Open top menu
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 January 2013
no image

  • 14:42

Toyota has given a taste of self-drive car safety technology ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week.
The car maker revealed a video clip of a Lexus fitted with safety features designed to minimize car crashes.
Toyota self-drive prototypeThe technology includes on-board radar and video cameras to monitor the road, the surroundings, and the driver.
The car can also communicate with other vehicles, according to a Toyota spokesman.
Driver aid
"We're looking at a car that would eliminate crashes," said the spokesman. "Zero-collisions is our ultimate aim."
The video shows a prototype Lexus LS fitted with what Toyota's described as an "Intelligent Transport Systems" (ITS) technology.
The "advanced active safety research vehicle" prototype uses ITS and existing Toyota technology to monitor whether the driver is awake, to keep the car on the road, and to stop at traffic signals. The technology is designed to be used in conjunction with a driver, but the car can control itself, said the spokesman.
A series of optical beacons on the roadside can detect the positions of pedestrians and obstacles, and relay information to the prototype about whether a traffic light is red or green, as part of ITS. The car can also independently monitor pedestrians' positions.
"Not the Jet sons yet, but our advanced active safety research car is leading the industry into a new automated era," Toyota said in a Tweet on Thursday.
Read more
Thursday, 29 November 2012
no image

  • 16:33
Microsoft Corp has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in the month since the launch, according to one of the new co-heads of the Windows unit, setting a faster pace than Windows 7 three years ago.

The sales number represents a solid but unspectacular start for the touch-friendly operating system designed to combat Apple Inc's and Google Inc's domination of mobile computing, which has shunted aside PCs in favor of iPads and smartphones.

Tami Reller, finance and marketing head of the Windows business, did not give a precise comparison, but sales of 40 million licenses for Windows 8, launched on October 26, appear to be ahead of Windows 7, which sold just over 60 million units in the first 10 weeks on sale at the end of 2009.

Reller did not break down the Windows 8 license sales between relatively cheap upgrades and purchases of new machines running the new software, but suggested much of the growth was coming from upgrades.

"Windows 8 upgrade momentum is outpacing that of Windows 7," said Reller, speaking at an investor conference held by Credit Suisse. Upgrading to Windows 8 costs $40, compared to $70 for the full software package or hundreds of dollars for a new PC.

The latest figure does not mean that 40 million users have adopted Windows 8. Many of the sales are to PC manufacturers, who in turn sell a large number of machines to companies, very few of which are using Windows 8 yet.

According to tech research firm StatCounter, about 1 per cent of the world's 1.5 billion or so personal computers - making a total of around 15 million - are actually running Windows 8.

Reller did not disclose sales of Microsoft's new Surface tablet, its first-ever own-brand PC, designed to challenge the iPad head on.

The first Surface, based on a chip designed by ARM Holdings Plc, does not run old versions of Microsoft programs. A slightly bigger version based on an Intel Corp chip that will run the full Windows 8 Pro operating system and be fully compatible with the Office suite of applications will be available in January, Reller said.

The investor conference was the first public appearance for Reller since she was named as one of two executives to run the Windows unit after president Steven Sinofsky unexpectedly left two weeks ago. Julie Larson-Green heads the engineering side of Windows.

Reller said the Windows unit had survived Sinofsky's surprise departure.

"The team holistically is in great, great shape. And the product is in great shape," she said, responding to a question from a Credit Suisse analyst. "I think transitions are always somewhat of a challenge, but I think that timing-wise it is a reasonable time, and the team is busy."

Earlier in the day, Microsoft said it had sold more than 750,000 Xbox game consoles in the United States last week, including the day after Thanksgiving, one of the country's biggest shopping days.

That is down from 960,000 sales in the same week a year ago, in line with reduced computer game spending across the board this year, as gamers hold off on purchases in the tight economy and move toward free online games.
SOURCE:NDTV
Enhanced by Zemanta
Read more
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 10 preview for Windows 7

  • 19:43

Microsoft unveiled a release preview of Internet Explorer 10, found on Windows 8, for Windows 7 Tuesday, bringing the high browser functionality found on the new OS to an older generation.
"In Windows 8, we re imagined the browser with IE10," the company said in an MSDN blog post. "We designed and built IE10 to be the best way to experience the Web on Windows.
"With the IE10 release preview for Windows 7, consumers can now enjoy a fast and fluid Web with the updated IE10 engine on their Windows 7 devices."
The preview is available for download today.

