microsoft news

UC Browser has been supporting its Windows Phone pretty well in the past few months. However, the company’s app is only available for Windows Phone, which could be slightly disappointing for those on Windows 10. Now, according to the company’s official Twitter account, we could soon get a new Windows 10 UWP app which users will be able to download and use on their Windows 10 PCs, tablets, and mobile devices:

At this moment, there isn’t much information on the Windows 10 UC Browser. As per usual, we will let you know when the browser is available for Windows 10. Until then, let us know if you are looking forward to UC Browser on Windows 10 in the comment section below.

Microsoft today announced the availability of Microsoft Forms for Office 365 Education customers. Microsoft Forms lets anyone with an Office 365 Education account create and/or respond to quizzes.It also includes the automatic grading and in-quiz feedback functionality.

When an instructor wants to assess how well the students understand a given topic, they can quickly author a quiz directly from their desktop or mobile web browser. The instructor simply determines the questions they would like to ask and then chooses an answer type, such as multiple choice, text or a rating. The Forms authors can then send a link or QR code to quiz takers or embed the quiz into a web page, blog or Leaing Management System (LMS), and recipients can complete the quiz on phones, tablets or PCs. And with the real-time feedback in Forms, the instructor can very quickly see where the class may need additional instruction or could advance more rapidly. Forms responses can also be exported to Microsoft Excel for richer analyses.

Forms is a great quizzing platform because quiz question types are unique. Quiz authors can also indicate the correct answer(s) while authoring quiz questions and they can enter feedback for each answer.

If you are an existing Office 365 for Education customer, you can locate the tile for Forms in My Apps on the Office 365 App Launcher. New customers will see the Forms tile appear directly within the App Launcher and need not take any additional actions to use Forms right away. Anyone with an Office 365 school ID can go to forms.office.com today to create their first form and provide feedback on Forms.

Lea more about it from the link below.

Last month, Microsoft announced the preview of their new service called Flow. Flow allows users to connect Microsoft services and other public services, think of it like enterprise focused IFTTT. Today, Microsoft announced that Flow mobile app is now available for download on iOS that gives you the power to manage, track, and explore your automated workflows anytime and anywhere. This app will also be coming to Android soon.

• With the Microsoft Flow app, you can stay connected to your flows from your mobile device. You can view flow properties and definition, tu flows on or off from wherever you are, or review detailed run history reports.
• Stay up-to-date on all flow activities from a central location, the Activity Feed. The feed helps you detect quickly which flows require your attention and what actions you need to take. View and filter your runs or your notifications, and drill into further details upon demand.
• Stay up-to-date on all flow activities from a central location, the Activity Feed. The feed helps you detect quickly which flows require your attention and what actions you need to take. View and filter your runs or your notifications, and drill into further details upon demand.

You can download the app in the AppStore. You can start using some of the mobile templates from Microsoft, or create new flows of your own.

In advance of the Licensing Expo 2016, 343 Industries today announced new global licensed partners coming to Halo, bringing new Halo-themed products in the upcoming years. These new partners will begin rolling out Halo-themed products this fall 2016, and continue through the launch of Halo Wars 2 in 2017.

Which browser are you using on your Windows 10 PC? For most people, the answer is simple. Google Chrome is near ubiquitous in culture, attached to a “cool” brand and chock full of whatever extensions you want.

It’s also available on the two popular mobile platforms, iOS and Android. With that in mind, one would be hard-pressed to find a reason not to simple go with the flow and make use of Google’s Chrome browser for browsing the web.

Microsoft hopes to change that soon and shift more users on to its Edge browser for Windows 10 devices. In a test carried out by Microsoft’s Edge team utilizing the top 4 browsers – Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera – Microsoft’s Edge browser came out on top.

Now, while users may be cynical in observing that of course a test carried out by Microsoft would have Microsoft technologies coming out on top, this isn’t the first time Google Chrome has been dinged for gobbling up power on both Windows and macOS (formerly OSX). Edge is both lighter and faster to start-up, and exclsively integrated with Windows for use with Cortana.

For power users though, Edge lacks common features like saving web pages and extension support among others. While the latter is scheduled for a release in the anniversary update next month, small features like the former make end up keeping users off Edge full-time, moreso than battery life.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, Edge is lighter on your battery life, supports WebRTC for web streaming and is slicker and easier to use. For users who don’t particularly mind, there isn’t much of a reason not to use Edge. Nevertheless, Its up to Microsoft to improve the list of definitive and decisive advantages Edge has over other browsers than simply relying on battery life and speed.

