We’re live at Microsoft’s Build 2015 keynote
We’re ready and waiting in San Francisco for Microsoft to kick off its next Build developer conference. There will likely be some surprises, especially around HoloLens, but mostly we’re expecting Microsoft to delve deeper into Windows 10 and what it means for developers. Word on the street is that Windows 10 might hit this summer, so don’t be surprised if we see a firm release date today. Not surprisingly, this conference will likely be used to court as many developers as possible to the Windows 10 app ecosystem. Expect plenty of announcements around Microsoft’s universal app platform, which lets devs write apps once and run them across multiple devices. We may even see Microsoft open up Windows to Android apps, according to journalist Paul Thurrott. That’s been rumored for a while now, and this conference is the perfect chance for Microsoft to prove to developers that it’s a lot more flexible. Join us here at 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT when the festivities are scheduled to begin.
Cyanogen and OnePlus are never ever getting back together
It’s always sad when a couple that looked so good together decides to part company, but that’s what’s happening with OnePlus and Cyanogen. The cracks in their relationship started to show back in November, when Cyanogen backed one of OnePlus’ rivals when it launched in India. After a few testy exchanges while out at parties, Cyanogen’s Steve Kondik has told PC World that the partnership is now over, but no-one’s holding a grudge. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei agreed, telling the same publication that the team-up had been “mutually beneficial,” but that the two companies would take different paths in the future. For its part, OnePlus is now working on its own proprietary Android skin, OxygenOS, while Cyanogen is working with Microsoft and other manufacturers to get its operating system in more places.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Google
Source: PC World
‘Halo’ tournament canceled because Xbox One game is still broken
Halo: Combat Evolved may have been one of the first console shooters to hit the competitive gaming circuit but a recent tournament was derailed because almost six months later, The Master Chief Collection is still broken. The official Halo eSports league, Halo Championship Series, had to cancel the first online cup of the regular season over the weekend due to connectivity issues. Seriously. As Eurogamer reports, games took place on Saturday but went off the rails on Sunday for the competition’s conclusion.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for more details and will update this post should any arise. For now, perhaps put those dreams of a pro Halo career on hold until Halo 5: Guardians hits. Maybe. Who knows. The beta ran well enough during our stream, but there are a lot of variables at play here. At least we have free ODST coming to distract us in the meantime, right?
Yep, a lot of protests going on in this Open cup. Either connection issues to blame, or something else.
– HCS Live Tweets (@HCSLiveTweets) April 25, 2015
We’re aware of and investigating party joinability issues. As a result, we’ll be canceling HCS Cup #1, and apologize for the inconvenience.
– Halo (@Halo) April 26, 2015
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Halo Championship Series Live Tweets (Twitter), Halo (Twitter)
‘Minecraft’ finally has a free girl character
Lots of girls play Minecraft, but you wouldn’t know it from the default character options. Unless you’ve been willing to pay up or install a mod, your only real choice so far has been Steve, the game’s male mascot. At last, though, things are opening up — Mojang is giving builders the choice of a free girl character, Alex. She’s been around before as a randomly assigned character in the computer version, but the move will help female players on all platforms sculpt their dream worlds using a character they can identify with. PlayStation and Xbox gamers will get Alex as of April 29th, while mobile users playing the Pocket Edition should see her this summer.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Washington Post
Source: Mojang
Eurovision’s official app is your guide to (not) enjoying Eurovision
For some of us, the Eurovision Song Contest means cringing at over-the-top performances and chuckling at Graham Norton’s dry, subtly cynical commentary. For others, however, the annual karaoke competition is genuinely enjoyable, and if you fall into that camp, you simply can’t be doing without the official 2015 Eurovision app. Created in collaboration with Microsoft, the companion app is your first port of call for the latest Eurovision news, pics and videos. Also, this year’s official Eurovision album and karaoke-friendly versions of each song, as well as other merchandise, can be bought through the app. That’s not all it’s for, though, with new features going live in May when the competition actually kicks off.
