The deal would ensure better search results for users.
Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, signed a deal with Britannica Encyclopedia to add more content to its search results. The deal was announced by Microsoft through a blogpost which also said that when information from Britannica was relevant to a search, Bing users would see a small box summarising salient facts about a topic or subject.
[quote]We are excited about how new instant answers from Britannica Online delivers relevant information in a more organized way that helps people find information more quickly, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.[/quote]
This deal builds on Britannica’s decision in March to stop publishing it’s 244-year run of print volumes and Bing’s website redesign.
Leaked images of a future build of Hotmail suggest that Microsoft is bringing it into Metro style. It seems like Microsoft has been able to keep the development of this project under wraps, until it is almost ready to be released.
In the images you will see certain metro elements, but, also the fact that it all looks very incomplete. Certain icons aside everything else looks very bland and generic hotmail.
Details on tool out of the upgrade are still sketchy, most rumors point to alongside the final release of retail Windows 8.
Windows 8 offers a completely different user interface.
Windows 8 offers a completely different user interface.
If you’re thinking of buying a new laptop/desktop and are worried bout being left with the older version of Windows, Microsoft comes with the solution! If you buy your machine between June 2, 2012 to January 31, 2013, and it comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate that includes a matching and valid OEM certificate of Certificate of Authenticity (COA), just visit the Microsoft website and register there so that when Windows 8 is launched officially, it would be made available for download at a price of just Rs 699!
Just a few days ago, Microsoft launched a preview of Windows 8 and was made available for download from it’s website. Moreover, PC’s running Windows 7 would not need any hardware change to run Windows 8. The basic requirements are a 1Ghz processor, 1gb RAM, DirectX 9 compatible (recommended).
For the past 5 years, Microsoft has been the star at E3 gaming event. Hence, it was only natural to think that they wouldn’t disappoint this year either. Oh, we were mistaken. The lack of a big surprise and a relative dearth of brand new titles stopped this from being a great conference. Even Usher couldn’t bring the crowd off their seats.
The event started out with a loud and action-filled (obviously) trailer of Halo 4, which was followed by Don A. Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft taking over the stage and announcing “We’re on a mission to make entertainment even more amazing”. How we wish.
Halo 5!
Cut to footage of Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Ubisoft Toronto’s first announced title, developed under the stewardship of Jade Raymond. Seems Splinter Cell has morphed into a cross between Ghost Recon and Black Ops. However, an interesting feature was the use of the Kinect Mic to attract the attention of your enemies.
Andrew Wilson, Head of EA SPORTS at Electronic Arts, took to the stage and announced that Kinect support will be coming to Madden 13 and FIFA 13. A Video showed players making subsititutions and adjustments to team formation by shouting at Kinect, just like a real manager probably. Though I’m not sure my neighbor wants to hear me yelling “get Mario off the pitch he’s a liability!”
Microsoft then turned their attention to their first party franchises. Fable The Journey had a brief trailer. Seems like last year’s lukewarm reception to the game made an impact, it looks much better. However, that was only in terms of visuals, with no gameplay showed, so quite how the game has developed in the past 12 months remains a mystery. In a quickfire volley of trailers, Gears of War Judgment got its first airing, apparently casting Baird in the lead role which came as a shock as nobody quite liked Baird. Again, no gameplay but it will be interesting to see how new developer People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) bring their unique attitude to shooters, and how they can make Baird less of a jerk. Forza Horizon and a whopping dollop of dubstep rounded out the trailer, taking the detailed visuals and handling of Forza and transplanting it into open road racing and motor festivals. Resident Evil 6 and Tomb Raider too made blink and you miss appearances.
What turned out to be the most interesting announcement of the event was the announcement of Xbox Music and SmartGlass. Microsoft revealed the details of the two concepts at their pre-E3 press conference. Xbox Music will go up against popular music streaming services like Spotify, Apple’s iTunes etc. to bring music to your Xbox console as well as Windows tablets and smartphones. There was no indication of the release date, but Microsoft insisted that while Xbox Music will replace their not-so-successful Zune, it will be more than a simple revamp of that application. The teaser video showed users being able to queue up music and share what they are listening to with friends, much in the same way Spotify does. However, Microsoft said that the unique features for the service will be detailed in the coming weeks.
Xbox Music is aimed at challenging Spotify and iTunes.
Xbox SmartGlass allows users to interact with their Xbox console and television screen using their tablet computers –including Apple’s iPad– and smartphones. The concepts on display included being able to watch a movie on your tablet computer and then transfer it directly to your Xbox and television to pick up where you left off. Interestingly, while you are watching a television show or playing a game on your television with Xbox SmartGlass enabled on your tablet device, the two screens will interact with each other in different ways. For games, there was a concept demo of a player of American football game Madden 13 choosing plays on their tablet while playing the main game on the television, and a concept for FPS Halo where the player could examine weaponry and interact with friends over the Xbox Live service on their tablet. This seems similar to Nintendo’s Wii U console, which comes with a tablet style controller. Microsoft also revealed that Internet Explorer would be making it’s way into Xbox and would be compatible with Kinect and SmartGlass.
