Microsoft releases standalone Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for Windows Phone 8
Microsoft appears to be taking a page from Google’s approach to core software updates: It just launched standalone Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for Windows Phone 8 users. The music app (currently deemed a preview) is largely what we’ve seen in Microsoft’s integrated software, but it also lets you edit playlists and sync radio stations. A completed version is due in 2014, the company says. The video client, meanwhile, resurrects functionality that hasn’t been a part of the OS since Windows Phone 7; you can now download or stream Xbox Video content directly from your handset, with playback syncing between phones, PCs and game consoles. There’s no certainty that Xbox Music and Xbox Video represent the first steps toward OS-independent media apps in the rumored Windows Phone 8.1 upgrade, but you can at least try them today.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: The Verge
Source: Windows Phone Store (1), (2)
Viber continues to expand as it rolls out Windows 8 app
Fresh off of the announcement that it’s now allowing users to make calls to any mobile or landline number, Viber today is reaching yet another platform by way of a Windows 8 application. Aside from providing access to the VoIP calling services it has become known for, Viber’s also bringing a few features tailored specifically for Microsoft’s operating system. Namely, we’re talking things like pinning conversations to the Start screen as well as the ability to be used in Snap View mode. Additionally, Viber for Windows 8 offers full Live Tile support, allowing you to easily spot notifications and have quick access to the app. CEO Talmon Marco says coming to Windows 8 was “the natural next step” for his company, adding that this is part of Viber’s big picture strategy and “commitment to wide, cross platform availability.”
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software
Source: Windows Store
Xbox 360 Time Warner Cable app finally gets video-on-demand
It’s been a long wait for Xbox 360-faithful wanting Time Warner Cable video-on-demand through their console, but the feature has finally arrived with some 5,000 promised titles (there’s good news for Roku users too, where TWC TV has added VOD to go along with that new YouTube app). If you somehow still aren’t entertained, well maybe chatting with other TWC customers via the app’s messaging feature will do the trick. This seems a tad redundant when the 360′s native messaging client is a few button presses away, but we dig having another way to spoil the latest New Girl for our pals.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Xbox Wire
Microsoft will have a new CEO ‘in the early part of 2014’
With roughly nine months to go until Microsoft’s unforgettably demonstrative CEO Steve Ballmer steps down, the hunt is on for his replacement. Will it be incoming Nokia CEO Stephen Elop? Maybe Ford’s Alan Mullaly? No one outside of Microsoft’s board of directors knows for sure, but it apparently won’t be too long before we find out. “I expect we’ll complete our work in the early part of 2014,” board chair John W. Thompson wrote on Microsoft’s blog.
Thompson said he and his colleagues have whittled down the list from “over 100 possible candidates” to “a group of about 20 individuals” (presumably including the aforementioned exec duo). He sadly didn’t offer much insight into the discussions, which we can only guess involved both a very large dart board and (at least) a few bottles of carbonated mineral water.
Filed under: Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Former Microsoft Office exec Kurt DelBene will rebuild HealthCare.gov
Leading Microsoft is arguably the toughest (and most up-for-grabs) job in tech right now, but salvaging a catastrophic government website launch is a close runner-up. The White House has tapped Kurt DelBene, the outgoing Microsoft Office President, to head up a revamp of its notoriously glitch-ridden HealthCare.gov. US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the appointment today, and Microsoft commented on the move via its official blog. DelBene, who spent 20 years at his former employer, stepped down as part of an internal reorganization early this year. He certainly won’t have a gap in his resume; his final day at Microsoft was yesterday, December 16th.
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Via: ZDNet
Source: The Official Microsoft Blog
Xbox One cuts out the middle man, gets live TV directly with Verizon’s FiOS app
The Xbox One is built to blend with its owner’s existing TV-watching setup thanks to the HDMI-in, but customers with Verizon FiOS TV can sidestep that entirely. FiOS has launched a version of its app — already available on the Xbox 360 and mobile devices — for the Xbox One that promises 74 live channels streamed over the internet. Already announced as part of the first wave of entertainment apps for the Xbox One, Verizon’s app makes it the first TV provider to stream live TV directly to the box. TV viewing with the Xbox One is unusually seamless with the passthrough, but with FiOS, it’s just another app like Netflix or Hulu Plus, complete with built-in Kinect support for voice and gesture controls.
