try and boost sales, but with today being Black Friday and all, Micro Center has come through with an exceptional deal offering both the Surface RT and a Touch Cover for just $179.
Black Friday is quickly approaching, and with so many tech deals already announced by numerous retail outlets, consumers are going to have a real struggle deciding which are worthy of their hard-earned dollars. Microsoft has thrown up its own little headache in the Black Friday dilemma by announcing a series of Xbox 360 Game Store price-cuts. Yes, that is Xbox 360, as opposed to the just-released Xbox One. What, you weren't hoping Microsoft would begin dropping prices this early on in the day, were you?

