Microsoft offers schools a discount on Surface 3 and a cheaper model
Microsoft is sweetening the pot for schools looking to adopt its new hybrid tablet by giving them a 10 percent discount on the Surface 3, Type Cover and stylus. Normally, they cost $500, $130 and $50, respectively. On top of that, it’s also offering a slightly cheaper Surface 3 model with just 32GB of memory and 2GB of RAM (the base Surface 3 has 64GB of storage). We don’t yet know the price of that cheaper model, but expect it to be well below the $450 for the newly discounted 64GB Surface 3. Educational discounts aren’t anything new — it’s already offering them for the Surface Pro 3, and it’s something most other computer makers do — but Microsoft is clearly trying to position the Surface 3 as an alternative to Chromebooks. Those cheaper Google-powered machines have been a huge hit in schools, thanks to their low prices and easy maintenance, but they can’t run all of the software a full-fledged Windows machine can.
Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Solitaire returns to Windows 10: the bouncy cards are back!
To the dismay of many users, Microsoft decided to remove its Solitaire, Hearts and Minesweeper games from Windows 8. But now, to celebrate the venerated card game’s 25th anniversary (it debuted all the way back on Windows 3.0), the company is making things right. Microsoft has announced that a modernized version of Solitaire will return to the Start menu from the Windows Store where it had been relegated. Unfortunately fans of both Hearts and Minesweeper will still have to grab both of those games online and install them individually.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: The Verge
Source: @stroughtonsmith (twitter)
Microsoft Outlook for Android exits preview
The Outlook for Android app has been updated seventeen times while in preview, but now everything seems ready for primetime as Microsoft has removed the ‘preview’ tag. The performance and stability of Outlook for Android has been tweaked and the company feels that it matches the iOS version. The non-preview release of the app offers an improved design, IMAP support, unified contacts viewing, directory search, three-day calendar view, and custom gestures. Microsoft asks that users forward them bugs and suggestions to issue updates as quickly as possible by contacting support from within Outlook.
Hit the break for the gallery and download links.
Source: Microsoft
Come comment on this article: Microsoft Outlook for Android exits preview
Xbox One update preview targets the SmartGlass app
The May Xbox One update preview is all about SmartGlass. First up, users will be able to turn their consoles on or off directly from the Xbox One SmartGlass beta apps on Windows, Windows Phone and Android. Also, the console will support Miracast screen mirroring from Windows PCs, Windows Phone 8 and some Android devices, including the Samsung S5 and Nexus 7. This allows users to display photos and videos from their smaller devices on the Xbox One screen. May also brings some Windows 10 updates: Preview members will have the option to stream live TV from the console to a PC with the Xbox app or directly to the SmartGlass app. To make this magic happen, users in Europe or Australia need an Xbox One Digital TV Tuner, while those in the US and Canada can use the Hauppauge 955Q TV Tuner. This update adds a power-saving option to the Xbox One set-up process, a new feature for US consoles in particular. Read the full preview rundown on Xbox Wire or watch the video below.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Xbox Wire
Microsoft Office preview now available for Lollipop users and tablets powered by Intel/x86 chips
Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint became available in Google Play for Android tablets in January, but they weren’t compatible with Android 5.0+ Lollipop, nor any tablet that sported an Intel/x86 chip.
Microsoft announced yesterday via a Yammer post that a preview has been released that take care of both of these issues. These apps are beta, so you have to jump through a couple of very simple hoops in order to try them out.
You must first join the Microsoft Office for Android Tablets Preview community on Google+. Once you do that, you need to become a tester for each app (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) that you’re interested in trying. The links are below…..
Now you will have to ability to download the preview apps from Google Play. The below links might not be available to you for at least 10 minutes and as much as 2 hours. Google Play has to replicate the permissions.
Also be sure to provide feedback in the Google+ community. The faster everyone reports bugs, the faster Microsoft can fix them, which means the faster it exits the preview stage and will be available to everyone.
You will need a qualifying Office 365 subscription in order to get the most out of these apps. You can still use them without a subscription, but you will only be able to make core edits for free, assuming your tablet is between 7-inches and 10.1-inches. If you want extra features like the ability to track changes or insert page breaks in Word, you need to go with a subscription. Subscriptions start at $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year.If your tablet is greater than 10.1-inches, you will need an Office 365 subscription regardless.
