7 Days is a weekly round-up of the Editors' picks
of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a
dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (Irish)
coffee.
Love has been in the air lately with the approach of Valentine’s Day,
and here at Neowin, our hearts have certainly been fluttering with all
the exciting announcements, new products and intriguing rumors that have
come our way this week.
Even Microsoft’s digital ‘personal assistant’,
Cortana, has been in a romantic mood
this week, with some Valentine-themed additions to her growing list of
skills and abilities. There are those who profess their love for Cortana
– as shown in
two videos that Microsoft released this week – but I’m afraid her UK PR team has confirmed that
she only has eyes for one man.
Cortana-style functionality is heading to Office, in the form of a
new ‘Work Assistant’ app that was first discovered earlier this month. A
video revealed
plenty more about the new app this week, including some of the functionality that it will offer.
On Monday, someone discovered that it was possible for anyone to download a
preview of the next version of the Office desktop applications suite.
The opportunity remained open for several hours, during which Office
2016 was downloaded any number of times, before Microsoft finally
blocked further sign-ups. If you weren’t able to grab it, don’t worry – a
public preview is likely coming soon.
The company also pushed out a
major update to Office Online,
the free web version of its productivity suite. Improvements include
better proofreading tools, enhanced Reading View, more file save
options, and Tell Me search on the ribbon.
It emerged this week that Microsoft has successfully applied for a
trademark for ‘Windows 365’,
fueling rumors that the company intends to shift its OS to a
subscription model. However it is possible that this was just a
‘defensive’ application to protect its brand, rather than actual
confirmation that it plans to make such Windows licensing changes.
Microsoft
pushed out two patches
this week to its latest Windows 10 Technical Preview, build 9926, which
is currently being tested by millions of Windows Insiders worldwide.
The patches – KB3038357 and KB3037975 – are interim updates to resolve
relatively minor issues, including a security update for Internet
Explorer Flash Player.
Meanwhile, work is continuing at Microsoft on other builds, as the company moves closer towards its target of
finalizing the Windows 10 RTM build by June.
But it was the first Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones that
attracted the most attention this week. Last Sunday, Microsoft’s Joe
Belfiore confirmed that the preview would launch
only on a “subset of phones”,
leading some to speculate that the company’s low-end handsets –
especially those with just 512MB of RAM – would be left out. Such
speculation was fuelled by a report that claimed the
Lumia 1020, 1520 and HTC One M8 would be among the first to get the preview.
But boy, were they wrong. When Microsoft
released the first preview for phones
on Thursday, the list of supported devices was completely different. In
fact, not one Windows Phone flagship can yet install the preview, with
only the
Lumia 830, and certain Lumia 63x and 73x devices supported.
You can find out more about the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones in our detailed coverage:
Given that it’s still very early software – the clue is in the name:
‘technical preview’ – you should expect the unexpected if you dare to
install it on your handset, including undocumented bugs, random crashes,
and any number of other issues that even Microsoft may not have
anticipated.
Be sure to read these articles ahead of installation, so that you’re a bit more prepared for what you’re getting into:
But while Windows 10 for phones remains in development, the latest
release of Microsoft’s current mobile OS – Windows Phone 8.1 Update – is
still gradually making its way out to handsets, over five months after
it was
first announced alongside the ‘Denim’ update for Lumia devices.
On Monday, T-Mobile US said that while its Lumia 521 and 925 will get upgraded to 8.1 Update,
its HTC Windows Phone 8X won’t,
which suggests that the carrier has dropped support for the device.
This isn’t the first time it has frustrated its Windows Phone customers –
just ask anyone who was foolish enough to buy a Lumia 710 or 810 from
T-Mobile in the past.
While T-Mo’s Windows Phone support has been poor, Verizon seems to
have earned a far worse reputation on that front, largely as a result of
its Lumia Icon. The flagship Windows Phone went on sale in February
2014, but despite numerous promises from both Microsoft and Verizon, it
didn’t get a single OS update for over a year.
But on Wednesday, hell froze over and pigs took to the skies in great numbers, as Microsoft announced that the
Lumia Denim update was finally available for the Icon.
The process of installing Denim went fine for the overwhelming majority
of users, but – as Neowin’s senior editor for North America, Brad Sams,
discovered –
not every update was entirely successful.
Microsoft’s Lumia 435 – one of the most affordable Windows phones ever –
went on sale in the UK on Monday, priced at just £75 SIM-free.
But over in Brazil, you’ll soon be able to grab the Lumia 435 Dual
SIM with one cool feature not available on the device anywhere else in
the world:
integrated digital TV. For just a few bucks more than the standard version, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
Microsoft is expected to unveil new additions to its Lumia range
at the Mobile World Congress trade expo
in Barcelona next month. The company sent out invites on Monday to join
it at MWC, where its main product keynote will be held on Monday, March
2 at 0830 CET.
Read the full article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment