Microsoft wants to give away Windows 8 computers in student deal
Last month, June 4 to be precise, Microsoft announced its "Chip in" program, designed to help students finance a new Windows 8 computer. The program lets students with a valid .edu email address crowd-source funds to help them purchase a qualified PC of their choosing from Microsoft Store.
Now the software maker elects to take it one step further, by sweetening this deal. Students must successfully fund their PC, but Microsoft chips in 10 percent of the price and the first 10,000 to be successful in this venture get a free copy of Office 365 University added into the bargain.
Internet Explorer has the worst phishing catch rate of all major browsers
A new report by security research firm NSS Labs looks at the comparative performance of popular browsers when it comes to blocking phishing attacks. Over a 12-day test period the average phishing catch rate ranged from 96 percent for Firefox 19 to only 83 percent for Internet Explorer 10.
Of the other big three, Chrome 25 scored 92 percent, Safari 5 managed 95 percent, and Opera 12 scored 89 percent. Chrome, Firefox and Safari all make use of Google's Safe Browsing API so it's unsurprising that they scored within a few points of each other. Microsoft uses its own SmartScreen technology in IE, whereas Opera uses a combination of blacklists from Netcraft, PhishTank and TRUSTe.
Microsoft explains how SkyDrive keeps bandwidth usage to a minimum
The release of Windows 8.1, complete with the more tightly interwoven SkyDrive, brings Microsoft's cloud storage service to the fore. In a new blog post, Mona Akmal from the SkyDrive team explains how the service is able to make files available on all of your devices without eating up too much bandwidth. How is this done? It's largely down to "placeholder" files.
The obvious solution to making all SkyDrive files available on all of your devices would be to simply sync everything. But when it comes to tablets and phones, it is entirely possible that the amount of available local storage is far lower than the amount of cloud storage space that has been used. Placeholders are essentially "ghost" files that take up a fraction of the space of the original.
Google releases Chrome App Launcher for Microsoft Windows 7 and 8
I am a big fan of Google’s Chrome OS. However, even though I use my Chromebook all the time, I am the first to admit that it is really just a glorified web browser. Truth be told, the operating system’s web apps are nothing more than links to web pages. However, packaged apps which resemble native apps (such as the great IRC client CIRC) are slowly increasing in quantity and quality.
Today, Google officially releases Chrome App Launcher for Windows. The launcher was previously available for the beta and dev versions of Google Chrome but it is now available for the stable build too. The launcher mirrors the one found in Chrome OS. In installing it, Windows users gain some of the same functionality as Google’s browser-based OS.
Microsoft seeks to tie TVs, tablets and smartphones together to create the 'Companion Web'
Microsoft is today launching a new initiative called the "Companion Web" which is designed to bridge the gap between the various different internet enabled devices we already use in conjunction with one another.
As Bryan Saftler, Senior Product Manager, Internet Explorer explains, "more than 80 percent of smartphone-owning Americans use [their handsets] while watching TV. Of those smartphone users, 4 out of 5 use their phone to look up content relevant to what they’re watching". Microsoft feels this manual seeking of information could be replaced with a more cohesive, tailored and engaging experience.
Acer introduces the Aspire Z3-605 Series desktop, with Harman Kardon speakers
Listening to music or watching movies on your PC can be a slight disappointment if the audio equipment isn’t as good as it could be. So with that in mind, Acer has developed a new all-in-one desktop system with two 3W front-facing Harman Kardon speakers built-in.
According to Acer, the speakers "leverage thorough and precise scientific methods to accurately produce crystal-clear audio that’s as close to the original recording as possible". The sound quality is further improved with the addition of Dolby Home Theater v4 optimized digital output technologies.
OneNote adds new features for Windows 8
Office has not yet found its way to the Windows 8 Start screen, but Microsoft did at least give a bit of a preview when a Modern UI version of OneNote was released. While no promises can yet be made about what is to follow, the software maker now rolls out a significant update to the lone app.
The OneNote team proclaims "today we're releasing another update to OneNote for the Windows Store that adds two things. First, you can now sign in with your Office 365 account so that you can easily open your work notes. Second, we've made it easier to dismiss the keyboard on your touch device".
Stick a fork in it, Windows RT is done
Microsoft has slashed the price of Surface RT, making the device pretty affordable. Anyone hoping that Surface Pro would see a similar reduction will be disappointed. Microsoft shows no signs of cutting the price of its premium tablet, suggesting the company is happy enough with sales and margins at the moment.