If your FiOS cable box is already plugged into the Xbox One, it means the two can be used together for picture-alongside-picture with the snap feature, or that you can use the Xbox somewhere in the house without the cable box at all. Features we’d like to see are access to video on-demand, and integrated control/awareness for DVR recordings so we can ditch the remote entirely, and the ability to pin shows directly to the OneGuide, but so far, it’s just live TV. The app is live in the Xbox One store but — at least for now — it’s only useful if you live in a FiOS area and have the service.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft, Verizon
Nielsen: users embracing smartphone apps while ditching traditional web services
‘Tis the season for year-end lists and summaries galore, and Nielsen is no exception to this rule. The company has just released its list of the top 10 web brands, online video brands and smartphone apps, and its findings reveal a growing trend that may not come as a surprise to anyone: more people are using smartphones, and they’re using them to access the most popular services out there, instead of their web-based counterparts. In these aforementioned lists, Nielsen also discusses how each brand has changed year-over-year; web brands have all decreased, online video brands are relatively flat and smartphone apps are skyrocketing in overall usage.
Let’s take a look at a few services in particular. Google was the top web brand for 2013, yet it saw a decrease in unique visitors by six percent from last year (and YouTube dropped by 14 percent). That said, these two brands represented five of the top 10 smartphone apps, with growth ranging from 14 percent to as high as 29 percent. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook experienced a very similar trend, with a 16 percent decrease in web traffic versus a 27 percent increase in its smartphone app numbers, making it the most-used service of the year. In addition, social networks like Instagram and Twitter grew by leaps and bounds, earning each of them a spot among the top 10 apps; Instagram, in particular, was the fastest growing app on the list. (Also, here’s a shameless plug for our parent company as the seventh most popular web brand.)
Finally, Nielsen also reported that nearly two-thirds of US phone subscribers — 65 percent, to be specific — are now using smartphones instead of featurephones, which is a solid jump up from 56 percent at the end of 2012. Of those subscribers, 52 percent are now using Android devices, while 41 percent use iOS and seven percent use other platforms (BlackBerry is at three percent, while Windows Phone is at two). Head below the break to see all of the fine details for yourself.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Blackberry, Facebook
Source: Nielsen
Nokia’s all-in-one Camera app expands to entire Lumia range with new beta
Devices with the PureView tag attached have not only the best shooters in Nokia’s Lumia range, but also exclusive access to the relatively new Nokia Camera app. Today, though, that latter privilege is being extended to all Lumias with the launch of the Nokia Camera beta program. Any Windows Phone 8 handset that’s been updated to Amber or above can now use the software — an amalgam of, and successor to Nokia’s Pro and Smart camera apps. As it’s not quite ready for a full store debut, you’ll need to sign up with Nokia Beta Labs at the source if you want early, and perhaps buggy access.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia
Source: Nokia Beta Labs, Nokia Conversations Blog
$10,000 and a bout of madness nets you this gold-plated Xbox One
What does one get for the eccentric billionaire who has it all? A gold-plated Xbox One from famed retailer Harrods of London is a start, and it turns out that Harrods is selling just that in its London store right now. Of course, that kind of bespoke game console experience comes with a hefty price tag: £6,000 (around $9,800), or about £5,600 more than a standard Xbox One in the UK. But then, if you’re already spending nearly $10K on your favorite eccentric billionaire, why not buy them this luxurious African safari hunting package? Or how about a trip to this underwater hotel? The world really is your play thing when money is no object, eh?
[Image credit: Reddit user ‘SirSyhn’]
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Via: Joystiq
Windows Phone 8.1 reportedly getting a Notification Center and personal assistant
With each new update, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform resolves more and more concerns that we’ve had ever since its initial launch three years ago. According to Tom Warren at The Verge, Microsoft has a new update in the works — currently known to us as Windows Phone 8.1 — that will implement a new Notification Center as well as a personal assistant that will be closer to Google Now and Apple’s Siri technology. This new version of Windows Phone will reportedly be revealed at the company’s BUILD conference in April.
So how exactly will the new Windows Phone Notification Center work? According to Warren’s sources, it’ll be accessed the same way iOS and Android users are accustomed to: by swiping down from the top of the screen. Not necessarily the most original idea, but if this is true, it would at least be much more familiar (and perhaps more compelling) to anyone looking to switch to Windows Phone from one of its competing platforms. That’s not to say it will be identical, however, as a short swipe would bring up Quick Settings, while a long swipe would display your full history of notifications.
Also, WP8.1 is where Microsoft’s Cortana feature would finally come in handy. This will offer much more interaction and personalization than the current Bing Search, in that it will feature more of a contextual learning experience based on location and other personal data. These new features will help make the new WP assistant more competitive with Google Now and Siri.
Finally, Warren mentions a few other features in the works for WP8.1: independent volume controls (ringtone and media would be separated), additional Enterprise support with VPN, Facebook and Twitter support in the People Hub and Bing Smart Search results that bring Windows Phone closer to its desktop counterpart. Xbox Music and Video are also rumored to be separated in the new update. Nokia’s also reportedly working on two smartphones that will come out around the same time as 8.1, one of which involves off-the-glass gestures and another one which utilizes virtual navigation buttons.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: The Verge
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