Windows 10 to launch this summer in 190 countries

Windows 10 to launch this summer in 190 countries    

source : theverge

Microsoft is planning to release its Windows 10 operating system in the summer. While the software maker isn’t naming an exact date, Windows chief Terry Myerson is committing the company to a summertime launch today. "We continue to make great development progress and shared today that Windows 10 will be available this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages," says Myerson. Microsoft is making Windows 10 available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and Windows 8 users for a year, and that offer will start this summer.

As part of Microsoft’s upgrade plans, the software maker is partnering with Lenovo and Tencent to offer Windows 10 in China. Lenovo will have Windows 10 upgrade services at 2,500 service centers and some retail stores in China. Tencent is also offering an upgrade pack with a variety of popular apps including QQ. Both partnerships are clear moves by Microsoft to make Windows available in China, and a way to combat issues of software piracy in the region. Microsoft is even offering its Windows 10 upgrade to customers who have non-genuine copies of Windows. That’s a big change to Microsoft’s previous attempts to tackle software piracy in China.

Google will fly a crazy, plane-like, 84-foot wind turbine next month

Google plans to fly an 84-foot wind turbine next month, according to Google X's Astro Teller, who spoke at SXSW today.

source : theverge

Google's wind turbines don't look like the ones you might see along the US coastline. They're more like "planes" equipped with eight propellers that are tethered to a docking station. 

When they're released, they get up to 450 meters in the air. At that altitude, the plane starts doing large circles in the sky, which turns the plane's propellers. The drag turns each of the eight propellers into individual turbines that send 600 kilowatts back down to Earth.

Google has been working on wind turbines for some time now, thanks in part to its purchase of the energy company Makani Power in 2013. But the turbines it has flown so far measured 28 feet in length. The one that Google plans to fly next month will measure 84 feet, Teller said, which means it might be equipped with additional propellers.

"if you're not breaking your experimental equipment... you could be learning faster."

Astro Teller told the crowd today that the company has flown the smaller versions in the harshest of wind environments.

 "Larry Page said to me, 'make sure you crash at least five of those test versions,'" Teller said. "What he meant was... if you're not breaking your experimental equipment, at least some of the time, you could be learning faster. And I know 

he's right."

To test the turbines, the team went to one of the windiest places in North American — Pigeon Point in Pescadero, California. The speed of the wind can change by 20 miles per hour in a second, and the direction of the wind can change by 90 degrees in a second, Teller said. But the turbines didn't crash. "We failed to fail. We didn't crash, not once."

Girls Do Science

source : youtube

7 out of 10 girls are interested in science. Only 2 out of 10 will pursue it as a career. Let’s change that. Through the voices of these girls, we celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History month. We support the bright young women who participated in this project and all girls who share our belief in the empowering nature of science and technology.

Microsoft is committed to creating opportunities for all youth. DigiGirlz is a Microsoft YouthSpark program that gives girls the opportunity to learn about careers in tech. Learn more about it here: http://msft.it/digigirlz

Stylus maker Adonit releases its first iPad drawing app

theverge 

Adonit makes some of the best iPad styluses out there, and now it's starting to make an iPad drawing app to help you sketch with them. The app, called Forge, is being released today. It's specifically designed to work with Adonit's pressure-sensitive Jot Touch stylus, but it'll work with any generic stylus and even your finger, too.

Forge is set up to let you iterate on designs and ideas

Forge is a fairly straightforward drawing app with five tools, a quick color selector, and most of the screen left empty for you to sketch on. All of the tools work well and do a good job of translating your marks into smooth and stylish lines, especially when you're using the Jot Touch. Forge's interface has a minimal aesthetic that tries to streamline the process of getting you from opening the app to starting to draw — it should look really familiar to anyone who's used Adobe's Line and Sketch apps before. For the most part, it's as simple as you want it to be while still allowing you to quickly change brush sizes and adjust your color choices.

Microsoft kills off Google and Facebook chat for Outlook.com

sorce : theverge

Microsoft is revealing today that it plans to kill off Google and Facebook chat from its Outlook.com email service "within the next couple of weeks." In an email to Outlook.com customers, Microsoft says it’s removing Google Talk integration "due to Google’s decision to discontinue the chat protocol used by the Google Talk platform." Microsoft will also be discontinuing support for Facebook chat in Outlook.com, but the company has not revealed why it’s killing off the social network’s chat integration.

Facebook and Google services for Outlook.com also integrate with the people feature of the webmail service and keep contacts up-to-date, and Microsoft says this feature will be unaffected by the decision to discontinue the chat options. Microsoft’s Google Talk support in Outlook.com was a highly requested feature shortly before the software maker introduced it in May 2013. Microsoft is now pushing customers to use Skype in Outlook.com, in a move that feels similar to the retirement of the Windows Live Messenger service back in late 2012. Both Google and Facebook services will disappear from Outlook.com in the coming weeks.

Windows 10 for phones preview release tipped for 4 February

source:ibtimes

The preview version of Windows 10 for phones will reportedly be released in a couple of days.

Nokiapoweruser had earlier reported, via its sources, that the technical preview for phones will be released within 2-4 weeks from 21 January, which is opposed to Microsoft's given schedule for late February.

A new disclosure from an anonymous tipster, quoted by the site, now asserts that the first preview build of Windows 10 for phones will be out on the 4th of February. Considering this release timing is too early, take this information with a pinch of salt.

There is a good chance that Microsoft might release the preview build soon, as only a few days ago Microsoft had pushed out an update for the 'Phone Insider' app that will allow registered Insiders to receive pre-release OS updates on their phones.

The name of the app is now 'Windows Insider' which hints that Microsoft is planning to have the Windows name across all platforms of Windows 10.

The update for Windows Insider now offers users the option of logging in with their Microsoft account, after registering as a Windows Insider. If you have already registered for your Windows 10 desktop, you are ready to go.

The download link for the Windows Insider app is provided below. When you try installing the app, you will be greeted with a message that reads, "We were not able to find a preview build," and about the 'system requirements'. This, however, will not be an issue as the app will support all Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices, though you need to be running the latest build of Windows Phone 8.1.

Download link: Windows Insider app 

Microsoft unveils Windows Holographic augmented reality system with HoloLens

Samsung and Google may have gotten the ball rolling with Gear VR and Cardboard, but head-mounted 3D isn’t done there; at today’s Windows 10 event, Microsoft announced its next-gen augmented reality system, Windows Holographic.

The hugely ambitious project will draw on APIs introduced in Windows 10 to give developers the tools they need to allow users to interact with virtual displays that seem to seamlessly blend into the world around them.

Of course, you need some advanced hardware to pull of a feat like that, and for this Microsoft has its own HMD, the Microsoft HoloLens wearable computer.

The hardware is a self-contained system, not relying on an external phone or PC. It’s got its own CPU, GPU, and a custom “holographic” processor. Images will be displayed on a translucent visor, letting HoloLens overlay its output on your visual field.

Microsoft’s demonstration of the Windows Holographic interface shows how HoloLens is able to track a user’s hands in real time, allowing them to interact with its “holograms” without the need for dedicated input hardware. Voice command allows for even finer-grained input.

Sound like something out of a sci-fi movie? You’re not too far off, and Microsoft’s been with working with none other than NASA on developing HoloLens and its Windows Holographic tech.

Source: Microsoft