microsoft

In life, you have to get your story straight. Especially if you're a public figure. If your story becomes crooked, you might too -- even if it's a mere accident.

It's hard to know, for example, whether Microsoft's new Surface is one of Oprah's favorite things or not. It was very much on her recently-published list. She compared it to a Mercedes.

This might only mean, sadly, that she believes her iPad is a Ferrari.

For, in tweeting her continued love for the Surface, she made something of an O-Pas. Yes, she used her iPad. … Read more

Many humans are competitive.

They want to prove that they have the winning hand -- or even the winning phone in their hand.

Microsoft, over recent times, has been keen to humiliate these people in public. First, there was the "Smoked By Windows Phone" challenge, in which Redmond's indefatigable Ben Rudolph proved that Microsoft's phones were so much faster than iPhones or Samsungs.

With the advent of Windows Phone 8, you are invited to a new challenge. This is called "Meet Your Match."

It is similar to the "Smoked By Windows Phone" … Read more

Windows Phone 8 devices just started hitting the market, but a number of users are reporting spontaneous reboots and email-sync issues with various devices on different carriers.

I had not had any issues with my loaner HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 on AT&T, which I've been testing since October 29 -- until yesterday, that is. This morning, my email accounts, as well as my Microsoft Account, were stuck in an endless loop of continually trying to sync. This was not happening on my Windows Phone 7 device (an HTC Trophy on Verizon). My Windows Phone 8 device … Read more

Microsoft's Xbox 720 will unveil a new version of Kinect, a Blu-ray drive, and an A/V port for watching and recording broadcast TV, at least according to details leaked by Xbox World.

Promising "next-gen secrets inside," the latest issue of the U.K.-based magazine dug up several reported specs on Microsoft's next console.

First off, the Xbox 720 will introduce Kinect 2.0.

Microsoft has been as publicly mum about the next version of Kinect as it has about all details concerning the new Xbox. But a company document leaked in June touted a … Read more

User interface design guru Jakob Nielsen is none too pleased with what he's found in Windows 8, which he calls a "misguided" product.

Nielsen, who has spent much of his career analyzing all kinds of user interfaces, including most notably Flash software for Web animation, says that the new Windows 8 user interface "smothers usability with big colorful tiles while hiding needed features."

To arrive at that conclusion, Nielsen brought in 12 "experienced PC users" to try out Windows on both PCs and Surface RT tablets. In that study, Nielsen found that the … Read more

Getting to a Microsoft store isn't easy. That's a problem.

It's a problem because in the wake of the Windows 8 release late last month, the best selection of the coolest devices is at a Microsoft store. Throw in solid ambiance too.

Best Buy? I don't think so. Though my local Best Buy in Los Angeles has a few interesting Windows 8 PCs, like the Lenovo Yoga convertible, it's mostly business as usual.

Same old big box chaos with clam shells that look pretty much like the clam shells that were there last year.

And … Read more

Windows 8 may not be selling nearly as well as Microsoft projected, according to a report.

"Sales of Windows 8 PCs are well below Microsoft's internal projections and have been described inside the company as disappointing," Paul Thurrott wrote on his Supersite For Windows today, citing a source inside Microsoft.

The culprit? "Lackluster PC maker designs and availability," according to Thurrott.

But he lists plenty of other reasons too, including Windows 8 itself as "confusing" because of its mix of touch and a standard Windows 7 desktop.

And he cites the simultaneous release … Read more

Despite getting off to a slow start and being called into a question as a viable purchase option, the PlayStation 3 might just take the second spot in console sales after this generation is up.

Earlier today, Sony announced that it has sold 70 million PlayStation 3 units worldwide since the console's launch in 2006. The device hit that tally on November 4, meaning it's somewhere above the 70-million-units mark at this point.

Sony is now in striking distance of Microsoft. The software giant announced that as of September 30, it has sold 70 million Xbox 360 units … Read more

Microsoft experienced an executive shakeup this week that surprised many.

Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive who turned the company's Windows franchise around and just led the effort to release Windows 8, left the company, effective immediately. Sinofsky, a controversial figure at the company, was reportedly warring with Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

The company said the decision behind Sinofsky's departure was mutual, though the abruptness of the announcement might suggest otherwise. Some Microsoft watchers had pegged Sinofsky as a CEO-in-waiting, but he developed a reputation for being divisive and not working well with executives in other divisions.

In … Read more