Microsoft buys 3D physics developer Havok to boost gaming efforts
Microsoft today announced the acquisition of Havok from Intel. Havok makes a 3D physics engine and licenses it to gaming studios; its work has been featured on more than 600 titles, including popular franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Destiny, Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls and Microsoft’s own Halo. While Microsoft says it is delighted to add Havok’s technologies to its robust portfolio of tools and components for developers, like DirectX 12 and Azure, it did point out that it won’t stop supporting partners going forward. “We will continue to license Havok’s technology to the broad AAA games industry,” Microsoft said in a statement to IGN. “This also means that we will continue to license Havok’s technology to run across various game consoles including Sony and Nintendo.”
Source: Microsoft
Asus devices will come bundled with Microsoft Office to avoid a lawsuit
After years of suing everyone in sight, it appears that Microsoft is in the market to make some friends. This week they’ve announced a deal to end a patent war with Google and now they’re buddying up with Asustek.
In a deal announced on Thursday, it appears Microsoft will agree not to sue Asus for their Android patents if Asus agrees to bundle Microsoft software, including Office, on their tablets and phones. The agreement calls for “closer integration” between the two companies that currently share a patent agreement. The deal will see Asus …”pre-install Microsoft Office productivity services on Asus’ Android smartphones and tablets” like the popular budget Asus Zenfone 2. The companies also announced that they will work together on future new projects.
““Beyond ensuring continued improvements to our products, it opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and ASUS made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property.”“
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has struck a deal to bundle their software onto phones and tablets for an agreement not to sue. Samsung owners were greeted with a Microsoft folder in their application tray in this generation of flagships that had apps like Office, OneNote and OneDrive inside.
Microsoft has continued a strategy of pushing their mobile apps into the view of customers any way possible. Whether these agreements are smart or annoying is based solely on which side of the table you sit. For Microsoft, it definitely extends the reach of their products and getting your software on a users device is a huge advantage to lock them into your ecosystem. For users, extra added software out of the box, or bloatware, is annoying and if it’s impossible to remove, can build resentment. Luckily carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint make the applications uninstallable.
What do you think of Microsoft’s strategy? Will moving their apps into the mobile world pay off big or cost them? Let us know what you think.
Source: PCWorld
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Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement
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Microsoft‘s name has appeared in more Android news that most manufacturers in recent news, primarily due to its recent push for Microsoft apps to be fully integrated into the Android ecosystem. Today, Microsoft and ASUS have made the news after they agreed to expand their existing patent licencing agreement – one immediate result of this will be Microsoft Office apps coming pre-installed on ASUS’ smartphones and tablets from now on. Behind the scenes, this should help both sides continue on the paths that they’ve started to carve out for themselves in the Android world.
As ASUS General Counsel, Vincent Hong says:
“This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry.”
Seems like a win-win-win to us. What do you think about the licencing deal between Microsoft and ASUS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Microsoft via engadget
The post Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
Microsoft‘s name has appeared in more Android news that most manufacturers in recent news, primarily due to its recent push for Microsoft apps to be fully integrated into the Android ecosystem. Today, Microsoft and ASUS have made the news after they agreed to expand their existing patent licencing agreement – one immediate result of this will be Microsoft Office apps coming pre-installed on ASUS’ smartphones and tablets from now on. Behind the scenes, this should help both sides continue on the paths that they’ve started to carve out for themselves in the Android world.
As ASUS General Counsel, Vincent Hong says:
“This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry.”
Seems like a win-win-win to us. What do you think about the licencing deal between Microsoft and ASUS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Microsoft via engadget
The post Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
Microsoft‘s name has appeared in more Android news that most manufacturers in recent news, primarily due to its recent push for Microsoft apps to be fully integrated into the Android ecosystem. Today, Microsoft and ASUS have made the news after they agreed to expand their existing patent licencing agreement – one immediate result of this will be Microsoft Office apps coming pre-installed on ASUS’ smartphones and tablets from now on. Behind the scenes, this should help both sides continue on the paths that they’ve started to carve out for themselves in the Android world.
As ASUS General Counsel, Vincent Hong says:
“This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry.”
Seems like a win-win-win to us. What do you think about the licencing deal between Microsoft and ASUS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Microsoft via engadget
The post Microsoft and ASUS agree on expanded patent licencing agreement appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Microsoft persuades ASUS to install Office on its Android phones
ASUS will install Office apps and other “innovative product solutions” from Microsoft on its Android phones thanks to a new patent licensing deal. The arrangement builds on an existing, private deal over Android phones between the two companies, according to ZDNet. Despite holding most of the patent cards, Microsoft magnanimously said the pact “opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and ASUS made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property.” ASUS joins Samsung, LG, Sony and 20 or so other manufacturers that signed deals with Microsoft to bundle Office apps on Android devices.
