On top of debuting one rumored product - SmartGlass - the company also dropped news of yet another pretty major service: Microsoft's rumored "Woodstock" music streaming service is real, and it's called Xbox Music. Announced by Yusuf Mehdi at the E3 stage, Xbox Music is a service that will be available not just on the console, but on Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices as well. Without delving into too many details, Microsoft did share that the service will offer 30 million tracks to boot. The Smart DJ service that is available on the current Zune service will also live on within Xbox Music. Again, not much details were revealed during the demo - or teaser, rather - or even now after the show, but all that could be seen is a Metro-styled music service that looks rather similar to the Zune.
Not long ago, there was a rumor that Microsoft was going to announce a feature called SmartGlass for tablets and phones at E3, allowing users to interact with content on the Xbox using their "second-screen" devices. Well, that rumor has panned out to be true; during its E3 keynote, Microsoft did officially announce the service.
Microsoft’s Don Mattrick has kicked off Microsoft E3 event today by announcing its flagship Xbox 360 console has gone from being the biggest selling console in North America to the most popular console worldwide.
With E3 just around the corner, the rumor mill on the technology front is in sixth gear, with much speculation (often conflicting), trying to surmise just what we - as consumers and lovers of all things gadgety - can expect to be revealed once the event commences.
With Microsoft pushing out the Release Preview of their new Windows 8 operating system today, the launch has been followed closely by the release of the server edition of the new OS. Formerly codenamed Windows Server 8 but now officially known as Windows Server 2012, Microsoft have captured the excitement surrounding the aforementioned Release Preview to make the release candidate of Windows Server 2012 available.
Well, it's officially here: The last pre-release build drop before Windows 8 is released to manufacturing has arrived. Dubbed the Release Preview, the build sports quite a few noteworthy changes and improvements over the Consumer Preview.
By setting password protection on access to your Windows PC, the notion is that you're safe from intrusion, and although this is largely true in most cases, that doesn't mean there are not ways to circumvent the apparently strict security. You would presume - as should be the case - that the only way one could access a locked account is to have guessed the password, but thanks to a few tricks involving command prompts and sticky keys, anybody with a short amount of elevated access could easily start running executables right from the login screen.
The tech world was in a state of shock last year when Microsoft confirmed it had purchased VoIP telecommunications outfit Skype. The move for the software and technology wasn't too surprising in itself, but the $8.5 billion price tag certainly was, especially given the company - which was once under the control of internet auction site eBay - wasn't exactly making much money.
Although Apple's iPad appears to have the untouchable magic formula that Android vendors have thus far failed miserably to replicate, there's certainly a feeling of optimism regarding future Windows 8 tablets. Given that the Metro interface of Microsoft's much-lauded universal OS seems to be the perfect suitor to the post-PC devices, the Redmond-based software outfit is regarded by many as a major threat to Apple's dominance in the market it started only two years back.
Whew, that took a long time! It was always inevitable that Microsoft was going to bring its famed Office Suite to mobile devices, since it's too lucrative a market to miss. Still, the Redmond-based Windows maker is now said to be finally working on ports for tablets on both iOS and Android, a foreshadowing - we presume - to a Metro iteration in a future Windows 8 tablet.