BT has boosted its broadband with the launch of a new BT Smart Hub, offering the UK’s most powerful wi-fi signal compared to routers from other major broadband providers. The new BT Smart Hub has a combination of features that will allow consumers to enjoy wi-fi in more places with fewer dropped connections and faster speeds in harder to reach rooms.

The BT Smart Hub comes with 7 antennas, which is more than any other major UK broadband provider’s router, giving an unbeatable wireless range. It also features the very latest AC Wi-Fi technology so multiple users can use multiple devices on a faster connection, all at the same time. The BT Smart Hub comes with a range of features designed to make getting and remaining connected as easy as possible. It also comes with the latest chipset and has built-in advanced filters that automatically block interference.

Launching this summer, the new BT Smart Hub has been designed by an award-winning team to ensure better and faster wi-fi coverage around the home with fewer blackspots. It comes with Smart Scan technology which means the hub proactively monitors and improves customers’ Wi-Fi performance in the background.

Pete Oliver, MD consumer, commercial, marketing and digital, BT, said:“Customers want a quality connection throughout their homes and the new BT Smart Hub delivers the UK’s most powerful wi-fi signal so customers can enjoy wi-fi in more places. It’s packed with the latest wi-fi technology and is the only router from a major UK broadband provider to offer 7 antennas to offer unbeatable wi-fi range”.

It’s designed to fit through most letterboxes so customers don’t need to worry about being home when it’s delivered, and comes with a handy wi-fi card and sticker so customers can easily find their wi-fi password. Customers can also control the lights on the hub, choosing to either dim them or switch them off.

Customers can register their interest for the new BT Smart Hub at www.bt.com/smarthub and the very first BT Smart Hubs will be available for existing BT customers. Existing BT Infinity customers will be able to get a BT Smart Hub for free by recontracting or can buy one for just £50.

All BT Broadband customers get unlimited access to more than five million BT Wi-fi hotspots across the UK, helping them stay connected when they are out and about. Plus, customers signing up to the new deals will also get free access to BT Protect, BT Parental Controls and BT Cloud. BT is also the only UK broadband provider to offer at least 100GB storage with all its new unlimited broadband packages.

See the full specs for the BT Smart Hub below:

Register your interest at www.bt.com/smarthub here.

HP last week announced a worldwide voluntary safety recall and replacement program for certain notebook computer batteries. The affected batteries were shipped with specific HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario, and HP Pavilion laptops sold worldwide from March 2013 through August 2015.

These batteries have the potential to overheat, posing a fire and bu hazard to customers. Because these batteries pose a fire and bu hazard, it is extremely important for customers to check whether their batteries are affected, and to cease use of affected batteries immediately.

Customers may continue to use their notebook computer without the battery installed, by connecting the notebook to exteal power. HP’s primary conce is for the safety of our customers. HP is proactively notifying customers, and will provide a replacement battery for each verified, eligible battery, at no cost. For customers with 10 or more potentially affected batteries, HP has put in place a process to assist with the validation and ordering process. For details please refer to the FAQs tab on this website.

Not all batteries in all HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario, and HP Pavilion Notebook Computers are affected. To check whether your HP laptop is affected, download this utility from HP.

Check this page for more details.

At Mobile World Congress 2016, Huawei revealed the MateBook, a 2-in-1 device targeting business users. The MateBook is a premium product just like Surface that combines great hardware design and the power of Windows. It is made of high-quality aluminum unibody and it weighs just 640g, making it ideal for mobility. Just like Surface, it supports keyboard case and stylus. The keyboard features a 1.5mm keystroke and a chiclet keycap design. The MatePen stylus offers 2,048 levels of sensitivity and features a laser pointer on the back. It also comes with fingerprint recognition feature that supports 360-degree sensitive identification for fewer authentication failures.

The MateBook is coming to North America in two elegant colors grey and golden starting $699. At $699, you will only get the tablet with Intel Core m3, 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The keyboard cover and digital pen will cost you extra. You can configure this device up to Intel Core m7, up to 8GB RAM and up to 512GB SSD.

It seems the Guardian News and Media organization is lavishing quite a bit of love on their Universal Windows App, with monthly updates coming to the software.

Now in the latest update the app has picked up a handy new feature which is particularly useful if you use the app on both your phone and the PC. If you are signed in your “Saved for later” articles will now synchronize across the web and apps, meaning you can keep up with those long form articles whatever device you are using.

