Touch is a now the dominant method of input for mobile devices. Although touchscreen based devices have existed for a long time, they were popularized and made user friendly with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. In his original iPhone keynote, Steve Jobs categorically stated that if the device requires a stylus, you’re doing something wrong. And we tend to agree with him to some extent, emphasis on extent.
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.
Microsoft's Windows 8 marks a significant change in direction for the Redmond company's landmark operating system, and although the software maker had previously offered a release bracket, Steven Sinosfky has put minds and speculation to rest by announcing it will begin retailing on Friday 26th October.
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.
Although Microsoft didn't stipulate an Office 2013 announcement would be arriving today, the blogosphere has been abuzz with regards to today's announcement from the Redmond company. After a big banner showing the new Office logo was placed outside the San Fran venue, it was down to company CEO Steve Ballmer finally lifted the lid on its Office 2013.
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.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 console is the most popular on the market by quite a distance now, which is rather surprising, given how the full experience with Xbox LIVE Gold Membership relies on continual payments from consumers. Sony's PlayStation Network, for example, is absolutely free of charge, rendering the 360's continued dominance as all the more commendable.
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.
Here's a rather interesting idea, and one that we honestly can't decide whether we would say is a good one, or a bad one. We'll take the length of this post to decide. Microsoft has today shown off a handy little USB stick which could potentially make itself indispensable to businesses and home computer owners alike, especially if they use more than one Windows machine on a daily basis.
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.
