Report: Microsoft preps Windows 8 upgrade deal for early June debut
Microsoft will kick off a Windows 8 upgrade program for buyers of Windows 7 PCs in early June, according to a report. But unlike past deals, this one may come with a price tag. [ Windows 8 is coming, and InfoWorld can help you get ready with the Windows 8 Deep Dive PDF special report, which explains Microsoft’s bold new direction for Windows, the new Metro interface for tablet and desktop apps, the transition from Windows 7, and more.
Windows Live’s demise creates Windows 8 problems
As I anticipated two months ago, Microsoft officially sent Windows Live to the bit bucket yesterday. We’re supposed to believe that the ‘Softies are unifying their cloud services and lining them up under the “Microsoft Account” banner, but that is a whole lot easier stated than done. Or explained. In particular, users are going to lose a lot in the transition from Windows Live to cloud-friendly Windows RT Metro apps, and there are lots of legacy loose ends.
LG has no future plans for Windows Phone devices
LG is dropping from the Windows Phone race and has no plans to release any gadgets of that kind. The decision is not final, of course, and LG will continue its partnership with Microsoft. As you can imagine, LGs U-turn is based on the really weak sales and most probably the threat from the Microsoft/Nokia team. Microsofts CEO Steve Ballmer has a scheduled visit in Korea in May to explore partnership opportunities.
Lenovo expands recall of ThinkCentre desktops due to fire hazard
By Agam Shah | IDG News Service Lenovo is expanding the recall of some ThinkCentre all-in-ones due to a component defect that can cause the PCs to overheat and catch fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission stated on Tuesday. The PC maker is recalling 13,000 more ThinkCentre M90z and M70z models after a fire and smoke incidents were reported in the U.S, the CPSC said. The government bureau is asking consumers to immediately stop using the computers.
Nokia Lumia 710, 800 to get world wide web sharing in WP 7.5 Tango
The Lumia series, the hallmark Windows Phone devices by Nokia, so far were left out in the cold as regards the Wireless Hotspot functionality. Every other WP smartphone has been enjoying that since the update to Mango, but not the Lumias. Previously, we have caught wind of rumors that the about-to-be released Nokia Lumia 610 finally has that feature. Now user reports suggest that the Lumia 710 and 800 will also have that featured enabled once the new Tango (WP7.5 ...
Intel’s Windows 8 tablet specs omit some important details
Intel has been showing off prototypes of a 10-inch Windows 8 tablet since their keynote at CES in early January. As widely hyped at that show, the Intel vision of a Windows 8 tablet includes the new “Clover Trail” flavor of Atom processor. Last night in Beijing, according to Brooke Crothers at Cnet, Intel released a “long list of specifications” for new Windows 8 tablets. It is not clear if the specs constitute a reference design or minimum hardware requirements, ...
Windows XP support ends two years from now
Support for Windows XP will end two years from today, on April 8th, 2014*. XP was shipped to OEMs on August 24th, 2001 and reached average punters on October 25th. Plenty purchased it and plenty still run it: Gartner’s July 2011 assessment of the global OS population suggested “Windows XP Home and Follow-Ons” had 68 million users, while XP Professional ran on 144 million machines.
Motorola refuses Microsoft bond to keep Windows 7 in German market
By Loek Essers | IDG News Service Motorola refused Microsoft’s offer of a $300 million bond to postpone enforcement of potential German injunctions against Microsoft products that use the H.264 video codec, which if granted could exclude Microsoft from the German market, according to court documents filed on Wednesday. Microsoft could lose its rights to distribute in Germany products that use the H.264 video standard and the 802.11 WiFi standard, pending a court ruling on April 17.
Nokia Lumia 800 gets a new battery-boosting update
Nokia will be pushing this update to various countries in four different increments, more specifically today, and again on April 4th, 11th and 18th. The reason for this being the various Windows Phone authentications the update has to go through, as well as the mandatory testing and approval procedures which each individual provider has to perform prior to releasing it over their network. You can see when exactly the update will hit your region using this site.
Windows 8 tablet freezes in Microsoft keynote demo
Convergence 2012 You’ve got to hand it to Kirill Tatarinov, the head of Microsoft’s ERP division. The Russian Rocket was cool as a cucumber on Monday when a demo of the Windows 8 Metro UI running on a touch-screen tablet crashed and burned during the opening keynote of Convergence 2012. Microsoft is indeed making big, bold bets with the upcoming release of Windows 8, which Microsoft touts as the first operating system to run across multiple devices – from phones ...