These include artist profiles and a second-screen experience that feeds you performer and song info relevant to whoever’s on telly at the time. You’ll also be able to vote for your favourite act inside the app, with those votes factoring into where the UK’s points are ultimately distributed. The app is available on Windows phones and tablets today, with Android and iOS versions coming out at the end of April, just before the comedy event of the year hits our TV screens.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
‘Gears of War’ looks like the next game to get an Xbox One remaster
Like it or not, ports of classic games to the latest consoles are still all the rage… and Microsoft appears eager to cash in on the trend. Both Kotaku and Polygon report that Microsoft, Black Tusk Studios and Dirty Bomb‘s Splash Damage are working on a remastered Xbox One version of at least the first Gears of War game. It’s not certain just how far this update to the cover-based shooter will go, but it supposedly includes both improved in-game graphics (such as sharper textures and improved lighting) and “reworked cutscenes” courtesy of animation studio Plastic Wax. This sadly wouldn’t be a genuinely new game, then, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the leaks are on the mark. Gears of War was one of the big money-makers for the Xbox 360 in the console’s heyday, and it’d likely attract plenty of gamers with fond memories of blasting Locust drones.
From garage to campus: a look at the digs of tech’s Big Five
Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon: These juggernauts are at the forefront of the tech industry. And with that success comes an ever-expanding workforce, and the need for a place to put them. To keep pace with growth, these companies have been making the requisite real-estate deals in order to build physical spaces to match their forward-thinking business approach. Fortunately, their designs are also more environmentally conscious than ever before. With the eyes of the world upon them, they’ve taken the well-being of the Earth, as well as their employees, into account, building innovative work spaces in an attempt to harmonize with the world around them. Below, we take a look at some of the steps these giants of industry have made over the years as they’ve moved from garage operations to vast campuses.
[Image: NBBJ]
Filed under: Misc, HD, Mobile, Alt, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook
5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week! – Android Apps Weekly
brightcove.createExperiences();
Sponsored by nPerf Speed Test
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
nPerf Speed Test is a comprehensive speed test application that allows you to test your web speed. It does so in three tests which includes your classic speed test along with a browsing load test and a YouTube streaming test. You can test on a WiFi or mobile connection and even compare your final score with other carriers and Internet Service Providers. You can track history and location of each speed test and it even comes with a pretty decent user interface. It’s free to use and we’d like to thank nPerf Speed Test for their support of Android Apps Weekly. Learn more about the app and test your speed here.
Welcome back to Android Apps Weekly! Here are the headlines from this last week:
- A woman claimed her account was hacked and is suing Google for allegedly unauthorized in-app purchases that apparently cost her thousands of dollars. According to court documents, her account was charged 650 times and she managed to not notice the money missing or receive any of the emails you always get when you buy things.
- A new Humble Bundle is out now and includes 10 titles from Tin Man Games. You can pay whatever you want and get four titles, pay the average and get four additional titles. For a flat $9, you get all ten games. It’s a great way to get some awesome games on the cheap.
- A new study came out to show the Q1 numbers for both Google Play and the Apple App Store. As per the norm, Google Play has more apps and more app downloads but iOS continues to lead in overall revenue. Nothing new here, but it is the latest stat sheet and we don’t expect it to change anytime soon.
- Some developers in Italy who call themselves OrangeSec managed to port Cortana to Android. There are a lot of limitations including no offline mode and it’s only it’s Italian, but it’s still Cortana’s backend that’s being accessed. We imagine Microsoft will shut it down eventually but it’s still fun to see.
- In a blog post released earlier this week, Adobe has officially promised to support Android better in the future. Adobe has Android apps but their more innovative creations have remained iOS exclusives and that is about to change. We can expect to see some progress on this over the summer of this year.
For more Android apps and games releases, headlines, and updates, don’t forget to check out this week’s newsletter where we round up all of the apps news from the last week. If you’re so inclined, you can also sign up using your email to get this news delivered directly to your inbox every single week.
Subscribe to our Android Apps Weekly newsletter!
Android for Work
[Price: Free]
Google has released the official Android for Work application. Obviously you’ll need to have Android for Work on the web to make this work but it’s nice to see it available for mobile devices and tablets. The compatibility is a bit limited, but you should be able to find all of the tools there including contacts, calendar, downloads, the office suite, and email. It also includes the hallmark admin control of Android for Work.
