microsoft news

If asking digital assistants to play music, answer questions, read stories, and tell jokes,tu on lights, lock doors is your thing, then Amazon Echo(3rd Gen) is definitely a great product and in many...

Samsung’s GalaxyNote 9 may not supportthe Gear VR normally, but the firm is making sure that users can still us the headset with their newest smartphones.Samsung will let users who own both aSamsun...

It appears ads, which are becoming increasingly pervasive on Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, have now reached the Windows 10 Mail app.Users on Reddit are now reporting that a baer has shown up in the Windows 10 Mail app in a space above the Mail, Calendar and People buttons. The baer caot be removed except by closing the menu, and currently ad...

WhatsApp can already do it, so can Instagram, and soon Facebook Messenger users will also be able to unsendmessages.The change was prompted by news that Mark Zuckerberg has been deleting messages he has sent already, removing them from the inboxes of his recipients.We do not know how powerful the new Facebook Messenger system will be – with Zuckerberg’s mes...

Facebook is plaing to enter the smart speaker business this year by launching two speakers in July 2018. CodenamedAloha and Fiona, both the speaker...

As the release of Redstone 4 approaches, Microsoft has been gearing up to prepare the first build for Redstone 5. According to Buildfeed, Microsoft has just compiled the first build of Redstone 5. This comes just after Microsoft created a new RS4_release branch which will serve as the official branch for RS4 releases starting next month.If you recall, Microsoft did the same thing as with RS4 last year. Once the Creators Update was almost ready, Microsoft started flighting RS4 builds to selected Insiders in Skip Ahead Ring. We expect the same to happen as Microsoft prepares for a global rollout of Redstone 4 next month.The current compiled build for RS5 branch is17600 and it looks like this w...

Instagram is now testing a new tool that lets users “Regram” posts to their stories.Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram never quite allowedusers to reshare posts from others with their own accounts. This new regram feature, however, is but of a compromise. Rather than sharing content permanently o your page, it is shared to your story, and it is then automatically deleted within 24 hours like all stories are.A post once shared to your story can be customised so it appears like a regular post would in your feedor as a clean stripped down design with just the image and the original user’s handle.The firm has rolled out a ton of new features over the past year to make Stories more attractive...

You could always “like” a comment to express your appreciation on Facebook, but users have always really wanted a way to let others know their comments weren’t appreciated.Facebook is testing downvoting for a small number of users. Much like rival social network Reddit, you’ll be able to express your like or dislike for a particular commentIt’s not yet universal,it’s being tested across a subset of profiles. It’s not clear yet whether Facebook’s algorithm will automatically hide comments which get a certain number of downvotes, or if it’ll be the digital equivalent of the shame bell for the o=platform. Never the less, it’s sure to be useful for some passive-aggressive catharsis.As with all t...

Facebook is testing a new story maps feature, akin to Snapchat’s own snap maps feature.For the uninformed, Snap maps showcase the locations of Snapchat users relative to their chosen friends on a map. It also allows users to see popular stories around them. If there was an event, for instance, users would be able to view snaps shared from that location to Snapchat’s ‘Our Story’ remotely.Facebook seems to be moving towards that path, with an option to share your stories to “world” being tested. This would probably let you share your stories with the world much like Snapchat’s ‘Our Story’, and then show up whenever someone checks our your geographic location.NEW: Facebook is testing a Snapchat...

Microsoft Store US is now offering a free game with every purchase of Xbox One X 1TB Console. This bundle offer includes popular games like PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS – Game Preview Edition, Forza Motorsport 7, Assassin’s Creed Origins Standard Edition, Destiny 2, Call of Duty: WWII and more.Xbox One X console highlights:Xbox One X unleashes 6 teraflops of graphical processing power, making games perform better than they ever have. Maximize game performance with the speed of 12GB GDDR5 graphics memory, and see every frame with 326 GB/sec memory bandwidth.Lose yourself in worlds built for true 4K gaming, where action comes to life with 2160p frame buffers. Enjoy brilliant graphic details i...

The project to run Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 for ARM processors, on Windows Phones is progressing surprisingly rapidly, with the latest achievement enabling sound over Bluetooth and support for the GPU on the processor.As can be seen in the video below, this enables quite good performance when playing videos:[embedded content]The video was posted by Ben | imbushuo, who seems to be leading much of the work.There is something magical about having a full desktop version of Windows in your pocket, though I do not believe the project will ever be terribly practical. If the last barriers can, however, be overcome I can see it as a viable upgrade path for Windows Phone users abandoned by M...

