With a considerable amount of ground to make up already on the various app hubs available from the likes of Apple, Microsoft needs to deliver the goods with its Windows 8 Store, and the Redmond company has now released details via the MSDN Blog of how its new store will distribute apps.
While the main source of Microsoft's business stems from its famed software ventures, the company has certainly improved in the hardware stakes. Today, images have leaked onto the web depicting both the Wedge Mobile keyboard and purported Microsoft Wedge Touch mouse, the latter of which is said to accompany the keyboard.
With Windows 8 well and truly on the way, app makers will now be thinking about how their apps will fit around the new infrastructure. Microsoft has the obvious advantage of having built Windows 8 from the ground up, and has offered a preview of its famous OneNote app, called OneNote MX. OneNote only recently made its debut on the iPad, and although perhaps not regarded as important as the likes of PowerPoint, Word, or Excel, still plays an important role in Microsoft's wide variety of productivity-aimed apps.
Following yesterday's official debut of Office 2013 (and the Customer Preview, which is now available for download as we reported yesterday), Microsoft has today followed up with a post that shares more information about Office 2013's role in the cloud as well as its future on the Windows Phone platform.
The popular cross-platform IM app Nimbuzz is now available on the Windows Phone, for the surprisingly low cost of nothing. It's been in existence since the Windows Mobile days, and is available on a wide sleuth of platforms: Android, iOS, Symbian, Blackberry, Java, PC, Mac, and of course, Windows Phone. The app allows you to chat with other Nimbuzz users, as well as friends on Facebook, Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, and WLM for free. Some form of Twitter integration is also baked into the app.
After the epic Halo trilogy that ended in Halo 3, Master Chief is set to return as the main playable character in Halo 4 which is the start of the Reclaimer Trilogy. Now, to celebrate the return of John-117, Microsoft has announced a new Limited Edition Xbox 360 Slim. Check it out after the jump.
Microsoft Office is widely renowned as the number one software package in the field of productivity, and in line with the upcoming release of Windows 8, the Redmond company is also preparing a new version of its popular suite, Microsoft Office 2013.
Kinect PlayFit, a fitness-based Xbox LIVE feature announced by Microsoft some time ago, has officially launched today, with details of the service being announced by Larry Hryb, otherwise known as Major Nelson.
The last horse looks to be crossing the finishing line in the run-up to the release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. The metro-laden eight edition of the market leading OS will Release to Manufacturing (otherwise known as RTM) in the first week of August, with the retail edition following in late October.
Windows Phone 7.x users were somewhat disappointed to learn that Windows Phone 8 would not be coming to the current batch of WP devices. Instead, Microsoft has laid out a somewhat watered-down iteration in Windows Phone 7.8, so naturally, anybody looking to jump on the Windows Phone 8 background will need to grab themselves a new device, which while a little bit gutting, is still rather exciting at the same time.