Come comment on this article: Microsoft Office preview now available for Lollipop users and tablets powered by Intel/x86 chips
Microsoft’s Health app won’t need a tracker to get your fitness data
When Microsoft said its Health platform was open to everyone, it wasn’t kidding around. The company has revealed that its mobile Health app will soon get step counts and calorie burns from the sensors built into your phone — you won’t need a Band (or any wearable tracker, for that matter) to put fitness data in Microsoft’s cloud. The update is due for Android, iOS and Windows Phone in the “coming weeks.” Don’t worry if you do like the Band, though, as it has a few upgrades in store as well.
To start, the company is expanding the Band’s cycling support to two common bike apps, MapMyRide and Strava, on April 23rd. There will be some improvements when you’re not on wheels, too. A web update rolling out on April 27th will provide more insights about your Band data, including your maximum oxygen volume, how well your body recovers during sleep and the times of the week when you’re at peak performance. You’ll have plenty of reasons to wear Microsoft’s device, then — it just won’t be as vital as it once was.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft Devices Blog
‘Halo’ on Xbox One gets even more ‘Halo’ next month
If you’ve stuck with Halo: The Master Chief Collection this long you deserve a reward, and folks who played during the game’s disastrous launch window last year will soon have theirs. As a 343 Industries rep writes on Halo Waypoint, the promised, free Halo 3: ODST expansion is “on track” to be part of next month’s content update. Beyond that, the patch also adds the revamped “Relic” multiplayer map into the fold. Remember — ODST isn’t a total overhaul along the lines of Halo 2, it’s just the old game running at 1080p and 60 FPS. “Relic,” however is getting the full remaster treatment and even a new name that’ll be revealed at a later date. For the rest of this month’s patch notes, be sure to hit the links below.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Via: Polygon
Source: Halo Waypoint
Microsoft Office Preview apps released for Android tablets on Lollipop, and x86 systems
Microsoft truly has been on a tear bringing their apps and services to tablet users, and not just users of their own Windows operating system. In this latest release, a new Preview of their Office apps is available for Android 5.0+ Lollipop tablets, or any tablet 10.1-inches and smaller running x86 architecture.
It was not long ago we announced that these Office apps, being Word, Excel and PowerPoint, were made available, for free, to Android tablet users. This new Preview release is, for lack of a better word, a beta program, allowing you a glimpse of what is to come for all Microsoft Office users.
Getting in on the fun requires you to apply through the Microsoft Office testing group on Google+. Just ask for permission to get in, then, upon approval, your access to the apps in the Google Play Store will provide the Preview apps instead of the currently more stable releases.
As previously mentioned, the apps at play here are Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can always hit up the Google Play Store for the current public release of each app for your Android tablet. Of course, most Android Lollipop tablets, as with the newly built tablets running the ‘old’ x86 architecture, have been exempt from these public release apps, making this new release very exciting for Office fans with tablets running the latest Android software.
We’ll be certain to keep tabs on this and let you know if anything significant is available in the Preview Office apps. Until then, are any of you in the beta program and having anything exciting to share?
Microsoft and Yahoo can end their search deal after October 1st
Yahoo’s renewed search deal with Microsoft is even more laissez-faire than it looks at first glance. A filing from the internet pioneer reveals that either company can call it quits from October 1st onward — all they have to do is send a breakup letter and sit tight for four months. There’s no sign that the companies are eager to end their pact, but the clause shows that the two tech firms aren’t as dependent on each other as they were back when they forged the original deal back in 2009. Microsoft has forged a number of other deals to use Bing (such as in Apple’s Siri and Spotlight), while Yahoo is confident that it can build up its own ad platform — and maybe, just maybe, revitalize its own search tech.
[Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Via: GeekWire
Source: SEC
Microsoft’s Cortana comes to Android through a hack
Microsoft is already poised to bring Windows’ Cortana voice assistant to other platforms, but the duo behind the OrangeSec team isn’t willing to wait that long. They’ve developed and shown off Portaña, a simple Android adaptation of Cortana that uses a proxy to talk to Microsoft’s servers. While it’s nowhere near a complete recreation of the official software (you have to speak in Italian, for one thing), it does work — you can ask a question and expect an answer back. Portaña is sadly likely to remain in a rough state as is, though, so you’ll want to tinker the source code if you just have to speak to the Halo-inspired helper before there’s an official solution.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: VentureBeat
Source: OrangeSec (YouTube), GitHub
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