Gaming, Mixed Reality (MR), News, Software Programs, Virtual Reality (VR), Windows

Bethesda adds Windows Mixed Reality support to Doom VFR

Gaming studio Bethesda this week released a patch for Doom VFR which adds official support for Windows Mixed Reality headsets. While it has been reported that many gamers were already successfully using MR headsets to play Doom VFR, official support should help solve any challenges in getting the game running and any glitches within its environment. The patch also added several new features, including smooth locomotion control and movement speed options, a weapon pitch option to adjust weapon angles, various features related to controllers, a fix to a discoloring issue seen on some platforms, and various other bug fixes. Deployment of the patch occurred on

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Gaming, Mixed Reality (MR), News, VR World, Windows

Bigscreen coming to Windows Mixed Reality

For the uninitiated, Bigscreen is a virtual desktop application for VR headsets. It originally launched for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift as a desktop environment for those headsets, and as of the turn of the New Year, Bigscreen is now available on Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Bigscreen coming to Windows MR headsets is good news for the platform. While Windows Mixed Reality does have SteamVR support, the platform still has a way to go to become a true competitor to the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift. Bigscreen porting their application to Mixed Reality is a good sign, though, and with any luck, many other

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Augmented Reality (AR), Business, Companies, Microsoft, News, Virtual Reality (VR), VR World, Wearables, Windows

Microsoft Presenting Easy-To-Use Virtual Reality Experience

Microsoft is trying to nudge laptop and deskbound computers to interact with the three-dimensional world. The company on Tuesday started rolling out its latest bundle of updates to the Windows 10 operating system with features clustered around a bet that people will use their PCs to experience 3-D virtual worlds. Dubbed the Fall Creators Update, the package will make its way in waves to the more than 500 million Windows 10 users starting this week. Business users have the ability to delay updates. This technology “will forever unleash the creativity of people and organizations around the planet,” Alex Kipman, a Microsoft technical fellow working on Windows

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AMD, Apple, Breaking, Hardware, Microsoft, News, Nvidia, Operating Systems, OSx, Windows

Did Microsoft Fix its Biggest Mistake?

Microsoft is ending its ‘free Windows 10’ upgrade program. Ever since the company announced the availability of Windows 10 and a free upgrade for the older versions, the company was adamant it will only offer free upgrade program ‘for a limited amount of time’. That free upgrade program ends on July 29th, 2016. While there is a loophole that can keep your systems running on Windows 7,  8 and 8.1 and still get the Windows 10 upgrade, discovered thanks to ZDNet: “When you upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, the Windows 10 setup program checks your current activation status and reports the result to the activation

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Breaking, Companies, Microsoft, Mobile, News, Smartphones, Tablets, VR World, Windows Phone

Windows 10 Mobile Upgrade coming to Windows Phone 8.1

Unlike its predecessors, Windows 10 Mobile shares a lot with the Windows 10 PC systems, potentially giving the mobile users a perfect solution for their mobile demands. Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile is the latest attempt to take on smartphone OS leaders Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). After months of announcements and discussion going, Microsoft finally released the OS upgrade for select Windows Phone 8.1 devices. “Consistent with our approach to the Windows 10 PC upgrade, we are focused on delivering a high quality experience for our customers,” said Michael Fortin (Corporate VP, Core Quality, Windows and Devices Group). “The Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor app can be downloaded from the Windows Store

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VR World

Microsoft Said to Unveil Windows 10 Consumer Preview in January

The next version of Windows won’t be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, but rather at a later press event.

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Business, Graphics, Guides, Hardware, Holiday Shopping Guides, Mobile Computing, VR World

Top Five Notebooks of 2014

toshiba chromebook 2 -MAIN

With the holidays approaching fast many people will be getting new notebooks this holiday season, we give you our pick for the top 5.

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VR World

Microsoft: DirectX 12 to Ship With Windows 10

Microsoft has confirmed that DirectX 12 will be included in Windows 10, but the company still needs to work on building support for the new API.

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Cloud Computing, Enterprise, Mobile Computing, Software Programs, VR World

Microsoft Windows 10 Preview Minimum Specs and Download Released

Want to see what all the buzz was about yesterday? Well, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is giving you a chance to test out the Windows 10 Preview for free as long as you agree to become an ‘insider’ and help them improve it before it launches next year. All you need to do is head over to the Windows 10 Preview site and log in with your Microsoft account and then make sure your system meets the minimum specifications. If you’re already running Windows 8.1 you’re pretty much read to go and the OS will handle everything for you. System requirements Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster RAM:

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Analysis, Event, IFA 2014, Opinion, Rumors

IDF 2014 Murmurings: A True Windows Phablet for Content Creationists?

