Microsoft

New Cyber Therapists Can Diagnose Depression Using Kinect

Going to a therapist in itself already makes a many people uncomfortable, but what if their wise and licensed confidant was actually just a fancy, upgraded Sim? Well, we may not have to wait too long to find out—a new computer program is already planning to be your depression-diagnosing assistant shrink. The program, cleverly named…

How to Make Windows 8 Look and Feel Like Windows 7

If you have a PC with Windows 8 but miss Windows 7, there’s no need to downgrade. Following a few simple steps, you can make Microsoft’s current operating system look and feel almost identical to its predecessor. Here’s how to bring back the Start menu and the attractive aero glass theme how to hide other…

Xbox SmartGlass Will Be Your BFF While Watching Game of Thrones

HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones returns this Sunday and if you a) have an Xbox b) are an HBO subscriber and c) own an iOS device or Windows 8 tablet, you’re going to want to download the SmartGlass app ahead of the premiere. If you’re the type that multi-tasks when watching TV, then…

Hey BlackBerry and Windows Phone users, need a ride? Because Uber’s now offering you one.

Windows 8’s Main Apps All Just Got a Little Better

Tomorrow, Windows 8 and RT’s Mail, Calendar, and People apps will all receive updates in the Windows Store. Meaning, tomorrow, Windows 8 gets a little bit better! Here’s how the updates to the apps will break down. Mail Mail gets the most improvements of the three apps. It’ll add the ability to create, delete, or…

Windows Blue Leak Reveals Snap View Side-by-Side Apps, Different Live Tile Sizes, IE 11

A leaked copy of Microsoft’s latest Blue OS—its rumored incremental Windows upgrade—is spreading, and shows an increased focus on personalization including new Live Tile arrangements on the Start Screen, a Snap View for side-by-side apps, and new color choices. https://gizmodo.com/report-microsoft-blue-is-coming-this-summer-with-inter-5986499 What’s referred to as Build 9364 leaked onto file sharing sites earlier today, possibly from…

Bill Gates Has $100,000 For Anyone Who Can Invent a High-Tech, Next-Gen Condom

Condoms are a life-saving piece of tech, and for being little more than uninflated latex balloons, they do their job pretty well if you wear them. That’s the part that Bill Gates is working on. No, he’s not going around as a one-man condom-police army, but he is offering $100,000 to anyone who can make…

Pandora Is Finally on Windows Phone, And It’s Really Good

Slow and steady and also yeah really slow but hey whatever—Pandora’s here for Windows Phone 8! And actually, it’s probably the best mobile version of Pandora out there. So that’s something. The new app is free, and ad-free, and totally unlimited. Pandora recently stuck a 40-hour monthly limit on other free mobile apps, so that’s…

Leak Reinforces Rumors of “Always Connected” Future Xbox

A new leak seems to reinforce claims that Microsoft’s next-generation “Durango” Xbox will require mandatory game installation and have an “always on, always connected” internet policy. https://kotaku.com/the-next-xbox-has-mandatory-kinect-game-swapping-and-n-5982986 The leak, from VGleaks and reported by Verge, provides screen shorts from an Xbox Development Kit (XDK) for Microsoft’s upcoming console. Those grabs state that each new console…

GameTrailers and Redbox Instant apps are now downloadable for your Xbox.

Report: Microsoft Is Being Investigated for Bribery

The WSJ reports that the federal government is investigating Microsoft for bribery. According to unnamed sources, Microsoft paid off foreign government officials to get software contracts. According to the report, the DoJ and SEC are looking into anonymous accusations that Microsoft paid off officials in China, Romania, and Italy. Regulators believe that the company may…

Microsoft has announced that it will stop supporting Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 in the second half of 2014.

Microsoft Blames 16-Hour Email Outage on an Overheating Data Center

Microsoft’s Outlook.com email service suffered a massive 16-hour outage yesterday, which saw users unable to access parts of SkyDrive, Hotmail, and Outlook, too. Microsoft has revealed that it was a result of a mischievous firmware upgrade—which caused “a rapid and substantial temperature spike in the datacenter”. It’s quite an unusual situation for a large-volume, high-profile…

Microsoft is having a some problems with its Hotmail and Outlook email services—but it’s trying to solve the problem.

Report: Verizon’s Getting a Thinner, Lighter, Aluminum Nokia Lumia 928 in April

According to The Verge, Verizon is going to be getting a variant of the Lumia 920 in April, and it will be a pretty nice upgrade. The upgrades include a switch to an aluminum body, a xenon and LED flash for the 8MP PureView camera, and the comes in thinner and lighter than the relatively…

Microsoft is updating IE 10 in Windows 8 and RT to allow Flash content to run by default tomorrow.

MSFT Office 365 is free to college students for six months and includes 20GB of SkyDrive and 60 Skype minutes.

German Court “Inclined” to Ban Google Maps

A German trial, which is seeing Google and Motorola battle Microsoft, appears to be going badly for the search giant. So badly, in fact, that a German judge has stated that he’s “inclined” to ban Google Maps in the country. The judge believes that he ought hold Google responsible for the infringement of a European…

Turns out Google tipped off the EU about Microsoft’s missing browser choice screen—which cost it a cool $730 million.

Kinect’s New Multitouch Tricks Let You Pinch Thin Air to Zoom

Kinect has already received its fair share of excited attention from developers, but Microsoft is still exploring its limits, too—and has managed to make it respond to mid-air, multitouch gestures. Microsoft engineers have finally got the device to recognize if your hand is open or closed, in turn allowing it to respond to gestures that…