Ever since Microsoft came out with the Windows 10, Redmond has been positioning this Operating System (OS) as the final direct release, with all the future versions being built off this foundation. Microsoft is trying to capture back market share which PCs have lost to mobile computing. Microsoft allowed for program compatibility and ecosystem support blunders with Windows 7 Mobile, Windows 8 Mobile, Windows 8 x86, and Windows 8 ARM (RT). The company let its Windows ecosystem to become fragmented, removed backwards compatibility, and many of its consumer developers moved away from Microsoft to focus on iOS and Android OS created by Apple and Google
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
Lumia 950 and 950 XL Owners Get a Free Year of Office 365
This isn’t the first time Microsoft is giving away free stuff to owners of its Windows 10 Mobile smartphones. A few weeks ago, everyone who pre-ordered Lumia 950 XL smartphone received a free Display Dock. Now, the software/hardware giant from Redmond is giving away something more interesting, a free year of Office 365 subscription to owners of Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. A rather nice way to say thanks for choosing the company’s flagship smartphones, isn’t it? In case you were wondering, the Office 365 Personal subscription is now reduced to $59.99, making this a rather interesting offer. Customers that are eligible for the subscription are
Netflix Joins Microsoft’s Universal Windows App Bandwagon
Microsoft reports that Netflix has jumped on the Universal App bandwagon with the launch of a new app for Windows 10. That means the app can be opened on a number of Windows 10 solutions spanning desktops, laptops and tablets. Netflix joins Pandora, The Wall Street Journal and a few others that recently launched apps based on Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform. Prior to today, Netflix launched several apps for Windows and Windows Phone that were built from a few code bases that are based on C#, XAML and Silverlight. In order to bring new features to these Netflix platforms, the company had to alter each
San Diego Carriers Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile Tied in Performance
The San Diego carriers duke it out again in Rootmetrics’ scoring for the second half of 2014 and the results are that Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are a tie
Verizon Deems Day November 26th Connection Day
Verizon is trying to make people’s travels during the holidays easier with Connection Day by giving everyone digital gifts to make travel just a bit easier
Five Best Smartphones of 2014
Although the growth of the high-end Smartphone segment has declined of late, there have been some truly remarkable devices launched this year.
HTC Brilliantly Mocks the Smartphone Sizzle Video
In an age of where we get these fantastic and whimsical smartphone sizzle videos, HTC satirically breaks down for us what goes into making a sizzle video.
ecoATM Recycles Your Tech for Instant Cash
At Pepcom’s event in San Francisco, we got to connect with our friends at ecoATM and talk at length about their kiosks and the challenges they face today
Russia to Ban Sale of Devices with Foreign Cloud
A new Russian law states that on January 1st, 2015 any company who’s devices communicate with the cloud and share that data abroad will be banned.
Say Hello to The Microsoft Band, a Fitness Band for All
Microsoft was rumored to be releasing a fitness band called the Microsoft Band early on Wednesday, Microsoft shortly thereafter launched it to the public.
OneDrive Offers Unlimited Storage with Office 365
Microsoft has announced that all Office 365 users will be upgraded to unlimited cloud storage from the free 1TB that they have now.
AT&T Might Owe You a Refund for Cramming
AT&T just paid a $105 million fine to the FTC to settle a cramming lawsuit where the company charged its customers bogus charges on their bills
Anker 5-port 40w 8a Family Sized USB Charger Reviewed
Anker aims to help cut down your power adapter clutter with its 40W (8A) 5-port family sized USB charger with PowerIQ™.
Twitter to Add a Buy Now Button
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) today announced that it would be adding a Buy Now button to Twitter, specifically on mobile. This is yet another move by Twitter to increase their profitability through finding more revenue making opportunities, this follows its partnering with Amazon to tag purchases on Twitter back in May for adding to an Amazon cart. If anything, this Buy Now button is an evolution of that idea, making Twitter the direct point of sale instead of trying to send you somewhere else to buy the item. Twitter has hundreds of millions of users and if it makes this work right, it may actually have figured out eCommerce through social media
Great Deal on a Backup Battery Charger
We caught wind of a pretty sweet backup battery deal on woot.com, a daily deal website now owned by Amazon. This is for the Gorilla Gadgets CHR-150 Uhuru! 16,800 mAh External Portable Battery Pack Charger with LED Screen. Why is this a great deal? Because Amazon is selling it right now for $70, but Woot.com is selling it for $40 and the suggested retail price is $140. But what makes this thing awesome? Well, other than the fact that it comes with three different charging connectors (microUSB, lightning and Apple 30-pin), it can also fully charge an iPad and an iPhone and probably still have
Microsoft to Lay Off 18,000, Most Ever in Company History
As Microsoft’s Satya Nadella takes the reigns of the company, it appears as though he’s pushing for some serious blood letting from within the company that currently employs 125,000 people. This enormous 18,000 person layoff figure is mostly thanks to their acquisition of Nokia’s handset and mobile division, which brought on 25,000 people. Out of the 18,000 figure, nearly 12,500 will come from the former Nokia division that they had acquired, which is somewhat to be expected but also incredibly infuriating. Sure, there are going to be a decent amount of redundancies between Nokia and Microsoft, but this amounts to a 50% cut of all
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
Microsoft's New Strategy – Clean Up Windows, Become Strong 3rd Competitor
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