Microsoft's Xbox One is a fairly good looking device. Yes, granted, it is a little bit set-top boxy for some people's liking, but all told, it will make a nice aesthetic impression on most living rooms. Some unofficial renders of the machine have just popped up on Sketchfab, and if you fancy taking a closer look at the forthcoming Microsoft console, now you can. Bear in mind, these are not endorsed officially by Microsoft, but since Xbox LIVE's Larry Hryb a.k.a. Major Nelson tweeted about the designs, they've at least been dealt an air of legitimacy.
Microsoft has officially lifted the lid off the first major update to their Windows 8 desktop operating system and we can confirm that it is a fairly substantial point upgrade for those using the platform. Rather than the usual small incremental changes that we sometimes see with OS upgrades, Microsoft clearly had their serious hat on when developing the Windows 8.1 update. In addition to the expected and surprising amendments the Redmond based company has also taken the opportunity to update a number of their native apps as well as introduce some new apps with the 8.1 update that will definitely be well received by users. Carry on reading to find out what's new in Windows 8.1.
The battle of the next-gen consoles is really hotting up, and both Microsoft and Sony will be vying for the attentions of the gaming faithful come the end of this year. In fact, the fight to secure the interests of gamers worldwide is already in full swing, with Sony having announced the PlayStation 4 back in February, and the announcement of the Xbox One last week finally put a name and a face to the plans of Redmond-based Microsoft. While some key details remain a mystery at this point in time, we now have a general idea of what to expect, and designer Ralph Cifra has put together a nice little infographic based on the information currently known.
Xbox One or PS4? It's a highly emotive question, isn't it? Everyone has their own thoughts and reasons to justify them, that's what it makes opinions so great.
One of the highlights of Google's I/O, particularly for those with an affinity to Samsung-made devices, was the news that a variant of the flagship Galaxy S4 would be arriving on stock Android, bypassing all the crap additional extras Samsung likes to bundle therein. Now, rumor has it that HTC could be planning a similar move with its flagship ‘One’ smartphone, which currently ships with an overlay of bloatware including Sense 5 and the divisive BlinkFeed. The report, if true, would certainly appease the purists who like a 'clean slate' of Android when they purchase a new device, and given how unconfirmed sales figures have placed the HTC One in a strong position against the Korean company's latest and greatest (selling one unit for every two Galaxy S4s), it's a move that would help the Taiwanese vendor keep tabs on its strongest rival.
Microsoft has really sought to change the way consumers go about computing by bringing products like the Surface to market, as part of a wider plan to help the world adjust to its vastly reshuffled Windows 8 interface. To help make the transition to the Windows 8 product line just that little bit easier, the software maker has been continually offering bespoke products and peripherals designed especially for the job, such as the Wedge Touch Mouse and Keyboard announced last year. Today, the Redmond is back with some equally interesting accessories; a new "Sculpt" range of mice sporting their own Windows Start buttons.
Microsoft only recently announced its Xbox One game console, and while we still don't actually know when exactly is the machine actually going to be available for purchase, we do now know what its games will look like. Or more accurately, we know what the boxes belonging to those games will look like.
Now that Xbox One has been announced, and naturally, immediate comparisons are already being drawn between it and the PlayStation 4 of Sony. Since we’re still a long way from seeing either of these two titans hit the market, it’s impossible to begin to compare the two up against each other in terms of performance, but taking into consideration the hardware specs of each, we can at least gauge a rough idea of how these two significant machines stand up to one another. Here, we’re going to use what information we already know to compare the hardware and features of each, and although this won’t be indicative of anything beyond mere reference, it does set the ball rolling.
Historically, PC gamers have lauded it over their console playing counterparts, claiming that their hugely expensive graphics cards are light-years ahead of the latest and greatest console hardware. It's the way it's always been, and it's made it possible for some truly impressive PC gaming graphics.
Microsoft has really been on the offensive over the past few weeks in the tablet world, having taken a series of swipes at Apple's iPad in an attempt to rejuvenate the Surface's flagging start in the Cupertino-dominated market. With the company chairman, co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates having already stepped out recently to note of the iPad's frustrating interface, the Redmond company is currently running an ad campaign in an attempt to point out the exact reasons why consumers should choose Windows 8 tablets over iPad. Just a short while ago, we saw the Windows maker use Apple's Siri voice recognition software to poke fun at the market leader, and following on from that is another ad showing just how much more productive one can be when using Windows.