Last year, ASUS dropped several laptop/tablet hybrids that dual-boot Windows and Android, reportedly at the behest of Microsoft. Redmond has not been afraid to flex its patent muscles as the head of the Rockstar patent consortium that includes Apple, BlackBerry and Ericsson. The group also sued Google over phones (and Google sued it back over Xbox video), but the two tech giants recently decided to resolve all 20 ongoing patent disputes.
So why all the peacemaking from Microsoft? CEO Satya Nadella recently resolved to stop stop focusing on beating Google in the smartphone OS arena, as former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer did. Instead, he wants to get Microsoft products onto as many Android phones as possible, a strategy that’s clearly working out better.
Source: Microsoft
Minecraft’s story mode means more action, less dirt farming
Back in December, Telltale Games hinted that there was a narrative-driven installment of the Minecraft franchise on the way. Now in the newly released trailer, we get to see the story behind the first episode dubbed “The Order of the Stone.” Players will assume control of Jesse (who can be either a man or woman, kudos for the gender-neutral name Mojang) who takes a group of friends to a fan convention that celebrates a group of lauded warriors called — obviously enough — ‘The Order of the Stone.’ Obvious trouble brews and it is up to Jesse and his square-pals to track down the Order, consisting of Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect, to restore peace and justice to the Minecraft universe.
The theatrical trailer is cinematic, starring the voices of Patton Oswalt and Catherine Taber (depending on which sex you choose to make Jesse). True to Telltale Games fashion, The Order of the Stone is the first part in a five-episode game arc much like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones releases, and will debut digitally on October 13, and in retail stores October 27. Get those pixelated pickaxes at the ready guys; we’ve got some heroes to hunt.
[Image credit: Telltale Games]
Source: Telltale (YouTube)
Outlook on the web borrows Facebook’s Like and Twitter’s @mention
Microsoft is giving Outlook on the web a couple of familiar social media-flavored features. First, it’s adding a thumbs up on every email, which you can click on the reading pane. That gives you a way to publicly “Like” or show ideas support, particularly for school/work group messages — if someone else likes the email you sent, you’ll get a notification. The other one is obviously inspired by Twitter’s @mentions: when you want to call someone’s attention in the body of an email, simply type @ to open up your directory and list of frequent contacts. If the person wasn’t originally in the group message, his email address will automatically be added in the To: box.
You can enjoy both features soon if you have an Office 365 commercial subscription that comes with Outlook on the web. Office 365 First Release customers will get the Like feature sometime today and @mentions by mid-October. Everybody else, on the other hand, will have to wait until late October to see a thumbs up icon in their emails and until mid-November to @mention somebody in a group message.
Source: Microsoft Office
Microsoft and ASUS expand on their patent deal
Today, Microsoft and ASUS expand on their joint patent deal. The deal is a broad cross-license covering things like “Android-based phones and tablets and Microsoft software, devices and services.”
With this new agreement, ASUS promises to pre-install Microsoft Office services on their Android smartphones and tablets in the future.
Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC. said:
“This agreement delivers significant value for both companies. Beyond ensuring continued improvements to our products, it opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and ASUS made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property,”
ASUS General Counsel Vincent Hong said:
“This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry.”
Press Release:
REDMOND, Wash. and TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Microsoft Corp. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (ASUS) on Thursday announced the expansion of an earlier patent licensing agreement between the companies. The deal includes a broad cross-license covering, for example, ASUS Android-based phones and tablets and Microsoft software, devices and services. It paves the way for closer integration between the two companies, including pre-installation by ASUS of Microsoft Office productivity services on ASUS Android smartphones and tablets. The agreement also facilitates technology sharing toward the development of new, innovative product solutions.
“This agreement delivers significant value for both companies. Beyond ensuring continued improvements to our products, it opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and ASUS made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property,” said Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC.
ASUS General Counsel Vincent Hong said, “This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry.”
About ASUS
ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling, most award-winning motherboards. A leading enterprise in the new digital era, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home and office, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets, smartphones and wearables. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 4,326 awards in 2014 and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with its Eee PC™. ASUS has more than 16,000 employees around the globe with a world-class R&D team of 5,200 engineers. Company revenue for 2014 was approximately US$14.5 billion.
About Microsoft Technology Licensing
Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC was formed in 2014 to acquire, manage and license Microsoft’s patent portfolio.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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Windows 10’s Cortana taps into LinkedIn to cure your meeting anxiety
Microsoft’s Windows 10 virtual assistant Cortana is getting even smarter today by integrating LinkedIn. If you’re using Windows Mail and Calendar for meetings, you can now connect Cortana to your LinkedIn account, which will surface details about the people you’re meeting with in Cortana’s reminders. That includes information like photos (helpful if you’re not good with faces), job titles and a quick link to their entire LinkedIn profile. Naturally, you’ll also be able to send a LinkedIn request right from Cortana reminders. This is the sort of integration mobile mail and calendar apps have been including for years now, so it’s not exactly new, but it’ll still be useful for Windows 10 users. And it’s also a fitting example of how third-party companies can tap into Cortana.
Source: Microsoft
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