Perks of IE10

More than just an incremental update, W7 users should notice a marked difference between their old IE and IE10 - a separation pegged by speed, fluidity and touch optimization.
IE10 brings with it a spunkier HTML5 engine, that enhances visual effects, shows off sophisticated page layouts and provides an enhanced web programming model while providing an overall boost to hardware performance.
A "Do Not Track" option is set to "on" from the get go, meaning IE10 on Windows 7 will send a "DNT" message to web sites by default.
In line with its Windows 8 genesis, IE10 features a new touch first browsing experience as well as full screen user interfaces for websites.
No word yet on when a final release will hit the streets, but this is a good sign it can't be too far off.
Read more
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Skype prepaid vouchers hit UK high street

  • 13:25
Skype users will now be able to top-up their credit with prepaid vouchers after the Microsoft-owned company signed a deal with UK retailers.
Skype cards will now be available from 1,400 stores in the UK, including WH Smith, Asda, Sainsbury's, PC World and Currys and can be easily redeemed at Skype.com
Although Skype-to-Skype calls and instant messages are free, the credit can be used to make cheap calls to landlines and mobiles, access the video conferencing functionality and connect to Skype Wi-Fi hotspots.
The cards, which will cost between £10 and £20 can also be used to buy Skype subscriptions, such as the monthly unlimited calls to landlines in Europe (£5.74 a month) and around the world (£9.76 a month).

Keeping in touch

Enrico Noseda, Head of Market Development for the EMEA region at Skype said: "We see Skype Prepaid Cards as yet another option for users to get more out of the Skype experience, either as a way to add Skype Credit to their account or as a perfect gift for friends and family to allow them to keep in touch more easily.
"The Skype Credit can be used in whichever way and on whichever device best suits the user, making it as easy as possible to be together whenever we are apart."
Read more
Thursday, 20 September 2012
German government urges citizens to stop using Internet Explorer

  • 13:14
The latest security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer is apparently so bad that the German government has started telling its citizens to switch to other browsers.
The bug, announced on 17 September but yet to be fixed, can let all manner of nasty malware through if left unchecked. It affects versions of IE 6 through 9 on Windows XP, Vista and 7 -- and the threat is clearly enough to warrant the unusually vigorous proclamation from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), reports Reuters. This is the first time that they have explicitly encouraged people to stop using the browser in favour of its competitors.


Microsoft has reported that most users are not affected by the bug, and the number of attacks has been limited. In the company's update about the bug, they suggest either deactivating ActiveX controls or using their Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit until a patch is released.

The bug was reportedly discovered in Luxembourg on 14 September as a computer researcher was analysing a machine which had been used in a campaign of industrial espionage in 2011. Within a short time of the discovery, at least three web servers were found hosting websites that contained the malicious code -- anyone accessing those sites on the compromised versions of IE will be susceptible to attack.

The malware on those sites has been linked to the "Nitro" attacks which targeted industrial and state secrets around the world last year. The statement from the BSI said that "a fast spreading of the code has to be feared." In 2010, the BSI issued a warning that people should be careful when using IEs 6, 7 and 8 after a similar exploit was discovered, but this latest statement goes well beyond that.
According to StatCounter, IE has fallen just behind Chrome to become only the second most popular browser in the world. Its overall usage has been steeply declining for some time, too. This latest news will not help those figures.

Source: Wired
Read more
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
no image

  • 03:11
Check out "What’s New" and "Known Issues" for this version of Firefox below. As always, you’re encouraged to tell them what you think, or file a bug in Bugzilla.

What’s New

  • NEW
    Mac OS X 10.8: Support for Notification Center
  • CHANGED
    Updated Awesome Bar experience with larger icons
  • DEVELOPER
    JavaScript Maps and Sets are now iterable
  • DEVELOPER
    SVG FillPaint and StrokePaint implemented
  • DEVELOPER
    Support for @supports added
  • DEVELOPER
    Improvements that make the Web Console, Debugger and Developer Toolbar faster and easier to use
  • DEVELOPER
    New Markup panel in the Page Inspector allows easy editing of the DOM
  • HTML5
    Sandbox attribute for iframes implemented, enabling increased security
  • FIXED
    Over twenty performance improvements, including fixes around the New Tab page
  • FIXED
    Page scrolling on sites with fixed headers (see 780345)

