Microsoft posts weird Windows 8 commercials, then promptly takes them down

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Update: Microsoft’s crazy, brilliant Windows 8 ads are now live It appears Microsoft either made a mistake by posting new Windows commercials or was just flat-out embarrassed by the initial response. On Wednesday afternoon, both Neowin and WPCentral noticed that Microsoft uploaded three new spots to the official Windows YouTube channel. The ads, titled “Windows 8 Training… Read More…

Nokia touts Lumia 928 camera against competition with roller coaster video

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Nokia has yet to officially announce its newest flagship Lumia 928 smartphone, but that isn’t stopping the manufacturer from touting the device’s features against industry competition. In a new promo video on the landing page for the phone, Nokia shows video footage from the Lumia 928, iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 — interestingly not the Galaxy… Read More…

Study: Windows Phone hits highest U.S. market share yet

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Maybe there’s some truth to the hilarious and equally ridiculous ad Microsoft put out today, which attempts to differentiate Windows Phone from Apple and Samsung by poking fun at stereotypical users of the leading smartphones. The first quarter numbers from Kantar show Windows making consistent gains in the U.S. smartphone market, as evidenced by growth of 1.9 percentage… Read More…

Study: Apple MacBook the best-performing, most reliable Windows laptop

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When you think of reliable laptops that run Windows, the names Dell, Acer, HP or Lenovo might come to mind. But a new report from PC service company Soluto might surprise you: It found Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro as the best PC on the market. Yes, that’s right — the best-performing Windows laptop is a… Read More…

How hardware is changing Microsoft: Surface helps Windows revenue, at a cost

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One of the luxuries of Microsoft’s longtime focus on software development — and one of the secrets to its financial success over the years — has been the profit margins. The Windows team has traditionally borne the cost of developing the code, without having to worry about the expense of costly hardware and physical components…. Read More…

Missing Google Reader? Bing updates News app with RSS support, offline reading

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Those of you still pissed that Google Reader is going away may like the latest updates to Bing’s News App for Windows 8. Microsoft today announced several updates across its Bing Apps from News to Sports to Maps. Bing News now offers support for RSS feeds as well as offline reading. You’re also able to keep tabs… Read More…

Microsoft releases new Kinect interactions and 3D modeling for Windows

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Microsoft this morning released a new version of its Kinect for Windows software development kit, adding features including 3D modeling and new forms of user interaction. These are new features that software developers can use when creating Windows apps that make use of the Kinect sensor for controls and input. The new features were developed… Read More…

Microsoft is making Kinect more perceptive, using big data and machine learning

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One of the projects on display at the Microsoft Research TechFest event in Redmond this week is an upcoming addition to the Kinect for Windows software development kit that gives the sensor the ability to recognize whether a person’s hand is open or closed. Software developers will be able to use the feature of the… Read More…

Nokia begs Instagram for a Windows Phone app, creates #2InstaWithLove

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Nokia is getting creative to show how badly it wants an Instagram app for Windows Phones. “We’ve been listening, and we know you all love Instagram,” writes Nokia’s Paul Coombes. ”The only way for us to show how much the Nokia community really care about bringing this world class app to Windows Phone, is by having a little… Read More…

Macs in the mainstream: Parallels giving IT staff more control over Apple machines

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Parallels, best known for software that runs Windows on Macs, is announcing a new tool today that further bridges those two worlds. It’s more evidence of Apple machines gaining traction in the workplace, but this particular technology could prove more popular with the IT staff than with the Mac users themselves. The new Parallels Management… Read More…