Xbox One’s big backwards compatibility update arrives November 12th
During tonight’s Halo 5: Guardians launch festivities, Xbox boss Phil Spencer just announced that the Xbox One will receive its Windows 10-based update on November 12th. That’s the one that will put a new UI on the console, as well as give everyone the ability to play certain Xbox 360 games. Some Xbox One owners in the preview program has been beta testing the new OS for a few months, and the experience has occasionally been a bit rough. Hopefully all that testing means the bugs are appropriately squished once this software rolls out wide in a couple of weeks. You can see the announcement in the video embedded after the break, or jump to the live broadcast as the Microsoft folks count down to midnight.
Source: Xbox (YouTube)
Mini review video: our verdict on the Surface Book in under a minute
Did you read our Surface Book review? We know quite a few of you did — this turned out to be one of the most popular reviews Engadget has run all entire year. That said, in case you missed it, here’s a quick recap: Despite the fact that this was Microsoft’s very first attempt at crafting a proper laptop, it actually got most things right. The device’s magnesium case and snake-like “Fulcrum” hinge give the Surface Book a premium but distinctive look. The keyboard and trackpad are both comfortable to use. Performance is fast, with some specs you won’t find on most other 13-inch laptops in this weight class. Battery life is insanely long — up to 14 hours in our tests. What’s more, when you detach the 13.5-inch screen, it becomes an impossibly light 1.6-pound tablet, and the included pen works well too.
Mini review video: our verdict on the Surface Book in under a minute
Did you read our Surface Book review? We know quite a few of you did — this turned out to be one of the most popular reviews Engadget has run all entire year. That said, in case you missed it, here’s a quick recap: Despite the fact that this was Microsoft’s very first attempt at crafting a proper laptop, it actually got most things right. The device’s magnesium case and snake-like “Fulcrum” hinge give the Surface Book a premium but distinctive look. The keyboard and trackpad are both comfortable to use. Performance is fast, with some specs you won’t find on most other 13-inch laptops in this weight class. Battery life is insanely long — up to 14 hours in our tests. What’s more, when you detach the 13.5-inch screen, it becomes an impossibly light 1.6-pound tablet, and the included pen works well too.
The Surface Mini is a real tablet that you can’t buy
You’ve heard the rumors: Microsoft axed the launch of a small “Surface Mini” Windows tablet just before the Pro 3 hit stores. Hints of the canceled launch showed up in news articles, Microsoft earnings reports and even the Surface Pro 3’s user manual, but now we finally have confirmation that the tablet actually exists — and it was pretty much ready to ship alongside the Surface Pro 3. So ready that, for a time, Surface VP Panos Panay used one on a daily basis.
Source: WIRED
The Surface Mini is a real tablet that you can’t buy
You’ve heard the rumors: Microsoft axed the launch of a small “Surface Mini” Windows tablet just before the Pro 3 hit stores. Hints of the canceled launch showed up in news articles, Microsoft earnings reports and even the Surface Pro 3’s user manual, but now we finally have confirmation that the tablet actually exists — and it was pretty much ready to ship alongside the Surface Pro 3. So ready that, for a time, Surface VP Panos Panay used one on a daily basis.
Source: WIRED
Take a tour of Microsoft’s new Fifth Avenue flagship store
Microsoft’s first flagship retail store is opening its doors tomorrow in New York City, just a few blocks from Apple’s iconic glass cube store on Fifth Avenue. This isn’t your typical Microsoft store: It spans five floors in a grand building, and it’ll sport a glass facade that offers a direct view inside. You definitely won’t miss it while walking down the street. Upon entering the store, it’s not hard to feel a sense of deja vu from Apple’s retail style. There’s plenty of hardware spread out for you to fondle on fashionable tables, including Surface Pro 4s, Surface Books, new Lumia phones and a slew of other hardware from Windows PC makers. And there are several “Answer Desks” located throughout the store, which will offer assistance with any piece of Windows hardware, no matter where you bought it. Check out our walkthrough after the break. Slideshow-333319
One of Xbox Live’s creators has left Microsoft
The man who helped transform Xbox Live from a network of desktop PCs running under its developers’ desks to a service connecting some 39 million game-playing folk has left Microsoft. Eric Neustadter has worked at the company for 18-and-a-half years, 14-and-a-half of those dedicated to Xbox where he’s most recently served as the platform’s director of architecture. He recently returned from a sabbatical, and the co-host of the Major Nelson podcast hasn’t yet made any indication of what’s he’s going to do next. If you’d like some more info on who the man who holds the first-created gamertag (“e”) is, you should definitely read this two-part history on building Xbox Live which chronicles the birth of the service and its relaunch with the Xbox 360’s 2005 release. They’re worth your time — I promise.
[Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Source: Eric Neustadter (Twitter)
Extensions for Microsoft’s Edge browser aren’t coming until 2016
When switching web browsers, importing favorites isn’t hard, but the thought of losing all your extensions is usually what keeps people where they are. As a result, even if you’re on Windows 10 already you might not make use of Microsoft’s slick new Edge browser until it too has support for add-ons. Unfortunately, in a statement to Ars Technica Microsoft confirmed rumors that its current plan is to put off the addition of extensions until next year. Its decision is apparently based on the need to make sure its extension model is secure before delivering it in a 2016 Windows update. While browser upgrades are still cooking, all signs indicate a fall update is on the way in November with most of the features currently being beta tested, like an integrated Skype experience, new features for Cortana and an activation process that can accept product keys from earlier versions of Windows.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Source: Ars Technica
Microsoft has a quick note taking app called Parchi in the Play Store
Microsoft’s Garage projects for Android has just added a new app. The new app is called Parchi (pur-chih), which focuses on speed, and makes taking quick notes and lists a lot easier.
It’s not trying to compete with Evernote, but instead is for quick things, like a reminder or to pick up milk. It uses hashtags to make looking for these quick notes much easier later on. They really focused on taking notes as fast as possible, one way is by allowing you to take a quick note right from the lockscreen.
This app is perfect for all those half finished ideas you may have. Just write down anything you might think is a good idea and come back to it later to expand upon it.
Some key features:
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Text, list and pictures
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Reminders, Colored notes, Mark as favorite or Pin to lock-screen
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Quick search through the hamburger, #tags, text and various filters
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Share notes – Share a single or multiple notes over WhatsApp, Email, SMS, or any other app of your choice
Come comment on this article: Microsoft has a quick note taking app called Parchi in the Play Store
Microsoft adds a cheaper Surface Book option with NVIDIA graphics
If you’re like most of us, Microsoft’s Surface Book looks like an incredibly attractive laptop, however adding on all the fixin’s (like a powerful NVIDIA GPU embedded in the keyboard) can make it a bit pricey. TechRadar notes that the folks from Redmond have slid one more variant into the store, allowing buyers to essentially choose between upgrading the base ($1,500) model’s graphics instead of its hard drive. For $1,700 you can either have a version with a Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage and no NVIDIA discrete GPU, or the new version — a 128GB model with dGPU. If you keep your larger-capacity files in the cloud or an external drive, that cuts $200 off the previous cheapest dGPU-equipped version without losing any power, but we won’t blame you if only the $3,200 1TB top-of-the-line powerhouse will suffice.
Via: TechRadar
Source: Microsoft Store
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