Known Issues

  • Unresolved
    If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash (see 573369)
  • Unresolved
    For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual (see 579260)
  • Unresolved
    Windows: The use of Microsoft's System Restore functionality shortly after updating Firefox may prevent future updates (see 730285)
  • Unresolved
    • Pointer lock doesn't work in web apps (see 769150)
    Source:Mozilla
Enhanced by Zemanta
Read more
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Microsoft to open Xbox development studio in London

  • 13:02

Microsoft has announced that it's planning to open an Xbox development studio in London and is currently recruiting to fill various roles.
A Microsoft spokesperson told Wired.co.uk that Microsoft Studios is hiring to fill a "variety of UK-based positions" that are indicative of "the continued expansion of our Microsoft Studios business across Europe, Middle East and Africa".
They added: "EMEA is a key market for us and we continue to attract and cultivate the best talent at all levels. It's a hugely exciting time for Xbox as we seek to grow our business across the region."
This follows the news that Microsoft is terminating some of the positions at its Vancouver development studio after development stopped on Microsoft's free-to-play Flight, released in February, and educational Kinect project Columbia.
The news also follows two other significant US technology companies setting up shop in London. Amazon plans to open a research and development hub that will focus on developing services and APIs for televisions, games consoles, PCs and smartphones. Meanwhile Facebook is launching its first ever non-US engineering office to work on the company's mobile platform.
Read more
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Windows 8 app developers can offer 7 day trials, but can't sell below 99p

  • 09:20

Microsoft has revealed its pricing plans for Windows 8 apps, in ablog post for developers. It has detailed price tiers, free trials, and just how much cash it will take from each sale.
Paid apps can be priced at a number of tiers, ranging from $1.49 (99p) to $999.99 (£640). That's in contrast to the Mac App Store, where Apple lets developers price their wares as low as 99c (69p).
App makers can put their software out for free, and then make revenue through Microsoft's own in-app purchasing, a third party billing mechanism (like PayPal or similar) or advertising.
Developers can also offer seven-day trials for paid apps. "On the Windows Phone, we have seen apps with trials bring up to five times the revenue of apps without trials," writes Arik Cohen, lead program manager for commerce and licensing.
Much like the iTunes App Store and Android's Google Play, Microsoft will take a 30 percent cut of your app's price. However, if a download reaches $25,000 (£16,000) in revenue -- through app sales and in-app purchases -- Microsoft will only take 20 percent.
When Windows 8 launches on 26 October, developers can still offer their desktop software on the web or on a DVD, as usual. However, Metro apps and apps for RT tablets must be sold through the Windows Store.
Source : Wired
Read more
Friday, 20 July 2012
Windows 8 launch date revealed

  • 11:26

According to Microsoft's official Windows blog, the company's Steven Sinofsky just announced a firm ship date for Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 8, at its annual sales meeting. Sinofsky announced that the OS will ship as both an upgrade and on new PCs starting 26 October.
This follows a recent announcement that Windows 8 would ship sometime in October. Currently, it's available as a Release Preview version. The firm ship date is a signal that the company has the product very near a final version. There is still, however, no firm ship date announced for its upcoming foray into hardware, the Surface.

Source : Wired
Read more
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Skype outing fix for weird conversation forwarding bug

  • 09:51

Skype has said it will issue a fix for a strange issue, which forwards portions of IM chats on to other users in your contacts list, after the software has crashed.
The issue, first noticed by users across platforms this weekend, means messages you've sent to one contact could quite easily appear in IM boxes of your other friends or work colleagues.
As you can imagine, the consequences of this could be disastrous, especially if you've been using Skype to moan about those said friends or colleagues.
In a blog post, Skype said a fix is on the way this week, and that it believes the number of affected users is very small.

Very specific circumstances

The post reads: "The hotfix addresses an issue that occurs only when a user's Skype client crashes during a Skype IM session, which may in some cases result in the last IM entered or sent prior to the crash being delivered to a different IM contact after the Skype client is rebooted or logged in as a new user.
"Although we cannot determine precisely how many users may have been affected by this error, we believe the number is small given the very specific circumstances under which the error occurs."
The versions of the client experiencing the difficulties are, Skype 5.10 for Windows, Skype 5.8 for Mac, Skype 4.0 for Linux, Skype 1.2 for Windows Phone.
Skype is advising users to download the updated versions of the client when they become available. The Windows and Linux versions are already up for grabs here.
In the meantime, if you're using one of those versions of Skype, just be careful what you post.
Source : Techradar

Read more
Microsoft begins building Skype into Office 2013

  • 09:37

Microsoft has announced that it will be integrating its newly acquired Skype VoIP service with Office 2013.
The company finalised the purchase of Skype last October, paying $8.5 billion for the service that draws around 65 million customers. At that time it was too early to tell exactly how the Redmond software giant would use its new acquisition.
Finally, details are beginning to emerge and Microsoft is putting Skype behind the "presence" feature in Outlook, making it a standard feature of all Office 2013 versions.