Servicely
[Price: Free / $2.16]
Servicely is a root application developed by Francisco Franco. The app allows you to identify, control, and shut off processes that may be draining your battery while you’re not using your device. It’s similar to Greenify but works more efficiently to keep tasks shut off so they don’t keep your phone awake when it shouldn’t be. There is a pro version that you can access for free and then donate later if you want to. We think you should.
Tiny Guardians
[Price: $3.99 with in-app purchases]
Tiny Guardians is a tower defense style game that was released to relatively positive reviews this last week. Like your typical tower defense games, your goal is to guard against waves of bad guys. Unlike tower defense games, Tiny Guardians doesn’t have any towers. You controls guardians that must defeat all the bad guys and you lose if your strategy doesn’t work out and your guardians die. It’s a unique concept that could be a lot of fun.
Hello Caller ID and Blocking
[Price: Free]
Hello is a new application from Facebook that acts as a dialer app for their Facebook Messenger service. Messenger has had calls for a while but now has a dedicated interface to access them. On top of working with Facebook’s service, you can automatically block calls, get free calls and texts over Messenger, and integration with your phone contacts and Facebook. It does work like a regular phone dialer with your number if you need that.
Mortal Kombat X
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
The long awaited Mortal Kombat X is here, kind of! The game has made its way to the Google Play Store but it has only been soft-launched in select markets ostensibly for testing purposes. We don’t know when it will roll out to everyone but it is here and that means it’s coming very soon. Mortal Kombat X features a whole bunch of your favorite MK characters along with classic tropes from the series like fatalities. It should be a lot of fun once it’s fully released.
Wrap up
If we missed any great Android apps or games news, let us know about it in the comments!
Xbox revenue dips 24 percent thanks to Xbox One price cut
In the three months leading up to March 31, 2015, Microsoft reported a 24 percent drop in revenue from its Xbox division compared with last year, attributing much of the decline to sales of an “increased mix of lower price Xbox One” consoles. Microsoft cut the price of the Xbox One from $500 to $400 (and it ditched the Kinect) in June 2014, and it’s knocked off another $50 since. The corporate Xbox arm includes both the Xbox One and Xbox 360, and Microsoft did not separate sales of each console in its Q3 2015 financial report. Hardware revenue overall was down just 4 percent, boosted by Surface tablet sales, which were up 44 percent over last year to $713 million.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft’s Surface sales are on the upswing once again
After a very slow start, Microsoft’s Surface finally seems to be hitting its stride. The company made $713 million from Surface sales last quarter, a 44 percent jump over last year, according to its latest earnings report. And yes, it’s attributing much of that to the Surface Pro 3, which also saw strong sales during the previous quarter. While any bump is good, it’s easy for Microsoft to report revenue growth when it’s starting from a low point. Apple sold around $9 billion worth of iPads during the last quarter, for comparison. It’s also worth noting that the company’s third quarter doesn’t include sales of the new Surface 3, which doesn’t ship until next month. It’ll be interesting to see if that model ends up helping its Pro sibling come next quarter. Before the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft’s Surface sales weren’t exactly pretty — at one point it had to write off nearly $900 million in unsold units.
During the company’s earnings call today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted that 64 percent of Surface Pro 3 users also use One Note. That’s not surprising, since that device’s stylus integrates directly into OneNote. Nadella pointed out that the Surface Pro 3’s OneNote penetration is also nine times that of any other touch notebook.
Microsoft’s Devices and Consumer group, which the Surface is a part of, saw an overall revenue bump of 8 percent compared to last year. It was also helped by strong Office 365 growth (up 35 percent, reaching 12.4 million subscriptions), Bing advertising gains (21 percent), and a 30 percent bump in Xbox Live usage. Oh yah, and it sold 8.6 million Lumia phones, down from 10.5 million from the holiday quarter. It was a different story for Xbox revenues, which fell 24 percent from last year, mostly due to price drops for the Xbox One.
Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
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