Microsoft buys a foothold in the ebooks game with Barnes and Noble partnership

barnes__noble_logo_1The big news today is that Microsoft and Barnes and Noble have announced a new partnership where B&N will spin off its Nook E-Reader and its educational books business into a new, as yet named “newco”, backed by a $300 …

By Kip Kniskern in Featured News
April 30th, 2012 at 11:24 am

That thing about upgrading current Windows Phones to Windows Phone 8, continued…

burning-questionsIt’s the burning question of our time: will current Windows Phones be upgradeable to Windows Phone 8, or not?  Ever since WMPowerUser republished a Zwame.pt interview with a Portuguese Microsoft evangelist saying that “all actual devices will get upgrade to …

By Kip Kniskern in Mobile
April 28th, 2012 at 8:13 pm

The cloud storage race – what can SkyDrive improve on?

SkyDrive LogoLast week had been a busy week in the consumer cloud storage space. First we had Microsoft significantly upgrading their SkyDrive service, adding paid storage plans and desktop sync apps. Then we had Google launching their Google Drive service. …

By damaster in Opinion
April 28th, 2012 at 3:55 am

Windows 8 Release Preview first week of June

Microsoft will release a Windows 8 Release Preview in the first week of June. Steven Sinofsky announced this during a Windows developer event in Japan. The news was spread via Twitter.

By kip in News
April 27th, 2012 at 2:23 am

Woodstock at E3? Why a new Microsoft music service might just make sense

woodstockIn an exclusive report from The Verge today, Tom Warren has revealed that Microsoft may be planning to unveil a new music service at E3, according to his sources.  The new service, code named “Woodstock”, would replace the current but …

By Kip Kniskern in Featured News
April 25th, 2012 at 12:14 pm

New version of Security Essentials Released

Microsoft has released a new version of Security Essentials. The new version (version 4) is available via the Microsoft Download Center and the Microsoft Security Essentials web site.

Those who participated in the beta received the following email:

Dear

By kip in News
April 25th, 2012 at 3:48 am

Windows Phone apps back out of Zune software, and will soon require Mango

Microsoft announced two changes for Windows Phone owners today, ones that “most of you likely won’t even notice” according to a blog post on the Windows Phone blog.  The first removes the ability to purchase Windows Phone apps from …

By Kip Kniskern in Mobile
April 24th, 2012 at 10:39 pm

Facebook for Windows Phone version 2.5 update coming soon

Facebook for Windows PhoneThe Facebook for Windows Phone app only just received an overhaul back in February, and today over at the official Facebook for Windows Phone page the team responsible for developing the app had shared a post revealing what’s coming …

By damaster in Mobile
April 24th, 2012 at 5:18 am

Microsoft updates Skype and SkyDrive apps for Windows Phone

SkyDrive and SkypeMicrosoft released updates to two high-profile apps today on the Windows Phone marketplace. As promised previously, Microsoft released the final version of the Skype for Windows Phone app.  In addition, Microsoft also bumped the version number of their SkyDrive …

By damaster in Mobile
April 23rd, 2012 at 2:55 am