It came as a little bit of shock when Nokia and Microsoft announced a partnership in 2011 that would see the ailing Finnish mobile device maker implement the Windows Phone OS in its next-generation of smartphone releases. The plan was for Nokia to see out their commitment to the Symbian software before ultimately designing and rolling out a range of smartphones powered completely by the Microsoft mobile OS.
Once upon a time when discussing operating systems, Windows would have been at the top of every person’s list and while it is still the world’s most recognizable OS, it has suffered a fall from greatness in recent years. With the whirlwind resurgence of Apple over the last decade, the company’s products and software have become some of the most talked about in the technology world, with Mac OS X benefitting from a rise in popularity, stealing the thunder from Microsoft.
At this present moment, the tablet market is a two-horse race consisting of Android tablets, and Apple's iPad range. The third iteration is set to begin retailing tomorrow morning at 8am, with many fanatic consumers expected to be queuing through the night tonight ready for doors to open.
While the minor, incremental Windows Phone Tango/Refresh update is right around the corner - which, primarily, will allow Windows Phone to penetrate the lower-end emerging markets with diminished hardware requirements and functionality - a far more major update is on the horizon.
Microsoft has reportedly revealed to partners that its next-generation Xbox - unofficially dubbed the "Xbox 720" - will not feature an optical drive, and that games and other content will only be accessible through downloads or an "interchangeable solid-state card storage".
When influential companies announce upcoming new products and changes to services, most users become eager to jump ship and adopt the presumably improved iteration.
Two weeks ago, some preliminary information and screenshots of the Office 15 Technical Preview build surfaced on The Verge. Today, they have followed up with additional information, this time providing a quick rundown of some of the new features that have been implemented in 'main' Office applications - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote - thus far. While Microsoft has mainly remained quiet about what's coming in Office 15, as it is a Technical Preview build - which is passed to OEMs, partners, and select testers - leaks should come as no surprise, and should even be expected in some cases.
The Daily posted two screenshots of what they claim to be Office for iPad. One screenshot showed what looks like the "start screen" of the app, where you can open and create documents, and the other showed the "Office" app icon.
The world wide web has been going Xbox - or more specifically - Halo 4 crazy today. With leaked images from the new Halo 4 game being shown earlier today, Microsoft and game makers 343 Industries have released a new preview video of the highly anticipated, yet extremely mysterious Halo 4 video game. The next release in the Halo franchise is tipped to hit our shelves sometime before the holiday season and will bring the iconic Master Chief back to the forefront of gaming, intended to launch the 'Halo Reclaimer Trilogy'.
Whenever people talk about console-based video gaming these days, it seems to be the Call Of Duty franchise that gets the most attention. Granted, the COD games grow in popularity with every release, and the Modern Warfare series has certainly become one of the most popular series of games around the globe, but that doesn't stop die hard fans from craving some more game-time with one of video games’ most iconic heroes - The Master Chief.