Here’s the full changelog:

• ‘Saved for later’ articles are now synchronised across devices and the web for signed in users
• Various bug fixes and performance improvements on some devices.

Download the Guardian from the Windows store here;

Developer: Guardian News and Media

Price: Free

Microsoft is releasing June Updates to its Office Mobile apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) in Windows Store. It includes new features like Ink Annotations, Export to ODF, Format Background on PowerPoint and more.

Find the full change log below.

If you are Insider, you can download the latest update from the links below.

Developer: Microsoft Corporation

Price: Free

Developer: Microsoft Corporation

Price: Free

Developer: Microsoft Corporation

Price: Free

If you are looking for a new Windows 10 Mobile device, the Lumia 550 is undoubtedly the cheapest way you can get your hands on a Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft is currently selling the unlocked handset for only $99, and to sweeten the deal is now also throwing in a T-Mobile SIM Activation Kit, which offers a prepaid 3-in-1 SIM kit with 40 minutes of airtime. The SIM kit will automatically be added to your cart when you add the Lumia 550.

In case you don’t know, here are the specs of the Lumia 550:

• 4.7-inch LCD with HD (1280x720px) resolution
• Quad-core 1.1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB onboard storage (plus microSD card support up to 200GB)
• 5MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash (720p video recording at 30fps)
• 2MP front-facing camera (VGA video)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.1
• USB 2.0 with Type-B connector
• 4G LTE connectivity
• nanoSIM
• 2100mAh battery
• 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9mm; 142g

You can get the Lumia 550 from the Microsoft Store here and read our review of the handset here.

Amazon Search Unofficial is a new client for help people to search on Amazon Store now that the official app cannot be found on the store

The app currently works with the following country

• Canada
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Spain
• UK
• US

With this app is possible search, see details, review and image in an easy way and upon purchase, you will be sent back to the official website so you do not have to use your credentials in an unofficial app

The app is free and available in the store.

We are working on Windows 10 app and to inprove this. So leave your feedback for help us!

Developer: acquariusoft

Price: Free

BATTERY X in Windows 10 is beautifully designed app to know your battery status, remaining charge and statistics.

It notifies you when battery is low or fully charged, you can also set your custom alert.

The app lets you:

• Compare Days: – Graphically compare battery performance of past days. – Use this feature to compare your battery performance before and after an OS update or firmware update or just see if your phone use changed
• Battery Insights. A whole new way to look at your battery usage. Informative charts and data give you greatest insight into your battery consumption and charging.
• Transparent and beautifully designed tiles
• Notifications 1. Battery full 2. Discharging Quickly 3. Low battery. 4. Custom Alerts
• And more…

See screen shots of the app below:

Developer: Xtreme Dark

Price: Free

The Sunday Times has accused Microsoft of funneling £8 billion of revenue to Ireland since 2011 and thereby avoiding £100 million in UK corporation tax.

The corporation tax rate in Ireland is 12.5%, compared with 20% in the UK.

Microsoft takes advantage of the so-called advance pricing agreements to agree on the allocation of profit between various countries.  The deal has the approval of the HM Revenue & Customs  and runs from 2011 to 2017.

Microsoft is not alone in its special arrangement with the MHRC, with more than 140 tax deals having been arranged between HMRC and some of the world’s biggest companies, the Sunday Times investigation found.

The UK public has however become increasingly intolerant of tax avoidance schemes, with such a ground swell of opposition recently forcing Facebook to agree to pay tax in UK on their UK sales, after paying only  £4,327 in tax in 2014, despite an annual profit of £1.9bn.

Facebook has updated their new Facebook app for Windows 10 to version 57.490 .

The update comes without a changelog, but some changes are apparent, including moving the buttons for adding photos and videos to above the status update box.

Let us know if you notice any new features in the Idea below.

Developer: Facebook Inc

Price: Free

Gameloft has released the long promised Update 2 to their Disney Magic Kingdom game now available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

The theme-park themed game is about managing a Disney theme park, filling it out with attractions and thwarting an evil plot by Maleficent using classic characters Mickey and Donald.

The game has just become a lot more magical with new characters, attractions and more. The update introduces Disney Princess Aurora, and other beloved characters from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

It features:

• New Characters! Aurora, Prince Phillip, Fauna, Flora and Merryweather. Plus: Donald Duck and Mother Gothel!
• New Storylines! The mysterious tale of Maleficent’s evil curse continues with new storyline content from Disney’s Tangled!
• New Attractions! Aurora’s Spinning Wheel, Fairy Hut, Fantasy Faire, Snuggly Duckling, and Donald’s Boat.
• New Decorations! 15-Layer Cake and Bronzed Briar Rose.
• New Quests! More than 100 brand-new quests to complete!
• New Parade Float for Sleeping Beauty!
• Bug fixes and minor improvements.