The SmartGlass enables your tablets and smartphones to interact with your TV.
The show was rounded off by a Call of Duty Black Ops II trailer which nearly brought the whole center down by sheer volume. It showcased some interesting gadgets, with the player controlling a small drone to wipe out enemies and a sniper rifle that can see through walls. It was classic Call of Duty gameplay, though the near future twist and vehicles add flavour to this most ubiquitous of series.
The new series of tablets will be powered by Windows 8.
At Computex-world’s largest computer related exhibition, tech giants Acer showcased a number of devices, including Windows 8 based machines. The company said that this year it would launch two tablets (W700 and W510), Aspire 7600U and Aspire 5600U all-in-ones, and Aspire 7 series ultrabook powered by Windows 8.
[quote]The unique part of the W510 tablet is the tri-mode, allowing users to touch, type and view. Aside from the conventional tablet mode, it can be used in productivity mode. A detachable keyboard dock can be connected to the tablet for optimal typing as well as extending the battery life up to 18 hours. Rotating the tablet 295 degrees allows it to be used in presentation mode, which is excellent for watching a video, browsing a webpage or viewing a PowerPoint presentation, the company said.[/quote]
In addition, the W510 has Always On, Always Connect technology, and a 10.1-inch touchscreen, which delivers wider viewing angles and vibrant colours, while W700 has a full HD 11.6-inch screen.The smaller tablet will be priced at Rs $799 while W700 will cost at least $999.
For all those android users using a CyanogenMod 9 or AOKP ROM (Oh yes, we know), who want their phones to run HTC’s beautiful Sense 4.0 UI, here comes the app that you’d been waiting for! This theme from BlackDub imitates the new streamlined and functional interface to perfection. A must have for spicing up your phone.
The HTC Sense UI 4.0
JetAudio Basic (Free)
This is an app worthy of replacing the default music player on your Android Smartphones.
It comes with 32 equalizer presets that will provide a wide array of listening experience. For those who would like to customize their own sound experience, it also allows 10 bands graphic equalizer and other advanced playback functions including playback speed control, crossfading, AGC and much more. It’s available for free on the Play Store.
There are multiple Presets and equalizer options.
[/tab]
[tab title=”iOS”]
SkyDrive (Free)
It comes as a shock, but Microsoft online storage service has been available for iOS users. The latest release adds a couple of new features such as support for Retina displays on the new share of apple devices. Features such as the option to upload multiple pictures and videos, sharing of these files via e-mail or web link help it to be the app of the week. The SkyDrive app also lets the user open files uploaded to SkyDrive using other iOS apps. So, if you fancy additional-based cloud storage, head to the iTunes store for the latest version.
Music Unlimited (Free Trial + subscription)
Yet another music streaming service, but this time, from Sony. It’s biggest advantage is that it is offered across a ton of Sony hardware-Android, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and Sony TVs and Blu-ray players. It also boasts music from all the major labels, not just Sony’s own music division. If you’re interested, you can get a free 30-day trial.
The interface is smooth and flowing.
[/tab][tab title=”Windows Phone”]
WizTiles
This app makes it into the list because it brings the much needed option of customizing your home screen. You can choose from images and other themes to make your home screen more lively. It is available for download in the Windows Market Place.
Microsoft’s new patent for Interactive back panel displays could actually change the way we utilize a smartphone today, or tomorrow. The new patent by Microsoft simply describes a device with two screens. The Second Screen is however a low power screen with a lot of potential ( something like an e-ink display) displaying different information based on the current state and information on the original front facing screen. Looking at the patent images you can see a curved back panel which can be used as a display for clock connectivity or simply a status bar.
According to the patent, the display will continue to work even if the device is off. This is something that actually is exciting and hopefully can actually make it to devices in one form or another.
When FourBros Studio launched a free game called Taptitude on the Windows Phone Marketplace, they never expected the popularity to skyrocket. The game, as of today, has earned the company over $100,000 in revenue and boasts more than 300,000 users.
According to Business insider the game’s popularity has increased since the launch of Nokia Lumia series. FourBros Studio uses Microsoft’s pubCenter, along with a service called AdDuplex, to sell advertisements on Taptitude, which is now making roughly $1,000 and millions of impressions daily.
The Success of the app is sure to spike interest in the Windows phone Marketplace which is currently the least favorite for developers among iOS, Android and WP7 (in that order).
The Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview went up just a day ago and has already hit the million download mark. Microsoft’s next major software update is built around the Windows 7 platform merged with the Live Tile – Metro UI of Windows Phone 7.
Although the downloads are 1 Million, it may not mean that 1 million people downloaded the software. Get yours in the link below.
The Microsoft India Store was hacked in India earlier today and users who visited the site were met with a “Anonymous” like image and the name of the hacker group called Evil Shadow Team, who, in addition to putting a new face on Windows products, revealed that user passwords were saved in plain text.
The intentions of the group are unknown , but since the attack the site has gone down and is now under tinkering from Microsoft for improved security measures.
