Did you know that Microsoft has its own note-taking app? Well it does, and it’s called OneNote. The iOS app has been in desperate need of some love for many months, and today Microsoft released version 2 for iPhone and iPad in the App Store. Besides some significant design and functionality tweaks, OneNote is now totally free. You used to only be able to save 500 notes before paying.
HP famously gave up on its smartphone and tablet business back in 2011 when it announced that it would no longer be developing hardware powered by its webOS platform. But two years later, the company is planning to have another crack at it.
Yam Su Yin, HP’s Senior Director of Consumer PCs and Tablets, has confirmed that the company is already working on a new smartphone — one that will deliver a unique experience that you won’t get from its rivals.
Microsoft announced earlier this week that it is bringing the PC classic Age of Empires to Android and iOS, and that sparked speculation that the software giant may be into porting Xbox games over, too. But don’t get your hopes up, because Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer has confirmed that it’s not going to happen.
Spanish mobile operator Telefonica has partnered with Microsoft in a bid to boost Windows Phone 8 adoption. The two companies plan to launch an “enhanced marketing effort” that will fight back against “the current duopoly” of Android and iOS.
Microsoft has teamed up with Japanese development studio KLab to bring its 1997 classic Age of Empires to Android and iOS. Microsoft is hoping the real-time strategy simulator will capture some of the success of the growing mobile game market, which is currently luring gamers away from traditional handheld consoles like the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita.
Paper for iPad creator FiftyThree has today announced that it has secured $15 million in funding to build a suite of “mobile tools for creativity.” It’s quite an achievement for an app startup, particularly one that isn’t a smash-hit game, but if FiftyThree’s upcoming apps are anywhere near as successful as Paper, the investment will surely pay off.
Apple’s iOS platform has continued to be the top platform for users who actually like to buy stuff via their smartphone, says a new study from Forrester. Consumers with iOS devices are 30% more likely to buy something via their device, than Android users.
Even though iOS is where more of the money is at, Android isn’t getting ignored by U.S. companies. Forrester’s study also reported that 96% of ebusiness professionals surveyed for the study plan to launch a native or hybrid Android app by the end of 2013, while 99% said they plan to do the same for iOS.
Apple is building a massive new store at the Stanford shopping center in Palo Alto to replace its smaller, more modest retail location a few hundred yards away. The new Apple Store is going up just a stones throw away from a big Microsoft Store that opened last spring.
The new flagship store is expected to be one of Apple’s largest ever, as it will enough extra floor space to test new product ideas. Designs for the store were completed and approved in 2011 by Steve Jobs, just six months before Tim Cook took over as CEO.
According to the Palo Alto Online, construction on the new store is happening seven days a week as contractors hurry to finish the 12,000 square-feet store. The store was supposed to officially open in November 2012, but the sensitive glass design of the building has caused delays.
Here are a couple photos of the store currently under construction:
Microsoft just loves to poke fun at the iPad, doesn’t it?
It has already aired a number of commercials for the Asus VivoTab that mock its size, weight, lack of Office support, its inability to run two apps simultaneously, and most of all its price. And now the software giant is doing the same on behalf of Dell.
Microsoft has launched Office Mobile for iPhone today, allowing Office 365 subscribers to access and edit their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents stored in SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint from virtually anywhere. The app boasts support for charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes, and more.
iOS 7 is clearly how Apple sees the future of mobile design. It’s a radical departure from anything the company has ever done before. The general aesthetic also feels a lot more like Android and even Windows Phone 8.
Whether it’s intentional or by pure coincidence, Apple’s internal nickname for iOS 7 happens to be the same as Microsoft’s for Windows 8, according to a new report.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Andrew Stone, an indie NeXT developer who worked with Steve Jobs for almost a quarter century, believes that Jobs would’ve never let Apple be a part of the United States National Security surveillance program PRISM.
During today’s WWDC keynote, Apple’s Eddy Cue briefly mentioned Bing integration in iOS 7. While demoing new features in Siri, Cue mentioned that Bing is used to power web searches. Nothing was said about Google, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Apple has been distancing itself from Google for quite some time. For instance, Apple Maps is now on iOS and OS X. Bing integration in Siri, while a more subtle move, is definitely a knife jab at Google. And Microsoft couldn’t be happier.
