Microsoft to sell 80-inch Windows 8 ‘tablet’

by Christian Zibreg on May 25, 2012

Seriously, Microsoft has plans to officially sell a whopping 80-inch tablet, their VP has confirmed. This beast of a ‘tablet’ is powered by Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system and is currently hung on the wall in CEO Steve Ballmer’s office.

It’s apparently become Ballmer’s whiteboard, email and phone replacement and the company plans to market it for office use initially. No word on pricing or availability yet.

I’d sure love to have such a Minority Report-style display adorn my office walls. The closes thing to this outrageous display in the Apple world? That non-TV TV from Apple that Forrester dreamed up yesterday… Read More

 

Rumor: Microsoft to release native Outlook and Lync iOS apps this fall

by Cody on May 23, 2012

Microsoft appears to be devoting a lot of its attention to the iOS platform this summer. Earlier today we heard that the Redmond company was working on bringing its Office suite to Apple’s mobile OS. And now this.

AppleInsider is out with a new report this afternoon, claiming that it has learned that Microsoft plans to release native iOS apps for both Outlook, its popular email client, and Lync, its instant messaging client, this fall… Read More

 

Office for iOS and Android tablets allegedly coming in November

by Christian Zibreg on May 23, 2012

We’ve been hearing whispers about Office landing on the iPad since the dawn of time. The latest rumor pinpoints release date for November of this year. Interesting enough, Redmond is apparently gearing up to launch Office not only for the iPad, but for the iPhone/iPod touch as well as Android tablets… Read More

 

Windows Phone overtakes iPhone in China, Microsoft claims

by Christian Zibreg on May 18, 2012

In addition to having trouble catching up to Samsung in China, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has now managed to outsell the iPhone in the 1.33 billion people market, if a high-ranked Microsoft executive in charge of the Greater China region is to be believed.

According to his data, Windows Phone market share in China now sits at seven percent, a percentage point ahead of the six percent market share enjoyed by the iPhone.

No reason to get enraged over this metric. Apple’s in it for the profits, not market share and Nokia actually has a dominant presence and world-class distribution in this hugely important market. Let’s hope Tim Cook’s looking into those numbers as Apple needs to double down on China… Read More

 

Former Zune exec: music biz was “hooked on the drug” Apple was supplying

by Christian Zibreg on May 12, 2012

Robbie Bach, a former Microsoft executive who led the company’s devices and entertainment division, yesterday shared some surprisingly frank observations on Apple, the iPod business and Apple’s “incredible” execution that, under the guidance of late co-founder Steve Jobs, saw it rise to become the world’s most-valued corporation… Read More

 

Hm, Apple okays iPad music player with Windows Phone Metro-style interface

by Christian Zibreg on May 4, 2012

Apple tends to yank apps over duplicate functionality, use of private APIs and those that look and feel very much like stock iOS programs. So it goes without saying I was surprised to learn that the company approved Track 8, a $1.99 music player program by Ender Labs. That Apple greenlighted an app resembling a rival platform’s UI rather than flaltly reject it is news in and of itself, you’ll admit.

Maybe the company just doesn’t care because Windows Phone is failing? Be that as it may, people will wonder if a Metro-style interface makes sense on iOS… Read More

 

Microsoft takes on Apple, invests $300 million in Nook biz

by Christian Zibreg on Apr 30, 2012

Microsoft just announced this morning plans to invest in Barnes & Noble’s Nook division, in an effort to better compete with the likes of Apple and Amazon in an increasingly competitive market for electronic books.

The Windows maker will form a yet-to-be-named subsidiary with Barnes & Noble, pouring a cool $300 million of its own money into the new entity. It will encompass all of the Nook biz, it has been confirmed, in addition to educational college content.

With this investment Microsoft is thinking big, securing a 17.6 percent stake in the new company valued at a whopping $1.7 billion… Read More

 

Cloud storage price comparison: iCloud vs. SkyDrive vs. Dropbox vs. SugarSync

by Christian Zibreg on Apr 24, 2012

Microsoft yesterday updated its iOS SkyDrive client and released a brand new app for both Windows and Mac desktops while putting into effect paid storage upgrades.

At the same time, Dropbox released an updated iOS client with new sharing capabilities and Google upped Google Docs storage to 5 GB.

iDownloadBlog thought you might be interested to check out how major cloud storage services fare in terms of value so we’ve put together a handy comparison matrix providing an at-a-glance overview of paid tiers available from iCloud, Dropbox, SkyDrive and SugarSync… Read More

 

Nokia lampoons the iPhone with web videos ahead of Lumia 900 launch

by Christian Zibreg on Apr 2, 2012

AT&T is saying its high-profile launch of the Nokia Lumia 900 in the United States will dwarf the iPhone. We’ll see about that, but if a new Smartphone Betatest website is anything to go by, the Finnish cell phone giant isn’t afraid at all to take pot shots at the carrier’s ‘hero’ device.

Specifically, Nokia-posted videos on the site allude to the iPhone 4′s perceived weaknesses, including the infamous cellular reception issue that culminated under the controversial Antennagate headline in 2010. Read More

 

Windows Phone considered legitimate iPhone contender, but has no apps

by Cody on Mar 28, 2012

Earlier today we reported that AT&T is preparing to launch the Nokia Lumia 900 — a Windows Phone handset that the carrier believes could outsell the iPhone when it debuts next month. And according to a new survey, that may not be as crazy as it sounds.

PC World recently conducted a large-scale survey for its annual Readers’ Choice Awards. The poll collects consumer feedback on wireless carriers, mobile operating systems, and smartphones. And some of the results may surprise you… Read More

 
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