As we reported earlier that Microsoft is working on new features and animations for the Photos App and while most of the features are already available for Windows Insiders, Microsoft has been working on new features. These features are currently been tested by Microsoft and will release in future. You can head below to take a look at some of the features in works. New image viewer: The new image viewer will allow users to take a peek at the photos at the bottom. The new viewer will show photos as thumbnails so the user and preview them before opening them on the screen. New animations: This is perhaps not a major feature but still good to see Microsoft working to enhance the overall User ...

Facebook recently let users share their Facebook Stories to Instagram, now the firm might let WhatsApp do the same thing. According to a report originating from TechCrunch, Facebook is testing a feature which lets users share their postsfrom InstagramStories to WhatsApp. Sightings of this feature have been seen in Brazil, a region where WhatsApp is popular. TechCrunch identifies the code as publicly available code which Facebook offers to third parties to integrate Instagram story sharing with third-partyweb or Androidapps. WhatsApp Status(Stories) were introduced on the platform a few months ago, and while not as popular in weste media as Instagram and Snapchat, they reportedly have tracti...

If you’re living in India then you have surely heard about Aadhar and for others, it is something similar to Social Security Number. Indian Govement has taken steps this year to make Aadhar a mandatory Identification measure for Indian citizens. From linking Aadhar with Bank Accounts to coecting your SIM cards with Aadhar, Govement has made sure every identity you have is coected to Aadhar.Now it looks like Facebook is also taking help from Aadhar to make sure people don’t use Fake IDs on Facebook. The social media giant has confirmed to testing a measure to make sure people use real names on Facebook and discourage fake accounts.We want to make sure people can use the names they’re known by...

HTC Vive users have just found another virtual destination to visit, as Facebook, owners of Oculus Rift, aounced they are opening up their Facebook Spaces to owners of the device.Facebook Head of Social VR Rachel Franklin said:“VR is such a powerful way to feel present with the people you care about when you can’t physically be together. With Facebook Spaces, we’ve always been committed to bringing the power of social VR to as many people as possible, across platforms and devices.“That’s why I’m super excited to aounce that today we’re taking Facebook Spaces cross-platform for the first time, making it possible for even more people to spend time with their friends and family in VR. HTC Vive ...

Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés or CNIL has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing data with its parent company Facebook. WhatsApp has been given a month’s time to comply with the order. This decision finally stopped the battle which began last year when WhatsApp updated their Terms of Service to add a clause detailing the sharing of data with Facebook for targeted advertisement.CNIL ruled out that WhatsApp’s security conces were valid but at the same time, this didn’t give them right to share user data for business purposes. The regulating authority said that there’s no way of opting out of data collection and it violates the fundamental freedoms of users. This is not the f...

Facebook is rolling out a new snooze feature which will allow you to block your aoying friends for 30 days. The company was testing the feature since September and it seems that they have finally rolled it out for everyone. The feature will let you block any friend or a page for a period of 30 days. Doing this will block all the status updates and posts from them in your news feeds.The settings are similar to those of current unfollow settings that lets you permanently remove them from your News Feeds without blocking or unfriending them from Facebook. This feature is useful if you have aoying friends sharing what they had for dier or where they’re heading for the weekend.The Snooze feature ...

Christmas is just ten days away and with the recent release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds into the Xbox Game Preview Program, Microsoft is offering a deal on this popular title and the company’s latest 4K capable console, the Xbox One X. Those who purchase an Xbox One X will get PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds bundled in with it for free (via Xbox Wire).Microsoft is offering this special holiday promotion from December 17 through December 31, so you’ll have the rest of the month to take advantage of this deal. The offer is only available in select regions, so check in with your local retailers. You can also purchase an Xbox One X online through the Microsoft Store.In this aouncement, the co...

Facebook aounced today a new set of AR tools for Messenger called “world effects”. This is similar to what Snapchat did with Bitmoji. Users will now be able to drop in 3D virtual objects using they camera. Previously, Facebook implemented AR features where users were able to wear these virtual masks or use some sorts of filters using their camera as well.The new AR features makes Facebook Messenger far more playful as users will be able to make use of these objects in AR and use them to communicate with others. Initially, world effects will include objects like a floating heart, an arrow, a 3D Robot and an Unico. Other predefined messages include messages like love, heart and miss you.Facebo...

Apple has confirmed its speculated acquisition of the music streaming service, Shazam. The deal was first reported by Vox Media’s Recode, and will set the firm back $400 million. This acquisition will build up Apple’s music portfolio, which currently includes the long-ruing iTunes, Apple Music (which evolved from Beats Music when Apple aceponymouse eponymlus firm), and its headphone business. It is expected that the firm will make use of Shazam’s music recognition technology to further develop Siri and Apple Music.An Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac today:We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked ...