Microsoft announced that it would be killing its Groove Music streaming service last year, but promised it would continue investing in its Windows 10 application. However, that didn’t extend for Android and iOS.
If you’re a Windows user like me, you’ll probably remember when you set up your machine and tried to change the default browser from Edge to Chrome. Microsoft pushes Edge hard on Windows 10, and doesn’t really do any favors for Google’s browser. However, the company has recently made its Browser Protection tool available on Chrome…
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The Android app Be My Eyes announced that it will be offering support for blind or impaired customers through Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk in the latest release of the app.
Google Chrome is one of the best browsers available today, if not the best, but its relationship with various operating systems is certainly strained. On Windows, users have wanted Chrome in the Store for a long time, and today, it’s finally happening. Well, it’s kind of happening.
Skype has been removed from Android app stores in China following a request from the Ministry of Public Security …
In addition to releasing a new Android launcher, Microsoft today is releasing its Edge browser preview for Android through its Windows Insider program as a part of its latest mobile efforts.
Microsoft’s own mobile platform isn’t quite dead, but it’s pretty obvious at this point that, even for Windows fans, it’s not going anywhere fast. The company hasn’t been too shy about offering its services on other platforms and today it has released a new Android launcher that wants to keep you connected to your PC.
Face swap applications caught on in a big way over the past year or so, and today Microsoft is jumping into that arena with a new option that ditches the biggest issue with all the others — it has no ads.
Microsoft is launching a new task management app for Android today called Planner. Previously available as a web app only, Planner works with eligible Office 365 accounts for organizing tasks visually and collaborating across teams.
Yesterday Microsoft introduced its answer to Google’s Chrome OS — Windows 10 S. The stripped-down version of Microsoft’s desktop OS comes with a handful of limitations, but the biggest ones revolve around the browser.
Chrome OS has been dominating the education market for a while, mainly because of its low-cost and ease of use have been unparalleled in the space. Today, though, Microsoft announced Windows 10 S, its answer to Google’s education efforts. And Google needs to take note, because this one might have some power behind it.
Microsoft bought the task management app Wunderlist back in 2015, and today the company has released the first public preview of its eventual replacement called To-Do. Microsoft’s new To-Do app is available to try on Android phones now, and preview versions for tablets will soon follow.
Update 3/31: The Microsoft Store has reached out to clarify that Microsoft apps will not be pre-loaded on the device. Rather, store associates will help buyers set-up services at the time of purchase.
For a while now, Microsoft has embraced Android as a platform with its full Office suite, Cortana, and many other apps. Now, the company is continuing that work with a “Microsoft Edition” Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ available only in their retail stores.
Not even a week after being requested to pull The New York Times app from the Chinese Apple App Store, both Apple and Google will have to pull the LinkedIn app from their respective app stores. According to The New York Times, the removal comes after a court ruled that LinkedIn had violated Russia’s data protection laws.
Even though Google Assistant is the best option Android users have today for a mobile assistant, some still prefer to dive a bit deeper into Microsoft’s ecosystem where Cortana is king queen. Last year Microsoft brought Cortana to Android, and today it’s updating the app with a brand new design and other improvements.
Microsoft and Lenovo have today announced a new patent cross-licensing deal that will result in a handful of Microsoft apps being pre-loaded onto Lenovo’s various Android smartphones. These apps would include the company’s most popular apps, possibly Microsoft Office, OneDrive, and Skype.
With Microsoft almost out of the consumer phones business, it’s working harder to find a new home for its intelligent assistant, Cortana. After initially making it available to Android users six months ago, it has now updated its health app so that you can access Cortana through the Band 2 fitness wearable.
With Cortana on your Band, you can access your personal assistant for instant notifications of important events, communications, and voice-active info without reaching for your phone. Speak into the mic on your Band to Cortana to take actions for you …
As part of an update to the Outlook application for Android, Microsoft has announced today the addition of a new Android Wear watch face. This new watch face brings email on your wrist to a whole new level; rather than simply giving you notifications and simple actions from Android Wear’s notification feed, everything can be seen and accessed from the watch face itself. Let’s take a quick look…
Microsoft and Xiaomi have announced today what they are calling the start of a long-term partnership. As part of the agreement, Microsoft is selling about 1,500 of its patents to Xiaomi, while the deal also includes a cross-licensing arrangement for other patents. Additionally, Xiaomi has agreed to preinstall Microsoft Office and Skype on its Android devices.
Ten months after Microsoft wrote-off its Nokia acquisition, the company has now announced that it is effectively out of the consumer phone business. It is cutting 1,850 jobs, and setting aside almost a billion dollars to cover the costs of exiting the business.
Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to streamline the company’s smartphone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs. As a result, the company will record an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million […]
“We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft.
The company recently saw its market share fall below 1%. While Microsoft is – for now – insistent that it has a future in the corporate smartphone business, the reality seems doubtful …
Google is rolling out an update to the Android Gmail app that brings full support for Microsoft Exchange accounts on any device.
Full support for Exchange and the dual delivery feature allowing use of both Google Apps and Exchange simultaneously within the app was previously limited to certain Nexus Android devices. Users had previously found a workaround by installing the APK for the Gmail version with Exchange support on non-supported devices, but Google’s update will bring support for the feature to all Android users via the official Gmail app on Google Play.
Google said the feature is rolling out to all users now but that it could take a few days
Look out for the updated Gmail for Android app on Google Play.
Microsoft and Google have reached an agreement to stop complaining about each other to regulators. Speaking to Re/code, the companies have said they will attempt to work out any issues between themselves in the future, before getting regulators involved.
While English is without a doubt the most common and prominent language in the world, it goes without saying that it’s not the only one, and that people often travel and want to understand what the words around them mean.
Multilingual dictionaries and translation apps come in handy, of course, but much like Google last year, Microsoft is taking a step ahead with its Translator app, giving it a few new features that will allow it to scan and translate on the fly…
We’ve recently argued that the Galaxy S7 edge may represent the culmination of the “Smartphone 1.0 era”. It won’t please everyone about everything — and no such thing will likely ever exist — but it’s indubitable how all of the cornerstones of a modern smartphone have been tackled cleverly by the Korean giant, and all its positives can even justify its hefty price tag. Actually delivering something that steps up the game in a significant way, in fact, looks like a very tough challenge. Perhaps we will have to wait until true, Project Ara-like modular smartphones show up before radically rethinking the way we look at hardware, but the software roadmap seems to be getting clearer, with a future studded with bots.
Microsoft is betting big on them as a major part of the future of computing, and so is Facebook. There is a case that could be made for them to become the new apps — and this certainly is how these two firms are pitching the concept. Chances are that Google will follow sooner than later, and I think that if the general idea of bots we have been so far given remains valid, the owning of a platform as popular as Android may leave the Mountain View behemoth with quite an interesting card up its sleeve, which could give them a notable lead in the upcoming war for bots dominance, were they to play it cleverly…