Linking up with Lync

Office already uses the Lync communications platform, with which Microsoft says that Skype users will be able to integrate their contacts.
In a demonstration of Office 2013, Lync was being used to power a video conference call which suggests that the inclusion of Skype will be to subtly add features rather than replace existing functionality.
Users of the new Office 365 subscription version of Office will also get 60 minutes of Skype credit each month that should see them chatting free to landlines across the world.
Sourch: Techradar
Read more
Microsoft Office 365 relies heavily on SkyDrive cloud functions

  • 01:25

 During a special press conference today, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Office 365 - the premium home subscription service.
Along with a touch-friendly interface and social interactions, cloud functionality via Microsoft SkyDrive is one of the most important elements of the new Office suite, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft's Corporate VP of Office Kirk Koenigsbauer then took the stage to demonstrate exactly what Ballmer was talking about.

The cloud is "hugely important"

"This is a hugely important part of the release," Koenigsbauer said. "SkyDrive is incredibly fundamental to this release of Office."
Koenigsbauer demonstrated SkyDrive functionality between multiple devices, including a Samsung laptop and a Windows Phone device.
He opened up Microsoft Word, where his sign-in name "Kirk" was displayed in the upper-right corner.
Signing in to Microsoft Office 365 applications gives you easy access to your settings, recently used documents, templates, custom dictionaries, and more, Koenigsbauer said.
When he switched devices, Word asked him if he'd like to pick up in the document precisely where he left off on the previous device.
He showed how easily images, video and other multimedia can be inserted into documents from the web or from the Cloud.
Koenigsbauer showing off the latest features of Microsoft 36
Koenigsbauer also demonstrated how Microsoft Word will automatically resize for the size of your device, be it a laptop, tablet or smartphone, using the all-new "reading mode."
Office 365 will store data in the SkyDrive cloud "by default," he said, though local storage remains another option.
Cloud functionality also allows users to easily share documents with others via SkyDrive or post them to social media.
Microsoft Office 365 is looking to compete directly with Google's emerging sweet of Google Docs apps, so watch out for more news as the rivalry rages on.
Source: Techradar
Read more
Microsoft CEO reveals Microsoft Office 365, preview available now

  • 01:07


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage at a special press conference in San Francisco today to announce the new Microsoft Office 365.
The Microsoft Office 365 customer preview is available to try now.
This cloud-based version of Office 2013 "is a service first," Ballmer said, rather than a simple set of applications.
Ballmer added that "your modern Office" focuses on cloud, social, and other new scenarios, and that it's been optimized for touch and other important emerging input interfaces.

Exciting times

"These are certainly exciting times," he said, beginning the presentation with a brief recap of Microsoft's current undertakings, including Windows Phone 8, Xbox 360, Bing, Windows 8, and more.
Ballmer called Microsoft Office "the flagship application from Microsoft" and "the most important application" the company sells.
Microsoft Office 365 has been designed with the Metro UI in mind, he said, and touch controls will be an important element.
Office 365 is meant to be a catch-all service for a modern, social workplace environment, with elements like Skype integration facilitating social interactions in a professional environment.
And cloud functionality will allow both home and business users to save progress and settings for Microsoft Office applications between devices.
Even meetings can be done digitally through Microsoft Office 365 as an alternative to teleconferencing.
Microsoft Office 365 will compete directly with Google's emerging suite of business apps, so watch out for more news as the rivalry continues to heat up.

Source: Techradar
Read more
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Windows 8 full retail version not available, pros and cons

  • 02:17

The most recent Windows 8 rumor suggests that Microsoft may forego a full retail option for its next OS.
The rumor comes from Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley, co-hosts of the Windows Weekly show, who speculated that Microsoft may skip a full retail version of Windows 8 because there simply is no need for it.
It's an interesting point to consider, since all Windows users already qualify for the Windows 8 Pro upgrade.
Those who don't qualify are either building a PC from scratch or installing Windows 8 on a Mac, both of which are cases where the new System Builder edition is the preferred option.
The System Builder edition is what has traditionally been referred to as an OEM edition with past versions of Windows. However, OEM editions were only supposed to be sold to system manufacturers or to customers along with hardware, making a full retail release necessary.
With Windows 8, Microsoft plans to change that by making the System Builder edition available at retail, negating the need for an additional retail SKU.