Windows server 8 will introduce the Resilient File System, or ReFS, as a “next generation file system” built on the foundations of the NTFS. The new gen file system is designed by reusing NTFS’ API / semantics engine to retain a high level of compatibility with NTFS features. The new file system design is aimed to protect against latent disk errors, resist data corruption, uphold metadata integrity, grant large volume, file and directory size. The whole concept is to reduce the massive file corruption and fragmentation users face with NTFS and Windows in general.
The key goals of ReFS are:
Maintain a high degree of compatibility with a subset of NTFS features that are widely adopted while deprecating others that provide limited value at the cost of system complexity and footprint.
Verify and auto-correct data. Data can get corrupted due to a number of reasons and therefore must be verified and, when possible, corrected automatically. Metadata must not be written in place to avoid the possibility of “torn writes,” which we will talk about in more detail below.
Optimize for extreme scale. Use scalable structures for everything. Don’t assume that disk-checking algorithms, in particular, can scale to the size of the entire file system.
Never take the file system offline. Assume that in the event of corruptions, it is advantageous to isolate the fault while allowing access to the rest of the volume. This is done while salvaging the maximum amount of data possible, all done live.
Provide a full end-to-end resiliency architecture when used in conjunction with the Storage Spaces feature, which was co-designed and built in conjunction with ReFS.
The key features of ReFS are as follows (note that some of these features are provided in conjunction with Storage Spaces).
Metadata integrity with checksums
Integrity streams providing optional user data integrity
Allocate on write transactional model for robust disk updates (also known as copy on write)
Large volume, file and directory sizes
Storage pooling and virtualization makes file system creation and management easy
Data striping for performance (bandwidth can be managed) and redundancy for fault tolerance
Disk scrubbing for protection against latent disk errors
Resiliency to corruptions with “salvage” for maximum volume availability in all cases
Shared storage pools across machines for additional failure tolerance and load balancing
What are the capacity limits of ReFS?
The table below shows the capacity limits of the on-disk format. Other concerns may determine some practical limits, such as the system configuration (for example, the amount of memory), limits set by various system components, as well as time taken to populate data sets, backup times, etc.
Attribute
Limit based on the on-disk format
Maximum size of a single file
2^64-1 bytes
Maximum size of a single volume
Format supports 2^78 bytes with 16KB cluster size (2^64 * 16 * 2^10). Windows stack addressing allows 2^64 bytes
The already multi platform Pano app today is available to be downloaded of the Windows Phone Marketplace, for a mere US $ 2.99, or IN Rs. 169. The app can stick together 16 wide angled images to make a complete view of your surroundings. The UI also follows along the Windows Metro UI layout so yo will not feel lost on for windows phone. Cant wait for a hands on.
TORONTO, Canada – January 9, 2012 – Debacle Software today announced the launch of their award-winning panoramic photography app Pano for Windows Phone devices. First launched on iOS in 2008, Pano is used by over 500,000 iOS and Android users around the world. Using powerful proprietary image matching and blending algorithms, Pano creates stunning, seamless wide-angle shots from up to 16 photographs, right on a user’s mobile device. Since its launch in 2008, Pano has been used to create millions of stunning and moving images, from weddings to protests to scenic vistas and land- scapes. “There is nothing we like more than bringing Pano to more people,” said Debacle partner Julian Lepinski, “We’ve been working on this in secret for quite some time, and we’re excited to finally get it out there into peoples’ hands.” Eric Akaoka, Debacle partner and design lead noted, “The Metro design language introduced in Windows Phone 7 is a radical, refreshing departure from the norm, and redesigning Pano’s UI to match was a rewarding challenge.” Pano has won numerous awards, including iLounge’s Essential Apps two years in a row, O’Reilly’s Best iPhone Apps and Best App Ever’s Best Photography App. Pricing and Availability: Pano will launch on Windows Phone for $2.99 (€2.99, £2.29), and will be initially available in both English and Spanish. Pano will be available for purchase in all Win- dows Phone Marketplace countries.
Windows 8 is becoming more and more like the mobile counterpart. Windows 8 will offer a pair of similar features; ‘Reset your PC’ will allow you to remove all personal data, apps, and settings from the PC, and reinstall Windows, while ‘Refresh your PC’ enables your to keep all personal data, Metro style apps, and important settings from the PC, and reinstall Windows. This seems very convenient, especially for those who have often been bugged by crowded and laggy machines.
The ChevronWP7 tool that could unlock the functionality of your device for a mere US$ 9 is being discontinued.WPCentral reports that ChevronWP7 made an agreement with Microsoft not to sell more than 10,000 unlock tokens.
Microsoft isn’t involved in our discussion yet. And they can’t provide us with more unlocks because we haven’t asked yet. If we do request more, we’re sure Microsoft will respond positively – as they have in the past.”
-Rafael Rivera ChevronWP7 spokesperson
The developers of the tool claim that they are not going to renegotiate this number. If you are still interested in unleashing the beast in your Windows Phone you must buy Microsoft’s own AppHub which costs eleven times a price of US$ 99.
So much has happened in the year of 2011. We take a look back at some of the major launches and events that moved news in 2011, of course we do it month wise:
