Microsoft Archive

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Details for Halo 4 multiplayer being unraveled

In recent game footage that has been released to the Halo worshiping masses, who have been looking forward to the 4th version of XBOX’s for quite some time now, Microsoft has revealed some pretty exciting details regarding Halo 4’s multiplayer feature.

Ubergizmo is reporting that “Developer 343 industries who took over Bungie Studios’ role in the Halo franchise also dropped some hints that there might also be a form of social gaming service, and with a little bit of imagination, it might end up being somewhat like Battleog or Call of Duty: Elite, with speculation looking at some sort of narrative element being added to the multiplayer aspect.”

In Microsoft’s press release they said: “At the heart of Halo 4 is a stronger focus than ever before behind storytelling and player choice. Players will be offered an unprecedented level of customization and a narrative experience never before seen in a first person shooter. On a technical level Halo 4 pushes the boundaries of the action genre by incorporating larger battlefields than ever before and players will experience conflicts that seamlessly span land, sea, and space.”

And with the success of Halo 3’s matchmaking reaching 1 billion online matches back in 2009, the new and improved version 4 with multiplayer features can only expect to eventually outnumber these previously held statistics in an all-inclusive Halo narrative, combining the art of storytelling with an interactive multiplayer mode.

(via ubergizmo & OXM; photo via Game Blurb)

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Kinect-Enabled Smarter Cart Helps You Shop

Thanks to Windows, Chaotic Moon Studios, and Whole Foods, losing track of your cart at the grocery store could be a thing of the past.  The Smarter Cart, which uses a Windows 8 tablet, a Kinect sensor, and a bar code scanner, will follow shoppers around the store and help with grocery lists.

The shopping cart identifies users by membership card and besides scanning items as they are loaded into it, the Smarter Cart can detect added items that don’t match the grocery list – or dietary regulations.  It can also direct users to the appropriate aisles to complete their shopping lists.

Smarter Cart is one of many non-gaming uses for Microsoft’s Kinect software that have starting making appearances since the company finally gave its approval to Kinect hackers.  A prototype is currently being tested at an Austin, Texas Whole Foods store, while Chaotic Moon plans to start testing multiple devices in April.

(Story via PC World, Image via Digital Trends)

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Office on iPad – Coming Soon

Microsoft’s Office Suite may be showing up on Apple’s tablet sooner rather than later, based on a report by the The Daily.  Based on the blog’s experience with the working prototype, the iPad version of Office will include creating and editing in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

It may seem strange for Microsoft to create a version of its popular software for a rival’s tablet, but the influence of the iPad in the computer market makes it an obvious move.  And if Microsoft chose not to release an official Office version for iPad, other groups are more than willing to provide alternatives.

As the iPad continues to make gains as a key workplace tool, it makes sense for Microsoft to take advantage of their software to break into the market.  No date has been announced for the release of the Office app for iPad – and the possibility of other Office apps appearing in the App Store is uncertain.

(Story via Gizmodo, Image via CNET, credit to Apple)

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Microsoft Office 15 debuts a technical preview

In the Office Exec blog this morning PJ Hough, CVP of Development of the Microsoft Office Division, announced an important milestone in the beginning of an “Office 15” tutorial—or the preview program of the next generation of Office.

So what can we expect from Office 15?

Hough writes, “[a]t this early point in our development cycle, I’m not able to share too much about Office 15, but I can tell you Office 15 is the most ambitious undertaking yet for the Office Division. With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio. Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before.”

To consumers in the market to buy electronics, we’ve seen Microsoft in sort of a slump lately, but announcements like this and reported success stories from upcoming releases give us reason to believe that they are in fact coming back, with a boom.

Once the technical preview is ready in full, people will be able to post feedback and Microsoft can hopefully pick up any bugs found. Previously Office 2010 arrived 6 months after its beta release, so we are hopeful Office 15 will be released in a ballpark of 6 months (or hopefully less!).

(via Ben Rudolph via Windows Office Blog; photo via RewriteTech)

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Korea’s Kinect-powered theme park

Kinect-powered astronaut scales, Kinect-powered fitting rooms—and lo and behold, the Kinect-powered theme park.

There’s reason for gamers everywhere to envy South Korea’s Live Park 4D: it’s the world’s largest 360 degree stereoscopic theatre, it has the world’s largest interactive projection square, and the park has the world’s most advanced avatar games.

Jealous much? We are – the only thing the US has that’s comparable is, well, um… nothing yet (not to say the Harry Potter theme park isn’t cool). Other parks that come close are the Warcraft/Starcraft-themed amusement park in Changzhou called World Joyland.

The Live Park 4D’s capacity holds up to 3,000 visitors, and there are 65 different attractions to choose from. Visitors are given RFID wristbands that allow them to create avatars of themselves while playing the various games.

Rumors are stirring up that the Live Park concept might reach North America, but for now our South Korean friends and tourists are the only ones in the world to experience the luxury.

(via ubergizmo; photo via Hex19)

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CloudOn Brings Free Office to the iPad but Sells Out

If you were looking for a way to edit Office documents on your iPad, but didn’t want to wait for Microsoft to offer it, you might have missed your opportunity this week.  An app released by startup CloudOn provides iPad and iPad 2 users with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint access along with cloud storage and file browsing – but interest in CloudOn’s first release was overwhelming, forcing them to remove the app from the iPad App Store.

The company promises a return to the App Store once it can handle more users, though Wired reports facing some challenges with the free app.  CloudOn hopes to use the free testing phase of the release to determine future pricing, among other things.  Interested iPad owners can pre-register online to get notified when the app is released again.

CloudOn isn’t the first application to bring Office-editing to Apple’s iPad.  While several paid apps offer similar Word, Excel, and PowerPoint features for the tablet – but the iPad market is still waiting to see if Microsoft comes through with its own Office version for iPad.

(Image and Story via Mashable)

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Bing, Yahoo Tied for Second Place Search Engine

According to comScore statistics, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing now each have 15% of the search engine market.  Considering Bing has been offering its unique search services for under three years, coming this close to overtaking Yahoo is quite an accomplishment – although the fact that Bing powers Yahoo makes the rivalry an interesting one.  Of course, neither are anywhere close to search champion Google, who has a 65.4% market share according to the same study.

Other studies have slightly different figures, but all place Google in strong lead, with Yahoo and Bing relatively far behind at second.  But Microsoft doesn’t intend to stop there.  In the future, the company hopes to integrate Bing into more products and forge more partnerships to take an increasing share of the search engine market.

How much success Microsoft will have in that tactic remains to be seen.  Still, it’s hard to imagine ‘Bing’ replacing ‘Google’ as a generic term for an Internet search.

(Via Mashable, Image via SEO.com)

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Xbox 360 experiencing popularity issues in Japan

Comical as the expression “big in Japan” might be, the opposite of that phrase – being unpopular in Japan – is no laughing matter, particularly in the gaming and tech industries. Unfortunately for Microsoft, that fate is exactly what is befalling its Xbox 360 console, offering more evidence of poor sales for the system overall, according to IGN.
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Weak Windows Phone sales may affect Microsoft mobile efforts

Microsoft appears to be cutting its losses in the smartphone market while it prepares to re-enter the race alongside new partner Nokia.
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