Weighing Microsoft's options

The advantage of switching entirely to OEM editions at retail is that they typically cost less than their full retail counterparts.
It also makes the decision much easier on customers as to which version of Windows 8 to buy. Do you already have Windows XP, Vista, or 7? Get the upgrade. Do you have any other computer you want to install Windows 8 on? Then System Builder edition is the way to go.
There is also a downside, as OEM editions are often restricted to a single motherboard, meaning users will have to buy an additional version of Windows if they switched computers rather than being able to transfer the license.
OEM editions in the past also lacked the 90-days of support Microsoft included in its full retail OS.
Of course, if Microsoft is taking a full retail version off the table, there is always the possibility that the single system limitation and the lack of Microsoft support could change with the System Builder edition. If that proves to be the case, then it's a win-win for customers who get the version they need at a better price.
The upgrade to Windows 8 Pro will be available to download as a special offer for $39.99 through January 31. It will also be available in DVD form, selling at retail for $69.99.
There is no pricing yet for the Windows 8 System Builder edition, but if Microsoft keeps the price low and in line with OEM editions then customers may be pleasantly surprised.
Read more
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Hotmail's Graymail

  • 13:14

In 2012 the average inbox will receive 14,600 emails. Gone are the days where your inbox is filled with messages from people you know. Now it is filled with newsletters, deals, social networking updates and the dreaded spam. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it, but it's clogging up your inbox and taking up your valuable time. What really characterises greymail is that the same message that one person thinks is spam could be important to another. It's not black and white, hence the name!

Hotmail has come up with the tools to help you get control back. They can help you un-clutter your inbox and give you your time back. Tools such as flagging important emails at the top and the sweep tool to blitz unwanted emails, will help you take control of your inbox. Spend 60 seconds slicing through the clutter with Hotmail's 'Sweep' tool and set rules to automatically schedule filing and deleting emails you don't want in your inbox.
Hotmail have even released a smartphone augmented reality gaming app where virtual emails fall from the sky in the physical space all around you, with an aim is to catch and sort as many emails as you can!


Use the link below to access this facility from Hotmail!

Read more
Windows 8 Release in October Confirmed!

  • 09:34

Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will be available to manufacturers during the first week of August, setting the stage for a consumer launch at the end of October.
A specific UK launch date has not been announced, but is expected to be at the same time as the US and other parts of the world.
The company has already announced that Windows 7 customers will be eligible for a discounted upgrade, and that users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 will be able to upgrade and keep their personal files in place. Windows 7 users will be able to keep their files, apps and settings by performing an "in place" upgrade.
Microsoft is betting heavily on Windows 8's revamped user interface. Its "Metro" styling, first seen on Windows Phone and later on the Xbox, is fast becoming the software maker's de facto design standard, but it has some early testers sat on the fence.
The OS tries to offer a unified experience to tablet users and desktop PC users, blending a touch-friendly Windows Phone-like Metro interface atop the "classic" Windows Desktop. To some, it appears as if Microsoft wants to force a tablet experience on desktop users and a traditional desktop experience onto tablets.
The result is at first a bit confusing, but Microsoft has sent the message that this is the future direction of Windows and since it predicts tablets will outsell PCs as early as 2013, it thinks now is the time to make the change.
Either way, we now have a date to mark in the calendar for when we can answer the question of whether Windows 8 will be a long-lasting XP-like success -- or a Windows ME-like catastrophe.
Source:- Wired
Image:- techradar
Read more
Sunday, 8 July 2012
no image

  • 19:58
For the persons who love theier new smartphones very much and miss their feel of keys on their finguers here is a tech from Tactus where you can both touch and do feel your keys on the fingure sound good right? then wait for this tech a year and you could get this on your phones and other touch accessories. Well this consists of a tiny layer of fluid that deforms it to produce buttons of a given height, size and firmness. They act just like a regular keyboard, but disappear back into the screen when no longer needed. 

They already demonstrated its touchy-feely screen on an Android tablet at the Display Week conference in Boston. Do already this tech was tried by both Microsoft and Nokia too didnt work to the grit hope this will.
Read more
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )