Microsoft's Surface is one of the most sought-after slates to be releasing this year, and as such, one would expect anybody lucky enough to have their hands on one already to be treating it with the utmost care; enjoying a device very few people have even seen in the flesh. Of course, such rules don't apply to Steve Sinofsky - the leader of the team which has created the Surface - and in a rather comical sketch, has demonstrated how the device also doubles up as a rather useful skateboard.
As anybody in ownership of an Xbox 360 (or indeed, a PlayStation 3) will know, the wireless controllers are pretty versatile, and with minimal fuss, can be hooked up to many electronic products besides their respective console boxes. With the Microsoft Surface dropping next week, many were wondering whether the Redmond company's tablet would also support the Xbox's wireless controllers. In a day that has seen snaps of Steve Sinofsky skateboarding on a Surface around the Redmond complex, the software maker has taken another out-of-the-ordinary step in confirming via Reddit that the imminent slab will indeed be compatible with the Xbox game pads.
With the prices of the Microsoft Surface finally having leaked into the wild earlier, it seemed pretty inevitable pre-orders wouldn't be far behind, and that has wound up being the case today. If you've been saving your next tablet purchase until the grand launch of the software maker's tablet-plus-ultrabook, you'll be pleased to know that you can now pre-order your very own.
After going through a period of public beta testing, Microsoft has started to officially rollout the planned changes to their Xbox LIVE service. As is usually the case with large scale changes like the ones being pushed to the LIVE service, the updates will be gradual and will start to be noticeable to different members in different territories over the next seven days.
The next couple of weeks will undoubtedly be all about the future of Windows with the launch of Windows 8 and Microsoft's Surface tablet coming on October 26th, but this rather informative infographic gives us a chance of taking a walk down memory lane and seeing the evolution of the company's much-loved software.
The big release of Windows 8 and its many, many affiliated products and services is drawing strikingly close, and with tidbits of info arriving straight from the Redmond-based horse's mouth on an almost daily basis, Microsoft has today updated the world on the ins and outs of Xbox Music.
With less than two weeks to go until Windows 8 is officially available to consumers; Microsoft has kicked off the countdown by lifting the lid on the first video in what is sure to be a very high profile and expensive advertisement campaign. We've had wind of some speculation in the last few days regarding a potential Microsoft advertising campaign, as well as a leaked set of videos that were said to be official Microsoft creations, but to top that off; the first ad has officially landed today that gives an indication of what is to come.
An understandably disillusioned Microsoft have confirmed that they are aware of the possible leak of the Halo 4 Xbox console game and are currently in the process of working in an attempt to get to the bottom of how the slip occurred. The latest iteration of the phenomenally popular Halo franchise is slated for a worldwide release during the first week of November but it seems that the Redmond based company couldn't keep a tight lock on the game any longer.
Microsoft has taken the opportunity to announce that the development phase of Office 2013 is complete and the engineering teams involved have signed off the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the suite. Now that the coding, design and development phases of the process are complete; the main focus of the Redmond company is to now concentrate on releasing the new build of Office to consumer and business customers via selected channels.
You are all familiar with Microsoft's Zune Music Pass, right? No? Well actually, you aren't the only one who may not be that au fait with the Redmond offering, but that shouldn't really cause you much concern as the subscription service that allows unlimited music streaming/downloading is being cast into the wilderness - at least in some regions. The time of Zune has been and gone and with the Xbox Music service on the horizon, it seems a little strange that the Zune Music Pass is arriving in some new territories as we speak.