While flying from Taipei to San Francisco for the usual September round of tech events, one story in this month’s MacWorld caught my attention: one of the editors was speculating how nice it would be to have a true full Mac in an iPhone size. Of course, Apple may be a little farther from merging the OS X and iOS than we thought earlier, but, what about looking at the same thing on the Wintel platform? Perhaps a Windows Phablet? It could be argued that one big mistake Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) did with Windows Phone is to compete with Android and Apple (NASDAQ: APPL). Windows OS, as

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分析

中國離“美國政府對微軟”這一刻的訴訟很近了

政府已經宣布另一件他們正在調查微軟的反競爭行為案件,對於微軟長期任職的執行官員來說,這似乎都太耳熟能詳了(Nasdaq:MSFT),這一次是遭殃的在中國。 中國國家工商行政管理總局和商務部負責人張茅(音譯)在公安人員的發布會上,公開聲明表示,關於捆綁瀏覽器和媒體播放器變成Windows的副本, 中國微軟正被調查中。 該聲明中說“微軟涉嫌不完整透露Windows和Office軟體的相關信息,以及在經銷和銷售其媒體播放器和瀏覽器的問題”。 距離微軟第一次因捆綁軟體而被政府嚴密監控已經為時已久了。微軟是美國反壟斷監管機構的焦點,在近世紀之交接時,“美國政府對微軟案“緣由於捆綁IE瀏覽器與Windows,檢察官稱微軟在瀏覽器大戰裡為”不公平的優勢“。類似的媒體播放器捆綁案件,在歐盟以及韓國都對微軟提出控告,導致該地區發展其特殊版本的作業系統,為那些前來SANS媒體播放器的地區正在制定. 在Firefox和Chrome的時代裡,以及過盛的行動裝置都毅然決然的不使用微軟的情況下,瀏覽器的壟斷思維早就老掉牙了。然而,桌面上微軟的IE瀏覽器在中國仍具有相當程度的影響力,具有27.8%市場的占有率和12.5%Internet Explorer6 使用率。 將外國人一腳踢出 在過去的一年中,中國政府已經採取了積極的行動,讓外國消費品和高科技公司在中國市場裡難以生存,同時給予當地企業一臂之力。 端看微軟在中國的情形下,中國毫無疑問地想減少對外國產品的依賴。據《衛報》報導,中國正在尋求透過發展出自己的一套作業系統來達到目的。 “創造一種讓我們能夠與谷歌,蘋果和微軟競爭的環境,那就是成功的關鍵,”中國工程院院士倪光南(音譯)如是說,他也是此項目的鼻祖,他告訴《衛報》 “你一定要改變過去的方式,才能與國營統一的作業系統運作,而不是複製以前的模式,整合積累過去的做法.” 但對於中國消費者來說,品質和相容性就是一切。當一個未經證實,可能帶有問題,而且相容性有限的國家級的作業系統呈現眼前,卻不如真金不怕火煉的Microsoft Windows那般可靠,毋庸置疑地猜得出他們會選擇哪一個了。  

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VR World

Microsoft Said to be Planning Windows 9 Launch in September

An official unveiling of Windows 9 might be closer than many expect, according to one report. Sources that spoke to The Verge said that Microsoft is planning a press event on September 30 to fully detail the changes to “Threshhold.” The sources that spoke to The Verge also said that a release to developers would occur shortly thereafter, perhaps on even the same day. While it’s unclear how much different Windows 9 will be from an architecture standpoint; improvements to the Windows kernel are not something users largely requested. This next version of Windows will largely be a refreshed user interface, with a new version

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Hardware, Mobile Computing, VR World

Surface Pro 3 – Surface Gets Bigger and Better

Surface Pro 3

Microsoft has clearly not stopped with their aspirations with the new Surface Pro 3 that they launched today. This is a follow up to their Surface Pro 2, which also featured an Intel ultra low voltage Core family CPU, except now you have a choice of a Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 CPU as opposed to only being able to choose an i5. The CPU in the Surface Pro 3 is actually the same as it was in the 2, which is a little disappointing but Intel’s Broadwell won’t hit until much later this year. Once that new Intel chip starts to pick