The problem with RT is it looks like Windows 8, and behaves like Windows 8, but isn't Windows 8. If you buy Surface RT, or any other tablet running the OS, you might reasonably expect to be able to run traditional software on it. But you can't.
Acer Iconia W3 -- a small Windows 8 tablet with even smaller value
I love both Windows 8 and the 8-inch tablet form factor. So, when I was given the opportunity to test and review the Acer Iconia W3, I was very excited. Acer has a good reputation for quality hardware, so I expected a real home-run result. Unfortunately, this device is more of a foul-ball.
Upon opening the box, I was presented with an attractive white tablet. However, handling the product revealed a different story -- it is made of a very cheap-feeling plastic. I don’t mind plastic; I recently bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 which is made of the material. However, not all plastic is created equal -- the Acer tablet feels low quality which lessens the user experience. On the back of the tablet are stickers for "Windows 8" and "Intel Inside" which are unnecessary.
Microsoft slashes the price of Surface RT -- will it be enough to tempt buyers?
Rumors that Microsoft was planning to cut the price of Surface RT have been swirling for a couple of days, and yesterday they came true. Staples in the US is currently advertising the 32 GB base model of the device for $349.99, a drop of $150. Although the price reduction hasn’t been seen elsewhere yet, it should start appearing at other retailers next week. No word on whether the reduction will be offered in other territories.
The price cut is interesting as it’s yet another example of Microsoft offering aggressive discounts on Surface RT. The 32 GB version was made available to schools and universities for $199, and attendees at the Worldwide Partner Conference and TechEd gatherings were offered Surface RT 64 GB with touch cover for $99 (although admittedly they had to pay a fortune for a ticket in the first place).
Don't blame Windows 8 for terrible PC shipments
It's no secret that the PC market has slowly taken a turn for the worse. And, if we're to believe what research company IDC said in late-May, it's not going to get any better anytime soon, with shipments predicted to drop even further, by 7.8 percent this year. Furthermore, tablets are expected to out-ship PCs by 2015. Unquestionably, the future appears gloomy but, according to Gartner, the culprit is not the controversial Windows 8, as some pundits believe.
Gartner just released its latest report on the state of the PC market, which shows that Q2 2013 shipments -- which top 76 million units from all vendors, combined -- have declined by 10.9 percent compared to the same period, last year (when shipments exceeded the 85.32 million mark). "The sharp decline in the second quarter of 2013 was partly due to the shift in usage patterns away from notebooks to tablets, and partly because the PC market was exposed to inventory reductions in the channel due to the start of the transition to new Haswell-based products", says Gartner principal research analyst Isabelle Durand.
Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse for Windows 8 [Review]
Windows 8.1 has been designed to fix some of the apparent shortcomings of its predecessor, but unless you're using the Preview version you'll have to wait until August to get your hands on it. In the meantime the software giant has released a new peripheral which aims to provide a more immediate fix to the problem of using Windows 8 with a mouse.
The concept of the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse is simple -- you rub your thumb up and down on a touch sensitive, blue-colored button located on the left side of the mouse (sorry lefties!) to navigate apps. Clicking that blue button brings up the Start screen. This should make navigating Windows 8 much easier, and sounds great, but how does it perform in actual use? I purchased the mouse to find out.
Microsoft rolls out updates for Windows 8.1 Preview
It's Patch Tuesday, which means a new raft of updates for Microsoft's operating systems and software, including seven security patches for Windows 8. For the first time, Microsoft's patch collection also includes updates for Windows 8.1 Preview, the OS refresh the software giant debuted a couple of weeks ago.
If you're running Windows 8.1, you can grab the new updates, dated 9 July, via Windows Update.
Watch Steve Ballmer’s day one keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2013
Yesterday Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer provided the opening remarks at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC 2013) day one keynote, taking the opportunity to hype Windows 8.1 and sell the benefits of Windows Phone.
He started the half hour keynote by thanking the 15,000 attendees in the room for their support and for taking care of Microsoft’s customers, before getting on to the subject of the company’s divisive operating system.
Evernote Touch 2.0 for Windows 8 gets new hub page, improves editing
Evernote Corporation has released Evernote Touch 2.0, a major update of its touch-friendly Windows 8 app. The latest version's main new feature is a hub page providing a summary of the user’s account, while it also promises improved editing tools and support for Business accounts.
The major new highlight is undoubtedly the hub page, which is the first thing users will see when logging into the app. All of its core navigation items as well as an overview of the various parts of the user's account, including notes, notebooks, tags and shortcuts, can now be found here.
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