The New York Attorney General has called for Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft to invent new ways to curb the ongoing smartphone theft “epidemic.” Eric Schneiderman wants meetings with representatives from all four companies, and he has urged them to “be as innovative in solving this problem as they have been in designing devices that have reshaped how we live.”
Time Warner Cable is in talks with Apple to sign a video streaming deal for some of its content. After the successful launch of its TWC TV app on Roku devices this past March, Time Warner Cable announced that it’s trying to get ink more deals.
Speaking at an investors conference in London on June 4, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt told investors that the company wants to strike deals with Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung:
The developers of the free, open-source Camino browser for Mac OS X have announced that it will no longer be developed after a decade-long run. They are now encouraging existing users to adopt a “more modern browser,” such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
Earlier today, Microsoft released a new ad that attempts to show how much better the ASUS VivoTab is at getting stuff done than the iPad. A similar TV spot was aired last night with Siri being used to mock things like the iPad’s lack of Powerpoint (a Microsoft product).
Alongside its TV ads, Microsoft has put up a new webpage called “iPad vs. Windows.” At the bottom of the comparison it says that the ASUS ViviTab “has a bigger touchscreen” than the iPad.
False.
Microsoft has released a new TV ad that slams the iPad touts Windows 8 on an Asus tablet. This is the most directly targeted attack campaign on Apple in recent memory—even the Samsung Galaxy ads had more tact.
The tagline of the ad is “Less Talking, More Doing,” a.k.a using apps like Powerpoint. Siri is used to mock the iPad, ending in the virtual assistant giving up with, “Should we just play chopsticks?” in Garageband.
You have to give it to Microsoft for not pulling any punches. It will be interesting to see if Apple responds. Remember the good ol’ days of Mac vs. PC?
Via: The Verge
This morning Microsoft unveiled its newest console, the Xbox One. Unlike previous Xbox models though, Xbox One isn’t just about games, it’s about becoming the one system your living room needs, and it probably means trouble for the Apple TV.
Not only can Microsoft’s latest box play video games with the best of them, but Microsoft has added features to make it the only box your TV really needs by recognizing who you are, what you movies and shows you like, and allowing you to control it all with just your voice.
Turkey’s tablet loving Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been going on a tour of the U.S. in pursuit of the greatest tablet marker in the world to arm his students with. The prime minister visited Silicon Valley on May 18th to be briefed by the world’s best technology companies on their latest endeavors.
Erdoğan is looking to buy 10.6 million iPads for his country’s education new education project Faith. So far, Erdoğan was first greeted by Microsoft CEO, Steve Balmer, and then he paid visits to both Apple, Google.
Regarding his visit to the U.S., Erdoğan said:
Android and iOS managed to grab a whopping 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013, with a total of 199.5 million units sold worldwide. There are no prizes for guessing which of the two platforms grabbed the most market share.
Nokia has today announced the Lumia 925, a new Windows Phone flagship that will be hoping to steal market share away from Apple and Samsung in 2013. The device boasts an aluminum frame and offers an 8.7-megapixel rear-facing PureView camera — both of which are firsts for Nokia’s Windows Phone devices.
For a long time, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were two of the biggest competitors in the technology industry. They were both early pioneers of desktop computing, and their companies were battling each other for every ounce of market share they could get their hands on.
But those shared experiences eventually led to the two becoming good friends. In a new interview for CBS’ 60 Minutes, Gates fondly remembers his old foe, and emotionally recalls his last visit to Jobs’s Palo Alto home before he passed away in October 2011.
Android doesn’t look like it’s about to lose any of its market share to competing platforms any time soon. During the first quarter of 2013, Google’s platform powered a whipping 59.9% of all smart mobile devices sold as total shipments hit 308.7 million units.
Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, was installed on just 19.3% of devices — despite the success of its iPhones and iPads.
Speaking of Microsoft, they’re the latest company said to be eyeing the living room, designing a new set-top box to go head-to-head with the Apple TV. But Microsoft might have an ace up their sleeves.
