The Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 have seen the light of the day, and as any other company would do, the Redmond technology giant is all about marketing and promoting the new hardware, to make sure that they become a true success. We’ve seen a lot of marketing ploys in the past as well - and not just from Microsoft, either - including Google’s Android statues and Apple’s TV ads. However, never once have we seen anything like what Microsoft has done in London’s Trafalgar Square, where the company has placed a 27 feet wide and 17 feet tall mockup of the newly-released Surface 2, all in the name of good marketing.
Microsoft brought Windows 8.1 to the masses just recently, after putting it through a decently long beta period, and it seems that all the feedback that Windows 8 generated (negative one in particular) got the Redmond giant listening. Windows 8.1 boasts a slew of improvements over its predecessor that are quite minor when looked at from afar, but offer solutions for the most annoying quirks that Windows 8 had on offer. The altogether lack of a Start button (only the button, and not menu, of course), improved Modern UI apps, better customization and configuration control are just the tips of the iceberg, which indicate that things might be headed in the right direction.
Microsoft owns the Xbox console lineup, right? And the company also owns the most widely-used desktop computing platform, Windows, as well. It would naturally make sense for the Redmond giant to have a dedicated app for promoting its Xbox console by simple math. Hence, the company has done just that, by releasing a news and countdown app for Xbox One for Windows 8.
The PlayStation 4 is a coveted console, we get it - it is the top of the line gaming hardware from Sony at the moment, after all - but paying $1,850 for it? It's just absurd, don't you think? I mean, who'd dish out that much dough for just a gaming console? Well, unfortunately for the gaming enthusiasts living in Brazil, this is what they have to come up with if they want to get their hands on the latest gaming gear from Sony Entertainment, where the PS4 will retail for a whopping R$ 3,999, according to the Brazil PlayStation Blog.
The very final versions of Visual Studio 2013, .NET 4.5.1, and Team Foundation Server 2013 are now available to download for those tethered to Microsoft's MSDN dev network. With Windows 8.1 now making its grand entrance, the Redmond company is currently working to ensure the majority of its product line is brought up to speed, and if you are an MSDN Subscriber, you can now grab these new releases from the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page.
Here's how you can force start download of Windows 8.1, Pro, RT on your PC when Windows Store is unable to find the update for you.
Windows 8 users have been waiting patiently for the arrival of the official Facebook app for quite some time. Back in June of this year, Microsoft did their best to raise excitement levels by pre-announcing that the world's largest social network would be releasing a native app for the platform along with other respected offerings like Flipboard. The privately held session during the company's BUILD event even went as far as showing off the wondrous new apps on a touchscreen tablet device. The teasing and waiting is eventually over for Windows users as Facebook has released their official app just in time for the launch of Windows 8.1.
Well, it is here! Final version of Windows 8.1 download has just gone live for everyone worldwide. Here's everything you need to know.
With Apple having recently dropped its big software update for iOS, it's now Microsoft's turn to come through with some big announcements for those on its own smartphone platform, and today, the software maker has unveiled the details of Update 3 for Windows Phone 8. Included will be support for 1080p displays and quad-core processors, two features that have become the de facto standard for high-end handsets, and with a new Driving Mode also thrown into the mix, the future does look somewhat brighter for the struggling ecosystem.
Hot on the heels of the news that Microsoft would be bringing a touch-ready version of Office to iPad at some unspecified time in the near future, the Redmond company has just announced that Remote Desktop is also about to hit the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store. Unlike Office for iPad, which didn't really get much of an ETA from Steve Ballmer, the software maker has issued an indirect press release on the state of RDP, noting that it will become available to those on iOS and Android by the end of the month.
