Microsoft Treshold Update in 2015

Microsoft is expected to bring Windows Phone Blue update early this year. This update should be the beginning of cross-platform unification that is coming in 2015. According to the recent rumors Microsoft is working on Treshold update that will unify Windows, Windows Phone, Windows RT and Xbox UI.

This will not be a single operating system that is going to be running on all the devices, this will be a number of shared UI elements across the different platforms. Treshold update could bring us a unified app store which is for now just wishful thinking, considering how many different app stores Microsoft has over different operating systems. IT giant from Redmond is hopping that Treshold update will make it easier for you to work and have fun using Windows.

One of the first unification process should be the merge of WindowsPhone and Windows RT. Microsoft isn' happy hawing so many different operating systems for so many devices so this could be the first big unification.

The year 2014 is very important for Microsoft, because the company is currently in transformation. They also want to build hardware not just software like it's been the case for all these years. Recent purchase of Nokia is a step in that direction. So this should be a very important year for Microsoft.

Source ZDNET.

Smartwatch from Microsoft

The year 2014 is shaping up to be the year of wearable technology and there is a huge interest in smartwatches. Microsoft is becoming more and more a company that is developing hardwer. They already have game consoles, tablets and now with the acquisition of Nokia they will have smartphones. Samrtwach seems to be the next logical step. Tech giant from Redmond was late in both smartphone and tablet race, one mistake they don't want to repeat with the smartwatch.

As far as rumors go smartwatch is already being develop at the company and the man in charge of this project is Alex Kipman the "father of Kinect". Allegedly his team is working on 1.5 inch smartwatch that is running Windows. Which version of Windows is still not known. Will it run WindowsPhone or maybe some new version of Windows. Microsoft already has many OS version of Windows so a new smartwach operating system seems unlikely. Probably it will have some version of WindowsPhone.

No release dates for this smartwatch have been announced and with the competition already developing these type of devices Pebble, Samsung, Sony and according to rumors Apple later this year. Microsoft will have to work fast on this one.

More on the story right here.

New Record for Steam

Steam PC platform has a new record that is worth bragging about. On December 1st there were 7 million users on at the same time, witch is an impressive number. This new record is 16% better then the old one from last year.

With all the hype from the new generation consoles that were released in the last few days, seems like every news on the web is about PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. New generation console wars have started but it looks like PC gaming is doing better then ever.

Valve recently announced that there Steam PC platform has over 65 million users. The preferred OS for Steam users is still Windows 7 with 64%, but Windows 8 is increasing it's share and is now on 20%.

during this weekend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday Valve had many discounts witch also helped to make this new record.

Microsoft Wants Windows on HTC Android Phones

We all know HTC is having some serious financial troubles and looks like Microsoft has a proposition for them. Basicly they want to take advantage of their financial troubles. Microsoft WindowsPhone operating system is doing very well at the market and HTC sales of smartphones are not going very well either. Solution, let's team up for better results.

Microsoft wants HTC to put their WP platform on Android devices. If HTC agrees to this they would be speared from paying the licence on WindowsPhone OS. That means they would get WP on their devices for free. HTC already has WP smartphone lineup but their focus is on Android devices. Flagship phone HTC ONE is running Android.

HTC has recently reported their financial results and they have their first annual loss since the company has been founded. The loss is over $100 million. This putts the company in very bad position, so some sort of deal between Microsoft and HTC is very likely to happen. At this point it looks like they don't have any better alternatives. These negotiations have just started so it's very hard to say what the final deal will be like. One thing is sure HTC is running out of time so they definitely need to change something and fast.

Microsoft OS on smartphones WP is currently on only 4% devices worldwide and you can be sure that the giant from Redmond isn't going to be happy with that. Sure, they have bought Nokia so they can start making their own smartphones but they also want other companies to make WP devices.

More on the story right here.

Nokia Lumia 520 Most Sold Windows Device

Smartphone from Nokia is the most sold device worldwide that's running Windows. This includes other smartphones, tablets and PC. This is important information for Microsoft because it shows the change in the market. Number of laptops and PC sales is decreasing, but smarphone and tablet market is on the rise. So it's no wonder that Microsoft is turning to mobile market and this is why their purchase of Nokia was important.

There was no information on how many Nokia Lumia 520 smartphones was sold. Only thing is that Lumia 520 isn't a flagship phone, it's a budget phone. Even whit this still good news for Redmond. Each year more then 3 billion Windows devices are sold, but this includes a lot of different companies.

Nokia is holding their last press event on October 22 in which they plan to announce 6 devices and accessories. One of those devices is their first phablet Lumia 1520. Another device is their tablet Lumia 2520 running WindowsRT. What's interesting about this is that Microsoft has just announced their tablet Surface2, also running Windows RT. So don't be surprised to see that Lumia 2520 gets pulled from the market once Microsoft ownership of Nokia is official. Considering the work and resources that htey put in the making of Surface 2 it's not very likely that they want to compete against their own device.

More will be known once Surface 2 hits the stores and Nokia holds it's event.

Surface 2 and Windows 8.1 Update

Microsoft announced their Surface 2 tablets last week and now it's time to advertise them. One thing the IT giant from Redmond isn't very god at is marketing. At least that's been the case so far with Windows tablets. The company has put much effort in the new tablet lineup so it's  going to be important to them that the sales results are god once tablets hit the market. In the new Surface commercial Microsoft is showing the best of Surface 2 and not attacking iPad like they did before. Witch is definitely a step in the right direction.

Other commercial is for Windows 8.1 which is arriving October 17. In this ad they are showing what upgrades the new operating system is bringing to it's users.Some of the new updates are customizability of the Start Screen, ability to run more than two apps at once, allusive Start button and more. We are happy to see that the Start button is coming back. Who says Microsoft isn't listening to their customers. If you already have a Windows 8 then this upgrade is free.

And if this isn't enough there's more news about Surface 2. Delta company is replacing their manuals and other outdated equipment with Surface 2 tablets. The previous decision from Delta was to equip their staff and pilots with 19.000 Nokia Lumia samrtphones, and there were planing to get the new Nokia Serious tablets, but after Microsoft bought Nokia they decided on Surface 2. This is what Delta company had to say on this decision

“In less than two years, Delta cockpits will be paperless as we roll-out the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet running Windows 8.1 RT as our company-issued device,”

Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 tablets are not even released yet and they are already selling. Looks like Microsoft is serious about taking some market share away from Apple and Android in the market that they are dominating so far.