If you've been keeping abreast of the brewing console battle between Sony and Microsoft, then it's likely that you are on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what the Redmond company will introduce with their next-generation Xbox. Sony has already let the cat out of the bag with the introduction of the PlayStation 4 back in February, and it looks like the Xbox unveiling isn't too far away with the originally planned April event being pushed back a few weeks to take place next month.
Smartphones and tablets have been touted on numerous occasions as "Post-PC" devices, and with most now offering the same levels of capability as desktops and notebooks, this assertion is perhaps an accurate one. Research firm Gartner's latest figures show just how pivotal these Post-PC devices have become within the tech industry, having estimated that in 2013, Apple devices will outsell their Windows counterparts for the very first time in history.
The recently confirmed Windows Blue appears to be the internal name for Windows 8.1 rather than Windows 9, according to multiple sources. More details on this after the jump!
There's no doubt, despite less than spectacular early sales, that the Microsoft Surface is a device with great potential. But as many other companies in mobile space have learned, one cannot rely solely on one type of product if it is to make a lasting impression on the market. Thus, it has always been presumed Microsoft would follow the likes of Google and Apple by eventually working its Windows 8 ecosystem for compatibility with smaller tablets akin to the Nexus 7 and iPad mini, and new Windows 8 specifications appear to have opened the door to this possibility.
A short while ago, we learned that Microsoft's annual BUILD developer conference would be held this year on June 26th, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Further to that report, TheVerge has learned that the Redmond company will use the event as a platform to release a Public Preview of the next release of Windows, codenamed Windows Blue. Citing “sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans", the report also adds that work on the preview version is already underway, and will be available to download in much the same way the Windows 8 Developer, Consumer, and Release Previews were dropped at numerous intervals last year.
Every year, Microsoft holds its BUILD conference, which aims to give developers an insight as to what the company has in store with regards to its major software products. While not necessarily limited to Windows, the Redmond company's OS is a significant talking point, and with speculation already in full force with regards to what changes Microsoft is looking to make to Windows moving forward, the software maker has announced that this year's BUILD conference will commence from June 26th this year. You can check out further details right after the jump.
When I adopted the internet as a part of my life back in the early years of this millennium, one of the biggest things in town used to be chatting – instant message based conversations that were the new “in”. In fact, if I recall even further back, chat rooms were even a bigger hit, making it possible to meet new people and make new friends using the power of the internet in a very public environment. While that edge may have rubbed off in the last few years, even today, IRC rooms remain popular amongst certain specific communities. The advantage that IM clients held over these chat rooms, however, were the privacy, and the fact that you could control who can contact you etc. There was more customization in how your messages appeared, too, and quite a few other distinctive features.
Microsoft likes to hold an event or two, and some of those events are held behind closed doors, with its own staff the lucky recipients of a look through the keyhole into what the Redmond outfit has up its sleeve. A few weeks ago, one such private event took place, and a handful of new technologies were shown off. Details after the jump.
Redmond-based Microsoft may only recently have pushed out Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 to the end user, but it has long since been the public knowledge that the company is looking at moving towards more regular release cycles. The days of completely revamped offerings arriving every five years or so will soon be a thing of the past, and incremental, annual improvements will then ensue. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, then, that the software maker should be working on Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9, and as a recent job posting infers, the company is on the hunt for a few more specialist engineers to add to its team.
The words of analysts are, more often than not, to be taken with a pinch of salt; especially in a technology industry where most supposition is based on little more than educated guesswork. Gamers will be hoping Michael Pachter has gotten his numbers muddled up somewhere, after the game financial analyst, of Wedbush Securities, suggested that games for the PlayStation 4 and unannounced next-gen Xbox console could tip the scales at a hefty $70. Speaking to a panel in Austin, Texas, he also foresees Microsoft coming out on top in the battle of the next-gen consoles, as it has done with the Xbox 360.
