Send notes to OneNote with your Livescribe 3 smartpen
Shortly after the news that OneNote will be free starting today, Livescribe has announced a collaboration which will see its newest smartpen integrate with Microsoft’s service. Using the Livescribe+ application, Livescribe 3 owners can now easily send notes, drawings and other stuff to OneNote. Better yet, once your scribbles and doodles show up in OneNote, they can also be synced across multiple devices by way of OneDrive (formerly known as SkyDrive) — Livescribe states this is all part of its strategy to “make smartpens a ubiquitous and valuable tool.” You’ll need to have your pen running the latest software, version 1.1.0, for this to work — and in case you need any assistance with that, take a look at Livescribe’s help page here.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Microsoft
Source: Livescribe
Microsoft’s OneNote goes completely free, launches for Macs
Honestly, we’re a little surprised that it took this long for OneNote to land on OS X — Microsoft’s powerful tool for taking and organizing notes has been around for a decade now. Oddly it came to iOS and Android before finally finding a home in the Mac version of the Office suite of products. With its launch on Apple desktops, OneNote is also going completely gratis. The new Mac version is available for free in the App Store and the Windows edition is becoming a free download as well. The Metro-fied version designed for Windows 8 has been free for sometime now, but the full desktop version of OneNote 2013 was a paid part of the Office productivity suite. Premium features, like SharePoint support and Outlook integration still require you to cough up some cash, however.
In addition to ditching the price tag, Microsoft is adding a bunch of new features to OneNote. Most notably is the launch of an API that allows developers to integrate their own creations with the service. As a demonstration of its most basic functionality, Redmond launched a collection of web clipper extensions for IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Of course, capturing web pages is just the tip of the iceberg. Feedly, IFTTT, Genius Scan and a host of others have added the ability to save to OneNote from their own apps and we’re sure plenty more will join the fray soon.
Lastly, today also marks the launch of Office Lens, a Windows Phone app that turns your smartphone camera into a scanner. Evernote and Google Drive (previously Google Docs) have offered the ability to snap photos of documents or handwritten missives for a while now. Lens finally brings OCR (optical character recognition) to Microsoft’s apps, bringing it closer to complete feature parity with its competitors. You can go download OneNote and its various companion apps now.
Filed under: Software, Apple, Microsoft
Source: Office Blogs
Microsoft intros an LTE version of the Surface 2, arrives tomorrow for $679
As hard as it is to believe, Microsoft has until now never put out a 3G/4G Surface tablet. But we knew one would come eventually: the company said it was working on an LTE-enabled Surface 2 and indeed, the thing recently surfaced (har) in FCC documents. Now it’s finally here: Microsoft just announced that the LTE Surface 2 will go on sale tomorrow, and will be compatible on AT&T’s 4G network here in the US. (Fun fact: its official name is literally “Surface 2 (AT&T 4G LTE)”.) All told, it’ll sell for $679 with 64GB of built-in storage. That’s a $130 premium over the 64GB WiFi-only model which, if you’re paying attention, is the same premium you’d pay for a cellular iPad over a WiFi one (it’s worth noting, however, that the 4G Surface 2 is considerably less expensive).
Happily, the Surface 2 comes free of any contractual agreements. The big catch, of course, is that you’ll need an AT&T micro-SIM: the tablet supports LTE bands 4, 7 and 17, along with 3G UTMS (bands 1, 2 and 5) and regular old GSM (800/900/1800/1900MHz). In theory, that also means you should be able to get away with using a T-Mobile SIM, since T-Mobile also uses LTE 4 and 1900MHz 3G. T-Mo isn’t officially supported, though, so don’t expect anything in the way of possible bug fixes or performance enhancements. Either way, what’s nice is that even with the LTE, the tablet promises the same battery life (up to 10 hours) and basically weighs the same as it did before.
In any case, you can find the Surface 2 with LTE tomorrow at Microsoft Stores, MicrosoftStore.com and Best Buy (but not AT&T stores, oddly). Oh, and all those promotions Microsoft was offering back when the Surface 2 first launched? They still apply five months later on this LTE version. That means you can expect 200GB of free OneDrive storage for two years and a year of unlimited Skype WiFi calling and landline calls.
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft, AT&T
Source: Microsoft
Titanfall graphics test highlights glitches on Xbox One (video)
If there was ever a game that could cope with a few graphical imperfections, it’d be a frenetic multiplayer shooter like Titanfall. But flaws do visibly exist on the Xbox One version of that game, and Eurogamer has highlighted them in a side-by-side video with the PC version. You can see the impact of the console’s lower resolution (1408 x 792) and weaker anti-aliasing, versus the 1080p experience offered by a mid-range Windows gaming rig (with a six-core AMD FX CPU and a NVIDIA GTX 760 graphics card). More noticeable than any of that, however, is the issue of screen tearing: Horizontal slashes that happen when the game drops below the holy grail of 60 frames per second that its creators intended. Like Eurogamer, we really don’t think this does significant damage to Titanfall‘s overall experience — we’re still glued to it — but this is one more notable instance of a mismatch between what developers wanted to achieve in a next-gen title, and what Microsoft’s console was able to deliver.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Eurogamer
How would you change the original Surface?
At the tail-end of 2012, Microsoft launched the Surface with Windows RT, a gorgeous, homegrown tablet that was meant to be a productivity-focused alternative to the iPad and Android tablets. Unfortunately, the device didn’t sell anywhere near as many as then-CEO Steve Ballmer had predicted, which some believe is what caused him to lose his job. However, the Surface has lingered around, and we’re sure many of you bought one when the price was cut. The question for you all to answer now is: what about it would you change? Tell us all, over on the forum.