Perfect to play for fans of Disney, Disneyland, theme park games, Pixar movie games, a fun game, tycoon games, free family games, and park builder games.

See the announcement video for the update below:

You can download the game from the link below.

Developer: Gameloft.

Price: Free^*

Back in April, we reported that Microsoft has added a new option to Windows 10 which allows Windows 10 PC users to continue app experiences from their other devices running Windows 10. Until today, this feature doesn’t seem to do anything. However, this could be changing pretty soon. In the latest inteal builds of Windows 10 Mobile, there’s the same “Continue App Experiences” option in the Settings app which enables apps on your other Windows 10 devicesto continue experiences on your Windows 10 Mobile.

This feature is very similar Apple’s Handoff feature which is available for OS X and iOS already. For those unfamiliar, on an iPhone, you can continue using apps like the default Mail app on your Mac instantly. For example, if you are editing an email on your iPhone but want to add an attachment from your Mac, you can simply continue to edit the same email from your Mac via Handoff. In addition to this, Apple’s Handoff also allows users to take phone calls on their Mac which is also pretty handy. While it isn’t yet clear if Microsoft will bring this feature to Windows 10, the company did show off a screenshot (probably a concept) at Build 2016 which suggests that this feature could be coming to Windows 10 as well.

Moreover, it will be very interesting to see if Microsoft allows third-party developers to integrate this feature into their Universal Windows Apps for Windows 10. Unlike Apple, Microsoft’s Continue App Experiences has a huge potential as the company can technically add this feature to all devices running Windows 10, including the Xbox One, HoloLens and Surface Hub which would be pretty huge if it actually happens.

Nevertheless, are you excited for Microsoft’s Continue App Experiences feature for Windows 10? Let us know in the comment section below.

NuAns Neo, one of the prettiest Windows 10 Mobile devices out there is expected to be available in the United States and some other countries sometime soon. We have been talking about the device for a while now, and NuAns recently published a new video showing off the device in all its glory which you can watch below:

For those unfamiliar, the NuAns Neo includes a Snapdragon 617 clocked at 1.5GHz, which means it supports Continuum for phones. The device comes with 16GB of inteal storage and 2GB RAM. The device has a 5-inch display, 13MP rear camera, and also includes Quick Charge 2.0 support:

• Weight : About 150g
• OS : Windows 10 Mobile
• CPU : Snapdragon 617 (MSM8952) – Cortex-A53 Octa-core 1.5Ghz
• Memory : 2GB RAM / 16GB Storage and microSD slot
• SIM : micro-SIM (nano SIM adapter is included)
• Support band : 2G Quad band 3G?Band 1/6/8/9/19 42Mbps/5.76Mbps 4G LTE?Band 1/3/8/19/28 Cat.4 Up to 150Mbps.
• Display : 5 inch 1280*720 with anti-fingerprint coating
• Camera : 13MP, F2.0, BSI, 28mm Lens (back) / 5MP, F2.4, BSI, 24mm Lens (front)
• Battery : 3,350mAh, standby more than 400 mins
• WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• One speaker, two microphones
• USB Type-C (support Quick Charge 2.0)
• size : 141 x 74.2 x 11.3mm

We will let you know once the NuAns Neo is available in other countries. Until then, let us know if you are looking to buy the NuAns Neo in the comment section below.

You can now take advantage of this amazing limited-time offer and get huge discounts on Xbox Live Gold Memberships using Bing Reward Credits in the US. You can get 1 month Xbox Live Gold Membership for 500 Credits, 3 months Xbox Live Gold Membership for 1000 Credits and 12 months Xbox Live Gold Membership for 2899 Credits. This deal is available until 11:59 PM PT on 6/30/2016 or while supplies last.

With Xbox Live Gold, you’re part of the world’s premier gaming community. Play with friends on the most advanced multiplayer network, get free games, and receive exclusive discounts. Experience games like Halo and Minecraft on a network powered by hundreds of thousands of servers that maximize performance and reduce lag. Get free games every month, worth hundreds a year, and receive discounts up to 50–75% on games in the Xbox Store. With millions of gamers worldwide, and so many games to play, now’s a great time to go Gold.

Take advantage of this deal here.