Tag Archives: Microsoft

Microsoft Joins The Wearable War!

Remember the internet of things? Remember how everything is getting smarter? Well Microsoft has joined the bid to make us wear technology by introducing their own smartwatch, rightly named the Microsoft Band!

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Recently Microsoft has been trying itself in every technological race by making their own devices, they broke into the race with their own tablet the Surface! This announcement doesn’t come as a shock as it was only time they came up with theirs, after the announcement of the Apple Watch.

If you are looking for a difference between this and any other smartwatch then you are out of luck, asides that it can be used with the most common smart phones out now. The microsoft band, like any other smartwatch, needs your phone to enjoy the full features, has a GPS, mainly for healthy living and of course has Cortana (Microsoft Digital Personal Assistant).

Slick Design
Slick Design

Like most smart watches, it records your heart rate, your steps, and other health data and connects to your phone to tell you more on your activities and even suggest some for you. Microsoft even threw in some snazzy features like UV sensor, and calories counter.

With almost all big tech companies making their own type of watch/band, it is definite we will be seeing more and more of this around. Only if you have got $199 to spend on one!

Some Features On The Upcoming Windows 9!

The upcoming Windows 9 operating system comes with many features, some are new, some are old and some are from other windows platforms. But according to pictures that have surfaced on the internet, the windows 9 still has the metro feel of the windows 8 & 8.1. I have put together some of the features that you can expect from Microsoft when this system is finally released at the end of this year or early next year.

Cortana On Windows Phone

Cortana is an artificial intelligent personal assistant, more like the acclaimed Siri on apple devices. It can help you organise your calendar, send your emails while you dictate or even answer questions you ask it. Windows phones were the first to have this feature and Microsoft is looking to bring this feature to their new windows computer system.

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Windows 9 will be so versatile it will seat on all platforms; from your windows phone to your tablet and computer. This means the same apps on your phone will be able to run on your computer too. This can be useful in the sense that you can work seamlessly on all your windows 9 devices.

Windows 9 Start Menu

The Start Menu is back. Remember the good old “windows 7 and below” days, where you click on a start button and you can easily browse your programs and folder? Well you will be surprised to find it coming back in the new windows 9. Microsoft finally gave in to all the pleas and there is even a rumour that windows 8 might be getting this update!

There are many more features that will make windows 9 a system to buy if Microsoft gets it right. We sure hope they do win us back as windows 8 didn’t do much of that yet!

Microsoft Office On iPad

There are many thousands of Apps on the App Store on the “I-family” series. Long have students, professionals and workers using the Microsoft Office Suite been looking for means to create, view and edit their Microsoft Office documents on their beloved iPad. In the past, the only way to achieve this was to download apps that are compatible with your Microsoft Office documents to edit and create them.

Excel On Ipad

In March 2014 Microsoft has announced it will now be offering its Office suite on the Ipad. As of now, you can get Excel, Powerpoint, Word, OneNote and Lync for free on the App Store. Sadly it is not all free, as you will still need to purchase the Office 365 if you want to edit and create documents on the iPad. For now, you can only view on it.

PowerPoint On iPad

Conclusion: Now you can take your work with you on your iPad, a step closer to seamless creativity and professionalism.

Skype Group Video Call Is Free

Fancy video chatting with your friends or family? Well, Skype group video chat is now free on Windows desktop, OS X and the Xbox One. If you have non of these platforms, not to worry because In a blog post, Skype said group video calling will be added to more platforms in the future “at no cost.” At the moment you can only skype with up to 10 people with video on all but Xbox One. For the mobile devices users, Skype has assured us it will be coming to Windows Phone, Android and IOS soon.

 

Why is this news? Skype started group video calling as a premium service in January 2011 for about £4.99 per month.

Skype Group Video Calling
Skype Group Video Calling

Why this sudden change of heart then? We can only come to the conclusion that Microsoft (the owner of Skype) is trying to compete with Google’s communication platform (Google Hangout) which was always free and does the same thing and more.

Only one thing is left to say. Get your skype on here!!!

 

 

 

The New And Slightly Improved Microsoft Surface 3

Here it comes, the tablet that might take over your laptop. The Laptop that can take over your tablet. Confused yet? Well that is not the intention of hybrid computers (click to read about hybrid laptops).

The Microsoft surface pro 3 is the third instalment – as the name implies- of the move by Microsoft to create a device that you will take with you everywhere.

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It has a 12 inch screen that has an impressive and improved resolution of 2160 x 1440. Your videos, images and graphic work would look stunning in the ClearType Full HD Plus Display

 

The main issue users of the first and second version of the Surface pro had was the battery life, but now Microsoft is promising 9 hours of battery. If this is to be true in real life environment, then you should be able to use your device for almost a day without needing a charge in normal use.

 

They come with the latest generation of processors (the 4th generation chips) so you can work and play faster.

 

You can get them with 4GB memory for running your programs and apps or you can go for the higher end that has 8GB for even better and more efficient multi-tasking

 

The hard drive can be from 64 to GB to 512 GB depending on how much you want to store on your device and how much you are ready to pay for it of course. Also you can increase that capacity with a micro SD

Prices start at £639 and it is ready to pre-order at the official Microsoft website. Happy buying!