technoblog: Microsoft

Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts

2013/01/25

Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro Coming Feb. 9

Microsoft Microsoft's Surface Windows 8 Pro tablet.

Microsoft has announced a release date of February 9 for the Surface Windows 8 Pro, a bulkier but more powerful version of the company’s first laptop-tablet hybrid.

The Surface Windows 8 Pro (nee “Surface with Windows 8 Pro,” or unofficially just “Surface Pro“) starts at $899 for the tablet alone with 64 GB of storage. A 128 GB version costs $999.

Neither model includes the Touch Cover that snaps onto the tablet and doubles as a pressure-sensitive keyboard and trackpad. For that, you’ll have to pay another $120, or you can buy a Type Cover, which is thicker and has mechanical keys, for $130. A “Surface Edition” of Microsoft’s Wedge Touch Mouse will be available for $70, and special edition Touch Covers with laser-etched designs will cost $130.

Microsoft also announced that it will sell a standalone 64 GB Surface Windows RT, starting February 9. Previously, Microsoft had bundled this model with a black Touch Cover. If you wanted a different color or a Type Cover, you had to purchase it in addition, or downgrade to a standalone 32 GB model.

What’s the difference between the Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro versions of Surface? The former is thinner and lighter, but it won’t let you install any desktop software, such as iTunes, Spotify or Chrome. You’re limited to the (currently tiny) selection of apps from Microsoft’s app store, and to a suite of built-in desktop programs such as Office, Notepad and Internet Explorer. The Surface Pro can run all your existing Windows software, has a more powerful Intel Core i5 processor and includes a stylus, but it’s thicker and heavier, and only gets about half the battery life (about 5 to 6 hours, most likely). Both devices have 10.6-inch screens, but the Pro has a 1920-by-1080 resolution display, while the RT’s screen resolution is 1366-by-768.

The February 9 release date for the Surface Pro is later than Microsoft had originally announced. At first, the company said it would launch the device 90 days after its Windows RT counterpart, which would have been January 26. The good news is that the Surface Pro will be sold at Staples and Best Buy in the United States, in addition to Microsoft’s retail and online stores. If you’ve seen all those ads with the dancing, clicking people and wondered where to actually buy the product, now you know.

2013/01/17

Microsoft opens international barriers to Xbox Live account migration

Microsoft opens international barriers to Xbox Live account migration data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 250};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20430923' !== '') ? 'bsd:20430923' : ''; var postID = '20430923'; var modalMNo = '93325862', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"",channel:"us.engadget",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,engadget.com,joystiq.com,massively.com,tuaw.com,switched.com,techcrunch.com",prop1:"Engadget",prop2:"",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"",mmxgo: true,disablepipath:true,mmxtitle:"us.engadget" + " : "}); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("10000657",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); EngadgetMenu ReviewsEventsPodcasts Engadget Show Buyers Guides FeaturesVideosGalleriesStoreTopicsHD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA RIM Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93325870", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Microsoft opens international barriers to Xbox Live account migration HDByBen GilbertpostedJan 16th, 2013 at 2:46 PM 0

Microsoft's throwing open the doors on Xbox Live account migration worldwide for its Xbox 360 consoles, today announcing that XBL accounts are now transferable from region-to-region. That includes everything in your Gold level account: Achievements, virtual monies, Gamerscore, and that gorgeous Avatar. Previously, moving from one country to another meant walking away from the Xbox Live-based identity you'd grown so accustomed to -- a real shame, especially for folks who'd stocked up on Xbox Live Points during holiday sales (ahem). Of course, some regional restrictions still apply when you migrate your account -- some services, games, subscriptions, and other digital content disappears depending on regional availability. Microsoft may've opened its borders, but digital content license holders still won't.

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Source: Microsoft, Xbox Support

Tags: hdpostcross, microsoft, regionlocking, xbox, xbox360, xboxlive

when.eng("eng.share.init") Microsoft Xbox 360

Microsoft Xbox 360 4GB 4GB Kinect 4GB Kinect Nike+ Bundle 250GB 250GB Kinect 320GB Limited Edition Gears of War 3 320GB Limited Edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 320GB Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars Halo 4 Limited Edition Buy from $179

Key specs Reviews • 324 Prices Game format Optical disc, Downloadable Online features Multiplayer, Voice chat, Video chat, Store Drive capacity 4 GB Controller type Wired, Wireless Motion controls Camera / optical Video outputs Component, HDMI (v1.4) Weight 10.9 lb Released 2010-08-03 see all specs › 8.7average user rating Game library 9.4 Graphics 8.9 Controller(s) 9 Design and form factor 8.6 Other features (media, online, etc.) 8.6 Noise 7.2

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4GB-Black 4GB Kinect-Black 4GB Kinect-White 4GB Kinect Nike+ Bundle-Black 250GB-Black 250GB Kinect-Black 320GB Limited Edition Gears of War 3-Red 320GB Limited Edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3-Gray 320GB Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars-White Halo 4 Limited Edition-Black

$179.00 + tax & shipping Out of stock

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2013/01/16

Microsoft Launches “Next App Star” Competition For Windows Phone Developers

You know a mobile app store is still young and needs more content when the company behind it still writes its own blog posts when interesting new apps appear in it. With 150,000 apps, the Windows Phone store isn’t actually quite as empty as the Windows 8 store, but Microsoft could sure use some marquee apps for its mobile platform. To get developers and consumers a bit more excited about it, the company is launching its “Windows Phone Next App Star” contest today.

Registered Windows Phone developers can opt in to participate in the competition by March 5th and the company will then announce the 64 finalists. Public voting will start in April and the top 64 will then slowly be whittled down to the grand prize winner. Microsoft says there “will be prizes along the way to encourage people to participate [...] and ways for you to promote your app and gain new fans.”

Overall, there will be “thousands of dollars in prizes for the developers of the 64 apps that get selected, including a Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone and a one-year free Dev Center subscription.” The grand prize winner will be featured prominently in Microsoft’s Windows Phone TV ads in the U.S., “bringing national exposure and a lot of buzz to one developer’s creation.” The contest is open for all developers, including students and hobbyists.

While it would be easy to make fun of Microsoft by saying that Apple never had to run a contest like this for its platform, it’s worth noting that Google regularly ran Android Developer Challenges in the early days of its mobile operating system, and Intel and others continue to run similar Android-focused events.