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft
Source: Engadget Product Forums
Daily Roundup: new Amazon and Valve controllers, Samsung’s ultrasonic phone case and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Reported Amazon game controller appears in pictures
It looks like Amazon might finally be building its rumored set-top box, and this is probably the controller that will come along with it. Thanks to Dave Zatz, photos of the rather chubby handset were uncovered from the Brazilian FCC. All in all, it’s got all your standard gaming functions, with the addition of a few Android controls and what appears to be an Amazon Game Circle button.
Samsung’s new smartphone case uses ultrasound to detect people and objects
Samsung announced that it’s bringing three new accessories to its low-end Galaxy Core Advance smartphone that are designed to help the disabled or visually impaired: the Optical Scan Stand, Voice Labels and most impressively, the Ultrasonic Cover. By using the latter, the Core Advance can detect objects or people in a 2-foot radius and provide vibrational feedback or spoken alerts.
Here’s a much clearer look at Valve’s new Steam Controller
Valve released the first prototype Steam Controller toward late last year, and now it’s given us a much better idea of what the final product will look like. When compared to the older version on the right, you’ll notice the newer model lacks the touchscreen, but adds several buttons in its place.
ASUS could drop dual-OS devices following pressure from Google and Microsoft
What’s special about the ASUS Transformer Book Duet TD300? It runs both Android and Windows operating systems in the form of a laptop or tablet. However, this interesting hybrid may never see the light of day due to contention from Microsoft and Google.
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Filed under: Misc
Your bank will pay Microsoft to keep running its ATMs
Believe it or not, roughly 95 percent of ATMs in the world are still running Windows XP — and that’s about to become an expensive problem. Machine designer NCR says that only a third of banks will upgrade their ATMs to a newer OS before official XP support ends on April 8th, leaving many institutions little choice but to pay Microsoft for an extended contract if they still want support. At least some banks plan to update, but they’re facing both technician backlogs and steep transition costs; estimates suggest the big UK firms might pay up to £60 million ($100 million) each to make the leap. Whether or not your bank joins the modern era, you shouldn’t be surprised if you end up footing some of the bill.
[Image credit: Martin Maciaszek, Flickr]
Filed under: Microsoft
Source: Reuters
Xbox One’s Skype app gets first refresh: contact filtering, longer chat logs and more
Skype for Xbox One — or as we like to call it, SuperSkype Extreme — is getting its first update today. Tired of looking through offline contacts to find out if Larry’s online? This update allows for filtration by availability! Tired of Larry lying about things he said last week? This update adds longer chat logs (“up to 1,000 messages, rather than just the past seven days”)! Tired of Larry’s constant use of smiley face emoticons? This update has “hidden” (totally not hidden) Captain America: The Winter Soldier emoticons! Tired of Larry’s Skype always crashing? This update squashes a variety of launch bugs.
Really though, it sounds like you’re just tired of Larry. Maybe it’s time to finally move on.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Skype
ASUS could drop dual-OS devices following pressure from Google and Microsoft
One of the more interesting laptops we saw at this year’s CES was a split-personality hybrid from ASUS — the Transformer Book Duet TD300, shown above. According to the Wall Street Journal, however, plans to launch the device during the first half of this year have been shelved due to resistance from both side of OS camp, i.e., Microsoft and Google. The WSJ report tallies with an earlier rumor from DigiTimes, and it also claims that sales of two of ASUS’s existing dual-OS products, the the P1801 and P1802 all-in-one PCs, are to be suspended due to Microsoft’s “new policy” of not supporting dual-boot systems. On the other hand, none of this really jibes with rumors from the smartphone side of the market, where Microsoft is reportedly willing to try anything in order to boost the popularity of the mobile version of Windows.
Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Microsoft, ASUS, Google
Source: Wall Street Journal (pay wall)
PlayStation 4 tops US console sales in February, but Xbox One narrows the gap
It looks like Sony’s commanding lead in next-gen console sales didn’t last long in the US. The NPD Group reports that the PlayStation 4 was the top-selling game console in the country this February, but only just — the Xbox One managed to get over 90 percent of the PS4′s sales volume. Microsoft says that it sold 258,000 units of its flagship, which suggests that Sony moved roughly 287,000 PS4s. Neither of these figures compare to what we saw during the systems’ launch windows, but they’re very healthy. Total hardware sales were up 42 percent year-over-year, and 44 percent over January. While Nintendo isn’t divulging its numbers, it may have performed relatively well when analysts saw “double-to-triple digit increases” in month-to-month sales for most consoles.
Software was another story. Overall game revenue was down 11 percent in February, and the aging Xbox 360 was the platform of choice for six out of the top 10 releases; the PS4 and Xbox One rarely fared better than second place. The decline isn’t surprising, the NPD Group says, since game sales are “expected” to taper off as the old generation makes way for the new. That transition should happen relatively quickly. Titanfall is considered an early system seller for the Xbox One, and high-profile releases like Watch Dogs may help Microsoft and Sony alike.
NPD Group: PS4 is #1 again for the month, and cumulative sales, in the United States. Thanks for your support!
– PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 13, 2014
Oh, and NPD says the PS4 led hardware sales, but only by a narrow margin. Xbox One unit sals were 90% of PS4.
– Ian Sherr (@iansherr) March 13, 2014
Filed under: Gaming, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
Source: PlayStation (Twitter), Xbox Wire, Ian Sherr (Twitter)
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