Chart: Windows 7 is almost bigger than Windows XP

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August is already a big month for Windows 8, with Microsoft announcing this morning that it has finished the new version of its operating system and shipped it off to computer makers. But it’s shaping up to be a milestone month for Windows 7, as well. The current version of Microsoft’s operating system, originally released… Read More…

Podcast: What’s new in games, phones, Mac OS X and more

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We’ve got a lot to talk about on this week’s GeekWire radio show and podcast, starting with our thoughts on the trends at this week’s Casual Connect video game conference in Seattle. The news from the show included the unveiling of a new $7.99/month game service from Seattle-based Big Fish Games — part of the trend… Read More…

Apple unleashes Mountain Lion as we wait for Windows 8

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Apple this morning released Mountain Lion, the next version of the Mac OS X operating system, as a $19.99 upgrade in the Mac App Store. Many of the most attention-grabbing features will be familiar to iPad and iPhone users, including a new Notification Center and Game Center, in addition to Twitter integration. But what’s particularly… Read More…

Apple posts record iPad sales, profits miss Wall Street targets

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Sales of Apple’s iPad topped 17 million units in the company’s most recent quarter, up more than 80 percent over the same quarter a year ago, demonstrating the continued momentum of Apple’s tablet. The results were released a short time ago. The company overall missed Wall Street’s expectations for earnings and revenue. Apple posted revenue… Read More…

Ask Andru: How do I prepare my Mac for Mountain Lion?

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Apple is set to release its next major operating system update, known os OS X Mountain Lion, later this month. In this edition of Ask Andru, Tracy writes in and asks if there is anything she should do to prepare her Mac computers for the Mountain Lion installation. I share some tips on what we… Read More…

Facebook releases Messenger App for Windows, says Mac version also in the works

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Facebook just announced the official release of its Facebook Messenger for Windows application, a desktop program for sending and receiving messages via Facebook without needing to open the social network in a web browser. The announcement follows a preliminary release at the end of December. The final version is rolling out to users around the… Read More…

GeekWire Radio: Microsoft’s Windows Phone vs. our iPhones in an on-air speed test

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Can the GeekWire guys avoid getting “Smoked by Windows Phone”? That’s the question this week as we welcome Ben Rudolph from Microsoft’s Windows Phone team to the studio to reprise the speed tests he started staging at the Consumer Electronics Show. We put our iPhones to the test vs. Windows Phone to see which is… Read More…

Apple’s Mountain Lion brings the Mac, iPhone and iPad even closer together

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Apple is famous for the tight end-to-end integration of its products — controlling the operating system, applications, services and hardware. But increasingly the company is extending that integration across its different devices, as well. And Mountain Lion, the next major version of the Mac operating system, takes some major new steps down that path. In a… Read More…

Chart: iPad, iPhone in spotlight as Apple preps earnings report

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Apple’s earnings report on Tuesday afternoon will be closely watched as a gauge of the company’s momentum in the smartphone and tablet markets. The company disappointed Wall Street in its last earnings report with iPhone sales that fell below analysts’ expectations, as the later-than-normal release of the latest iPhone, the 4S, caused consumers to hold… Read More…

Steam on a roll as Valve targets bigger screens for games

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The Steam video-game platform for Macs and Windows PCs grew substantially in 2011 — with unit sales of games rising more than 100 percent for the seventh straight year, according to new statistics released this morning by Valve, the Bellevue-based company behind the Steam system, often called the iTunes of video games. Valve also signaled… Read More…