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Hardware, Mobile Computing, VR World

Surface Pro 3 – Surface Gets Bigger and Better

Surface Pro 3

Microsoft has clearly not stopped with their aspirations with the new Surface Pro 3 that they launched today. This is a follow up to their Surface Pro 2, which also featured an Intel ultra low voltage Core family CPU, except now you have a choice of a Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 CPU as opposed to only being able to choose an i5. The CPU in the Surface Pro 3 is actually the same as it was in the 2, which is a little disappointing but Intel’s Broadwell won’t hit until much later this year. Once that new Intel chip starts to pick

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Mobile Computing, Operating Systems, Software Programs, VR World, Windows Phone

Windows Phone 8.1 Update Preview Live Today

For those of you that missed Microsoft’s announcement of the Windows Phone 8.1 update, they said that the update would be rolling out over the course of the next few months across the world. However, the developer preview (basically accessible to anyone that’s interested) is available today. That includes a whole host of small improvements across the OS as well as the addition of Cortana. Windows Phone Central actually has a quick guide of what you actually need to do in order to get your hands on Windows Phone 8.1. The one important thing to note, however, is that only users with Windows Phone 8

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Business, Hardware, Mobile Computing, Operating Systems, Opinion, Software Programs, VR World, Windows Phone

Microsoft's New Strategy – Clean Up Windows, Become Strong 3rd Competitor

Microsoft Logo

If you haven’t been following Microsoft lately, then you’re missing out on what could be one of the most significant changes of strategy I’ve seen in a long time. They have slowly been making baby steps towards reorganizing and reconsidering how they address mobile. I have been following Microsoft’s attitudes towards mobile since Windows Mobile 5.0 and even owned a fair amount of Windows-based devices over the course of that time. However, Microsoft made a lot of mistakes along the way and is finally making major changes to remedy them. And with the smartphone market being a virtual duopoly between Android and iOS it comes

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Companies, Microsoft, Software Programs

Happy Birthday, Microsoft Windows

A good friend of mine just reminded me that this November should mark the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Windows. Since this sort of news is usually seen on timekeeping websites, I decided to take a look around and check to see if Windows did indeed turned 25, or Microsoft will have to wait until 2010 to mark the date. Well, the answer is two-fold. Microsoft Windows can be viewed as 25-year old this month, if you calculate the announcements, or in November 2010, when the company finally shipped the product. The company announced Windows 1.0 operating system in November of 1983 . At that time,

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3D, AMD, Companies, Graphics, Software Programs

Nvidia plans to bridge the 32-bit and 64-bit divide

When you are designing a workstation product, you’re not designing what your engineers want, but rather what the customer will buy.  Workstation market is much more conservative than consumer one, and a lot of design changes have to be made in order to accomodate this, still much smaller market. Currently, the biggest headache in the workstation world is 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. While the FX community already went for 64-bit operating system, a lot of organizations are resisting to change and remain in the 32-bit world with its applications and broad compatibility. This was a big challenge for both ATI and Nvidia, who went

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Apple, Companies, Hardware, Memory & Storage Space, VR World

YES – Somebody finally made a decent Blu-ray burner!

I’ve just received word from Woodstock, IL – and this press release is something that I’ve just had to share, because the words that came out of my mouth were “Finally, darn it!” Karen Thomas sent me an e-mail with press release containing the title “OWC ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY’S FIRST BLU-RAY EXTERNAL DRIVES WITH “QUAD INTERFACE”. Now, naturally, my comment for this spinning paper (press release) would be the bin, but this device actually has some true muscle. OWC Mercury Pro is external Blu-ray burner, but it features e-SATA port. Yep, you’ve read it correctly – it does come with FireWire 400 and 800, USB 2.0,

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3D, Software Programs

The ultimate picture stitch/texture maker app is here!

If you ever worked with combining multiple pictures or creating textures, most of you remember what royal PITA it was. But, with imageSynth utility from Luxology that became a thing of the past – and it didn’t stop there. Luxology just announced imageSynth 2, application that works either as plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS3/CS4, or as a stand-alone application. Maker claims that imageSynth brings 10x speed increase over previous version, but we wonder how that could be if the company is not supporting GPU acceleration. Well…the secret lies in the fact that Luxology works hard on optimizing threading on all the CPUs, so a quad-core

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