Seattle: Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer gaming industry.
But the small device faces some big competition from the PlayStation 4 by Sony Corp and the Wii U by Nintendo Co Ltd in a shifting market.
Gamers are gravitating to online play - suggesting the hey-day of console games are over - while Microsoft wants its sleek new toy to finally cross the bridge to the mainstream and become the family's entertainment center.
"Core gamers are very hungry for a new machine but the difference between 2005 and now is that the stakes are so much higher," said Ryan McCaffrey, executive editor at entertainment website IGN.com, harking back to Microsoft's last Xbox release. "The entire Xbox experiment from Microsoft was for it to be the center piece of your living room."...
more
12:13 AM, May 19, 2013
New York: A planned Windows 8 update to address complaints and confusion with Microsoft's new operating system will be made available for free this year, the company said Tuesday. Microsoft also announced a name for the update: Windows 8.1. Not charging extra for Windows 8.1 is consistent with the company's practice of offering "decimal point" updates to operating systems for free. However, when Microsoft Corp. announced the update last week,...
07:08 AM, May 15, 2013
San Francisco: Microsoft's disdain for Google doesn't extend to all of its rival's products. In a rare bit of cooperation, Microsoft's Outlook.com is giving users of its free email service the option of logging into Google Talk to exchange instant messages and engage in audio or video conversations. The tie-in announced on Tuesday represents an uneasy alliance in the midst of a typically contentious relationship between Microsoft and Google. Microsoft...
07:05 AM, May 15, 2013
Seattle: Microsoft Corp on Wednesday named Amy Hood, head of finance of its Office division, as its new chief financial officer. Hood, 41, the first woman to hold the CFO post at Microsoft, takes over from Peter Klein, who announced his departure in April. She takes up the job immediately, while Klein will remain at the company through the end of June. A former Goldman Sachs banker, Hood joined Microsoft...
08:43 AM, May 09, 2013
Mumbai: Having sold 100 million licences of Windows 8 within six months of launch, software giant Microsoft now plans to launch a substantial update to the new operating system later this year to make it more compatible with tablets. Codenamed 'Windows Blue', the update aims to make Windows 8 more compatible with smaller screens. This will enable Microsoft to compete in the fast-growing tablet PC segment against devices like Apple's...
12:25 PM, May 08, 2013
New York Microsoft is preparing an update to Windows 8 for release later this year. It says the changes are designed to address complaints and confusion with the new operating system. Windows 8 is the most radical overhaul of Microsoft's operating system since Windows 95 came out nearly two decades ago. It was revamped to embrace the types of touch-screen controls popular on smartphones and tablet computers, devices that are...
12:11 PM, May 08, 2013
Miami: Nine more wealthy families and individuals have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity as part of a philanthropic campaign by two of the world's richest men, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and investor Buffett in 2010, said on Tuesday that billionaires joining the campaign included New York-based real estate magnate Stephen Ross....
05:46 AM, May 08, 2013
San Francisco: Microsoft is retooling the latest version of its Windows operating system to address complaints and confusion that have been blamed for deepening a slump in personal computer sales. The tune up announced Tuesday won't be released to consumers and businesses until later this year. The changes, part of a software package given the codename "Blue," are a tacit acknowledgment of the shortcomings in Windows 8, a radical overhaul...
12:45 PM, May 07, 2013
Mumbai: Microsoft has announced that it has successfully migrated 300 million active Hotmail users to the newer Outlook.com email service. The massive move over means there are now 400 million users of Outlook.com, according to a blog post announcing the milestone. "Today, we're excited to announce that we've completed upgrading all Hotmail customers to Outlook.com. Coupled with the growing organic excitement for Outlook.com, this has pushed us to over 400...
01:03 PM, May 04, 2013
New Delhi: We have been hearing for a long time that Microsoft is working on a 7-inch Surface tablet and now a new report from Digitimes has to say that the company may unveil the next-gen Surface tablets in June at its Build Developer Conference. The second-generation Surface devices reportedly will feature 7- to 9-inch displays to meet the rising demand for smaller tablet devices, claims the report. The report...
04:43 PM, May 02, 2013
New York: Microsoft is seeing slow sales of a version of Windows designed for thin and light tablets, even as the tablet market as a whole is growing, a research firm reported Wednesday. Researchers at IDC said manufacturers shipped 2,00,000 tablets running Windows RT, the special version of Windows for iPad-style tablets, in the January to March period. That's down from about 900,000 shipped in the fourth quarter. Microsoft Corp....
11:23 AM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: Microsoft has rolled out a preview version of Skype for Outlook.com. The preview version has already been rolled out in the United Kingdom and will be made available in the United States and Germany in the coming weeks. In the coming months, audio and video calling powered by Skype will be available in every Outlook.com inbox. "With the preview version of Skype for Outlook.com you can enjoy Skype...
12:27 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Mumbai: The smart watch revolution is only just about beginning but is expected to pick up great speed later this year when Apple unveils iWatch. Even Microsoft is said to be preparing a smart watch, while LG and Samsung have also announced that they are working on their versions of a connected wrist watch. With devices like Pebble already out in the market, research on how to best use the...
09:21 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Seattle: Microsoft Corp came out on top in the first of two patent trials versus Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit , as a federal judge in Seattle ruled largely in its favour. US District Judge James Robart in Seattle said Microsoft owed only a fraction of the royalties Motorola had claimed for use of its technology in Microsoft's Xbox console. Motorola had sought as much as $4 billion a year...
11:09 AM, Apr 27, 2013
San Francisco: Microsoft Corp will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 following months of speculation the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer. The company sent out media invitations on Wednesday, hinting it would be announcing the successor to its seven-year old Xbox 360. A new console from the software company will come on the heels of rival Sony's announcement in February...
01:16 PM, Apr 25, 2013
Mumbai: One of the most controversial changes Microsoft made to Windows in its latest iteration - Windows 8 - is the removal of the Start button and menu. According to The Verge, the company wants to bring it back with Windows 8.1, which is also known as Windows Blue. While the button will make its comeback, the Start menu itself will still be absent. Hitting the start button will result...
03:39 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New York: Microsoft is working with manufacturers to produce a line of small touch-screen devices powered by Windows, apparently intended to compete with 7-inch tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Kindle Fire. Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call Thursday that the new devices will be available in coming months at competitive prices. Microsoft Corp. is struggling to extend its software into...
01:35 PM, Apr 20, 2013
Seattle: Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein is leaving at the end of June after 3-1/2 years in the post, as the world's biggest software company struggles with sharply declining personal computer sales and a lukewarm reception for the new Windows 8 operating system. The 11-year Microsoft veteran becomes the latest in a line of top-level executives to leave the company, following Windows head Steven Sinofsky last November. Some have...
07:25 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Helsiniki: Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is expected to have trimmed its losses in the first quarter, thanks to rising Lumia smartphone sales and a turnaround at its equipment venture Nokia Siemens Networks. After falling behind Samsung and Apple in the smartphone race, Nokia is aiming for a comeback with the Lumia range, which uses Microsoft's Windows software, though it is still burning cash and remains a long way from...
09:33 AM, Apr 18, 2013
Taipei: Microsoft Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd signed a global patent licensing agreement on Wednesday designed to protect Hon Hai clients from patent claims arising from their use of Google Inc's Android and Chrome operating systems. Google and Microsoft have been locked in patent battles, with Microsoft contending that the systems infringe its software patents. Microsoft has in the past chosen to pursue hardware makers rather than...
12:54 PM, Apr 17, 2013
